Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories: A Conversation with Ms. Dillard

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Hello, everyone, and welcome to The Kickback. I am your host, The Dude.

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Welcome to another episode of Topic Tuesday.

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Tonight, we have an interesting story of a young lady who made a wonderful transition in life.

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And as I always like to say on every show, we interview ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

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So tonight she's going to tell her story about how she

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became the person she is today in her creative mode and the things that she

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does with her business and how it is her happy place and a place that she loves

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to be and doing something that she loves to do.

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And is the world says if you find something that you love to do,

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you will never work a day in your life. Dave, how are you doing today, my brother?

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Doing great, my brother. How are you? I'm doing wonderful, man.

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You know, it's always wonderful to be here on the Kickback with our lovely audience

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and always having a great conversation with great people. Yes, sir.

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What are you using tonight? You sound like you're a little muffled a little bit there, David.

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Yeah, I got a headset on this time. I was trying to see how this would work

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out. Does it not sound better now?

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No, it still sounds like you got something over your mouth.

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Hmm. Okay. Well, let me go back to, it's not good.

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Well, I'm going to be in the background anyway, but I've got my old standby here. Standby.

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Man, listen, like you said, you'll be in the background, but it's always have you here.

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What do you think about all the work we've been doing in the background?

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A lot of people don't know what we're doing, but we've got a lot of amazing

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things coming up in the next month.

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How are you feeling about the new stuff we have going on in the background?

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There she is. Hello, hello, hello, Ms. Dillard. How are you today?

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I'm here, front and center. Front and center.

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I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I am your host, The Dude,

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and welcome to The Kickback.

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This is International Women's Month, and that's why we have Ms.

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Dillard on our show. She is a beautiful, talented young lady.

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How's your day been? It's been wonderful.

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Thanks for asking. That's great. How's the weather where you are?

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I'm in Michigan. So it's 62 degrees.

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62. That's we had we had about 80 here in Tennessee today. It was about 80 degrees.

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So it is this weather here in Tennessee is so bipolar.

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One minute is cold. One minute is raining. One minute is hot. One minute is flooding.

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One minute you got hail. So I don't know what the Southern God is thinking about

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when he does this weather, but it is everywhere.

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I moved to Michigan from Tennessee, so I actually like the cold.

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So where are you originally from? Detroit.

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So that's why you like the cold, because that's what you were used to.

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That's where you grew up at.

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Not really. got into the Marine Corps, when I got 18, I was running away from

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here. I actually hated the cold.

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But there's a thing called menopause and once you go through menopause,

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I started hating the heat.

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Yeah, my wife's going through that.

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My hat's off to you, young lady. My hat's off to you because,

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for example, last night she woke.

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I was going to bed I think we had just got off the phone and I was going to

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bed me and Dave just cut off the phone and I was about to go to bed and she

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rolled over and she had a pool of sweat,

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it at her neck you know where your neck and your chest meets and she just had

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a yeah she had the fan on but it wasn't i had to turn it up just a little bit

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i had to turn it up the fan sets at the foot of the bed blowing directly on

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her but for some reason she had one of those flashes.

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And it was it wasn't pretty but that is we we're we're going left from where

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we where we need to But I love it.

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I love the fact that what I do here is I try to have true, transparent and vulnerable

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conversations. Now, we'll never get into anything that you don't feel comfortable getting into.

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And I like to tell all my guests, my show is like a mullet.

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We'll handle all the business in the front and then we'll have fun in the back.

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And what I mean by fun is I'll just ask you a few random questions,

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nothing too impersonal, nothing slanderous or any of those things.

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They're actually fun questions.

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And right at the end of the show, I'll ask you those questions.

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So what I'd like for you to do is just introduce yourself,

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tell people who you are, what your business is and how you got there. I got there.

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We ain't got that long. But I know when David asked me to come on,

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he wanted to talk about PAMS, which is my photographic business.

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At this age, I actually do, I work for myself. I'm a consultant.

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But my hobby that pays is the photography. I work from home.

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My sister owns some mental health facilities, so I work as a consultant.

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So between her and other people that need home health care consultants, I do that remotely.

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But my hobby that pays is PAMS. It stands for people are my specialty.

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And that's because when I'm in a room full of photographers,

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most of them do architecture or birds or landscape or macro.

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They don't usually do people. So that's what it came up with.

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So I do people and I like people. So I do models and I do events and things of that nature.

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And I enjoy making people look good.

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My challenge is when people don't like to be photographed saying that,

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oh, I don't like my pictures.

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And they give you a whole list of reasons why.

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Then I work on that. I usually work on what it is they don't like about being photographed.

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And I always come out on top. I always have very good pictures.

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The thing is, it is a mental game when it comes to a lot of things.

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And a lot of people don't understand that a person will tell you how to help them.

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A person will tell you, like you said, a lot of people will say,

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I don't like pictures. I don't like the way I look in pictures.

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So now it's your objective to figure out how to make them feel good about you

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taking their picture and much less the picture coming out amazing.

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Mm-hmm. And that's exactly my focus. Usually, because I know how to shoot people.

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Secondly, it's very difficult to just sit there and say, okay,

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we're going to count to three. That's the problem right there.

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Because if you smile in the mirror and count to three, you will see it looks

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different. One, two, and three.

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So when I say ready, I'm shooting. I'm not counting to three because I want it natural.

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And that's just kind of, I do. All righty, so you are a Marine.

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Unfortunately Why, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait Why is it an unfortunate

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fact that you are a Marine And how long did you spend in the Marine Corps?

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Well, I spent three years in the Marine Corps But I didn't really know what I was doing I'm smart,

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so I scored really high on the ASVAB test And they came looking for me And because

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most people know that Marines are all dummies And so they do need some smart

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people some of the time to be able to handle some of the logistics.

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And so they offered me $5,000 to go into electronics.

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And, you know, back in the 80s, $5,000 was like, oh, my God,

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I'm rich. Man, bling, bling, balling on a budget.

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Yeah, that's exactly what happened. And so I let the recruiter talk to me in.

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Tell me all kinds of stories. And I believed it, and I ended up in the Marine

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Corps. So every day was a shock treatment. Okay.

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And you said every day was a shock treatment being in the Marine Corps,

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and you spent three years there.

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So how? Until they put me out. Until they did what? I said, until they put me out.

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Why would they put me out? It wasn't a bad thing. Because in the Marine Corps,

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you have to work out all the time.

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So when I was not able to PT because I had a herniated disc,

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then here they come, basically like, okay, well, you got to go.

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And that's what happened.

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Okay. You don't even know it's coming. It's just coming. So it was more like a medical discharge.

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Yeah, it was. But it still was, I didn't know I was going to be,

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you know, put out actually.

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Right, right, right. Okay. So we spent three years in the Marine Corps.

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So how did we get into

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photography well i

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mean that's a long time because i mean i am old but it

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when i got i used to always take pictures a long time ago just to preserve memories

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and so you know just take pictures so i have photo albums of things because

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i know that people don't usually uh remember people in places but when you show

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them a picture it brings it back So when I lived in Atlanta,

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I'm a stepper. So that's Chicago stepping.

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When I lived in Atlanta, I wanted to get up from the table when I wasn't dancing.

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And that's what I did. I would get up with my little camera,

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and I would walk around the room, and I would take pictures of the event.

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So what are you going to do with those pictures? You don't know those people.

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It was just my way of keeping myself company.

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So I would give the pictures. Of course, I would sort through them,

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and then I would give them to whoever the promoter was.

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And so that's and it just went from there because then all of the promoters

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would be asking me to take pictures and do things for them and come to all the shows.

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So then I became busy with events. And then for me, I just wanted to get better and better.

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OK, and that's a once you find something it was it turned into something like

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you said, you didn't want to sit at the table because you are a Chicago stepper.

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Now, you're going to have to explain to me what the difference is between a

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stepper and a Chicago stepper, because I'm from Nashville, born and raised.

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So I don't know what the difference is. So we don't have to we don't have to dive into that.

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Also, what's the difference between a regular stepper and a Chicago stepper?

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But in the story, you said you didn't want to set at the table.

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So you wanted to get up and you had your little camera and you took pictures

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of people dancing and then you gave them to the promoter.

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Did that somehow become lucrative?

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Because the promoter would post

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the pictures on facebook or somewhere and say hey i

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gave a set monday night and then you got all these pictures of

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people on the dance floor or whatever angle

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i chose to take the pictures so you so you started

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the whole cameraman thing i would

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not say that but it was the

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lady taking pictures before me

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she just wasn't as good as me because she took

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more pictures of herself and then she

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didn't yeah she took a

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lot of pictures of herself and she wasn't good at it

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because by the time I started taking pictures people would

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tell me how much they appreciated me and here's an example if you are a married

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man and you're dancing you gotta remember I'm shooting at a nanosecond so you

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could be turning a lady and your hands will look like it's touching her breath

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so if I don't look at the pictures then now when you your wife see it.

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She's going to be saying, why is she touching that lady breast?

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And that is truly not what happened.

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It's just the way that the camera caught it.

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The hand was going across the breast to make a turn, but nowhere near the breast.

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So that I knew. So I was very respectful of things like that.

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Or if you ask me, you say, well, hey, you took a picture of me yesterday,

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but I didn't see it on Facebook.

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Well, that's because when I looked at it, it was not flattering.

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Your pants might have been open or your shoes was run over.

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Whatever the case may be, I always want people to look their best.

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So if you don't look your best, I'm not posting it.

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And so it got to the point where people really, don't forget,

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I came on the backside of somebody that was more self-centered.

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And so they really appreciated me taking the pictures and they would always

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tell me. So it just grew a lot.

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And when I lived in Nashville, I had a lot of business, You know,

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events, I had a lot of models.

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I mean, I had to go to Atlanta just to get some black people in my portfolio.

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Because I had just lots and lots of people there, and I wanted it to be diverse.

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Right. You wanted a diverse portfolio, and I totally get it and I understand it.

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And what you just said is a whole other conversation, and we'll get into that

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the next time we check in with you, because we're most definitely going to bring

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you back later on and check on you. But tonight, we're going to get all the formals out.

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So how long have you been doing photography?

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I've probably been shooting probably about 15 years. I'm probably on about my

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seventh camera, you know, because I'm always upgrading.

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And I go to a lot of conferences and classes and seminars because,

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you know, I want to be the best that I can be.

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Everybody with a camera is not a photographer.

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Right. There are things that you learn, intricate details. And so I kind of pride myself on that.

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I mean, it's like what I'm doing right here. Not everyone is made to be in this

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space. Some people get into this space and they just it's it's all about money.

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I understand we all need money in order to make it and to survive.

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But like I said before, if it's something you love, you never work a day in

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your life. But let me ask you a few interview questions.

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So here's my first question. What is the biggest challenge you faced in your

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photography career and how did you overcome it? Yeah.

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You sound like I'm applying for a job. Next person that you get be a little

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more original. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.

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I was the same thing they asked you when you're looking for a job. Cut it out.

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So you want me to put my script away and let's just have a conversation?

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Could you please? But I will answer that question. All right.

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I'm going to put my script away.

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The only challenges, I don't think, I don't look at things as challenges.

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I look at things as opportunities.

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I don't know what a challenge will be. I guess for me would be learning my camera.

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You know, each camera is different and I got a new camera and I tend to gravitate to my older one.

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And that's because I shoot Sony and they done moved the button and the button

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that used to be in the front is in the back.

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So if I'm on the shoot, I got it. I'm like, man, where's that button?

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They done moved to the back and it frustrates me.

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So instead of really learning the camera or spending more time with it,

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I just gravitate to the familiar. I got more than one camera.

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Now, why did you buy that camera if you don't want to learn it.

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So my greatest challenge is always learning the camera.

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I started off with Olympus and now I'm shooting Sony.

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So I like to take pictures and I like to make sure that I'm always,

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one of my goals would be to have some of my pictures because I shoot abstracts

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and I would like my pictures on a wall somewhere,

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like walking to the VA and be able to say, you know what, I took that picture.

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Because as I walk through different halls or hotels, whatever,

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I look at the artwork and i'm thinking who puts that stuff up there i stayed

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in the marriott and there was a literally a pickle in a frame and the other

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frame had a copa-cola can.

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Yeah and i was in the marriott wow i'm saying now i would like to put some pictures

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on the wall that would really make my day something of real substance some some

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pictures of real substance,

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It don't have to, no, it doesn't have to, I could shoot you a can of paint or a Coca-Cola,

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but it would definitely be from an artistic standpoint, and I would be able

00:16:22.978 --> 00:16:27.018
to smile and say I took that, because I don't care how many millions of pictures

00:16:27.018 --> 00:16:30.078
I've taken, if I see a picture somewhere, anywhere,

00:16:30.778 --> 00:16:34.738
posted, online, social media, or on the wall, I would know I took that picture,

00:16:34.778 --> 00:16:36.198
and I just kind of smiled at myself.

00:16:37.098 --> 00:16:39.378
Okay, I mean, that's wonderful.

00:16:40.338 --> 00:16:43.538
Art art is i guess

00:16:43.538 --> 00:16:46.398
they say it's in it's the person

00:16:46.398 --> 00:16:49.498
who buys it it's it means something to them i'm

00:16:49.498 --> 00:16:52.958
not really an art connoisseur so i don't know i'm i'm a

00:16:52.958 --> 00:16:58.998
blue collar guy so i don't i don't get into too many finer things but photos

00:16:58.998 --> 00:17:03.898
a photo can make and break a lot of different things when you see particular

00:17:03.898 --> 00:17:08.058
photos of people places of things and you like you said there's different angles

00:17:08.058 --> 00:17:11.598
there's different techniques there's all these different things that you can use,

00:17:12.178 --> 00:17:17.698
in photography so 15 years seven cameras.

00:17:18.846 --> 00:17:22.246
It sounds like you'll be doing this for the rest of your life,

00:17:22.266 --> 00:17:23.666
is what it sounds like to me.

00:17:24.286 --> 00:17:28.506
Probably so, because I do enjoy it. My happy place is behind my camera.

00:17:28.726 --> 00:17:32.006
I travel a lot, so I take my camera with me.

00:17:32.146 --> 00:17:35.606
And the sacrifice is definitely worth the reward because I always have to have

00:17:35.606 --> 00:17:39.886
a carry-on. And my carry-on is normally my camera and whatever lens I'm going to take.

00:17:40.066 --> 00:17:45.146
So depending on where I'm going, I know it's like, man, do I need a zoom, a wide angle, a fix?

00:17:45.406 --> 00:17:49.326
You know, I got six pieces of glass, is what they call it. So I have six different

00:17:49.326 --> 00:17:52.646
lenses and I don't carry them all because I'm not going to need them.

00:17:52.706 --> 00:17:56.086
I usually do a wide angle on the zoom. I just came back from Spain.

00:17:56.426 --> 00:17:59.626
So I usually found myself using just the wide angle.

00:17:59.866 --> 00:18:05.606
See, you just took the next question out of where I was at because I was sitting

00:18:05.606 --> 00:18:08.786
here and I'm like, wait a minute. I had a question. I had a question. And I kind of lost it.

00:18:08.906 --> 00:18:12.006
But the question was. No, you know, you always forget.

00:18:12.826 --> 00:18:15.846
I had the script and you was like, put that away.

00:18:15.946 --> 00:18:23.766
So I put that away. And I do have notes on you from your bio you sent in to the website.

00:18:24.046 --> 00:18:26.306
Thank you for that. And I'm working.

00:18:26.626 --> 00:18:31.066
I'm looking at it on my screen as we're having a conversation.

00:18:31.146 --> 00:18:33.166
But the question is this.

00:18:33.686 --> 00:18:39.726
Where is the forest or the most beautiful place you've ever been to? I ain't been there yet.

00:18:40.606 --> 00:18:43.666
I mean, I travel a lot. The most beautiful, I'm still looking for it.

00:18:43.766 --> 00:18:46.906
I go to the French Riviera in June. Maybe that'll be it.

00:18:47.106 --> 00:18:50.446
I just came back from Madrid last month. I was in Jamaica.

00:18:50.786 --> 00:18:55.886
A month before that, I was in Sedona. Everything. It's like I lived all around the world as well.

00:18:56.126 --> 00:18:59.846
Not through the Marine Corps, just because I'm sort of a nomad.

00:19:00.206 --> 00:19:03.426
So each city has its own personality, its own heartbeat.

00:19:03.646 --> 00:19:07.326
And that's kind of the way it is when you travel. Last year, I went to India.

00:19:07.526 --> 00:19:10.326
Okay, so I got a chance to see one of the seven wonders of the world.

00:19:10.506 --> 00:19:15.506
I saw the Taj Mahal. Does that mean anything? That's just one piece of that seven-day trip. No.

00:19:15.946 --> 00:19:19.366
So I haven't really seen the most beautiful place that had me awestruck.

00:19:19.686 --> 00:19:22.586
They've all been on the same level. I really enjoy traveling,

00:19:23.046 --> 00:19:24.626
taking pictures. I tell a story.

00:19:24.866 --> 00:19:28.546
You know, I make picture books. I really wish they had a little spot on here.

00:19:28.786 --> 00:19:32.486
Other than on your bio, I think it asks for a picture. So I put a picture up

00:19:32.486 --> 00:19:36.286
there. But I would have put a picture of like the photo books that I make.

00:19:36.446 --> 00:19:41.866
It will have the city, Sedona, Italy, Japan, you know, Toronto, wherever I go.

00:19:42.286 --> 00:19:45.846
I always make books. I make them different size. I've been to South America.

00:19:47.113 --> 00:19:51.333
Medellin, Carcahaneh, you know, so I still got some more places to go.

00:19:51.473 --> 00:19:55.353
But since my happy place is behind my camera, when I travel,

00:19:55.553 --> 00:20:00.553
the journey is more about what I see and what I can tell you I saw in book.

00:20:01.053 --> 00:20:06.553
That is beautiful. You named some bucket list places and there are a lot of

00:20:06.553 --> 00:20:12.453
people that just wish they could just spend an hour in a lot of those places.

00:20:12.453 --> 00:20:19.833
And I'm one because I'd I hadn't had the opportunity as of yet to be a world traveler.

00:20:20.513 --> 00:20:25.953
Me, if you want to have an honest conversation, it's me because we're older

00:20:25.953 --> 00:20:27.953
and we can be honest. I can be honest.

00:20:28.173 --> 00:20:33.913
In life, I got myself into some places and into some things that I shouldn't have got myself into.

00:20:34.273 --> 00:20:40.313
And at my big age, now I'm trying to dig myself out of it and get a lot of things

00:20:40.313 --> 00:20:45.413
straightened out. so when it's time, I can travel.

00:20:45.633 --> 00:20:49.713
So it's just digging myself out of a hole. It's not like I'm a criminal or any

00:20:49.713 --> 00:20:52.993
of those things because I drive a school bus for Nashville, Tennessee.

00:20:52.993 --> 00:20:55.073
So I'm not a criminal. It's not criminal.

00:20:55.633 --> 00:21:01.033
But when you're younger, you do some things with your finances and different things of that nature.

00:21:01.493 --> 00:21:06.513
And you don't think about the repercussion or the consequences on the back end

00:21:06.513 --> 00:21:12.393
when you do those things. And so now I'm having to dig myself out of some financial

00:21:12.393 --> 00:21:16.273
issues and get myself back on track.

00:21:16.793 --> 00:21:20.073
So that's the only thing that's really stopping me.

00:21:20.653 --> 00:21:24.633
Well, that's good. As long as you know what the problem is and what your focus

00:21:24.633 --> 00:21:28.593
is. But don't lose focus because they leave me here every day.

00:21:29.113 --> 00:21:32.713
Yes, ma'am. And you know that it seems like that bus come a little bit more often.

00:21:33.273 --> 00:21:37.153
So I don't want to be on that bus. And when I'm on that bus,

00:21:37.173 --> 00:21:40.113
I can be smiling and say, you know what? Life don't owe me nothing.

00:21:40.633 --> 00:21:43.113
Nothing. And that's the way I want to be. You know, I've...

00:21:43.711 --> 00:21:50.031
I just started driving the school bus. Actually, I was a chef for 18 years and

00:21:50.031 --> 00:21:53.031
I walked away and decided I wanted to go drive.

00:21:53.211 --> 00:21:56.611
I wanted to go do something different because when I first got into food,

00:21:56.671 --> 00:22:00.851
it was challenging. And I love the challenge and I love the excitement of being

00:22:00.851 --> 00:22:04.171
in a restaurant on a Friday night and we've got a full house.

00:22:04.311 --> 00:22:09.051
And every hour you got 20 tickets coming in and you've got a crew of guys that

00:22:09.051 --> 00:22:13.211
you've bonded with and you all get in and you sweat and you cuss and you fuss.

00:22:13.211 --> 00:22:17.451
And you you buck up to each other and you get all of that food out.

00:22:17.551 --> 00:22:22.831
And at the end of the night, you enjoy a drink at the bar or whoever indulges

00:22:22.831 --> 00:22:24.251
in whatever they indulge in.

00:22:24.391 --> 00:22:30.271
But the fight is over and you're no longer enemies. Now you're friends because you fought that war.

00:22:30.531 --> 00:22:36.431
At the end, I got out of restaurants because it wasn't challenging anymore.

00:22:36.431 --> 00:22:41.191
So I went to a retirement facility and I worked at a retirement facility for

00:22:41.191 --> 00:22:43.991
five years at the end of my tenure as a chef.

00:22:44.291 --> 00:22:48.671
And it just became repetitive. And it's like you're locked in there with those

00:22:48.671 --> 00:22:50.211
people and they're not really locked in.

00:22:50.391 --> 00:22:53.271
But it was a independent living facility.

00:22:53.811 --> 00:22:59.351
And we cooked three meals a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

00:22:59.491 --> 00:23:01.611
If your birthday fell on your day, you were scheduled to work.

00:23:01.751 --> 00:23:03.931
You had to be at work. If your anniversary, your kid's birthday,

00:23:04.071 --> 00:23:08.351
Christmas, holidays, whatever it was, if it fell on the day that you were scheduled

00:23:08.351 --> 00:23:10.051
to work, you had to be in that building.

00:23:10.431 --> 00:23:13.331
That sounds like working for the government. That's how it was when I worked

00:23:13.331 --> 00:23:16.051
for the FBA, which you guys would say was FEMA.

00:23:16.631 --> 00:23:20.411
You know, it was the Department of Disaster Assistance. It didn't matter.

00:23:20.511 --> 00:23:22.171
I didn't care what happened in your life.

00:23:22.371 --> 00:23:27.191
The people who had experienced hurricane disasters or whatever, they was important.

00:23:27.531 --> 00:23:29.991
I'll never forget somebody was in training. They walked right up.

00:23:30.111 --> 00:23:32.111
When they said that, they got their purse.

00:23:32.351 --> 00:23:35.091
And he walked right out. Well, that's good to know because we don't need no

00:23:35.091 --> 00:23:35.951
problems with the tender.

00:23:37.071 --> 00:23:42.031
Yeah, so that was the end of my tenure as a chef, and I decided I didn't want to do it anymore.

00:23:44.231 --> 00:23:48.571
And it just, it was not challenging. So I told my wife, I said,

00:23:49.291 --> 00:23:51.431
babe, I'm ready to go. I don't want to do this anymore.

00:23:51.891 --> 00:23:54.171
And you better be bothered with them folks' kids.

00:23:55.351 --> 00:24:00.191
Yeah, because I got a lot of kids. You have kids of your own? Yes, ma'am.

00:24:00.871 --> 00:24:04.711
Oh, see, I don't have any kids. And I don't want to be bothered with nobody

00:24:04.711 --> 00:24:06.511
else's kids. I don't want to drive no bus.

00:24:06.731 --> 00:24:11.431
I don't want to be no substitute teacher. I don't want none of that. They don't pay enough.

00:24:12.671 --> 00:24:13.531
Understandable. Like you said,

00:24:13.611 --> 00:24:18.171
you don't have any children. My children range from the ages of 29 to 8.

00:24:19.675 --> 00:24:21.335
Oh, you just didn't know when to stop.

00:24:24.735 --> 00:24:27.995
We had this conversation the other night, me and my wife. It was like,

00:24:28.355 --> 00:24:30.015
thank God one of us went and got fixed.

00:24:30.675 --> 00:24:34.075
I mean, that's a big drop. But I mean, how many kids is that?

00:24:34.895 --> 00:24:36.595
Five. Okay.

00:24:38.215 --> 00:24:42.855
Four girls, one boy. I don't have any kids.

00:24:43.135 --> 00:24:46.235
Never wanted any. Never loved a man enough to give him none.

00:24:46.655 --> 00:24:49.535
So, no, I don't want no kids. My mother told me at 12 years old.

00:24:49.675 --> 00:24:53.175
She said, only have kids if you want them.

00:24:53.715 --> 00:24:56.775
She said, because when that man leave, he's going to leave with his hat and his ass.

00:24:58.695 --> 00:25:03.715
She said, so you only have kids if you want them, because you're going to be stuck with them.

00:25:03.835 --> 00:25:07.075
So I never want them. I've been married and divorced, but I don't want no damn kids.

00:25:07.475 --> 00:25:12.475
And here I am later on in life. Am I mad about it? Nope. I got nieces and nephews.

00:25:12.655 --> 00:25:14.975
You can kind of borrow them and keep them as long as you want.

00:25:14.975 --> 00:25:20.335
But the day-to-day responsibilities and putting all of my life on hold for five

00:25:20.335 --> 00:25:22.655
kids, that has not been something I'm going to do.

00:25:23.095 --> 00:25:25.975
Right. I mean, I had to say I had a conversation similar to that,

00:25:26.115 --> 00:25:31.615
too, with my with my brother and him and his wife, due to medical medical reasons,

00:25:31.755 --> 00:25:32.815
they don't have any kids.

00:25:33.055 --> 00:25:36.375
And I told him, I said, you guys are the best parents in the world.

00:25:36.755 --> 00:25:41.235
And I was me and my brother. I said, you guys are the best parents in the world. You know why?

00:25:41.475 --> 00:25:45.935
Because you can come and pick up my children. You can pick up my sister's children

00:25:45.935 --> 00:25:50.835
and you can take them home and spoil them and eat them and buy them things and

00:25:50.835 --> 00:25:54.595
do all these things with these children and then bring them back to us.

00:25:55.435 --> 00:26:01.195
Yeah, sure can. So then you win because now it's Uncle John got me this or Uncle

00:26:01.195 --> 00:26:03.855
John got me that or Auntie Brittany got me this.

00:26:04.135 --> 00:26:09.375
And nine times out of 10, I'll tell my children they can't have something.

00:26:09.555 --> 00:26:12.615
And you know who they'll call or they'll wait until their weekend.

00:26:12.875 --> 00:26:14.835
Not grandma. Uncle John.

00:26:16.468 --> 00:26:19.888
Well, don't call me because I ain't that kind of auntie because I'm old-fashioned.

00:26:20.628 --> 00:26:24.148
My niece don't be wanting me to be nowhere around because I do the old school.

00:26:24.348 --> 00:26:28.508
When they asked me to drop her off somewhere, they only asked me one time.

00:26:28.848 --> 00:26:30.748
One time. They asked me to take her

00:26:30.748 --> 00:26:35.748
to some football game. So I get to the football game, and I park the car.

00:26:36.308 --> 00:26:37.968
She's like, Auntie, where are you going? I'm going in.

00:26:38.708 --> 00:26:43.148
Why are you going in? I want to see what's going on. See, I know. See, I was a kid, too.

00:26:43.728 --> 00:26:46.008
I don't know if you're going in the front door or not the back,

00:26:46.188 --> 00:26:48.908
but you ain't told me you got no chaperone or none of that.

00:26:49.188 --> 00:26:54.448
They told me to drop you off at school for this game, and you looking all hot tail, 8 to 12.

00:26:54.768 --> 00:26:59.308
No, I'm going in. They ain't asked me to take her nowhere else. I don't care.

00:27:00.028 --> 00:27:05.448
Yeah, because she went home and said, Mama, she came in, and she questioned

00:27:05.448 --> 00:27:07.188
my friends, and she did all this.

00:27:07.308 --> 00:27:11.968
But you know what? If we had more people like you, it would be an amazing place

00:27:11.968 --> 00:27:17.188
Because I came up in the old days and the old days, I'm responsible.

00:27:17.608 --> 00:27:20.808
So if you tell me, hey, can you drop my son off somewhere?

00:27:21.288 --> 00:27:25.448
Absolutely. But I'm responsible. So if something happened to your son and you

00:27:25.448 --> 00:27:29.068
say, well, you told me to drop, I said, you told me to drop a mouthful down

00:27:29.068 --> 00:27:31.328
there somewhere. I said, OK, that's what I did.

00:27:31.468 --> 00:27:34.688
No, you need to be more of a responsible adult because, see,

00:27:34.688 --> 00:27:39.068
these kids got jokes and we were kids, too. So you ain't going to fool me.

00:27:39.128 --> 00:27:43.028
You can't out slick this can of oil because I already know what you're up to.

00:27:43.328 --> 00:27:46.148
Ain't no telling what you're doing. I'm going to park my car and get out.

00:27:46.228 --> 00:27:50.868
But it's funny because she always need a ride somewhere. And she never asks me.

00:27:51.188 --> 00:27:55.548
I hear my cousins and everybody talking about, they don't ask me because I see old, embarrassing.

00:27:55.848 --> 00:27:59.748
I'm going to come up in there. I might not have my wig on. I ain't dressed up.

00:28:00.008 --> 00:28:02.508
Whatever you get me with, when you say come take me somewhere,

00:28:02.728 --> 00:28:06.948
I'm going to cut off that car and I'm going in because I need to see what y'all doing in there.

00:28:07.577 --> 00:28:11.297
Did you just say auntie may not have a wig on?

00:28:11.917 --> 00:28:14.877
Yeah, I might put a scarf or something on my head. You only asked me to drop

00:28:14.877 --> 00:28:17.077
you off somewhere, but then now I look like I need to go in.

00:28:17.257 --> 00:28:21.097
I ain't going to be dressing up and doing all that. I mean, I ain't looking

00:28:21.097 --> 00:28:24.777
like Miss James Hitman, but I might have a scarf or something on my head.

00:28:24.997 --> 00:28:27.657
You know, the kids want you to be dressed up. You know how it was when your

00:28:27.657 --> 00:28:29.957
mama come to school, you wanted her to look right?

00:28:30.457 --> 00:28:33.177
Yeah, I may not be looking right because you caught me at a time.

00:28:33.317 --> 00:28:36.437
I ain't want to take your ass nowhere, no way. so but now i'm

00:28:36.437 --> 00:28:39.217
taking you and i'm going in i'm finna see what's going

00:28:39.217 --> 00:28:42.057
on but i won because they never asked me

00:28:42.057 --> 00:28:44.837
to go pick this girl up and she got a whole bunch of

00:28:44.837 --> 00:28:47.577
stuff to do take her here take her there pick her up

00:28:47.577 --> 00:28:52.717
here yes everybody but me and i'm glad well see

00:28:52.717 --> 00:28:55.837
i never really had that problem because my mother was a teacher so she

00:28:55.837 --> 00:28:58.697
was always dressed she never came to

00:28:58.697 --> 00:29:02.837
school inappropriately or picking me up anywhere inappropriately dressed so

00:29:02.837 --> 00:29:08.157
it was always good for me it was just the time that i tried that i tried and

00:29:08.157 --> 00:29:13.117
i did forge her signature and she came to school and beat my butt and it was

00:29:13.117 --> 00:29:15.937
also the time i got caught with the drugs.

00:29:16.537 --> 00:29:21.597
And she came to school and beat my butt but that was a long time ago do that

00:29:21.597 --> 00:29:24.897
yeah they used to get you in school and you didn't want that you didn't want

00:29:24.897 --> 00:29:28.297
your mom coming up to the school because she was going to clown. Hey, listen.

00:29:28.577 --> 00:29:32.437
The principal begged my mother when I got caught with the drugs.

00:29:32.557 --> 00:29:34.677
That was a long, long, long, long, long time ago.

00:29:35.077 --> 00:29:42.577
But I got caught with drugs in school and they charged me with possession with the intent to resale.

00:29:43.597 --> 00:29:46.937
In what? In Nashville. Nashville, Tennessee.

00:29:47.837 --> 00:29:50.637
We didn't even have that going on up here in Detroit. But see,

00:29:50.757 --> 00:29:55.357
that was, let me see, 90... 91, 92?

00:29:56.405 --> 00:29:59.505
That was 91. Yeah, 91. You've been in high school in 91?

00:30:00.065 --> 00:30:04.125
I was, yeah, I'm young, probably younger than you think I am.

00:30:04.345 --> 00:30:08.145
I'm like 90? Jesus Christ, what was I? I had been to high school,

00:30:08.325 --> 00:30:10.645
out the Marine Corps, and everywhere else.

00:30:10.765 --> 00:30:13.285
Like, well, in the 90s, I can't even think back that far.

00:30:13.665 --> 00:30:19.685
See, I may appear old because people have old so, but I'm only in the fours.

00:30:19.945 --> 00:30:23.665
I'm only in the mid fours. I'm only in the mid fours.

00:30:23.745 --> 00:30:28.065
That's where I'm at. But this is just a passion and I love having conversations

00:30:28.065 --> 00:30:33.285
like this, but it was like 90, somewhere between 90 and 92. I think it was.

00:30:33.705 --> 00:30:43.445
But my mother came to the school and when the principal showed her what I had

00:30:43.445 --> 00:30:48.465
and told told her what they were charging with, she started beating me with her purse.

00:30:48.565 --> 00:30:52.165
And back then, my mother carried a 38 snub nose in her purse.

00:30:53.305 --> 00:30:56.025
So she's beating me with this person i'm getting

00:30:56.025 --> 00:30:59.205
these knocks olives and it's a it's a it's a revolver

00:30:59.205 --> 00:31:01.885
so it ain't gonna go off so she's knocking me all

00:31:01.885 --> 00:31:04.825
upside the head to do what i say

00:31:04.825 --> 00:31:09.125
i got one so i know yeah yeah yeah so she's hitting me all upside the head and

00:31:09.125 --> 00:31:13.385
the principal's like please stop please please miss foster me miss miss foster

00:31:13.385 --> 00:31:17.205
just please stop we don't want to have you arrested please stop just stop and

00:31:17.205 --> 00:31:21.905
he's like begging her and she's like beating the holy crap out of me.

00:31:22.145 --> 00:31:24.345
And I think it made me the man I am today.

00:31:24.685 --> 00:31:29.665
I mean, the things that I did back then, yeah, later on in life,

00:31:29.805 --> 00:31:33.205
I kind of paid for them, but I straightened them out.

00:31:33.365 --> 00:31:36.885
And for the last, let's see, I'm in my mid fours.

00:31:37.145 --> 00:31:42.165
So I have not been in trouble for 20 years,

00:31:42.885 --> 00:31:45.865
give or take when i got my driving job

00:31:45.865 --> 00:31:51.165
i had to get my mvr it was literally i got a 10 year mvr was literally nothing

00:31:51.165 --> 00:31:55.205
on there they ran a background check and it was like your background check is

00:31:55.205 --> 00:32:03.085
so clean we've never seen they were trying not to be facetious.

00:32:04.185 --> 00:32:08.845
And let's just call it what it was racist when it was like we've never seen

00:32:08.845 --> 00:32:15.125
someone who's mvr never had any, no tickets, no accidents, no points, no nothing.

00:32:15.285 --> 00:32:20.545
And your background check, you have been a straightened arrow for 20 years.

00:32:20.785 --> 00:32:25.985
And I'm like, okay, is that not expected or is it a black thing? Let's be honest.

00:32:27.193 --> 00:32:30.533
So, well, NVR is hard. That's why they always look for truck drivers,

00:32:30.553 --> 00:32:35.033
because most people's NVR is messed up. I used to work in trucking as well.

00:32:35.573 --> 00:32:42.133
You can rarely ever find somebody with a clean NVR. My NVR just got and it didn't really get messed up.

00:32:42.253 --> 00:32:45.813
So last year, I just like I said, I just recently started driving to school

00:32:45.813 --> 00:32:49.953
bus like recent, recent, like at the beginning of this school,

00:32:50.253 --> 00:32:55.233
this semester of school. So January the 7th, I started driving a school.

00:32:55.353 --> 00:32:59.093
I officially started driving a school bus. I was out of training. I was out of everything.

00:32:59.333 --> 00:33:03.793
January the 7th, 2025, I officially started driving a school bus.

00:33:03.793 --> 00:33:08.633
But last year, and it's full circle how God does things.

00:33:08.933 --> 00:33:13.613
Last year in January, matter of fact, January the 22nd, 2024,

00:33:14.093 --> 00:33:19.253
which the 22nd, I'll never forget because why me being a dummy man.

00:33:19.933 --> 00:33:23.293
That's my wedding anniversary. And on my wedding anniversary,

00:33:23.293 --> 00:33:30.853
I was working for this trash company and we had a snowstorm and they begged us to come to work.

00:33:30.853 --> 00:33:36.193
After the snowstorm had let up and a lot of the main streets were salted and

00:33:36.193 --> 00:33:40.013
uncovered, but there were still a few streets that had slick spots.

00:33:40.153 --> 00:33:42.413
And of course, you know, you can't see black ice.

00:33:43.193 --> 00:33:47.793
So I flipped the trash truck in January of last year.

00:33:48.333 --> 00:33:53.853
All right. You can't hear it. Blew my shoulder out. I had to have my rotator cuff fixed.

00:33:54.333 --> 00:33:59.653
I was out of work for about eight months. and just like I said how God works

00:33:59.653 --> 00:34:06.213
full circle I had that wreck of January of 2024 I got the job with the school

00:34:06.213 --> 00:34:13.193
board in October but I didn't start driving the bus until January of 2025.

00:34:15.273 --> 00:34:17.113
And you like driving that bus

00:34:17.113 --> 00:34:22.973
I love it don't they be on there screaming and stuff I love this. Okay.

00:34:23.233 --> 00:34:27.993
See, okay. Let's break down the dichotomy of a school bus.

00:34:28.553 --> 00:34:32.513
So here's how it goes in Nashville. I don't know how it goes in other cities

00:34:32.513 --> 00:34:37.873
or other states, but I get up at about 4.30 in the morning. I have to be in

00:34:37.873 --> 00:34:40.293
my bus at 5.30, get on the bus.

00:34:40.493 --> 00:34:45.993
My first pickup is at like 6.20 in the morning and I pick up high schoolers.

00:34:46.073 --> 00:34:48.893
It takes me about 25 minutes to pick up high schools when i

00:34:48.893 --> 00:34:56.273
say the high schoolers are so chill so chill they are cool as all outdoors because

00:34:56.273 --> 00:35:01.533
they're at that point where they're ready to get out of school okay they chill

00:35:01.533 --> 00:35:06.073
on there looking grown and boys got beards and girls up there half naked.

00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:10.680
That's on other buses, not. Well, yeah, on my bus, I've got like two little

00:35:10.680 --> 00:35:11.760
girls who dress like that.

00:35:12.280 --> 00:35:16.840
So then once I drop off the high school kids at high school,

00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:19.780
then I go and I pick up my elementary kids.

00:35:20.740 --> 00:35:29.020
Now I pick up about 60 somewhere picking up in the morning time.

00:35:29.220 --> 00:35:32.140
It's anywhere from and this is going to sound dramatic, but it's the truth.

00:35:32.140 --> 00:35:37.680
Anywhere from 40 to 60 kids in the morning time of my elementary school kids.

00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:46.120
And in the afternoon, I pick up anywhere from 60 to 75 in the afternoon from

00:35:46.120 --> 00:35:49.640
school because a lot of kids, their parents drop them off at the school,

00:35:49.640 --> 00:35:52.660
so they don't get on the bus in the morning time.

00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:56.580
So the elementary kids, they are elementary kids.

00:35:56.740 --> 00:36:01.780
They are the epitome of elementary kids. It's kindergarten through the sixth

00:36:01.780 --> 00:36:03.640
grade, I think is what it is.

00:36:04.160 --> 00:36:08.740
And you would expect them to act the way they do, but they're not rambunctious.

00:36:08.940 --> 00:36:11.060
They're not just overboisterous.

00:36:12.120 --> 00:36:17.160
It's like any pact. You lay down your dominance at the beginning.

00:36:17.160 --> 00:36:20.820
So when I got on the bus, I made them understand, Mr.

00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:29.400
Joe has three rules No cussing No fighting and no standing On my seats So if

00:36:29.400 --> 00:36:32.180
I catch you cursing And cursing,

00:36:33.160 --> 00:36:38.340
I don't want to hear your conversation at my seat So if I hear you cursing That's a problem,

00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:43.800
If you fight someone That's a problem So you can always tell somebody what not

00:36:43.800 --> 00:36:47.380
to do But then if they do do it what you gonna do Then they get kicked off the

00:36:47.380 --> 00:36:50.340
bus Then they have for a week, they can't ride the bus.

00:36:50.560 --> 00:36:55.420
Mama and daddies have to figure out how to get these children back and forth to school.

00:36:55.780 --> 00:36:59.020
And that's where they usually get in trouble at right there. Right.

00:36:59.920 --> 00:37:04.440
So my elementary kids, all I have to do is get on my PA system and say,

00:37:04.560 --> 00:37:08.160
listen, if I can hear your conversation, that means you're way too loud.

00:37:08.360 --> 00:37:13.180
If I cannot see my arrow at the back of the bus, which is at my emergency exit

00:37:13.180 --> 00:37:18.900
door, that means you are too far out in the aisle and I need everyone to get into their seats.

00:37:19.860 --> 00:37:23.940
But it's so funny when you sit in the back and hear you, they be back here whispering

00:37:23.940 --> 00:37:25.480
and stuff. Oh, they still do.

00:37:25.740 --> 00:37:29.900
It's got to be funny. It does, but we ain't got to the main show yet.

00:37:30.480 --> 00:37:32.680
So that's high school and elementary.

00:37:33.600 --> 00:37:35.700
Now the thorn in my side.

00:37:36.720 --> 00:37:40.360
Whew. Whew. Those middle students.

00:37:41.240 --> 00:37:45.300
Man! they're in that middle ground. They're in a place where they don't know

00:37:45.300 --> 00:37:48.520
where they fit or who they want to be or where they at. So.

00:37:49.555 --> 00:37:55.375
I'll tell you this story. And I've had two occasions where I've been cursed out by children.

00:37:55.675 --> 00:38:01.835
The first occasion, I was subbing for a driver who was sick and couldn't do

00:38:01.835 --> 00:38:03.755
their route. So I had to do their route.

00:38:03.975 --> 00:38:08.775
So these children were elementary school children from a different school,

00:38:08.935 --> 00:38:10.795
not my children, different children.

00:38:11.215 --> 00:38:17.875
And so these little young men, probably seven or eight of them get on my bus.

00:38:17.875 --> 00:38:19.595
They all run to the back of the bus.

00:38:19.735 --> 00:38:23.115
And I noticed they are hiding something under their jacket because this was

00:38:23.115 --> 00:38:25.495
one of the cold days at the beginning of February.

00:38:25.735 --> 00:38:28.835
They're all hiding something under their jackets. I'm really not paying attention

00:38:28.835 --> 00:38:34.535
because where they live at, I have to kind of stop awkwardly to let them get

00:38:34.535 --> 00:38:36.455
on the bus to block traffic.

00:38:36.955 --> 00:38:41.995
So I get these young men on the bus and I hit a couple more stops and I hit a couple more stops.

00:38:42.175 --> 00:38:46.875
And I look in my student mirror and there's a young man standing on the seat

00:38:46.875 --> 00:38:50.855
trying to hit a child two seats behind him as I'm moving.

00:38:51.175 --> 00:38:53.155
Now, these are elementary kids.

00:38:54.035 --> 00:39:02.315
So I pull the bus over and I say, hey, you cannot stand on that seat. That is a safety hazard.

00:39:02.675 --> 00:39:07.675
I need you to come up front and sit behind me so I can watch you.

00:39:08.555 --> 00:39:12.115
So you ain't ready for this punchline, but I'm going to give you this punchline.

00:39:12.255 --> 00:39:15.895
And everybody's listening. You got to forgive me because it's in the essence

00:39:15.895 --> 00:39:18.295
of the story is what I'm about to hit you with.

00:39:18.835 --> 00:39:23.995
So this is a African-American nine year old little boy.

00:39:24.695 --> 00:39:28.255
He looks up at me and he says, what do you think he says to me?

00:39:28.835 --> 00:39:34.455
I have no idea Fuck you, you can't make me move You can't make me do nothing.

00:39:35.435 --> 00:39:39.515
Oh Yeah, nine years old Going to an elementary school,

00:39:40.155 --> 00:39:44.875
So I said, boy, if you don't get your butt up out of this seat Right now Get

00:39:44.875 --> 00:39:47.375
up out of this seat and move to the front I ain't moving to the front,

00:39:47.375 --> 00:39:51.435
I'm not moving to the front Now, again, this is a nine-year-old child,

00:39:52.346 --> 00:39:56.466
I ain't moved to the front. So then he finally gets up when I grab his coat

00:39:56.466 --> 00:39:59.106
and I kind of tug at him. Come on, get up.

00:39:59.326 --> 00:40:02.146
So I take him towards the front of the bus. He says, I'm not sitting in the

00:40:02.146 --> 00:40:04.286
seat right behind you. I sit in this seat right here.

00:40:04.666 --> 00:40:07.306
I says, OK, that's fine. You're not back there with your little friends.

00:40:07.426 --> 00:40:08.346
You're sitting closer to me.

00:40:09.166 --> 00:40:12.486
I says, boy, do you even know what that word means?

00:40:12.766 --> 00:40:14.826
He said, I don't know. But fuck

00:40:14.826 --> 00:40:18.506
you. And you can't put me off this bus and you can't do nothing to me.

00:40:18.966 --> 00:40:26.726
So this is number two this is the f-bomb number two so at this point i'm blowing sockets,

00:40:27.446 --> 00:40:33.386
i'm blowing sockets fuck me who the hell do you think you are you're a nine-year-old

00:40:33.386 --> 00:40:36.786
little boy you don't even know what that means you're not going to talk to me

00:40:36.786 --> 00:40:39.166
like that and i blew sockets,

00:40:39.906 --> 00:40:43.346
didn't put my hands on him didn't do any of those things not my child can't

00:40:43.346 --> 00:40:47.226
do that But picked up the rest of the route, got him to the school,

00:40:47.666 --> 00:40:49.766
made him stay on the bus while the rest of the kids got off,

00:40:50.526 --> 00:40:54.706
got him in the principal's office, told them the same story I'm telling you.

00:40:55.446 --> 00:40:59.706
They called his grandma, mama, because he's mama's wherever.

00:40:59.726 --> 00:41:01.546
So he's staying with the grandma and auntie.

00:41:02.806 --> 00:41:08.006
And so they call his grandma. So then I go to my supervisor's office because

00:41:08.006 --> 00:41:12.826
now I have to write a report on what happened and what was said and how I handled the situation.

00:41:12.826 --> 00:41:18.106
So then I go to my supervisor's office and I talk to her and she says, what was his name?

00:41:18.206 --> 00:41:20.406
And I tell the young man's name. She says, hold on.

00:41:20.866 --> 00:41:25.706
I'm going to get his grass. And my supervisor knows these parents because she used to be a bus driver.

00:41:26.946 --> 00:41:31.286
So she gets the grandma on the phone. They go pick up the little boy.

00:41:32.346 --> 00:41:36.286
Get him home. Give him one of them old fashioned ass whoopings.

00:41:37.366 --> 00:41:41.346
So the driver's out again the next day. So I have to go back and pick these

00:41:41.346 --> 00:41:47.026
kids up the next day. So me and this little boy have to face each other again the next day.

00:41:47.126 --> 00:41:52.266
But the next day I get to the bus stop. He's a totally different child.

00:41:53.355 --> 00:41:58.995
Well, moral of the story is grandma got him right. Grandma tore that butt up.

00:42:00.375 --> 00:42:03.475
And that's what he needed. I didn't think they got whoopings no more.

00:42:03.775 --> 00:42:05.595
Oh, yeah. I still whoop my children.

00:42:07.655 --> 00:42:10.875
If anybody on here gonna call the police on me, call the police. I don't care.

00:42:11.135 --> 00:42:16.015
I still whoop my children because they're mine, and I'm not gonna let them be

00:42:16.015 --> 00:42:21.295
out here in this world and make a fool out of me and make me look like I didn't

00:42:21.295 --> 00:42:23.015
do what I was supposed to do as a parent.

00:42:24.495 --> 00:42:29.455
So, now we got the second story.

00:42:30.175 --> 00:42:33.095
You ready for the second story? I am.

00:42:33.775 --> 00:42:39.515
All righty. So, middle school, middle school, middle school.

00:42:40.415 --> 00:42:44.075
The in-between land, in-between child and adult, middle school.

00:42:44.495 --> 00:42:51.395
So, I pick up my middle school children one afternoon, and I decided I was going

00:42:51.395 --> 00:42:53.215
to do my route backwards.

00:42:53.355 --> 00:42:58.075
Instead of doing it the way I normally do it, I said, hey, let me see if it's

00:42:58.075 --> 00:43:01.715
possible for me to do my route backwards.

00:43:02.035 --> 00:43:06.595
So I said, okay, I'm gonna do it backwards. So I drop out the first little person,

00:43:06.875 --> 00:43:09.375
then the second, then the third and fourth.

00:43:09.635 --> 00:43:18.295
And then I get down, excuse me, I get down to this street to where I have two stops at.

00:43:18.535 --> 00:43:25.655
But if I go down the street, if I'm at this four-way stop. What's the name of this?

00:43:26.775 --> 00:43:31.875
So you know Nashville, right? Uh-huh. I got a girlfriend that is a substitute

00:43:31.875 --> 00:43:33.395
teacher named Eartha Foster.

00:43:34.195 --> 00:43:39.175
And then Robin Lemon, she's like a big wig somewhere in the school system.

00:43:39.595 --> 00:43:45.135
Okay, so the street in reference to where this incident happened is called Lamont Drive.

00:43:45.315 --> 00:43:49.955
It's in East Nashville off of Broadmoor. East Nashville, okay.

00:43:49.955 --> 00:43:52.435
Yeah, off of Ellington Parkway.

00:43:53.435 --> 00:43:57.055
Mm-hmm. You know, Broadmoor, this is in between Gallatin Road and Dickerson

00:43:57.055 --> 00:44:00.175
Road. Broadmoor. Yeah. Over by Maplewood High School.

00:44:00.735 --> 00:44:04.155
I lived way up on Gallatin Road because I lived in Gallatin.

00:44:04.375 --> 00:44:07.955
Okay, you lived in Gallatin. I know Gallatin. I live in Madison.

00:44:08.895 --> 00:44:11.595
Right, and that's where I stayed. I stayed in Madison first,

00:44:11.595 --> 00:44:15.515
and then I started looking for an apartment, and that's where I ended up.

00:44:16.415 --> 00:44:20.715
That's the only place that was cheaper. I was way up there finding somewhere

00:44:20.715 --> 00:44:23.575
that was affordable I didn't want to live in Madison but,

00:44:24.269 --> 00:44:27.489
I went up and I'm in Gallup. All right.

00:44:27.509 --> 00:44:33.489
So I'm at the corner of Maplewood Lane and Lamont Drive.

00:44:33.889 --> 00:44:38.409
And so if I turn left, that would mean the children that get off at the first

00:44:38.409 --> 00:44:42.169
stop would have to get off on the on the right hand side of the bus and then

00:44:42.169 --> 00:44:46.809
cross in front of the bus over the road to their apartments.

00:44:47.469 --> 00:44:53.229
So that's how the driver that used to drive this route last year did it before

00:44:53.229 --> 00:44:56.209
I took over the route. But I changed it.

00:44:56.469 --> 00:45:01.909
And so I get to this particular corner at Maplewood Drive and Lamont,

00:45:02.009 --> 00:45:06.309
Maplewood Lane and Lamont Drive. And I go straight through.

00:45:06.709 --> 00:45:10.449
I go straight through. So there's a little girl on my bus. And she says,

00:45:10.569 --> 00:45:12.089
why didn't you turn left?

00:45:12.309 --> 00:45:15.569
You're supposed to turn left. It make no sense if you turn left.

00:45:15.569 --> 00:45:20.009
I said ma'am I'm driving the bus you're not driving the bus I don't give a damn

00:45:20.009 --> 00:45:22.329
you should have turned left you was.

00:45:23.689 --> 00:45:27.989
Again trigger warning for whoever ain't adults and don't want to hear the real

00:45:27.989 --> 00:45:31.849
truth because she wants the real story I had to put my script away so we being

00:45:31.849 --> 00:45:34.209
honest and we being real transparency,

00:45:35.129 --> 00:45:42.129
you a broke bitch you a broke ass bus driver you a bitch ass you sassy you spicy

00:45:42.129 --> 00:45:46.589
you ain't shit you should have turned left I told you you should have turned left You ain't shit.

00:45:46.989 --> 00:45:50.429
My mama work 12 hours a day to get me whatever I want. You broke.

00:45:50.629 --> 00:45:54.329
How much you make? Best drivers don't make shit. You don't make nothing.

00:45:54.769 --> 00:45:57.089
You a broke petty hoe. Thirteen.

00:45:57.811 --> 00:46:03.171
Oh, yeah, she a big girl. They don't pay enough for that. You still trying to

00:46:03.171 --> 00:46:04.851
drive the bus and got to deal with all this?

00:46:05.451 --> 00:46:07.651
Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Yes.

00:46:08.531 --> 00:46:12.811
But by the grace of God, God, oh, my God. God, thank you, Jesus.

00:46:13.011 --> 00:46:15.631
Thank you, Jesus. Her mama pulled off the bus.

00:46:16.631 --> 00:46:21.271
I ain't seen her in two weeks. Last time I saw her, her mother brought her to

00:46:21.271 --> 00:46:23.511
the bus stop, and she got him.

00:46:23.571 --> 00:46:26.111
I thought the mother was going to get out of the car and come and have a conversation

00:46:26.111 --> 00:46:27.571
with me, but she never did.

00:46:29.011 --> 00:46:35.631
So that was the last time I saw her in last the week because we just came back off of spring break.

00:46:36.071 --> 00:46:40.031
So the week before spring break, I saw that one time and I haven't seen her

00:46:40.031 --> 00:46:41.591
since then. And today's Tuesday.

00:46:41.811 --> 00:46:46.951
So we've been in school for two days and she's not been on my bus for two days.

00:46:49.871 --> 00:46:55.271
So it is. Yeah. I mean, a lot of people can't imagine, but, and I can understand

00:46:55.271 --> 00:47:00.771
in your particular situation, not having children and not ever wanting children,

00:47:01.431 --> 00:47:02.651
it makes your nerves kind of

00:47:02.651 --> 00:47:07.411
short and not understand it when it comes to little people and attitudes.

00:47:08.111 --> 00:47:10.851
I would rather be in that kitchen and see that food don't talk.

00:47:12.151 --> 00:47:15.791
But your customers do. But your customers do.

00:47:16.491 --> 00:47:19.751
They would complain too much for you. No, no, no.

00:47:19.851 --> 00:47:22.831
They didn't complain too much for me. It didn't become challenging anymore.

00:47:22.831 --> 00:47:28.071
At the retirement facility, there was five particular complaints.

00:47:28.371 --> 00:47:35.211
It was too cold, too hot, too sweet, too salty, or not enough of it.

00:47:37.291 --> 00:47:41.811
And that was this building had 132 residents.

00:47:42.091 --> 00:47:50.791
So you imagine 132 people and probably 50 of those people are complaining about

00:47:50.791 --> 00:47:51.991
one of those five things.

00:47:52.831 --> 00:47:56.071
You know, when they old people don't get no visits and none of that.

00:47:56.711 --> 00:48:01.451
But the thing, but here's what people miss. Old people and young children are

00:48:01.451 --> 00:48:03.411
the same people. Mm-hmm.

00:48:04.371 --> 00:48:11.191
One of an adult, wife and child. That's it. That is it. Because I've watched a lot of people recess.

00:48:11.771 --> 00:48:16.571
You know, their faculties get out of line because of older age.

00:48:16.811 --> 00:48:22.471
You watch in five years, like you said, the bus coming. I watched the bus come

00:48:22.471 --> 00:48:24.751
so many times that it was like it.

00:48:24.911 --> 00:48:30.171
And on that side of it, it started to become depressing because you build a rapport.

00:48:30.411 --> 00:48:36.671
You build a relationship with these people. You know, you start to feel like your family with them.

00:48:36.851 --> 00:48:41.771
And then you get to work and it's like, well, James died last night.

00:48:43.131 --> 00:48:49.231
Dang, dang, dang. Or you get to work and you're at work and then you see the

00:48:49.231 --> 00:48:52.071
fire trucks and the paramedics and all those things. And they say,

00:48:52.391 --> 00:48:53.851
well, Miss Susie just passed away.

00:48:54.985 --> 00:49:03.705
So it's either way you look at it, dealing with people, you're always going to be hurt, honestly,

00:49:04.245 --> 00:49:10.025
in some sort of capacity in a customer service manner of what I've done,

00:49:10.165 --> 00:49:11.885
like food and these children.

00:49:11.885 --> 00:49:16.305
But i have a thicker skin with these children because i know that the babies

00:49:16.305 --> 00:49:21.005
i call them my babies little bitty kids they don't know they don't understand

00:49:21.005 --> 00:49:22.785
life these middle school children,

00:49:23.485 --> 00:49:27.805
they're trying to figure out life these high school children they're just trying

00:49:27.805 --> 00:49:32.025
to start their lives they're just trying to start everything because i sure

00:49:32.025 --> 00:49:36.565
did i thought i had all in didn't realize I ain't know nothing until yesterday,

00:49:37.785 --> 00:49:41.145
man, man, didn't know a thing, you know,

00:49:41.685 --> 00:49:47.785
and I tell people all the time the biggest lie we ever told ourselves is man,

00:49:47.845 --> 00:49:53.485
I can't wait to be grown yeah, well I couldn't wait, I don't think I regret it living with my mother.

00:49:54.725 --> 00:49:59.105
Well, see, we all grew up with different parents we all grew up with different

00:49:59.105 --> 00:50:04.425
parents we all grew up in different situations I'm the eldest of three.

00:50:05.445 --> 00:50:09.125
Biologically, then my mother married and we had more siblings.

00:50:09.385 --> 00:50:14.705
But before she married her husband, it was two of us, me and my brother.

00:50:15.085 --> 00:50:19.385
And then she married her first husband and wound up having my third brother.

00:50:19.845 --> 00:50:24.965
And they stayed married for a long time until the famous, infamous 80s,

00:50:25.045 --> 00:50:27.645
90s drug took her husband away from her.

00:50:28.605 --> 00:50:33.825
And he had to wind up going to rehab in California and never came back and she divorced him,

00:50:34.845 --> 00:50:41.605
and she's been married to the new husband now for 18 years she can find a husband

00:50:41.605 --> 00:50:46.225
oh yeah yeah yeah but my mother she is a.

00:50:48.525 --> 00:50:55.265
Both of her husbands her ex-husband and her current husband are both named Michael,

00:50:56.551 --> 00:51:01.911
Both of them. Her ex-husband's name is Michael and her current husband's name is Michael.

00:51:03.191 --> 00:51:08.531
And they both are similar. One shorter than the other. They're both brighter skinned men.

00:51:09.311 --> 00:51:13.951
She has a type. They named Michael. Yeah, but whether you got a type or not,

00:51:14.051 --> 00:51:16.811
they got to be out there. Most men are either dead or in jail.

00:51:17.731 --> 00:51:23.031
Ah, no. Nope. I'm not going to accept that because there are a lot of good men

00:51:23.031 --> 00:51:26.811
out here to get friend zoned. because we don't look like what the world wants

00:51:26.811 --> 00:51:28.891
us to look like. That's true.

00:51:29.271 --> 00:51:33.431
So a lot of us get friend zoned. You know how many fat dudes out here are lusting

00:51:33.431 --> 00:51:37.331
over women that don't want them because it's waist size?

00:51:37.651 --> 00:51:45.871
A lot of them are getting friend zoned because his pants say 44, 46, 48.

00:51:46.031 --> 00:51:47.991
He's a good dude, got a good job.

00:51:48.191 --> 00:51:54.051
But the women are thirsting over the 28, 30s, 32s with the six pack and all of this.

00:51:54.531 --> 00:52:00.351
I don't think it's a body. No, it is. Because men, because the reason why I

00:52:00.351 --> 00:52:02.651
can tell you this is because I was a fat boy all my life.

00:52:02.831 --> 00:52:05.731
And it was hard. It was hard.

00:52:06.411 --> 00:52:11.151
So I figured out another way of how to get women. I figured out how to use my

00:52:11.151 --> 00:52:15.591
intelligence versus what they see. So I used my intelligence.

00:52:16.171 --> 00:52:19.031
Yeah, intellectual stimulation goes a long way.

00:52:19.831 --> 00:52:24.751
It does. I don't care what you look like. You can't have a six-pack and look

00:52:24.751 --> 00:52:28.171
like Denzel. When you open your mouth, you don't have no conversation. You're stupid.

00:52:28.991 --> 00:52:33.391
But, see, you're rare. And it's just like I tell my wife. I said there are a

00:52:33.391 --> 00:52:36.971
lot of beautiful women that are rare and in a small percentile.

00:52:37.231 --> 00:52:40.231
The large percentile is looking for the physical.

00:52:40.631 --> 00:52:44.351
Somebody that they can, oh, look at my man. He's got a six-pack.

00:52:44.351 --> 00:52:46.371
He's buffed. He's driving a Corvette.

00:52:46.611 --> 00:52:51.651
He works at this place, or he does this, or he does that. So the blue-collared

00:52:51.651 --> 00:52:53.311
fat man gets left behind.

00:52:54.805 --> 00:52:58.325
But we're good dads. We're good husband. We're good people.

00:52:58.605 --> 00:53:03.465
But what you said is the same thing my wife said. She says the reason why she

00:53:03.465 --> 00:53:09.045
really hung on to me was the intellectual properties that I possessed and that

00:53:09.045 --> 00:53:13.245
I was funny, intelligent and made her laugh.

00:53:14.705 --> 00:53:20.425
Laughter is definitely the key that you can make somebody laugh. You all the way in there.

00:53:21.425 --> 00:53:24.245
So, I mean, it must be true because that's what she said. she said

00:53:24.245 --> 00:53:28.225
you made me laugh on numerous occasions she

00:53:28.225 --> 00:53:31.205
said you made me laugh on numerous occasions and when

00:53:31.205 --> 00:53:36.965
you made me laugh and smile and feel good it was all yours and that's all i'm

00:53:36.965 --> 00:53:42.225
gonna say in adult fashion she was like we went out multiple times you know

00:53:42.225 --> 00:53:48.225
went to dinner and hung out before we did anything of an adult stature we went

00:53:48.225 --> 00:53:50.365
out we we went dutch a couple times.

00:53:50.585 --> 00:53:52.925
I paid a couple of times. She paid a couple of times.

00:53:54.485 --> 00:54:00.145
And it just developed naturally. We dated. We still date to this day.

00:54:00.845 --> 00:54:06.445
We still take each other out on dates. We still buy each other stuff.

00:54:06.465 --> 00:54:08.485
We still do things for each other.

00:54:08.685 --> 00:54:11.745
You know, she rubbed my back. I rubbed her back. She rubbed my feet.

00:54:11.785 --> 00:54:16.245
I rubbed my feet. It's not a one-sided situation.

00:54:16.825 --> 00:54:21.745
But there are a lot of women that slept on me, and I've lost weight. I have.

00:54:21.865 --> 00:54:26.705
I've lost 200 pounds in the last two years, 100 pounds a year,

00:54:26.725 --> 00:54:34.925
but there are a lot of women that slept on me because I was, at one point in my life,

00:54:35.125 --> 00:54:38.145
I weighed 346.

00:54:39.754 --> 00:54:44.134
So they didn't see any value in me because, oh, you fat and lazy.

00:54:44.314 --> 00:54:49.394
But when I met my wife, I had two jobs and my own business.

00:54:51.314 --> 00:54:55.574
I dated a guy from Memphis that was a big guy. We had met online.

00:54:55.874 --> 00:54:57.934
When I seen him, he was like 360.

00:54:59.014 --> 00:55:03.334
But, you know, he was still the nicest man I ever met. Still is to this thing.

00:55:03.974 --> 00:55:08.274
Had a nice big voice, you know. So it's not always about what somebody looks

00:55:08.274 --> 00:55:11.754
like. At the end of the day, all women want to be treated well.

00:55:12.234 --> 00:55:16.454
So whether they're being treated well by Idris Elba or Fat Albert,

00:55:16.754 --> 00:55:19.814
they still want to be treated well.

00:55:20.514 --> 00:55:23.974
So that's the example of a fat dude is Fat Albert?

00:55:24.574 --> 00:55:27.774
Well, that's the only one I can think of at the time. Man!

00:55:28.174 --> 00:55:33.194
What about the fat dude from Waiting to Exhale, Michael? He was so lame.

00:55:34.854 --> 00:55:41.074
He was just corny. that's it he was just corny and not just fat but I like him

00:55:41.074 --> 00:55:46.414
as an actor because he's funny as hell oh yeah he's a good actor but you go

00:55:46.414 --> 00:55:52.534
from Idris Elba to Fat Albert hold on let me look at something real quick let

00:55:52.534 --> 00:55:54.514
me type something into my thing.

00:55:56.854 --> 00:56:05.234
Famous fat actors I couldn't believe something would come up oh yeah oh yeah it's gonna come up but,

00:56:06.455 --> 00:56:10.475
Yeah, that is, I can't with you.

00:56:11.195 --> 00:56:14.675
I can't with you. You are something else.

00:56:15.295 --> 00:56:19.155
Did you find some fat actor? I'm working on it. I mean, you could have did that

00:56:19.155 --> 00:56:21.115
other man, Whitaker, Forrest Whitaker.

00:56:21.555 --> 00:56:25.175
And that's what comes up, Forrest Whitaker.

00:56:25.615 --> 00:56:31.695
I mean, not only is he big, he got one sleepy eye and hair missing on the top. See, he wrong.

00:56:32.255 --> 00:56:35.615
Who wrong? You the one that's doing these descriptions.

00:56:36.735 --> 00:56:44.695
Oh Biggie Smalls oh wrong Biggie Smalls he said ugly he knew it he said it in

00:56:44.695 --> 00:56:52.195
the thing ugly as ever but say Gucci down to the top Anthony Anderson yeah I would say Anthony,

00:56:53.095 --> 00:56:56.375
Killer Mike I don't think I know him,

00:56:57.075 --> 00:56:59.835
rapper out of Atlanta I don't

00:56:59.835 --> 00:57:06.815
do rap nah I do I'm old so Barry White be more of my speed Barry White Very

00:57:06.815 --> 00:57:17.415
white Very white Yes Come to new age Ruben Stutter Luther Vandross Luther gay Ruben's questionable.

00:57:21.095 --> 00:57:27.075
Come on You gotta give me something I did give you something We said Anthony

00:57:27.075 --> 00:57:37.255
Anderson Right Cause you got me Fat habit Then you said Biggie Smiles was ugly,

00:57:38.035 --> 00:57:40.475
I can't with you But anyways,

00:57:41.275 --> 00:57:47.035
This has been Hell of a conversation And I appreciate you being here with us

00:57:47.035 --> 00:57:49.475
For this International Women's Month,

00:57:50.255 --> 00:57:56.375
If you had a message For the younger you And the world What would it be?

00:57:57.336 --> 00:58:01.716
Hmm. If I had a message for the younger me, it's to listen to the old people

00:58:01.716 --> 00:58:05.536
because they have knowledge and wisdom and we need guidance.

00:58:05.816 --> 00:58:11.236
And that's what the world needs today is that would be the younger me and the present they keep.

00:58:11.576 --> 00:58:14.876
Because just like them, I thought I knew it all, thought I had all the answers,

00:58:14.996 --> 00:58:16.376
didn't realize I didn't know nothing.

00:58:16.776 --> 00:58:20.976
But, you know, they have already traveled that path and it was hard to see until

00:58:20.976 --> 00:58:25.016
I got to where I am now. You know, every bump and bruise along the way,

00:58:25.156 --> 00:58:27.276
the old people would tell you a story about it.

00:58:27.336 --> 00:58:31.816
But we all somehow want to get our own hard knocks, and it's not necessary.

00:58:32.076 --> 00:58:36.696
But I do understand that you have to—I got married for the second time when I was 21.

00:58:37.236 --> 00:58:39.416
When I was 21, I was already on my second husband.

00:58:39.976 --> 00:58:42.876
And I remember when the old people were saying, well, you're too young to get married.

00:58:43.056 --> 00:58:46.756
Well, what happens is you be so in love, can't nobody tell you nothing.

00:58:46.896 --> 00:58:50.236
But now that I'm older, I understand. And, you know, unfortunately,

00:58:50.276 --> 00:58:54.136
men are not mature enough to be a hustler at that age.

00:58:54.456 --> 00:58:57.676
You know, that's why Cardi B and all them rich folks having problems,

00:58:57.776 --> 00:58:59.596
because they really got to sow their oats.

00:58:59.956 --> 00:59:03.996
They really don't have no discipline. They really don't know what's going on.

00:59:04.076 --> 00:59:06.216
So they just run around chasing their dick. That's it.

00:59:06.756 --> 00:59:10.856
So when they told me that I was too young to get married, I didn't understand that.

00:59:11.056 --> 00:59:14.536
So now when I get a chance to get some old people, I love to listen to their

00:59:14.536 --> 00:59:17.476
stories, especially with some people that have been married over 20,

00:59:17.596 --> 00:59:21.936
30 years. I definitely like to hear their story because they stayed where I left.

00:59:22.659 --> 00:59:26.179
So a lot of times the young people don't want to listen.

00:59:26.299 --> 00:59:28.539
All they got to do is just listen. Maybe they'll learn something.

00:59:28.619 --> 00:59:31.619
If they don't learn nothing, they'll have a seed planted.

00:59:31.899 --> 00:59:35.079
And they'll look around and it'll be then grow at some point.

00:59:35.179 --> 00:59:38.679
And they'll say, I remember somebody told me this or somebody told me that.

00:59:39.219 --> 00:59:43.199
Because I still find myself hearing things that my grandmother told me or repeating

00:59:43.199 --> 00:59:46.619
things that my mother told me. But those were seeds that were planted.

00:59:46.899 --> 00:59:49.299
And the subconscious is stronger than the conscious.

00:59:49.719 --> 00:59:52.819
So you could tell somebody something. You can tell them bad-ass kids on that

00:59:52.819 --> 00:59:55.199
bus certain things, and you'd think they ain't listening.

00:59:55.439 --> 00:59:59.959
But years from now, they'll say, that bus driver told me. So plant the seed

00:59:59.959 --> 01:00:01.959
because, you know, it'll grow.

01:00:02.439 --> 01:00:06.059
So just listen. That's what I would tell any young person. Just talk to some

01:00:06.059 --> 01:00:11.659
old people, hear some stories, and try to realize what they went through and where they are.

01:00:11.759 --> 01:00:14.819
Because history does repeat itself, and that's why they learn.

01:00:15.059 --> 01:00:18.319
They teach you history in school because you got to know where you've been in

01:00:18.319 --> 01:00:19.499
order to know where you're going.

01:00:20.459 --> 01:00:25.679
What you said. That's the key right there that a lot of people don't understand.

01:00:26.279 --> 01:00:30.799
That right there. You got to understand where you've been to know where you're going.

01:00:31.219 --> 01:00:36.039
A lot of people don't understand that. Here's a few questions because we're about to end the show.

01:00:37.399 --> 01:00:43.119
What is your guilty pleasure food-wise? What is your guilty pleasure?

01:00:43.299 --> 01:00:45.919
Snacks, sweets, drinks. What is your guilty pleasure?

01:00:47.139 --> 01:00:48.179
Bread and butter.

01:00:49.879 --> 01:00:52.919
That was great. That's why I look like a loaf of bread. Bread butter.

01:00:55.859 --> 01:00:59.379
She said, that's why I look like a loaf of bread. Yeah.

01:00:59.619 --> 01:01:04.719
I've never heard anyone describe themselves as looking like a loaf of bread.

01:01:05.319 --> 01:01:09.059
Well, I've been to France, and they have all these different shapes and sizes

01:01:09.059 --> 01:01:11.079
of these breads, and I look like one of them.

01:01:11.973 --> 01:01:16.713
Okay, so. I like bread and butter, but that's because, you know,

01:01:16.913 --> 01:01:18.913
I don't indulge in a lot of things.

01:01:19.133 --> 01:01:23.053
So I figure if I can't enjoy that bread and butter, then I might as well shoot

01:01:23.053 --> 01:01:25.653
myself because I don't have no other pleasure.

01:01:26.413 --> 01:01:30.793
I ain't married. I don't drink. Don't smoke weed. You know, don't party.

01:01:31.073 --> 01:01:34.873
Don't have sex. Don't do nothing. So I might have to shoot myself.

01:01:35.113 --> 01:01:38.273
What you going to do? So if I'm eating my bread and butter, you better not say

01:01:38.273 --> 01:01:39.553
nothing because I might slap you.

01:01:41.513 --> 01:01:44.793
My sister is one of those people you know you don't need no more of that bread

01:01:44.793 --> 01:01:48.913
you know you go to the restaurant and they give you a basket they let it be

01:01:48.913 --> 01:01:56.413
sourdough oh my god nice warm basket of sourdough bread with some nice real butter I am in hog heaven,

01:01:57.413 --> 01:02:01.273
that's true that's my guilty pleasure bread and butter Frederick the Entertainer

01:02:01.273 --> 01:02:08.033
you forgot about him mmm I'm still gonna be stuck with Anthony alright alright

01:02:08.033 --> 01:02:09.873
alright So here's the next question.

01:02:10.073 --> 01:02:14.093
So if we were to get in your car right now, turn the car on,

01:02:14.293 --> 01:02:17.593
what would be playing? Would it be a CD? Would it be the radio?

01:02:17.933 --> 01:02:21.313
What artists would be playing if we got in your car right now?

01:02:21.853 --> 01:02:24.693
Well, I just got out of my car, so I know exactly what it was.

01:02:24.793 --> 01:02:27.733
I have a thumb drive, and I play stepping music.

01:02:28.313 --> 01:02:34.133
And so it's a lady named Michonne, you know, probably not popular to the real world, but,

01:02:35.010 --> 01:02:39.370
Let's see. I'm thinking that, yeah, I listen to all stepping music most of the time.

01:02:39.450 --> 01:02:44.430
I don't usually turn my half series or any of that.

01:02:44.590 --> 01:02:49.370
I just got a thumb drive, I stick it in there, and it's stepping music because I'm a stepper.

01:02:49.970 --> 01:02:52.810
And, you know, it's normally stepping is older, so, you know,

01:02:52.890 --> 01:02:57.710
you're going to have your older music or it's a certain beat that stepping music has to have.

01:02:58.070 --> 01:03:01.730
But occasionally I'll flick it over to the radio and they playing the same old

01:03:01.730 --> 01:03:07.650
song. I like Chris Brown currently I love me some Chris Brown Okay alright So.

01:03:09.890 --> 01:03:19.670
If you could describe Your perfect boo How would you describe Your perfect boo Can be 6 foot 2.

01:03:20.730 --> 01:03:27.350
To 4 6 foot 2 to 4 Between you know about 230 250 I don't want no skinny man

01:03:27.350 --> 01:03:31.650
Good teeth cause I'm having some Two issues right now you gotta go to the dinner

01:03:32.090 --> 01:03:35.770
Good teeth, a good sense of humor, and is a good listener.

01:03:36.050 --> 01:03:39.810
That's what's important to me. Most people, they talk, but they don't listen.

01:03:40.130 --> 01:03:43.130
And I just, when it's all said and done, I just want to be understood.

01:03:44.010 --> 01:03:49.390
So I like a good listener. I want to be good looking, have a deep voice, and be able to listen.

01:03:49.890 --> 01:03:53.790
Because I have a lot of stories. So I might want to talk, go somewhere,

01:03:53.930 --> 01:03:57.730
sit on the side of a riverbank, and just talk about things. You could talk for hours.

01:03:57.990 --> 01:04:02.030
I'm not a phone person. One thing, if your next question is what gets on my

01:04:02.030 --> 01:04:04.130
nerve is people in these cell phones.

01:04:04.570 --> 01:04:08.910
Everywhere you go, people head is in the cell phone. I can leave my phone at

01:04:08.910 --> 01:04:12.230
home and go the whole day without it. Very few people can do that.

01:04:12.930 --> 01:04:16.650
And I don't want to go. As a photographer, when you take pictures of an event,

01:04:16.890 --> 01:04:19.690
you see the whole room head in the phone.

01:04:19.870 --> 01:04:23.310
You see the dinner table, people looking at their phone. Wedding reception,

01:04:23.570 --> 01:04:24.770
they're looking at their phone.

01:04:25.010 --> 01:04:29.510
An 80th birthday party, they're looking at the phone. And it bothers me. It gives me PTSD.

01:04:29.990 --> 01:04:33.250
I don't even have motivation to go anywhere.

01:04:33.750 --> 01:04:37.510
I don't really want to go anywhere for that reason. Because in the old days,

01:04:37.550 --> 01:04:42.790
you could go places and you talk to the person on the left or the right and you leave with friends.

01:04:43.190 --> 01:04:48.670
Now, you know, most of the things is like people, you go somewhere and they're on their phone.

01:04:48.830 --> 01:04:51.590
If you even say something to them, they're like, don't you see me on the phone?

01:04:52.050 --> 01:04:53.510
They're sitting there scrolling Facebook.

01:04:53.970 --> 01:04:58.150
I still I still make friends that way. I was walking in and wife was in Ross

01:04:58.150 --> 01:05:00.250
and I just walked up on a woman. I was like, how are you doing today?

01:05:00.490 --> 01:05:05.250
I just make it a point for me because you're right. And I'm not going to say

01:05:05.250 --> 01:05:10.730
I particularly hate the phone, but I hate the fact that there is no human interaction anymore anymore.

01:05:11.350 --> 01:05:17.290
So I make a conscious I make a conscious effort to meet someone new when I'm

01:05:17.290 --> 01:05:23.290
out, whether it's just like we were at this place called First Watch and a lady

01:05:23.290 --> 01:05:25.510
walked past. And I said, Hey, how you doing today?

01:05:25.750 --> 01:05:29.910
And she just stopped older older Caucasian lady. She just stopped and she says,

01:05:30.050 --> 01:05:32.350
am I supposed to know you?

01:05:33.381 --> 01:05:37.481
And I was like, no, you're not supposed to know me because I'm someone new. We just met right here.

01:05:37.801 --> 01:05:41.581
And we wind up just sitting there talking to her as to where she worked and

01:05:41.581 --> 01:05:47.161
what she did and just had a small conversation right there in the middle of the restaurant.

01:05:47.801 --> 01:05:52.181
And she was sitting at the table with another lady. And I looked over at their

01:05:52.181 --> 01:05:56.141
table and the lady she's talking to is looking at me as like and she's pointing

01:05:56.141 --> 01:05:57.961
at me and she's like, that's him over there.

01:05:58.121 --> 01:06:02.281
So at the end of the meal, me and my wife got up. My wife went out to the car

01:06:02.281 --> 01:06:05.781
and I stopped by the table and I said, what you over here saying about me?

01:06:06.001 --> 01:06:10.081
And she says, I was just telling her how genuine you were and you spoke to me

01:06:10.081 --> 01:06:11.561
and we just had a conversation.

01:06:12.601 --> 01:06:16.961
But you and she was telling me about how she was dealing with not being able

01:06:16.961 --> 01:06:22.521
to do anything because she had broken her wrist and how she's having issues,

01:06:22.521 --> 01:06:25.641
not sitting at home because she likes to be out and do things.

01:06:25.641 --> 01:06:30.961
But I found out all these things just by stopping this lady and having a conversation

01:06:30.961 --> 01:06:32.761
with her in the middle of nowhere.

01:06:33.001 --> 01:06:39.521
So I advocate for getting to know people, just having saying hello can can change

01:06:39.521 --> 01:06:42.001
someone's day dramatically. And you never know that.

01:06:42.761 --> 01:06:45.621
Well, that's the way I feel. But unfortunately, I don't think it's too many

01:06:45.621 --> 01:06:47.441
people in the world that do.

01:06:48.061 --> 01:06:52.641
I'm very rare. I'm very rare. I fit in that very rare percentile.

01:06:52.641 --> 01:06:57.921
Percentile but what i was going to say before that story is you

01:06:57.921 --> 01:07:00.841
described your boo and you're

01:07:00.841 --> 01:07:04.841
one and i have to give you this the the test

01:07:04.841 --> 01:07:08.881
determined that you are 100 a woman

01:07:08.881 --> 01:07:11.761
because you know why i asked

01:07:11.761 --> 01:07:15.781
that same question to all of my guests what

01:07:15.781 --> 01:07:18.881
which question is that the all the questions about your

01:07:18.881 --> 01:07:23.861
radio about your guilty pleasure i told you next time put that script down get

01:07:23.861 --> 01:07:28.441
some different answers that's always my script at the end of my show but the

01:07:28.441 --> 01:07:37.621
boo question i've asked it to 20 men and none of them ever describe physical attributes.

01:07:39.026 --> 01:07:43.326
They have a man be on the nonsense. They looking for internal beauty.

01:07:44.046 --> 01:07:48.106
That's what they say. But then let somebody, let that big booty chick walk past

01:07:48.106 --> 01:07:48.946
them and they sniff them.

01:07:49.606 --> 01:07:56.146
Man, listen, the big booty chick is only for a moment. It's only a momentary pleasure.

01:07:56.786 --> 01:07:59.306
Nine times out of ten, the big booty chick ain't got no mind.

01:07:59.486 --> 01:08:01.686
She can't teach me anything, so I don't want her.

01:08:01.946 --> 01:08:06.326
I want the chick that, my wife is beautiful, but to somebody else,

01:08:06.426 --> 01:08:09.786
she may not be beautiful. And that's on them. But to me, she's beautiful.

01:08:10.186 --> 01:08:13.566
You understand what I'm saying? And she's taught me in the time we've been together.

01:08:13.786 --> 01:08:17.646
She's taught me so much, just like I've taught her so much.

01:08:17.866 --> 01:08:23.466
The big booty and showing the skin and doing all that thing. That's a 15 minutes.

01:08:23.826 --> 01:08:27.086
That's 20 minutes. It's going to ruin your life.

01:08:27.346 --> 01:08:33.326
Put you in financial deficit and have you chasing a dragon.

01:08:35.166 --> 01:08:37.886
And yeah i told you

01:08:37.886 --> 01:08:41.006
i'm also i don't none of that none of that flash and

01:08:41.006 --> 01:08:43.726
all of that really appeals to me i want to

01:08:43.726 --> 01:08:50.266
i want i wanted and i have a woman of substance and she fits into a small percentile

01:08:50.266 --> 01:08:54.926
of women on this earth the way she thinks the way she does things and i love

01:08:54.926 --> 01:09:00.706
her for it because she fits in a very small percentile of women that are not

01:09:00.706 --> 01:09:03.206
out here looking for a dollar.

01:09:03.586 --> 01:09:07.406
And then I told you the story about flipping a trash truck. And I told you the

01:09:07.406 --> 01:09:12.746
story about changing professions, going from being a chef to being a driver.

01:09:12.946 --> 01:09:18.566
And I went to my wife about both situations and my wife says, babe, I got us.

01:09:18.786 --> 01:09:23.246
You do what you need to do to transition from being a chef to being a driver.

01:09:23.786 --> 01:09:26.506
And then when I... She has a good life partner. That was a good life partner.

01:09:26.606 --> 01:09:28.146
She is. She's a good life partner.

01:09:28.326 --> 01:09:31.066
And so then when I flipped the trash truck it was on

01:09:31.066 --> 01:09:34.286
our anniversary and i was so upset i

01:09:34.286 --> 01:09:37.126
was more upset and emotional about

01:09:37.126 --> 01:09:40.386
the whole situation because i let her down versus

01:09:40.386 --> 01:09:45.646
she was she was in you know where rivergate mall is right rivergate absolutely

01:09:45.646 --> 01:09:49.586
i didn't live too far from there okay so there's a chick-fil-a in rivergate

01:09:49.586 --> 01:09:56.306
mall and i had my accident on browley parkway she was at chick-fil-a getting

01:09:56.306 --> 01:09:57.406
herself something to eat.

01:09:57.506 --> 01:09:59.826
They took me from Bradley Parkway to Skyline.

01:10:00.046 --> 01:10:04.546
She was, she came from Chick-fil-A to the hospital within 10 minutes.

01:10:05.226 --> 01:10:08.786
I don't know how fast she was going. I don't know where she was driving,

01:10:08.786 --> 01:10:12.386
but she was at the hospital within 10 minutes of me being there.

01:10:13.649 --> 01:10:17.949
And I was more emotional about the situation because, for one, it was our anniversary.

01:10:17.969 --> 01:10:24.509
For two, I had hurt myself and I was emotional and I was crying and I was all upset.

01:10:24.589 --> 01:10:27.629
And she walks in the room. She says, hey, we're fine.

01:10:27.849 --> 01:10:30.509
You're alive. That's all that matters to me.

01:10:31.349 --> 01:10:34.229
And that gave me such a sense of calm.

01:10:35.429 --> 01:10:40.389
And I tell my wife all the time, she's given me something and I'm not talking

01:10:40.389 --> 01:10:45.109
about my children, But she's given me something that no other woman had given

01:10:45.109 --> 01:10:47.709
me in my life. And by the way, we're a blended family.

01:10:47.889 --> 01:10:51.189
We didn't have all five of them together. We're a blended family.

01:10:51.709 --> 01:10:55.229
This is not my first marriage, but we're a blended family.

01:10:55.409 --> 01:10:59.409
But my children are my children, all five of them. She had two when I met her,

01:10:59.469 --> 01:11:00.729
and I had three when I met her.

01:11:01.369 --> 01:11:05.869
But they're still all my children. That'll be a whole nother story for a whole nother time.

01:11:06.749 --> 01:11:12.549
But this woman has taught me so much and I love her for it,

01:11:13.369 --> 01:11:18.749
and that's good you'll be married forever thank god oh yeah oh I'm not leaving

01:11:18.749 --> 01:11:23.069
her I'm not leaving her for nothing I tell big booty chicks to get away from

01:11:23.069 --> 01:11:25.729
me ain't no you can do for me get away from me,

01:11:26.669 --> 01:11:30.589
because the thing like I said the things that she's taught me and the things

01:11:30.589 --> 01:11:34.529
that she's helped me with has made my life 100% better.

01:11:35.876 --> 01:11:40.056
Hmm. Well, what a blessing. And I guess it's too late for me to be able to find

01:11:40.056 --> 01:11:42.536
somebody like that. It's never too late.

01:11:43.016 --> 01:11:47.636
You will want a man that loves his wife and appreciates her like you do.

01:11:47.796 --> 01:11:52.236
And know, without a shadow of a doubt, you got your good thing and you ain't

01:11:52.236 --> 01:11:55.756
no big booty woman going to change your mind or have you looking the other way.

01:11:55.976 --> 01:11:58.636
No. Because it's what you feel, not what you see.

01:11:59.656 --> 01:12:05.036
Right. And that's exactly you. Right. It's what I feel. It's not what I see because...

01:12:06.096 --> 01:12:08.896
Before I met her, I did all these things.

01:12:09.056 --> 01:12:14.856
You know, this is my smaller children about my ex-wife. We were together for 10 years.

01:12:15.376 --> 01:12:21.356
OK, so before her, I was a bachelor. I was out. I was doing this. I did all this.

01:12:21.476 --> 01:12:25.696
I married this woman because my dating life was horrible. So I married this

01:12:25.696 --> 01:12:29.876
woman thinking that I could turn her into somebody that I wanted her to be because

01:12:29.876 --> 01:12:33.496
my ex-wife is seven years younger than me. That didn't work out.

01:12:33.816 --> 01:12:39.436
And so we got to get off here. And you just got me talking. You got you've been interviewing me.

01:12:39.816 --> 01:12:47.936
I see. You have literally interviewed me this whole entire time. I can't call this.

01:12:48.616 --> 01:12:53.276
I can't call this the Tiffany show. We got to name this something else Because

01:12:53.276 --> 01:12:58.836
you've interviewed me the whole entire I've been telling you my story Tiffany came to visit us.

01:13:00.496 --> 01:13:05.136
It's not the Tiffany show Tiffany came to visit us That way everybody got a

01:13:05.136 --> 01:13:11.376
chance to talk So it's okay So check this out So my ex-wife of 10 years is 7

01:13:11.376 --> 01:13:17.116
years younger than me We have two children Which is 14 and 8 Or 14 and 9 And

01:13:17.116 --> 01:13:19.396
my wife I'm married to now,

01:13:19.996 --> 01:13:21.936
is five years older than me.

01:13:23.436 --> 01:13:28.916
So God showed me that what I want, and here's where I'm going with this story.

01:13:30.156 --> 01:13:34.156
God showed us because I'm not her norm and she's not my norm.

01:13:34.276 --> 01:13:37.956
So now you're getting me into testimony, telling you my testimony about my relationship.

01:13:38.376 --> 01:13:39.696
I don't know what you did.

01:13:40.796 --> 01:13:46.036
You about like my wife. Y'all flip it and play these mind games and get all inside my head.

01:13:47.656 --> 01:13:51.576
But I don't know you But I love you Miss Tiffany You've been wonderful But here we go.

01:13:53.223 --> 01:13:57.703
When we first met each other, we didn't like each other, but she says God told

01:13:57.703 --> 01:14:02.003
her that there was some reason she need to find me. So she found me on Facebook.

01:14:02.443 --> 01:14:10.583
But when we met each other, I was chasing younger women and she her her ex is

01:14:10.583 --> 01:14:12.163
nine years older than her.

01:14:12.363 --> 01:14:18.323
So she liked older men. I liked younger women, but God put us together to give

01:14:18.323 --> 01:14:21.303
us what we needed, not what we wanted.

01:14:21.303 --> 01:14:25.183
Because in life, what you wanted always gets you in trouble with what you need

01:14:25.183 --> 01:14:28.523
will keep you will keep you safe for the rest of your life.

01:14:30.803 --> 01:14:34.823
So that's that's the testimony of me and my wife, man.

01:14:35.163 --> 01:14:41.083
We don't we still can't explain how we actually got together because we didn't

01:14:41.083 --> 01:14:44.743
when I first met her at her job, I was like, oh, she's cool.

01:14:45.163 --> 01:14:50.423
She could get it. But I mean, she worked at AutoZone and I went in to get some

01:14:50.423 --> 01:14:54.303
breaks. And I had to get to the place to get my brakes fixed before they closed.

01:14:54.563 --> 01:14:58.423
So my mind was on getting my car fixed and get on down the road.

01:14:59.263 --> 01:15:04.703
That's what I did. I got my brakes, moved on. She said God told her she needed to find me.

01:15:05.003 --> 01:15:08.143
She tried to go back into the account, get my phone number. It didn't work.

01:15:08.623 --> 01:15:12.903
Blocked her. So then we had talked and knew that we knew some of the same people.

01:15:13.063 --> 01:15:16.623
And we actually went to the same high school different years.

01:15:17.523 --> 01:15:21.823
And she found me on facebook and she was like she's just like i found you and

01:15:21.823 --> 01:15:25.703
then we just started conversating and that turned into would you like to go

01:15:25.703 --> 01:15:30.843
out to eat would you like to go see a movie so i'm still old-fashioned and i

01:15:30.843 --> 01:15:33.403
believe in dating so i dated my wife.

01:15:35.043 --> 01:15:42.563
Before anything intimate happened because i still believe in intimacy not sex

01:15:42.563 --> 01:15:44.363
i still believe it to this day,

01:15:44.563 --> 01:15:47.803
to this day, even though I'm married, I still believe in intimacy,

01:15:47.803 --> 01:15:50.243
holding hands, kissing,

01:15:50.883 --> 01:15:55.723
cuddling, sitting beside each other on the couch, holding each other's hand while we're in the car.

01:15:55.983 --> 01:16:00.223
When I come in the house and she's in the kitchen cooking, I go in and I kiss on the job.

01:16:00.403 --> 01:16:03.883
Before I leave in the morning, I make sure I get sugar from my wife.

01:16:04.003 --> 01:16:07.703
Before I go to sleep at night, I make sure I get sugar from my wife because

01:16:07.703 --> 01:16:09.263
I still believe in intimacy.

01:16:09.683 --> 01:16:13.843
And like you said, the bus comes and you don't know. So I don't want it to be

01:16:13.843 --> 01:16:18.063
the bus comes and I didn't tell her I love her and I didn't give her any sugar

01:16:18.063 --> 01:16:20.363
So I always make sure I give her sugar.

01:16:20.503 --> 01:16:24.623
I tell her I love her I make sure she's taken care of I make sure things are done.

01:16:27.010 --> 01:16:31.730
I'm 45 years old, but I live like I'm 65, and I think that's what my ex-wife

01:16:31.730 --> 01:16:34.130
says. She says, you're an old man.

01:16:34.550 --> 01:16:38.290
I want to be young and free, and you live like an old man.

01:16:40.330 --> 01:16:46.530
Well, it's been wonderful having candid conversation and just going from one subject to the next.

01:16:46.690 --> 01:16:48.210
However, when it's all said and

01:16:48.210 --> 01:16:51.530
done, you still feel like you know each other. So it's been a pleasure.

01:16:51.730 --> 01:16:55.930
I do appreciate you inviting me, and you guys can call me anytime.

01:16:56.090 --> 01:17:01.350
I do try to log in and listen, and then when it gets crazy, I just go on and do something else.

01:17:02.310 --> 01:17:07.030
Understandable, understandable. But Fridays, just come in and listen on Fridays,

01:17:07.030 --> 01:17:13.090
and we're going to check back in with you in probably three to six months.

01:17:13.090 --> 01:17:17.550
We're going to do a reunion talk, and we're going to check back in with you.

01:17:18.150 --> 01:17:22.530
Okay, call me anytime. I appreciate it. But like I said, you're always welcome

01:17:22.530 --> 01:17:23.810
on the Friday night shows.

01:17:24.230 --> 01:17:28.530
Tiffany, it's been amazing. It's been beautiful. Sister, I love you.

01:17:28.950 --> 01:17:30.330
Keep doing what you're doing.

01:17:30.990 --> 01:17:35.570
Absolutely. And if you're ever back in Nashville, you're going to have to take some pictures of me.

01:17:36.050 --> 01:17:39.850
Oh, I will. For sure. David was just asking me when was I coming back.

01:17:40.170 --> 01:17:42.190
Somebody might give me a reason to come back.

01:17:42.550 --> 01:17:46.150
I might just run on down there and do something. You never know.

01:17:46.270 --> 01:17:47.790
I'll put that on my to-do list.

01:17:48.230 --> 01:17:50.550
Yes, ma'am. Thank you, sweetheart. And you have a great night.

01:17:50.750 --> 01:17:54.190
Okay. Be blessed. All right. Okay. Bye-bye.

01:17:56.090 --> 01:18:00.290
I'll see you next time.

01:18:01.680 --> 01:18:29.302
Music.