The Mental Funny Bone

Episode 46: The Pope in the Pizza

• Gaster Girls • Season 5 • Episode 2

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Christine and Sarah kick off another engaging episode of 'The Mental Funny Bone,' discussing their mission to de-stigmatize mental health conversations and find humor in daily challenges. This week's focus includes Sarah's heartfelt stories of listener feedback and Christine's whimsical yet frantic recollections of her trip to Prague. From navigating medieval streets to surviving without a functioning hairdryer, Christine's travel antics provide plenty of laughs. They also reflect on the difficulties of balancing mental wellness with a demanding work life, setting the stage for insightful discussions on stress management and navigating others' opinions. The episode rounds off with hilarious tangents on fried fish, the intricacies of the Pope's health, and the faithful love of pets. Don't miss out on a mix of laughter, vulnerability, and practical tips for maintaining your mental wellness.

How to find mental health help when you're struggling. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists
https://washingtoncountyhumanservices.com/agencies/behavioral-health-developmental-services
https://www.alleghenycounty.us/Services/Human-Services-DHS/Publications/Resource-Guides
Apps - Just search mental health where you get your apps.
EAP programs are a great place to look for help!!

Additional Resources (Sports Related):
https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2020/12/04/mental-health-resources-2/

Sarah:

Welcome to The Mental Funny Bone, a podcast where we strive to create a safe and entertaining space where listeners can explore mental health topics, find solace, and enjoy laughter. This podcast aims to de-stigmatize mental health discussions and empower individuals to approach their own wellbeing with humor and openness. I'm Sarah.

Chris:

I'm Christine, and neither of us is a mental health professional. However, we speak routinely with mental health professionals because that's what grownups do when they have problems they need to deal with. So I suggest everybody do that. I like that. It's also a bit judgy.

Sarah:

Um, maybe I should tone it down on the intro a little bit.

Chris:

I don't know. Uh, we're gonna let it ride. People can complain if they want. They know how to get ahold of us. Yeah.

Sarah:

Gastro girls@gmail.com. gmail.com. We'll take your co complaints. Tell me the intro is.

Chris:

Yeah, we'll, we'll take your complaints. Um, I will, I, I will start us off with a, with a little bit of feedback and, uh, fan mail that, that we've gotten the past couple of weeks. So I was in Philadelphia, uh, a couple weeks ago with some work colleagues and. Every, every, uh, kind of time we, we get together, they're, they're always asking about the podcast. Um, and they're very supportive. And it is often something that gets mentioned when we're, when we're talking to our colleagues. So I really appreciate that about, about my colleagues, that they bring up the podcast and, and let me talk about it with strangers. So I, I did get to talk to a couple people about it, and it was. Eye-opening, the way that you can make a connection with somebody by being vulnerable. So he and I were having a, a conversation about sort of mental health and how we can have a comedy podcast about it. And he's like, this fits along with, you know, kind of my stuff. I'm in recovery and I've been going through that process and I was like, well. Kind of very similar. He's like, it's similar in that I'm gonna tell you that and I'm gonna be vulnerable. You're gonna tell me something and you're gonna be vulnerable. And then we're gonna understand each other as people. And when we have to do, uh, work stuff together, we're gonna be able to, to do that better. Amen. And more effectively. Amen. And I was like, this is, this is awesome. Thank you. So this is the point of it, right? I'm like, this is exactly why we, why we do what we do. So whether or not these people are listening, I have no idea. As we're leaving the dinner, uh, that we were attending, the one girl goes, oh, I know your podcast. My husband listens to it. He's a neurologist. I was like, wait, what? I'm like, I do you our punk, the mental funny bone? She's like, yes, love. You know who I am, right? I was like, are you, um, I, I'm not a Kelsey brother or anything, so I'm not. Sure. She's like, oh no, he loves it. I was like, right on. Right on.

Sarah:

I would like to hear from this neurologist.

Chris:

Right? So if you're listening and, and your wife had dinner in, uh, king of Prussia at any point Yeah. Could you just, uh, let me know that that's true because I have clung to it. Guest girls like the tiniest bit of positive feedback for the past two weeks. That

Sarah:

actually makes me feel like famous.

Chris:

Right? I was like, wait, what? And I looked over at everyone and I was like, I wish you could see the face I'm making.'cause it was one of those, you know, like, oh, who's, who's important now? Faces?

Sarah:

Mm-hmm. Anna. Uh, yeah.

Chris:

They appreciate that too. I'm sure my work friends really like that. Also, I went to, I went to eat fish. Uh,'cause it's lint. I don't know if you guys know,

Sarah:

I love the fried variety of fish.

Chris:

I think the Pope has also come out, uh, and, and explained that eating fish on Fridays doesn't count as a sacrifice if you really like fried fish. So this destroys all of my hopes of, of getting into heaven.'cause I was kind of banking on the, not eating the meat on Fridays as like the. As the thing I did,

Sarah:

I, um, we don't do that. We don't have to do that. And

Chris:

Oh, with

Sarah:

your, uh, maybe, maybe roller,

Chris:

snake charmer religion.

Sarah:

Yeah. Um, but when I started going to Noah's church and changing over to this church, I was like, ha, ha ha. Hey fuckers, I'm going out and getting double the meat on Fridays. Eat it bitch.

Chris:

Which I don't, I don't think is what Jesus intended either. I don't know. I don't know where he came up with it. No, he me like the worst

Sarah:

Christian ever. Well, no, but I mean, makes me a pretty shitty Christian. And then I learned we don't eat meat on Good Friday. And I was like, what?

Chris:

Why?

Sarah:

This is, wow. I thought we were

Chris:

cooler than that. Right, right. So the Pope has come out and said, you know, it's not, it's not just to let you eat fried fish on Friday. It's for sacrifice, guys. Come on. Uh, and, uh, I don't know. Is the Pope sick? Is he better?

Sarah:

Yeah. I was just gonna ask if, if the pope, when you said that Pope came out, I thought you were gonna tell me he came out of the hospital because.

Chris:

Is he in the hospital? Becca?

Sarah:

Yeah. Becca. Yeah, he was. He was in the hospital. He had double ear infection. Nope. Double lung infection.

Chris:

What is he? A toddler? He's not

Sarah:

a toddler. He had to stay home from preschool. He couldn't bless the masses. Yeah, he was sick. I don't know if he's better yet. Yes. No, I can't read that. Becca. Becca, unmute yourself and just talk. Unmute yourself, make yourself known.

Chris:

CNN says, Pope Francis is

improving and is no longer in quote, immediate danger quote. Oh,

Chris:

I guess that's good. All right. I mean, I'm happy for the Pope, but I'm also a hundred percent fascinated by picking a new pope like it is. It is one of the, one of the like old and medieval traditions that is just hanging in there and I love to watch it. I'm like, lock him in a room, and then somebody catches on fire and then there's smoke. I was gonna say, doesn't

Sarah:

smoke come from somewhere. It reminds me of like when the priest would come down the aisle when we had to go to church at St. Michael's. Mm-hmm. With the smoking thing. Yeah. Right, right. Incense,

Chris:

I think is what you're,

Sarah:

whatever. It smelled good. I liked it. It's kind of like one of those smells that a lot of people don't like, and I was like, Ooh,

Chris:

that's nice. It's nice. I like that. I like that. Right. Anyway, filled long and glorious tradition and yeah, I love it. I love watching this spectacle of it. Yeah. But you know, nice, nice to know that that poor old guy is, is doing better. Yeah. And he'll be able to save souls and, and tell me that eating fried fish isn't gonna get me into heaven. Awesome. Um,

Sarah:

yeah.

Chris:

Anyway, so speaking,

Sarah:

what's his name? The Francis. Francis Pope Francis. Okay. Um, shout out to Pope Francis.'cause you know he probably listens.

Chris:

I'm sure he does. He's a neurologist.

Sarah:

One of the nurses there makes him listen to it. Shh. Pope Francis

Chris:

just, is he in a regular hospital? Is there like a special bad hospital? No, there's a Pope, Pope Hospital. Pope. Obviously it's a Pope Hospital. Come on. Okay. He has a Pope Mobile. He can't just go to normal hospital.

Sarah:

Do they carry him or is that was like the Egyptians?

Chris:

I, I don't know what they do, but I am, do you know what I'm imaging like him in a

Sarah:

glass box and they're carrying

Chris:

Yes. Yes. We have gone as soon as you said it

Sarah:

so far off the fucking rails. I can't,

Chris:

we're gonna have, I, I believe what we said is we are gonna have a short targeted episode this week. One. That one that makes sense.

Sarah:

This is making my day so much better though. I can't even stand it. Okay, here's, here's where we

Chris:

are. We're talking about a Pope box. Sit off your Pope Box. The Pope box. So what I'm picturing is they have him in that litter, I think is what it's called, and they're, there's like six cardinals who are like in the running to take his job and they like carry him to the hospital. That's what the Vatican Hospital, the special one. One room Pope Hospital. Pope spit,

Sarah:

Pope spit. He had special nurses. What is, okay? All right. Okay. That's, move on. That, that's it. We're done. Okay. We're done. We're

Chris:

done. We're done. Speaking of religion and the middle Ages, I was in, uh, I was in Prague. Wait, you didn't

Sarah:

finish your story about fish? Fish soup, no fish sandwiches.

Chris:

No, that was it. That was the pope has has come down that, that this isn't gonna save my soul. And if I'm not willing to sacrifice, I shouldn't even bother. But I thought

Sarah:

there was a story of someone talking to you about our podcast as you were eating a fish sandwich.

Chris:

Nope. You made that up in your head. I had moved on from the neurologist to the Pope. I can't remember how. When did you talk to Christie? Oh, oh, okay. Yes. No, Christie wasn't talking. I'm back. I'm back. Okay. Welcome to the party. Thank you. I haven't had a lot of sleep lately. So Christie and I sit down, well, I sit down and then David sits down. Then Christie and uh, Danny, uh, B walk in and uh, she sits down, uh, at the table next to us and I'm like, Hey. And this happens a lot'cause it's a small town. There's not that many places to go and there aren't that many of us. I run into people all the time and, uh, Christie's like, I love your podcast. You and your sister are so good and your personalities shine through, and I, I am getting better at saying thank you. I appreciate that, that you listen, it's fun for us to do it rather than being like, oh,

Sarah:

excited do that again. Oh my God, please do that again.

Chris:

Right? Like and excited. Seal it is an like, excited seal is what it's right. Like my flippers are going, I'm bouncing up and down. I'm sorry. Sorry. Thank you. Right idiot. So instead of doing that, I'm like, oh, thanks. We have a good time. We're we, you know, we're happy that you listen. And then, you know, she, we talk about mundane things and she's like, and I was really surprised to hear that about Olivia. And I was like, oh. And then I, and then I get a little bit tongue tied, right? I'm like, oh, yeah. Um, just like, just like all of these things, like it's easier for you to understand if Olivia has a broken leg, but these things happen in a space that you can't necessarily see. And it, you know, happy that, that we could talk about it. And it turns out that, uh, Christie has close relatives who are also going through some, some similar issues. So it was nice to be able to, in the, in my, in my own community, uh, feel good and comfortable. Talking about Olivia and talking about other people who are facing some of these challenges and being able to, to talk about how like we should be able to talk about this all the time. Like if Olivia had been born without a nose, that would be noticeable. I mean, it's just what I thought of. I'm reading a lot of, I get it. It's fine. It's fine. Like, yeah. And, and, you know, we wouldn't necessarily spend the entire conversation talking about, uh, these sort of physical limitations. Just like we don't need to spend the entire conversation talking about the, the mental ones. But it is nice to acknowledge that, that people are struggling. So that was, that was good. That was a nice thing. I like it.

Sarah:

Awesome. Um, I like stories like that. I like the neurologist. I like it all. I like the pope. I like it all. May I share one? Okay. Now I have three little things to share.

Chris:

Like three little birds. Three little birds. My doorstep. We're

Sarah:

already gonna talk about birds, actually. One of them is about birds. Number one. Went to our alma mater yesterday, Elizabeth, forward high school for the first time since, uh, 1996. I think it looks, uh, it looks very similar. It looks very similar. Went there for American Foundation. Suicide. Suicide Prevention. Prevention, A FSP, and I went with our friend Jackie and Ed from March 4th. Yay. And we went together because I was anxious about going through the, the shit's under construction. I was scared on where to go. So they're wonderful and let me ride with them Anyway, so it, it was, it was a nice day. It was nice to spend time with them. And I just wanted to mention it because, uh, Jackie, after a FSP spoke, Jackie got up to say her thing and she gets really nervous about it and kind of anxious. And, uh, I think this was the fourth one that she's done. And she did, they did say that the first time they really talked about it was on our podcast. So I thought that was, I thank them for that. I thought that was pretty cool. Anyway. She kicked fucking ass like,

yay. She had to do

Sarah:

it twice. And both times she did an amazing job. And, um, Tanner is, is really pushing her to do things out of her comfort zone and she's just. Kicking, kicking ass. So, and the kids were very appreciative to her and Ed for coming to talk. And it was, it was nice. I, I got to spend some time with them. So thank you Jackie and Ed for letting me tag along and, uh, do that and shout out to Larissa.'cause I got to say hi to her.'cause she's an an amazing teacher.

Chris:

She's a teacher there. Yeah. At the high school. I didn't know that school.

Sarah:

Oh yeah, I talked to her. I was like, God bless you.'cause I'd never be able to do this. I was about to go up in those bleachers and tear that one girl's hair out, tell her to shut the fuck up.

Chris:

Right. I would have trouble, like, there's nothing more frightening to me than a group of teenagers. Like

Sarah:

Yeah. And that's what Jackie was saying, like, and this is the biggest crowd and it's ninth through 12th grade. There's just no,

Chris:

there's like, if I'm like wandering around, uh, a foreign country, let's say, and there's a, and there's a group of teenagers, I am automatically like, well, here's how I get killed. Please don't talk to me. Like I would rather walk down Totally makes sense, a dark alley at three o'clock in the morning and take my chances versus walking past a group of teenagers just after school's let out.

Sarah:

Yeah, I totally makes sense. Totally. All right, so that was my, that was one. Now we'll go to two. Shout out to my sister-in-law, Sam. She informed me that when I spoke about Chicago, I did not share all the good stories, so I'm not gonna do it now'cause we have a lot of other shit that we need to talk about. But Sam, I promise I've written myself a note. I'm gonna make Becca write herself a note that we need more Chicago stories and I'll try to pepper some in. So. Just be on the lookout for that. Lastly, nice weather is finally upon us. Yay. We are finally getting a break. Amen. From the shitty weather and something has happened to macho and it's very entertaining. I mean, kind of entertaining. It gets kind of annoying now, but the birds have come back, so macho is so confused. We go outside and you could hear all the birds and he's like. Looking everywhere. So now he makes it his mission when going outside to say hi to all the birds. So he looks up into the trees like every one of them makes noise. He has to. Make eye contact. Then he tries to chase the ones that are on the ground and hopping. So he tries to hop macho. We don't have a fenced in backyard. Macho is on a retractable leash, and he's been on that leash for almost two years now, and he doesn't remember that. He's on that leash and he goes full out, man. He sees a bird and he goes, yeah, charging. And then he learns really quick. He's on a leash, and then he does it again, like he repeatedly does it while we're outside. So I just wanted to mention the good weather, and I wanted to mention Machos obsession with birds, and I should also mention that I took Machos doorbell out already, so we won't have that interruption.

Chris:

I'm disappointed. Yeah. I look forward to every episode knowing when macho needs to go pee.

Sarah:

And for the gastro story, I was gonna talk about fish sticks, but I feel like we can, we can move on. Let's, let's move on. I wanna hear about your week or however many days in Prague. Just for everybody's knowledge. I had Covid last week. It sucked. My sister was gallivanting around doing awesome shit while I was at home dying. It did not suck. So. I wanna hear about Prague and then you're, you're gonna lead the whole thing. You're gonna lead us to the next two chapters of Let Them, um, so give us, give us a scoop on Prague.

Chris:

So I will, I will tell you guys that, uh, business travel generally means that I am sleeping in a courtyard by Marriott generally. A place like King of Prussia, which is nice, but not super scenic. There's a nice mall there. Or I am someplace in New Jersey, or you know, maybe on occasion we'll go to, we'll go to Texas, but, um. I had the chance to go to, to go to a conference, a, a data management conference in Prague and Wow. Like, what up nerds? Uh, how's it going? So we we're last minute. We're trying to decide flights, we're trying to figure out who's gonna go, and it turns out I have to be in Philadelphia. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna meet up with my, uh, with my work buddy, Nicole. And, uh, and we're gonna fly off and, and go to Prague. Um. Overnight flight, uh, like cool ass, uh, kind of thing. Then we ended up, we were in Paris for our layover, and it, it, it got kind of ruined a little bit. Our trip there, and this will tell you how spoiled I am. And how privileged I am and how I don't really understand the gift of being able to take international trips and not pay for them outta my own pocket. I couldn't get into the lounge in Charles Tagal airport because I didn't have the right kind of ticket. So I am used to this,

Sarah:

this you this ruined it. This ruined it.

Chris:

I am used to being able to sit comfortably in the lounge. And, and have, uh, someone come and take my plate away for me when I'm done snacking, I am used to being able to walk up to the little bar in the lounge and being like, yes, do you have a, do you have champagne? I'll, I'll have a mimosa, please. And, and having that happen, and now I, I can't even get into the lounge.'cause the French lady was like, oh, uh, we are going to be very busy today. I cannot even, oh, I like your

Sarah:

accent. Well done. Well

Chris:

done. Right. I took French in high school. Well done. But that was exactly how it was. She looked, she had a very, she had a very smart haircut. She looked very French, very fashionable, even though she's wearing a uniform. So now I'm left to wander aimlessly through the terminal like so many other tourists. Um, but all kidding aside, even the was awesome. I am challenged by the things that normally challenge, uh, travelers. I couldn't figure out how to dry my hair because the plugs are different and it's not just the. Plug. It's not just the plug, it's the electricity that goes into the plug.

Sarah:

I don't know, does it have something to do with a metric system? Like why, what? I don't get it. Like why are things weird? Why are things different? Everything we do is fucking different. Our temperatures different. Our numbers are different. Everything's fucking different. I don't, right. It's crazy. Who knows how long that kilometers is? Let him fucking know.

Chris:

We fought hard for that. Right. I'll point out there's a great Saturday Night Live skit that I could point to everyone to by Nate Zi, where he talks about our intrinsic right as Americans to measure things in a way that makes no sense.

Yeah, sure.

Chris:

Yeah, totally. Sorry, go ahead. Great. Except for the hairdryer in the hotel room that they provide for you. It was like somebody was blowing on my hair gently and softly. Like Right. Like that. Right. And you had to hold the button down to keep it going.'cause apparently in Europe they're way more concerned about not having a planet to live on. Once we destroy the ozone layer, it seems not tracks these guys.

Sarah:

Yeah. These fucking guys.

Chris:

But there's a, it's a lot of work to do and I'm meeting the, I'm meeting some colleagues and it turns out, no matter what language we're all speaking, I am the loudest. And if there is an opportunity to have a microphone in one hand, I will, I will take that opportunity, even though it isn't my conference. This isn't like I have my own America, uh, data management conference. But no, I have to invade these poor Europeans and takeover. Um. So if you, if you ever wanted meet a quiet group of people, it is, uh, data managers from around the world. I was like, Hey guys, what are we doing? Like for whatever reason we had to do a group activity in one of the sessions, a group activity of all things. The fucking

Sarah:

worst. They're the worst. They're the fucking worst, almost. They're right behind the icebreakers.

Chris:

I almost got up and left. We did both in this particular session. Yeah. But yeah, it's

Sarah:

a fucking, I can't stand it.

Chris:

This will surprise you. I was late, so I missed the icebreaker.

Sarah:

Mm. I think, I mean, maybe my next conference, if, if I ever get it to go anywhere and get invited anywhere again in my life, I think I might do that. Just show up late. It cause me to have a super crazy panic attack.

Chris:

It's a great, it was a great, um, table needs a spokesperson. I'm like, alright, do you guys want, uh, who wants to talk? And they were like, they made that noise. And I was like, okay, I'll talk. Um. So it's, it has to be a gaster thing. That was fun. But like, the part of the exercise was how, how we were doing it, the pretend clinical trial was taking place in West Virginia and how there's a, there's a high level of obesity. So the fact that these, the weights for these people was higher than expected was just sort of written off by the fact that everyone here is fat. Hmm. I was like, I don't wanna be picky. We'd be picky.'cause it's not my conference, not my country, but FYI, there are skinny people in West Virginia, so

Sarah:

Yeah,

Chris:

that was like, are people who

Sarah:

do lots of, nevermind. Stop. Stop. That's in every state. That's in every state.

Chris:

And the, the thing about international travel is the time difference means that you are awake way early in the US morning and you're available and accessible to people who need to ask you questions way, way late at night. So I had trouble regulating that and ended up accidentally staying up all night two nights in a row, which for someone in my advanced age never works out great. Like I haven't advanced age. I'm 51. I like it. 51? Yeah. Are you 51? Yeah. Yeah, I'll be 52 this year. Okay. Okay. And then, uh, because things are so busy, there's opportunities for everyone to go sightseeing, and I had to, I had to press my sightseeing time in Prague, uh, to six hours. That was it. That was the only, that was the only sighting time we had, but it was an amazing six hours. I saw ancient cathedrals. I blasphemed a good deal while being inside of the church.

Sarah:

Okay. I didn't know, I didn't know what that word was, but I figured it out.

Chris:

Yeah. I said, uh, I said a lot of bad things, um, while I was You're your father's

Sarah:

daughter

Chris:

there. What can I say? I mean, we're walking, walking around Cathedral, a cathedral, a cathedral, medieval cathedral that these guys had made, which is, um, oddly enough next door to the basilica that they had already made, uh, which is also next door to the church, uh, that they had already made, and the chapel that they had already made. Time out. What, what's the difference between all of these buildings? Uh, uh, chapels are little, churches are a little bit bigger. Uh, basilicas are, are slightly bi from what I can tell. I mean, I'm just basing it on this one experience, but it's just about size. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's about money. I think there's also money and I think that the cathedral might have more, uh, dead saints in it or something. I'm not. Quite sure. Are they all the

Sarah:

same? Like are they all St.

Chris:

Michael's congregation or were they different congregations? As far as I can tell. I don't know this, the, the, um, and, and it's all the signs are all in check, which I don't speak. Okay.

Sarah:

Meanwhile, I just see check marks.

Chris:

Right. It's like that, there's like a C with an accent on it. I was like, I don't. Yeah. Why are the Z's all together with the s's? It seems like they make enough of the same sound. They're like,

Sarah:

Billy Madison doing cursive. Right?

Chris:

There was like a, a d with a hat on it. I'm like, I don't, not sure. But it was, it was all, it was all fascinating. And it turns out in this particular cathedral, they are taking up a collection, uh, to buy a new organ. Okay. And then I looked at the place where the organ was and the organ. The organ is two stories and is bigger than my house, like the, the organ, the amount of stained glass and gold and marble in this cathedral. Um. I'm thinking could have gone a long way to maybe making sure some peasants didn't die in the middle Ages. Yeah. Yeah. I mean. I don't know. I don't know. It was great though.'cause there's so many Game of Thrones. Its beautiful quotes and I had had no sleep, so I was extra funny. There's a, uh, there's a sculpture, a beautiful sculpture of, uh, Pope, I think it's Popey kind of guy. And he's sitting down and, uh, there's a, there's a guy like sitting behind him, so it looks like they're sledding. Like it looks like they're, I was like, what? Is this And I took pictures of things'cause I'm like, I'm gonna look that up when I get back home and figure out what that was. No, I haven't even looked at the pictures except for the Pope on a sled. I looked at Pope on a sled a couple times,

Sarah:

Pope on a sled. I love that you sent us some pictures and it was absolutely gorgeous. I was very jealous. It is.

Chris:

And we are, we're inside, inside Prague in this castle and I think maybe the mayor of of Prague. Lives in the, in the castle there were, uh, I mean there was a change. Prague is a country, right? No. Prague is a city. Prague is a city p in, in the Czech Republic. Right.

Sarah:

Ah, that makes sense now. Okay. Czech Republic is the country. Country, right? Prague is just a city. It's not a state. No, not everybody has states. Not

everybody has states and Canada has the

Sarah:

providence provides Providences. I can't with you. Hey, that Facebook thing came up for me. Again, that was defining the UK Great Britain and everything, right? And I just looked at the little sections and there's a bunch of repeating shit in each section and it pisses me the fuck off. So I just kept scrolling. Go ahead.

Chris:

I mean, I had the opportunity to ask the question several times. I was like, so can you just break it down for me, like how the soccer teams get promoted and why you don't just have states like. I don't, is it four country? There's four countries is a one country. You can't have a country in a country. It doesn't make any sense. Exactly.

Sarah:

This is what I'm saying. I believe that you laughed at me the first time I said this. This is ridiculous. You can't say there's these three, this is a country, but then say, oh, but the uk What? I don't take your weird electrical outlets. You're nonsensical UK ness. Right?

Chris:

Take your big fat plug in it. You know where you can put your metric

Sarah:

system right. Shove your Celsius up your ass.

Chris:

They said, that's the thing that doesn't make sense. They're like, what's the word for a thousand pounds? I was like, half a ton. A thousand. They're like, I was like a ki a pound. Who? Who cares? Anyway, so that was like that. That was my advice. I was kidding. I

Sarah:

apologize to any of our UK friends'cause I know that you're out there. I know you're listening. I mean, I apologize. You guys are much better than we are. I

Chris:

mean, it's fine. This, this gives us stuff to talk about, um, differences in opinion and such. Um, you could also Uber, uh, in, in the Czech Republic, so we, we get to the Czech Republic, we've been awake for like, I don't know, 39 hours or something. And, uh. I'm like, we could get an Uber.'cause I'm looking at the Uber app on my phone and it says, all right, go outside and pick up the Uber. You're gonna show this code, uh, just hop in the first vehicle in line and show the guy the code. I'm like, all right. So we ask the person at the information desk who I would assume is the person that has the information about what to do, and uh, I show her the Uber app and she's like, oh yes, that's upstairs. Go out upstairs on level two. Okay, so we go out and what it is is just, there's a bunch of cars kind of just hanging out there, and I'm like, do you think we just get in a car, Nicole? And, uh, and Nicole's like, I don't, I don't think that sounds right. And, uh, luckily we didn't do that because, uh, this is where the people wait to pick up relatives. I

Sarah:

really

Chris:

wish

Sarah:

that you would've done that so badly. So badly. I wish this story would be so much. I mean, this is great, but I mean, it would be so much better if you would've got in a stranger's car in a street, showed show him a code, and showed him a code and spoke English.

Chris:

Hi. Hi. We need to go to the hotel show code. Do you know how to get to the Clarion Hotel? It's the Clarion.

Sarah:

They can understand you if you say it louder,

Chris:

loud, and slow. Right. Um, so no, that is not, that is not where you do that. So luckily we went inside and found the, we found the Uber line before we popped in the car with somebody's grandma. And here's what I was gonna do. I was just gonna go around and put my shit in the trunk and then pop in the backseat. Can you imagine sitting at the airport waiting for somebody and then some dumb bitch just pops out and she's like, Hey, put my shit in your trunk. Let's go. Here's my code. What up, bro? There were a lot of near misses like that. Um, oh, I love that. And every, it was very humbling too, because everybody speaks English and I don't speak Czech, so I was like, I'm sorry, do you, do you speak English? And she's like, yes, of course I speak English. And I was like, it's not as common to speak two languages where I come from. So I would appreciate a little less disdain in your Yes answer.

Well,

Chris:

if you could. Well, I, I mean, man who's trying to help me find a plug to plug in my curling iron. So you found the

Sarah:

Uber?

Chris:

Yeah. Found the Uber. Yeah. It was all, it was. It was all Go be Ubered. We Ubered everywhere. Prague is now my favorite city because it is so. Beautifully medieval and the streets are tiny and there's cobblestones everywhere and everyone is friendly ish. I'm pretty sure they're scamming me out of some kind of money. Like every time I went to pay with my credit card, he is like, do you wanna pay in dollars or, or check checks? I was like, I'll just write you a check. It's hilarious. Hilarious. Um, yeah, it was, it was beautiful and I wish that I would've had a lot more time to spend there and I was sad when I had to come home. Once we're famous, we'll go over there and record. That would be awesome. We go to the bridge. There was a bridge that was famous for some

Sarah:

reason. We can record from the bridge. We can record from the basilica, which sounds like the snake in Harry Potter. We can record from the chapel bas the cathedral.

Chris:

Right? We could record from any of any number of churches, all of underneath, all of'em.

Sarah:

We'll be super blessed.

Chris:

Any amount of stained glass, right? Yes. Also, it turns out that I am so American that even before I talk, you know, I'm American. Yeah. I don't know how, but apparently I just radiate Uncle Sam's under Pitt. Like armpits. Like that is the feeling I give off. Wonder why? I don't know. It's something to do with my aggressive walking. I don't, I don't know.

Sarah:

Yeah. It's weird. I don't, Hmm.

Chris:

The fact that it looked like somebody blew on my hair like this for two days, they're like, oh, bad hair. Gotta be American. Can't figure out how to plug shit in. Better laptop. Chelsea doesn't know how to do

Sarah:

anything here.

Chris:

Right, right. Anyway, so that was it. That was, that was a good time. I really enjoyed myself. I didn't realize how far away it was.'cause you had to like, take like nine flights, like to get back. I went from Prague to, uh, Paris, to Boston, to home.

Sarah:

Oh, that sounds terrible.

Chris:

It was a, it was a lot. It was a lot of flying. But I did get the opportunity, which I have never had before and I will never have again. Uh, I got to make a pillow fort on the airplane. I had all four middle seats to myself and all four pillows. And all four blankets.'cause they still give you those things on an international flight. So I laid down and died for a good three hours of the trip. So good, good stuff all around. I can't wait to go back. Thank you Prague, and thank you guys for listening to me gammer on about, uh, about things. Um, I love it. My final word is that if you get the chance to go do touristy things with a group of people and none of you knows the history or has done any research or can read any of the signs, it's best to have somebody with you that will just make some stuff up. So, yeah, I'm gonna give Jumbo a little bit of a shout out here.

Sarah:

I was just gonna say, daddy would be the best if we could just put'em in your pocket, take him with you, right.

Chris:

Wow. Right, right. Because we were, we were in a long hallway at one point, and I was like, what do you think they used this for? And the girl who was with us, who was a quiet girl just pops off with like this long explanation of mm-hmm. Why you would have a long hallway. And I was like, wow, Jess, did you research this? And she was like, oh no, I made that up. Yeah. Straight faced. Straight faced. Yeah. I was like, this is the best, this

Sarah:

is. I feel like you had to do it a few times.'cause I feel like it's a family talent that we have and somehow people believe us. Like yesterday we had a boosters meeting and the one girl said, you know, they make banners, it's down in Crafton. And I was like, craft and banners. And the other girl was like, oh, okay. And was writing down craft and banners, don't write that down, that's not it. And she was like, wait, are you fucking with me? And I was like, yeah. I don't know what the fuck the name that place is. But I mean, craft and banners made sense.

Chris:

No, but yeah, I mean, I, I got to do it a couple, couple times. We walked into a room, I'm sure you did. And there were, uh, there were like family crests or, or stuff on the, on the ceiling. And I'm like, oh no, this is the family tree of the mare Yeah. Of Prague. The, the ruler of this castle. Everyone got to write their name on the ceiling. See,

but they didn't,

Chris:

I don't know what I, to this day. Yeah,

Sarah:

no idea. But I'm sure that you made up some good shit while you were over there.

Chris:

Delightful, delayed. I highly recommend Daddy would've been proud. It's often more interesting than what actually happened. Like why are the, and I also poorly translating those signs, like when we were in France, there was a sign for the Frontier Police. I was like, no, it's immigration. This is immigration. It's the frontier police. That sounds right. Yeah. I was like, oh, here we are. I need to show this man my passport. And he looked at me and he said to passports.

Sarah:

I sport

Chris:

and I said, oh, here it is. Hi. Maybe that's how everybody knows I'm American,'cause I'm just smiling all the time. Hi. And he was

Sarah:

like, wow, you a dumb American,

Chris:

stupid. Welcome to Prague

Sarah:

idiot. When I travel to Canada, I'm constantly saying, sorry, I'm just dumb American.

Chris:

I don't mean to be aggressive and take over an entire conversation. I don't know why or how it happens. Alright, let's, uh, let's talk books. Let's talk books.

Sarah:

Yeah. I'm super excited to talk about this book'cause I'm definitely intrigued by your thoughts.

Chris:

Yeah, I, I am, I shared a little bit, uh, before, um, that I don't like this book. Yeah. I don't know why I don't like the book. Like, I like everything about it. I like the ideas. I, I think that she's spot on when she's talking about how to, how to manage and regulate your emotions as you, as you go through a world that isn't necessarily centered on your happiness, which I think is sort of the crux of, of this, is that nobody, nobody around you owes you, uh, a good time. Nobody around you owes you a particular feeling or a particular anything. Nobody owes you an invite to Girls weekend. And people are going to do what they are going to do. And that's kind of like the let them piece of it, right. Uh, to recap from a couple weeks ago. And the let me piece of that is these are things I can control and I can do to impact what happens to me in the future. So both of those things to together are good and I like those thoughts and I think that they're accurate, but I don't know why I have trouble reading.

Oh, I didn't mute.

Chris:

I thought I muted reading this book. Fuck, I'm sorry. I swear

Sarah:

I mute.

Chris:

Hilarious.

Sarah:

No, afraid I'm gonna,

Chris:

oh no, there's no way we're cutting that out. No way. All right. So let, let them, let me. That was a really sloppy one. It sounded amazing. It sounded amazing. So I do think that, that Mel Robbins is good. I do think she's insightful. I don't know why I can't get past her writing. I, I dunno, I think those two things can exist. Simultaneously though I think I can not like the writing and appreciate the ideas.

Sarah:

You'll

Chris:

just be

Sarah:

irritated as you read it. Right? Like it just be hard to read.

Chris:

Like,

Sarah:

I'm angry right now because, and this is what I wanted to get to.'cause you were very like, eh, it's not really my cup. Like you were No, like I, there was feeling, there was a lot of feeling behind your. Discussed with this book.

Chris:

Yeah. I don't, and maybe, maybe it comes back to what we talked about in the beginning. Like, bitch takes these ideas that are like almost obvious at this point to me. Uh, writes'em down in a book and then sells them to, and becomes a

Sarah:

bazillionaire and

Chris:

sells'em to housewives because they're unhappy with the fact that they couldn't get into the lounge in France.

Sarah:

Yeah. You have feelings? Yep. Mm-hmm. Yeah,

Chris:

that's, I think that might be, that might be part of it. I'll pick it apart later. But I mean, suffice it to say that this is a struggle for me to read. Um. I liked chapter three, like stress less, control your reactions, not the world. I think she says at one point, and right now, also professionally I am, I am going through a period of time where I am working harder probably than I have since CODI am under a lot of pressure to do things successfully with not a lot of, of tools, resources, or understanding of the assignment. So I am, I am stressed and. It is, it is a challenge for me to try and control that without sort of doing what I do when I'm normally stress, which is just to double down, uh, work more, pay less attention to things that I should and just kind of barrel through whatever it is that's challenging. So I think that's like the exact opposite of what you should be doing, right. It turns out okay. Yeah, it turns out I should be. Um, and it, it, it has like, that is a lot of the reason that I ended up staying up all night because there was just, uh, I'm like, I'm just gonna do one more thing. I'm just gonna do one more thing. And, uh, you know, looking at, uh, looking at chapter three and chapter four, I'm probably a bit irritated with them, uh, because they are telling me what I should be doing and what I'm doing is the exact opposite of them. So I'm probably a bit annoyed. With someone telling me something obvious that I simply refuse to do that you're just ignoring for whatever reason.

Sarah:

Yeah. I feel like that might be your problem with it. Like it might Yeah, this all makes sense and I bet it works, but uh, I'm not gonna do it.

Chris:

Right. Right. I'm like, I completely understand, control my reactions, not the, not the world. And I, I will say that I am getting, uh, I am getting better at looking at things that, that are happening and understanding. That these are things that are happening and not everything that is happening is a direct result of my effort. So, like two years ago, Christine would have looked at the situation and been like, well, if things are like this because I did something wrong, so in order to make up for it, I'm just gonna, I'm keep on, I'm gonna kill myself working to make it, to make it better. And now I'm, I'm much more likely to be like, well, um. This, this is, this is a terrible pickle we've gotten ourselves into and how can we, how can we get out of it? And

Sarah:

I'm still gonna work as hard.

Chris:

Yeah. Well, I'm, I'm gonna work as hard. I'm still gonna

Sarah:

overwork myself, but at least I'm not gonna blame myself. Right. Steps, baby steps. Right. Baby steps.

Chris:

I want to make it easier for everybody else, right? Like, I want everybody else to come into a situation where they can be, be successful. That is like the, the doubling down now isn't because I have to make up for my inadequacies, my doubling down now is because I, I. Want everyone to be happy. So different.'cause

Sarah:

you're people pleasing, right? So different. No, I feel like this is trading your pack of smokes for your puffer. Right. Um, we're we're vaping now. Cool. Yeah, exactly.'cause I feel like this is exactly what just happened.

Chris:

And we all, we, we are also having this discussion around, uh, around the behavior, which is something that we would've never had before.'cause a, I wouldn't have talked about it. I, I would've been like, I'm so ashamed of what I have done and how bad I am at everything that I can't even, that I can't even talk about. I'll just work until I die because, you know, I deserve it. Um, where now I'm like, why we're, why we're. The, the other thing I really liked about chapter three, which will, uh, resonate with anyone who's listened to this podcast for more than one episode is the, uh, power of pause. Um, do you remember when she talks about this, like the ability to kind of take that, take that beat and be like, uh, yep. You know, I have to, I have to take a minute and protect my own energy and figure. How do I, how do I maintain my peace of mind by consciously choosing, um, not to react to things that are, that are bothering me? Like, how do I choose to say, all right? Yeah. That's, that's irritating. Um, like couple examples, uh, I think from my own life are yeah, things. People are asking me questions today and I'm like, Ugh, why, why are you asking me this question? And. Being able to take a beat and be like, uh, they're asking you that question.'cause they need to know the answer, right. Like Right. Just give them the answer. I agree with this because I

Sarah:

do it all the time. Like as soon as my little teams thing comes up, I'm like, oh, what the fuck do they want? And it's like, yeah, they want you to do your

Chris:

job, asshole. Right. They need your help with something. And, uh, they're not, they're not annoying you. So let them ask their questions and mm-hmm. You know, let me figure out how I can best help them quickly and efficiently, so. Right, right. I. Positive steps, positive steps. So chapter three all makes sense. Um, you know, I don't really have a whole lot more to talk about out outside of that. I'm looking through

Sarah:

it now.

Chris:

I think that co that pretty much covers it. Yeah. Yeah. And then chapter four, opinions. Right? So again, we're, we're dancing back into fear of other people's opinions. Right. And how that, you know. How that can hold you back and how, uh, people waste time and energy attempting to, you know, get other people to think a specific way about them. Like, and it is exactly the, the first rule of mastery, right? Our, our buddy. Yeah. Ricky, ve uh, Michael ve dammit. Whatever. Um, mighty. This chapter is essentially that chapter put into a blender and, and spit out by a fluffy pink bunny.

Sarah:

Oh, a

Chris:

fluffy pink bunny. Right. Freedom through accept. There's a lot of, there's a lot of like, catchphrases like freedom through acceptance.

Sarah:

Yeah. It looks like I didn't really, um, I didn't. Highlight so much in this chapter. And I say it looks like,'cause I'm looking through my book because I shared this earlier. I read this two weeks ago, so I obviously don't remember a fucking thing I read. So I'm looking at my highlighted shit and in chapter four, I really only have two things highlighted, which is very odd. And I'm assuming that I did that because it's all shit that we've really dug into before. Um, and more into the, to the fopo shit of things.

Chris:

Right, right. Again, it, it. Like, let let other people have their opinions. Like let them, let me, like, let other people have their opinions about you. Um, you're not going to. You're not necessarily going to do a whole lot to change somebody else's opinion about you because they rarely even think about you. So if you are, uh, constantly out here trying to get people to, to think a certain way about you, um, your best, your best bet at getting people to. Think the way that you want them to think about you is living your life. So then there's, there's the let yeah, the let me piece of it is I'm gonna do the things that I'm going to do in the way that I think is the most effective and advantageous, and. You know, the, the, the people who are, who are my tribe, the people who think like me, and the people who can appreciate, you know, the way that I am, are, are going to appreciate it and the people who are annoyed by it are gonna be annoyed by it and not a whole lot of me. Uh, putting a lot of effort into being something completely different than, than what I am. As long as that is a good person who, you know, is kind and thinks about others and does all the things that, um, living your purpose. Yeah. That, that align with my values of that. Mm-hmm. Maybe those aren't everyone's values, but I, I do like to be a good person and as long as I'm doing that, then, you know, sometimes I'm gonna rub people the wrong way.

Yeah,

Chris:

perfectly fine. What I wrote here is that we are collectively guiding ourselves towards personal empowerment, and I think that's the, the personal empowerment piece is sort of like the catchphrase, right? Like empower. You have to empower yourself. But that is, that is essentially what we've been talking about. You're taking the control

Sarah:

back, you're giving yourself the power

Chris:

That is essentially what we've been talking about from the beginning, like the subtle. Giving a fuck isn't about not caring about what people are thinking about you, it's about understanding that it doesn't matter, right? Like, it's not that I don't care. It's not that I don't give a fuck. It's just that there are things that just don't matter. They can't matter because they're pretend. The the opinion delusion, I think is what, is what our girl Mel calls it. Oh, I didn't highlight that. That's

Sarah:

amazing.

Chris:

Wasting time and energy attempting to influence others' thoughts about them. Like, like really, really putting a lot of effort into something like working like an asshole because you want people in your group to think that you're the best at what you do. Hmm, I'm fine. I'm fine. I am

Sarah:

learning lessons.

Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah:

I think that you should start reading this book from the beginning again. I can't. I can't. I think until you can start employing some of this, you're just gonna have to keep rereading this particular book, these particular chapters. Why is it gotta be a punishment? I don't know. I feel like, oh, speaking of punishment, this is why, because I'm watching the Ruby, Frankie Hulu special. That's why Is

Chris:

she the Mormon? Is she the Mormon?

Sarah:

Yeah, she's the, where I was, I made, I was making Owen watch it with me. I was like, Hey, why don't you sit down with me and see what real terrible parenting is? Right, right. You'll be thanking me over and over again.

Chris:

Um, my, one of my favorite podcasts is going over Lori Vallow and Chad debell. Oh, wow. Also crazy as Mormons. Right. Wow. That,

Sarah:

that's on a different level, man. On a different level, but yeah, totally fucked. Yeah. That's a bad parent. Yeah. And uh, Ruby, Frankie, it's actually her family that's being interviewed like her eldest daughter and son and her husband, her ex-husband. I'm assuming if he's not her ex-husband, he's, he's an idiot. A complete, uh, a complete Morin Morin. Yes, that too. Anyway, sorry, I didn't mean to hijack, but yes. That's your punishment. I have to go back and read this until I can employ these things in my life. Got it. And I will also be taking your bedroom away from you, and you will be sleeping on a small beanbag for seven months.

Chris:

Seems fair.

Sarah:

Yes. Thanks, Ruby.

Chris:

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Like

Sarah:

I can't, I can't even listen to that, to that stuff. Like, and that's, I think that, I mean, I haven't even gotten into the bad stuff yet. Like that was, that's. It gets so much worse. Yeah. So much worse. It's fucking awful. And there's a special place for people who do this shit to children.

Chris:

So on the, anyway, on the upside, she had lots of followers.

Sarah:

Oh my gosh. She was very popular. I mean, the, like he, in the first episode, they're talking about how much money, and they were making like a hundred grand a month. I mean, if you're, if you're, and that probably wasn't even the top. Like, that's like, he was get like, he was like, yeah, we went from a thousand a month to 50,000 a month to a hundred grand a month.

Chris:

I mean, if you're willing to sacrifice your whole family then,

Sarah:

and that's, I mean, that's essentially what happened. And that's, I don't, I mean, it's much as I'd love to win the lottery, I don't feel that it's really worth it.

Chris:

You, you still have to live your life in line with your, with your values.

Sarah:

Yeah. Her values were fucked.

Chris:

Right. Very scary. Um, anyway, so sorry I had to, so really, yeah, I, I mean, I can see a lot of parallels in, in this book with all of the other stuff that we've learned and a lot of the tools that we have at our disposal for helping me understand how to, how to get these things into, into my life. The good thing is that I haven't descended to a point where I'm completely burned and crying every day before I recognize that this might potentially be a problem and I need to fix it as SAP.

Sarah:

Well, that's good. And I mean, I think you know the whole thing, admitting you have the problem is the first step. So baby steps, like I said, baby steps. Baby steps baby. I can't wait for us to finish recording. And you go back to work? Yeah. Well, oh. Yeah. Well here's the, I think I highly advise that when we, when we hit the stop button that you leave your office,

Chris:

I'm going out to dinner. Good. Because there are other people in my life that were like, Hey, haven't seen you in four weeks. If you could just maybe come up for air. Yeah. So here I am. Yeah. So that's

Sarah:

good.

Chris:

Yeah.

Sarah:

Yes. So the next, the next section is actually called Fearing Other People's Opinions. Oh, really? Chapter five is Let Them Think Bad Thoughts about You. And Chapter six is How to Love Difficult People. So I feel like chapter five will be able to get through. I mean, that'll probably be a lot of repeated shit. Again, I originally was gonna say maybe we need to switch up books, but then I read the title of chapter six and I'm kind of interested in in that one. So I would like to continue on, what is it? It's How to Love Difficult People.

Chris:

So I mean, I'm kind of

Sarah:

interested in it.

Chris:

Is it because Becca's difficult?

Sarah:

Mm-hmm. Right.

Chris:

No.

Sarah:

No. I mean it's just that there's, everybody has some difficult people in their lives. Mm-hmm. And I'm not even talking about like. I don't know the people I'm interested in reading it. If it Yeah, if it's I will, I will keep reading it. Yeah. If it's, if after that we're seeing that it's just too, too much of the same shit, I think that maybe we should discuss moving on

Chris:

cutting date, as I will still say.

Sarah:

But um, if we're getting too much replication, it's gonna get kind of boring for everybody, so Right. Nobody, maybe we'll move on.

Chris:

Nobody wants to hear the same stuff. And I, I, the next mean, obviously I need to hear the same stuff over and over and over again.'cause I can't apply. Actually, actually, we should just finish the book.

Sarah:

Fine.

Chris:

We'll finish it.

Sarah:

Fine, fine. Fantastic. All right. Is that it? Are you, yeah, I mean,

Chris:

short, short and sweet. This week I, I yammered away a lot about Prague I feel like. So I think,

Sarah:

you know, after all our, um, off the rails at the beginning. We pulled it together short. Sweet Bank. Bank. Fantastic. All right. A couple things to remind. Yeah. So, uh, April 4th at the, um, stage. Craft, craft house. Stage Grill. Yeah. Craft house. Yeah. You gotta get the name of the place, right? Craft House. Stage and Grill in the South Hills. Okay. Excellent. Meet us there. I'll be there at five o'clock. There's a super awesome band playing. It'll be so much fun. And they have beer, so. And Sarah's birthday is the next day. And my birthday's the next day. So everybody should come out and party with us, and Becca will be there. Okay? Yeah. So, yes, you'll get to meet Becca, um, and you'll get to meet Kim d because she's gonna be there.'cause her birthday is actually on April 4th. So we're gonna celebrate. Substack is up, we're gonna try to figure it out. We have some shit to talk about, like us on Facebook. If you, if you watch us on the, um, the YouTubes, do whatever you do on the tubes.

Chris:

Don't, don't subscribe. Do that, do that. Don't do whatever you do on the tubes. Yeah. Like think there's buttons up here at the top, like just like our little thumbs, thumbs. Do all the things bottom. Okay. The down the bottom. Yeah. Right. Okay. Yeah. All of it. All of it. Wherever the buttons are put,

Sarah:

push all the buttons. Push the buttons and whatever, um, platform you're listening to us, make sure you subscribe, like, or whatever you do on that platform. Um, and I think that's it. What did I miss? Did I miss anything?

Chris:

I think that's it.

Sarah:

Okay.

Chris:

Yeah. All love you. All right. Love you. Bye.

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Christine Kanalis

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Sarah Leibhart

Host