Retrospect
Retrospect
A Year That Tested Us, A Love That Held Us | Retrospect Ep.215
In this week’s episode we discussed the things that we have to be thankful for over the last year. Welcome to our 2025 Thanksgiving episode! As we gather around the mic to explore what gratitude means in a year full of change, we dive into the heart of the season with warmth, humor, and a fresh perspective. Whether you're prepping the feast or recovering from one, pull up a seat and give thanks with us.
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Keywords
Thanksgiving episode, gratitude, family, health, relationships, challenges, blessings, perspective, technology, Amazon, economic impact, personal growth, community, self-reflection, holiday traditions.
Jason
Welcome to our Thanksgiving episode, an annual pause in the calendar where no matter how crazy the world feels, we gather around tables, big and small, noisy and humble, polished or imperfect, and we ask the same timeless question, what are we thankful for? Maybe it's the obvious things, family packed into a single living room, kids laughing under the table, smell of Turkey or gumbo or whatever dish says home to you. Maybe it's the blessings that didn't look like blessings at first, the struggles that taught us strength, the detours that led us somewhere better, the moments we didn't realize were shaping us. This holiday isn't just about food or travel or perfectly folded napkins. It's about remembering that in all of life's noise, there are small, sacred things that still anchor us. So today, as ovens hum and families gather and the season wraps its arms around us, we're taking a moment to name the gifts, big and small, expected and unexpected, and discover that maybe our tables are fuller than we thought.
Ian
Welcome to the retrospect podcast, a short people come together from different walks of life and discuss a topic from the generations perspective. My name is Ian, and as always, I'm joined by Stoney,
Stoney
Hello
Ian
and Jason.
Jason
Hello, everyone.
Stoney
How's it going in the pre show? Okay, Jason said, I have a short opening. Okay, so as soon as he said, Welcome to our Thanksgiving episode, almost went, Wow, that was really short. I was trying to get that timing just right, and then he popped into the second, almost had it.
Ian
That's funny. So how's everyone's a week been?
Jason
Yeah, well, it's been good right now. It's just the weeks are marching toward the big day, and so it's, you know, there's always things we're still prepping for, and we're trying to get out all the, save the dates, of course, and we have a little get together coming this this weekend that will be a just a little party for our closest friends and just kind of Thank you, thanking them for for being with us throughout the the journey here. So we're excited.
Ian
And can you believe that by the time this episode airs, it will be one week until December. I know, I know, crazy to think about. It's, I can't believe we're already that close to December.
Jason
Yeah, it's, it's been Golly. This year has just flown by. Like, what? What happened to this year? I mean,
Stoney
it's gone. Had it wrong? Okay? Life is not like a box of chocolates, all right? It's like a roll of toilet paper. The closer the end you get, the faster it goes.
Jason
Yeah, that's right. That's a good one. Stoney. I like that. Yeah. Where does he Where do you get all these things from? I don't know. How do you figure all this out? Because I'm truly am amazed at people who know, like movie lines, and can just remember different lines from different movies. And it's just
Stoney
easier for me before the accident, because I had a photographic and near eidetic memory. Now I have to write everything down. I have my phone out with stuff on it. I've got the tablet out in front of me. You know, a lot of preparation goes into this, and I just try to keep up. It was a lot easier before the accident, well, but now I'm just trying to do the best I can and muddle through it, and hopefully I remember something at the right time, which sometimes I forget.
Jason
I think you do a pretty good job, because I wouldn't have remembered that. I mean,
Ian
those are the ones that are locked deep away.
Jason
Yeah, I'm just not good at remembering movie lines like that. I've never
Stoney
used to irritate Miranda because I can. I had movies in my head perfectly memorized from the credits to the end everything I could match the dialog, perfect timing through hundreds, if not 1000s of movies when I was in protective services, if I was in a city, I didn't need GPS. I could remember the maps of those cities in my head, I had like 15 cities, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Tampa, Miami, New York, places that were just there and I could just drive and not need GPS, and that's going I live on the ways app now, yeah, now I'm kind of mad at ways. Yeah. Because at one time I spent the extra money for the Samuel L Jackson voice over, I said, Turn left M effort, and it was the best money ever spent. I think it was like $6.99 and you got it for three months. But it was brilliant. Every time you took a wrong turn, he lets you know in just his classic style and um, but now I live on the ways app, even for places that I would normally go. I just, I live on that map now, so I can't remember stuff like I used to, right? It's killing me, because now I don't know what I lost. Yeah, well, I had a hardly, you know, I just don't use like Tracy. I've noticed with her, she utilizes literally ways or Google Maps every morning before she goes to work to find what's the best way going to work or going Interesting. Well, the great thing about when I don't, and I just never have done that. It will the great thing about ways, and I will say this, I mean to interrupt you, but if you put on ways from your normal, let's say you go from here to there, and you put in, this is my home. This is my work. This is my mom's house. This is my dad's house. This is my put in your top little areas that you go to once you get in the car and turn it on, because that's what I do. I have a little thing here, because here in Louisiana, you can't have it in your hand anymore. It's illegal. Have a little thing here plugged in. You put the ways on. If you take a normal route and there's a slow deviation construction accident, it will go ahead and route you to the best route, because it's using you'll look on that map, and there'll be 15 ways members right around you, and you can see, can't communicate with them, but you can see that they're there, and it takes that information and will route you the best route to your destination. And so it can really help.
Jason
I just don't utilize, I guess I need. I should utilize navigation more than what I do, because I generally, I go to work the same way, yeah? Because I just found it's, you know, it's pretty most straightforward route. Let's
Stoney
see, for me, protective service habit, I never take the same route twice, yeah?
Ian
For me, like, I use Google Maps a lot, and a lot of times I use it for time management stuff. A lot of times I'll punch I know where. I know what probably the best route is, or an alternate route if something needs to happen. But like, a lot of times I'll you'll put it in there and with traffic and with, like, a bunch of stuff, it'll tell you how long it's going to take to get there. But it'll also tell you, like, within a matter of, like, two to three minutes that ending destination time. I know it's gonna be pretty
Stoney
accurate, but the also great thing about ways is you can say I have an appointment at 10 o'clock, right? What time do I need to leave to get there on time? Yeah, and see it's still monitoring, yeah, all of that, right, so it'll say you need to leave by nine, right? Yep, how easy is? You know that just kind of makes life easy. I just don't
Ian
prepare that far in advance, but a lot of time. But a lot of times I will, like, I'll sit here and go, Okay, I know I got to go 3045, minutes away, and I'll punch it in there. And of course, when you hit start, it'll say, you'll arrive there at a certain time. I usually go by that because it's usually pretty accurate, because I usually, obviously, even if you go fast above the speed limit, you're not going to get there any quicker, really.
Jason
So I could have used, I could have used that back in probably 1994 particular event that ended up being a very big embarrassment for me. Oh no, I'm not gonna go into a different I'll tell y'all after this. Yeah, okay, but
Stoney
we'll see. Back in the 90s, they had, was it MapQuest, it was someday, it was Google Maps. But you had to have a laptop that was powered, and then you put the little GPS brick on the Dashboard right, and you could use that.
Jason
And I think they had the like, the like, Garmin, yeah, devices, I think, of course, I didn't have one at that time in my
Stoney
life. I never liked it was too small. It was, you got a three inch by three and a half four inch. You couldn't see it. I had the laptop, put the little brick up there. Hooked it up the little USB port, and yeah, and you could at night time, you could put it on nighttime mode. It was, I thought I was this
Ian
shit to
Jason
me as long I know in my head, different ways to get certain places, so I don't necessarily need a serve. Now, of course, you don't know where we're like, Waze comes in. Can kind of detect traffic patterns
Stoney
where construction, because everybody,
Jason
maybe I said maybe I should utilize it more often, because I'm never really if
Ian
you ever go one thing, I will say, if you ever go on to, like, longer trips on the interstate, a whole bunch. Will at least Google Maps. I think Waze does it as well. Will, like, inform you if there's a stalled vehicle on the side, like construction or police officers and things like
Jason
that. When I take vacations or stuff, I definitely, if I'm on a long road trip, I'm definitely utilizing navigation. It's just
Stoney
now you see that was ways first, okay? And Google Maps was kind of like, you know, Samsung, you know, and Android did it better, and Apple kind of caught up. Well, ways would do that. And then, yeah, Google Maps caught up. They're going, Oh, look at this, you know, we need to steal that tech. And so, you know, now they do it. But if you're on ways, it'll say, police ahead, you know, 600 feet, you know, or a red light cameras, oh,
Jason
yeah, those things now, they've kind of done away with them a lot. Speed trap thing this area. Now, I think there's a
Stoney
they do the speed traps. I think
Jason
I've been tagged once, one of those cameras before. Yeah, you know, I
Ian
didn't cut. There was one time where I was turning right on red, and apparently I didn't come to a complete stop. You did what they call a California stop. It was the dead of night, and there was no one at the intersection. Oh, that's when I know exactly. So I slowed down enough, looked left, look right, no one was around. And I just kind of, yeah, they call me because I was
Jason
not aggravating me about traffic lights to me after a certain hour, they should all just go caution worried about, you know, I've come like home, like it late, late hours, and it's like nobody else for a red light. I mean, it's okay. I gotta
Stoney
take it once back in the early 80s, and it was that it was at a stop sign, and the police officer wrote me a ticket, and I went to court on it, because he said I never stopped. Okay. He said, My vehicle never quit, moving, and I had hit the brakes, rolled back a little bit, and then took off and went okay, so I got a professor, a physics professor, at the local college, to go to court with me, all right, and they had to take it back, because technically, I stopped twice. I stopped when I went forward to move back and when I moved back to go forward again. I technically, technically stopped
Jason
twice. They're probably thinking, if you're gonna go through all that trouble to bring a witness,
Ian
good for you. Just let him do it out of here.
Stoney
But technically, yeah, of course, I stopped twice, not once, twice. Here we go. Yeah.
Jason
So Well, guys, yes. What do you think when this episode drops, it's going to be Thanksgiving week. It's that time of the year where we take stock of our, of our, you know, our past year, and our life in general, and what, what gifts are we thankful for? What, what has happened? And you know, it's sometimes it's hard. I'm grateful for a lot of things. I really am, and there's a lot of little things that you don't even really think about, you know, I think about just, you know, of course, the biggest thing I'm always thankful for is your health. Just think of your health. You think of, I got a roof over my head, right? How many people don't have that? You have someone that that loves you. You know, family, family. You know, if you're, if you're married, your spouse, or whatever the case may be, this is
Ian
that opportunity. This is that time of year, just
Jason
to slow down, appreciate it, right? Yeah, I mean, think about because, I mean, we're just, we're kind of just blowing and going, you know, all year long, and, you know, going to work, coming home, and just life and everything else. But, you know, I have to say the biggest thing in this year, especially even though we started, you know, dating in the end of 23 is Tracy. And I, you know, I used to always kind of give Stoney a hard time, but he talked about Miranda, and I still like to give, course, I still like to give him a hard time on that. But, you know, as I said, I really, I tell people, I never thought I would, I would be in this, in this situation, on a man, I really thought that, you know, maybe I was probably not meant to be married. And as I said, I'm it's just what it is. But I, you know, you know, I'm a believer the good Lord put her in my life adjust at the right time when I had a major life change. I retired from my job, and, you know, the last thing I was thinking was I was going to be getting married. I just thought that I would just kind of just deal with age. As, yeah, you know, however, I would have to deal with it just by myself, but, but you know that that's probably the number one thing that will top my list for for 2025 well, would be if Tracy and her saying yes, right? She would actually, she could have said no, and, and, you know, I mean, she, you know, you got to put up with me and all my weird, quirky stuff of being the age I am. Have never been married, and, you know, kind of somewhat of a confirmed bachelor, and kind of all the stereotypes that kind of, you know, kind of go with that. But, you know, I'm very lucky to have met her, and I actually got, you know, the guts to eventually, you know, eventually ask her out on a day. But, but yeah, here we are. Here we are now coming at the end of 2025 and, you know, we've got a, you know, we're going to be getting married in February,
Ian
so that's going to be here before you know it. Yes, it will. That's the scary part.
Jason
I think a lot of people still, you know, I run into people, yeah, they still can't wrap their mind that Jason's actually gonna be buried. I mean, you know, because it's, you know, I think, you think a lot of people say you'll never be married, but so, yeah, I'm very thankful for Tracy to be in my life, and she's been such a blessing. And she, she compliments me very well. And, you know, we get along great. And so I'm definitely looking forward to see what you know as we progress. And you know, we'll have each other to take care of one another as we get older. And so that's my number one, of course, thing I'm most thankful for, for 2020 you know, for 25 so
Ian
what about you? I was gonna say, I think each one of us are gonna have this moment to make fun of each other for being very sappy towards our significant others. Oh, wait, you have a significant other as of like, the beginning part of November. Well, it was probably the, is the later part of October. I kind of, I found I stumbled across somebody that I've known for a long time, and has been, you know, in my has known of my family, and I've known of them and their family as well. And it was such a kind of a coincidental experience that it all kind of took place. But
Stoney
I have a question. I think your mom have something to do with this, not
Ian
necessarily, but there was a little bit, but it's mostly the fact, like, no, no, I That's funny, because that will come into play later is that I think that it was more than anything else. I think both her, her name is Maya, and myself were at the right place at the right time. I think obviously our mothers both love us, independently and each other. I've known of her mom for a long time, and also my mom loves her as well. So that's already a great sign to begin with, but it's been, it's there has been a whole lot of stuff that has gone on in my life over the past couple years, and to be able to have somebody that I can be vulnerable and honest with in such a short amount of time and really connect with just like you were saying, like the right place at the right time kind of situation, I think I'm getting to a point in my life now where I was more open to the idea of Being in a relationship and into something more serious, but I had tried some dating apps, and I tried to put myself out there, and realized that I just don't think this is going to work out. And I got to that point where I was like, not not giving up, but like, maybe this isn't the right time. Maybe this isn't it, and just kind of like, I'm gonna just focus on myself and focus on work, and then all of a sudden, here is this wonderful woman coming into my life.
Stoney
Isn't isn't that interesting? Because you sound like you had given up. You pretty much had given up. And two weeks before I met hottie, Dr Miranda, I was sitting on my best friend's couch. Yeah, his girlfriend going, Okay, I'm done dating after 50s. Like going to the thrift store, finding the least broken thing that doesn't smell. I'm done. I'm just going to be a career bachelor. And then two weeks later, bam, Dr Miranda walks in. Yeah, so it's almost like you have to give up on the idea maybe for something to happen,
Ian
you have to get broken all the way down to get picked back up.
Jason
Well, I think, you know, a lot of times when it comes to finding the right mate, I think a lot of times people rush into these relationships and they really aren't compatible. And I think you have to kind of also be honest with yourself. Off and like, you know, okay, what can I offer this person? What is this person looking for that I'm going to fill? You know? I just, I think we a lot of times, it's think, if you just allow it to happen organically, and I
Ian
think that's what's that's what's taken place here that I think at first I was so nervous about because I still felt like, I'm not sure if this is it or not. I was so apprehensive because I started to realize there were so many great qualities about her that I was like, I want this to I started feeling nervous because I was like, I think I really want this to work out. Like, like, when I'm being really honest with myself, and there's been a few things, like a few checkpoints, a few green flags, if you will, that came up that I was like, Oh, I'm I'm able to really be myself around this person. I'm really able to open up and talk about things that I'm interested in, and be myself around this person. And then also, upon that, I went, she came to the she came to the church that I frequent, and all the people fell in love with her and and she was like, I'm really glad I got to come with you and like, got to experience that. It was really awesome. And I was like, oh, man,
Jason
was she a parishioner. No, no, okay, no
Ian
no, okay. And so, like, it was just, but she was able to come and like, and just kind of experience the place that I also frequent, and again, felt comfortable and felt at home, and that means a lot to me. And so that was another thing that was like, oh, okay, wow. That was really special. And exactly I'm happy for I really am. Everything's still new, so I'm still trying to figure out if I, you know, still gonna make a good impression. I feel like
Jason
finding the finding the right the right mate is critical. You know, I think, I mean, lots of people pick the wrong ones, and it can cause a lot of, a lot of heartache and cause a lot of misery and everything else. So to me, if you're lucky to find that person, yeah, that's pretty good, right? It really is. I mean, you got the you hit the jackpot. I mean, I just
Stoney
think it got best for me when I kind of gave up, but then I started judging anybody I would date on how I felt, they would handle the zombie apocalypse. Interesting, okay? Because if you can't, you know, Miranda's a firearms instructor, like, right? You know, she's smart, she's a doctor, she's got things, she's got skills, and then has that mentality of not like a full blown prepper, but some prepper stuff, and she'll throw this thing out here. Hey, do we have enough of this, or have we checked the date on this right and we're going, Wow,
Jason
okay, we might be on the same wavelength, okay?
Stoney
And, you know? And that's just kind of goofy, but that's kind of No, that's important. Those things are important. Yeah, you don't want somebody who's always going to be a taker. And it's like there was a video once, and the guy was the interviewer was talking to this girl, and this girl said, my man, I've been with him for two years, three years. I don't remember the exact time frame, and I apologize for butchering this, but he won't give me a ring, and he won't ask me to marry him. She says, My whole life I've wanted to get married and have kids and this list of things. And then the interviewer looked at her and said, You just answered your own question, right? Okay, y'all are obviously 19 to 25 years old, you've been raised with this mentality that you want this list of things. Do you know how much pressure that is for a man in today's society to be responsible for one to three or four lives, including his own? And you want that ring, I bet you he wants to give you that ring, but what you have checked off for yourself is this list of things. But what list does he have to check off to get him ready to be your husband? You know, there's this famous quote, you know, God, why are you putting me through all of these troubles? Because I'm preparing you for what you asked for. And it's the same thing with a man and a young man, a true man, not some of these weak individuals we have in society today, because they just don't care. But a true man is going to want to take care. He's a caretaker. He wants to provide he wants to provide security, the roof, etc, etc, etc. So where does he have to be in his life to be ready for a woman? Right to be able to do that? And yeah, you know that's something to be thankful for in your. Self that God has, you know, helped me, get me to this point that I was ready for Miranda, all the trials and tribulations that he put me through, and obviously a whole bunch since we've been together, luckily, not her fault, but, well, there was those two things. No, I'm just picking baby, you know, just for us to be ready for each other and to handle those big because they're going to come. Yep, the things are going to come. And if you're with the wrong person, that just amplifies it to a bigger problem.
Jason
How many I'm telling you? I've heard stories of people that were with their significant other, whether married or not, and a hardship hit, and one of the other basically just walked off because they can't handle that. And they didn't basically, you know, the I didn't sign up for this, and it's it. So that's what I'm saying, to find the right person, to truly find the right person that you're kind of equally yoked with, which is critical, that is, it's just, it's, it's rare,
Stoney
here's, here's what y'all keep saying. I'm gonna throw this at you because I don't know if you've actually realized it or not. How many times have y'all heard me say the night I met Miranda, I knew I was marrying her, because God doesn't say when I when I provide you with a girlfriend. He doesn't say when I provide you with a fiance. He doesn't say when I provide you with a side chick. God says I provide you with a wife, and it is a good thing, right? You looked at Tracy and knew you were going to marry her. You can tell by the way he's talking, he's already thinking about it, and I know he's probably going to disagree with me to save face, because she might be listening. And I'm so sorry. What's her name again? Maya. Maya, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to. I'm not trying to, but that's how a true man thinks when he's a man of faith, when he believes in what God has in store for him, that's when you you put a woman on a pedestal. Don't put me up there. Why not? A man does not protect a woman because she's weak. He protects the woman because she's valuable. And that's what's wrong with society today. We're so willing to settle and do this because I'm lonely and do this because I really feel like today I don't have any other choices. Instead of working on myself, I don't have anybody else. How about I continue to work on myself? And that's one of the things that I'm going through right now, is my big struggle is purpose. I've worked since the 70s, and now I can't, yeah, there's things I want to do, and I can't do them, but being obedient, I know that this is where God wants me, and obviously there's a purpose for this. But being the human that I am, I can't see this, and I have these intensely dark days, but I still know there's a purpose. Can't see it drives me crazy, but I still have Miranda, and she still believes in me, and she still has faith in me, and she hasn't given up on me. There's a lot of people out there who have given up on me, yep, a lot of people that I've never thought would
Ian
Oh, yeah, that's the hard part. That's the like coming to face with that. That's
Jason
what I'm saying. It's the person who's meant to be with you right now. She's sticking with you, you know, through it all. So, you know, count that's I'm saying that's a huge blessing, considering what you have gone through. How many people where the significant other just simply walked away
Stoney
and they have and they have, you know, I will like to throw this out there. You know, the hardest thing about the word betrayal is it, does it come from the enemy? Yep, an enemy cannot betray you. For those of those that are listening that know why I'm saying that I got you, yeah.
Jason
I mean, there's just, you know, you dealing with that kind of stuff. Some people just psychologically, they can't, they can't deal with it. They really can't. And so the easiest thing do is just to, oh, yeah, but distance. I mean, it's just, I've seen it before. I mean, you know, Stoney, you're, you know, experience this phenomenon, but for lack of better term, but, yeah, there's just a lot of people that I think there's some guilt, and because I don't like feeling guilty, it's easier to just simply just go away, walk away, and just not. Worry about it, and because just life is just what it is. I've got my own things to worry about in
Ian
my own bubble that I'm in, kind of in the opposite like I've had to kind of step away from some friendships that I felt like were I was perpetuating. I was keeping things going right? Like there are some friends that really do care about me and are really there for me, that I was kind of neglecting trying to keep these other friendships going. And then I was starting to realize that I was like, I'm not making time for the people that really care about me and that show up for me, but I'm I'm over here trying to carve out time for these people that when it when the rubber really meets the road, will they be there for me? I don't think so. And then, come to find out. There was some situations where I was like, I need help. And where were they other, the other people, okay, and so again, and I'm not saying I'm betraying them, but I'm like, but no, I do not had to realize that and go. I need to let go of that and focus on these people. It's true.
Stoney
Self Care is what it is. I got that terminology, but in this case, yes, it's necessary,
Ian
correct? I got friends. I got I got some real friends, and I got some real family that are here for me that I think I need to focus my attention more on that side and
Jason
look, and, you know, when we were, you know, trying to figure out who we're going to invite to our wedding. And I always said that I wanted a, you know, her and I both have have said we were just going to be small. We're not spending a whole ton of money on a wedding at our age. That'd be kind of, to me, counterproductive. And, you know, had to tell my mother like, no, that person ain't coming. And I kind of basically not that I don't like them. I've just simply said I only really want the people that I interact with in my life on somewhat of a weekly basis, that people, a person I see once a year. You know what? You can congratulate me after the event. I mean, I just, I'm just, I'm just kind of that way when it comes right? So, you know, when we were trying to figure out this list, it's primarily family, yeah, it really, there's only a handful of my friends that I've invited, yeah to this event, and because I just don't feel like, right, somebody that I only see once a year.
Stoney
Sometimes, sometimes blood is not always family. That's true, and I'll tell you this. I don't know how it happened, but on day two of the hospital, I know when they punished me and hid me that it was you, Jason, who stood by my wife and y'all found me together. I'll never know what that means to me. Oh yeah, that you stuck by my wife and how you made her feel, and you found me because they punished me. I don't know another floor in a closet over me and didn't even give me a push button. Here I am oozing from the head, yep,
Jason
and I still can't really get over that house. All that
Stoney
happens, you'll always be my family.
Jason
And you know that y'all are, you know are my friends. You know we share a bond. You know our relationship has grown as as the years have gone by and doing this, we get to know more and more about each other, good, bad, but you know what? That's that family. Yes, that's what life is. And you know, nothing is just, you know, you know, smiles and kisses and gingerbread. I mean, life is messy. It just what it is.
Stoney
So we're doing a Thanksgiving episode, okay? And I know that normally we list a couple of things, but we're a generational show, so I kind of took a different approach at this one, and if y'all will indulge me, I went with what they say they're thankful for versus what they're actually thankful for. So can I give out three little lists here? Absolutely the generationals like the boomers, born in 1946 to 1964 What do you think that what? What are boomers thankful for, family, faith, freedom, grandkids in this great country. Does that sound about right? What you would what they're right, but what are they actually thankful for Okay, early bird specials chairs with lumbar support. Restaurants that still give physical menus when the remote just works, gas prices under $3 weather forecasts that come on regular TV. A good solid Can you hear me now? Phone call that. They don't have to understand Tiktok and the ability to eat stuffing without having to worry about carbs. There you go. And that their doctor really listens. He doesn't, but they actually believe he does. That's good, all right. Gen X, what they say they're thankful for. This is 65 to 1980 independence, stability, their kids and their sanity, is that about, right? Jason, is that fair? So what are they actually thankful for when nobody talks to them for a few hours, a spouse who handles the socialization for them? Oh gosh, not being invited to group chats, any appointment that gets canceled last minute, the fact that they survived childhood with metal playgrounds and no supervision, 90s music still being cool, roll down car windows in case the Motor breaks, knowing life before and after the internet, the bill at the restaurant, that's actually correct, and the quiet moment before everyone leaves Thanksgiving.
Ian
Okay, I think I jive with a few of those.
Stoney
So basically, Jason is thankful. He lived through the 80s, 90s and early 2000 and somehow can't remember any of it. All right, millennials, here we go, 81 to 96 they say they are thankful for work and life balance, mental health, Experiences over Possessions and their found family, I would agree with that that's that's fair, that's fair. Okay, now, what are millennials actually thankful for when Amazon packages arrive early? Okay, the bartender who remembers their drink. Hey, that's pretty nice not having to call anyone on the phone student loan pauses. Yeah, not getting judged for needing therapy. Okay? Bottomless, brunch, air fryers not being Gen Z, yep, when their parents babysit and their coffee order coming out, right? That's that's interesting. So Ian is thankful his HOA hasn't emailed him this week.
Ian
That's a good feeling. I'll tell you what I there's a few things in that that Gen X category, I think I was actually driving with a little bit more on the real side, which is interesting. That's fun. I got Gen Z, if y'all want to hear that, yeah, all right, Gen Z. My brother is a Gen Z technical,
Stoney
okay? Well, we have to let us know if we're right. Inclusivity, okay, community, self expression, their online tribe. That's what Gen Z says that they are thankful for. Yeah, what are they actually thankful for? Unlimited data, okay? Free Wi Fi, that actually works, emojis that hit just right, that they never had to burn CDs, relationship drama they watch on, tick tock, oh gosh, waking up and not having three existential crisises by noon, yikes, not knowing what interest rates are when boomers say yeet wrong. No. Shopping carts that don't squeak on tick tock. Hey, there you go. And anxiety meds that come in fun colors.
Jason
I want the yellow one.
Stoney
You can't Gen alpha, oh gosh. 213, to present, what they say they're thankful for, Minecraft, Roblox and snacks. What are they actually thankful for? I don't know, iPads with full battery. The adults still think screen time limits work. No No. When the Wi Fi speed goes from 98 millibytes per second to 99 not having to learn cursive. YouTube Kids any meal shaped like a dinosaur. No that their parents let the tablet baby sit them. They're one hoodie that they refuse to take off tick tock filters that make them look like raccoons. Okay? And every dog they've ever seen. There you go. Every dog. All right, that is the 2025 Thank you. Actually, what they're thankful for, really? How close was that? Was that?
Jason
Okay? I think it's pretty good stone. Y'all like that? I do,
Ian
yeah, I think I'm starting to realize that I think I may jive with a Gen X a little more than I thought. The things you were saying that they're actually thankful for is, like, interesting. So, yeah, that's I pulled
Jason
up some stuff here. I'm just kind of just got knocking you, just kind of glancing at some things here, it says a. Just kind of a summation of, kind of a lot of things here about just how what people are thankful for, just it said, basically, survey show gratitude is universal, but is shaped by age. Okay, across the country, family and friends, which Stoney said, younger adults lean toward experiences and personal achievements. Yeah, while older Americans emphasize health and stability, in short, what we're thankful for often reflects the life we've lived so far. So I mean, I would, you know, definitely think the older you get, the more grateful you're going to be for health, yeah, you know, or, you know, family and those kind of things, but good luck at the end of the day, really, that's what matters, yeah? Well, sometimes
Stoney
it's really hard to be thankful for family when you have them all. Oh yeah, I can remember a time I believe, when I and this is I had four great grandparents, still alive, yeah, and you're not really thankful for that, and now I look back that I have no grandparents, yeah, alive, yep, I still have my mother, still have my father, but They're in their 80s. I'm 61 Yeah, I'm at the age I thought at one time this was ancient. You're right. Well, of course, somebody was 60. Was ancient.
Jason
Is all relative, so it's really
Stoney
hard until you start losing something. Oh, yeah. And I know for me, that was 1989 okay, I buried 12 people. That's a lot. 12 close people. I lost a partner. I lost one of the people that I was a bodyguard for. I did not lose them to my action or incorrect I lost him to old age. But it was, it hit me hard, yeah, and I just the way I started viewing things started to change in the 90s, because so much happened, and you just kind of look around and you start appreciating those little things. You become thankful for the little things. Oh, yeah. And I had
Ian
one time I had a mentor, tell me one time, he was from Australia. He was such a cool just, it was, like, one of those, like, wise dudes that just like, I mean, just would just sort of like, me, yeah, no. He would just like, he would effortly say some stuff that. But like, but like, he would say things and like, you're like, I want you to slow down. I want you to realize, like, how powerful what you said was. And he used to say, he used to say, That's a joke, but he was like, I pray that you have all the money you need, and I pray that you also go without a little bit. I pray that you have nothing but healthy, totally well, great days. And I pray that you also get sick every now and then. And I pray that like you have all the all the stuff that you could ever need, and also I hope that you would go without some of the things you really need every now and then, because there's these moments when you in those moments when you are at your darkest moments is when you really appreciate some of those lighter moments in your life, and vice versa. It's like, there's these moments whenever you go without something, you feel a little bit sick, and you're like, man, what I wouldn't give to be healthy right now and then, whenever you do eventually get healthy, it's that appreciation of like, I have to be thankful for the fact that I have health, that I have a house, that I have food, income, whatever it may be, or that kind of stuff. Because it's that, it's those moments like that. They have to be very, you know,
Jason
well, that's saying, it's, it's a lot of the little things that we sometimes we lose perspective on these things. I mean, you know, I'm, you know, I'm very grateful that I still have my mother, yeah, who I love dearly, my, you know, you know, consider my, you know, my best friend. Now, of course, now, with me getting married, that relationship will, will, will change, but, but you know, always will treasure my mother, and it will be a bad day for Jason when that day comes when she's no longer around, Yeah, but you know that's that's extremely important to me, that she's still in my life. Now I've got a wonderful stepfather. I mean, yeah, right. You know my father, my biological father, died when I was a lot younger, and I miss him still terribly, but Right? But you know, I very much appreciate the stability of life right now. And I said it's, there's so many things to be grateful for that. You know, I've got a job. I've got, you know, I've got income coming in. I. You know, it's got a home and, you know, and as much as I moan and complain about the stuff around around me in the world right now, and of course, some of that that comes out in some of these podcast episodes, we do, but, but
Ian
thank God you have stuff,
Jason
trust me, I look at other parts of the world where people are getting killed for, Yes, for just going to church or believing a certain way, and what's happening in these other parts of the world, I mean, it's we have a lot to be thankful for in this country. As much as you know, the country's going through these convulsions right now, right? And I'm not saying that. You know, none of what we talk about is fair game, because it's issues that we all have to deal with. But for the most part, the average American, yeah, has it pretty good? Yes, compared to other places, many other places in the world, even though statistics show that a lot of people that are unhappy, but I call it's called First World unhappiness, oh, yeah, I think a lot of people lack meaning and information overload and trying to figure purpose and everything else out. And I think a lot of that came out, especially during covid. I can't talk remember. I talked to a lot of people at that time that the jobs they were doing became really irrelevant, oh yeah. And became really, when really things start unraveling. Oh yeah. Really how important is what you do? And then I think it hit a lot of people hard that I think a lot of people got very depressed about that, and it's like, you know, I think that that realization hits them that's like, as much effort and energy I put into this man just kind of change the paradigm a little bit. It doesn't really mean a whole
Ian
lot, and I don't, I don't think it helped any with like, you know, AI being such a big
Jason
no, and that's what I'm saying. I worry about how that will play upon the psychological health of our community as as more and more people have to find meaning in a world that is increasingly you're not really needed, right? You know, if we really think about that statement for a little while, how you handle that psychologically is, is huge. Yep, because it is something that really strikes to the very heart of who we are. Well,
Stoney
right now, instead of doing what we need to do to survive, people's meaning comes from accepting my mental illness or accepting me for who I believe that I am that gives people meaning, they're not accomplishing anything, right, and that that's taking away true meaning of life. I don't care what you are. I don't care what you believe yourself to be, right? What are you doing to help someone else out? Right? That's what I care about. I
Ian
believe we talked about it a little bit in the previous episode with the whole the whole utopian mice situation, where it's like, once you have everything you need, there's like a level of like, things start to crumble. You don't have a meaning, a belonging, you don't have a purpose to drive you. I
Jason
think that's what's going on a lot in our in our country right now, and even in Europe and other places, especially in the West, I think that's exactly what's happening. I think we've reached a level of comfort where all our needs basically are met and and we're kind of at that kind of what in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs self actualization. Who am I? What am I here for? Yeah, what's my purpose here? And I think unfortunately, people, there's a huge void there in our culture now, yeah, we've kind of hollowed out our culture, and people are desperately trying to latch on to something, unfortunately, that enables people to latch on to a lot of unhealthy things, and it takes some places they really don't need to go. I think if they were a little bit more grounded, I think they would be kind of somewhat immune to some of the stuff out there right now.
Stoney
Well, what's, what's the expression, if you, if you teach your son early how to work on cars and motorcycles, he'll never have enough money for drugs. I. Yeah, okay, you know, we'll take that a step further. If he's working or she's working, I don't care somebody. You got an 11 or 12 year old, you know, knocking that brake job out. Yeah, you're inspiring them. Yeah, you're spending time with them. You're giving them something, see, at one time, purpose came from what you did. Yeah, look at this. And I challenge both of y'all and our listeners to get on Google and Google Victorian homes. Oh, yeah. Look at the quality of craftsmanship that was in America at one time. Oh yeah, in America, not just Europe, but in America, where is that craftsmanship today? There's no one can do that anymore. And if there's one or two that can, I'm sorry, but you damn expensive. Oh, yeah, nobody can afford you. So it might as well not be there exactly that. Just look at the homes. Look at the buildings that were built at one time, some of the fantastic bridges. Now, I know we got some amazing stuff today, but not in the same scope.
Jason
We're not building the beauty that we once did
Stoney
look at the Art Deco time. Oh, yeah, you know, thought process was put into stuff, not just, Oh, I'm gonna have a black wall and I'm gonna do these colors and I'm gonna do this. No, people put thought into what they were building, right?
Jason
Yeah, well, I think you had, overall, you had more of the just everyday worker, that's it that wanted to there's always people that are the outliers. I mean, those people have always existed. I mean, there's always gonna be the Michelangelo's and raffia all that stuff. They're going to always have people like that. It's where I think the drop off has occurred, is the everyday person who did these things, that level of commitment is just not there anymore, and that's why you have the one or two people that Stoney just mentioned that you can't afford because they charge us an exorbitant amount of money. And I'm not saying they're not worth saying they're not worth it, right? It's just simply it because there's this huge vacuum now that exists between the common person and that artisan, that craftsman. It's kind of thrown the whole system out of out of whack, and that's the problem we have right now, and a lot of that. So, you know, that's one thing. So when you do find somebody, talk about being thankful, when you find somebody that can do something good and get it to work or build it the way it's meant to be, that's a huge amount of appreciation there that, because that's that's not, that's not the case the way, normally, this is done and and so you got a lot of when it comes to houses. You got a lot of junk houses. Oh yeah, we hear about it every day. There's a suit against this construction company that, because
Stoney
somebody just got arrested in South Louisiana for construction fraud, took $11,000 from somebody and disappeared.
Jason
No, because these, these people sometimes prey on these quantity. Yeah, they prey on this because there's just, you know, people get desperate. I mean, we're now at a point where, I mean, it's just we, we have a huge skills
Ian
vacuum, oh yeah, and getting bigger, because it's you would people, I feel like, would rather just buy a new one than fix the old one. And that's why
Stoney
I've said this 100 times. I'm gonna say it 101 Chip Foose, great custom car builder, said, the situation, the problem with America today is we're teaching our kids to buy something and not build something. And he's a true artisan. I don't know if you've ever seen some of the cars that he's done. He's a true artisan. God, I wish we could get him on the show, but, you know, and that's a true statement, nobody wants to do anything anymore. They just want to buy it. It breaks. Go buy another one.
Jason
Well, I think it comes to a matter is the parts and everything, is it worth? Is it worth? Actually? Oh, yeah, going to go into efforts to fix it. I mean, it gets to a point that it's like it's just cheaper to buy a new one. And that's just the way things are made. 2007
Stoney
Tahoe that I love. And before the accident, there was nothing on that vehicle I couldn't fix, yep. Now I can't crawl underneath it or around it, and I got to get somebody else to do it. But the reason I kept that vehicle is I can work on everything. On it, right?
Ian
I feel like the problem right now too is, again, like you said, I think I feel like it started with, it started with a number of things, but the one that I can always remember is printers to go buy more ink and a new toner cartridge. Go buy a new printer
Jason
the way it's set up. It's that's exactly why it's that way. I'm in that position right now with buying a printer. My printer is the amount of money I have just to go price ink. Yeah, it's just, it's, it's nuts. And I'm sitting there going, how is this so expensive when it's just plastic and ink, you know? I mean, I can't that's, this is not like, rare wherever you boy hurts. I mean, it's just, it just blows my mind on some of that stuff. But, I mean, yes, I mean,
Ian
we, I it really has been upsetting me. Recently I've been seeing an awful because they have all these, like, new Amazon trucks, like the electric ones, the Halo, tail light. Yeah, I've been seeing them everywhere, over the city, everywhere, and, like, even, like, the backwoods areas, they're everywhere, yep. And there's one thing that I I don't know, and I'm not saying I have any better alternative, because I shop at like, a Walmart or a Target or something. So I'm not saying I'm better than this. But like, I've never been a really big fan of Amazon. It just makes me, I don't know. I just, I don't, well, there's
Jason
a lot of people have problems with Amazon. I don't want to contribute to it. There's a lot of people that don't want to leave their house. And that just, that just goes back to the nature of how society has become more insular. Oh yeah, it's reflected now in how we shop. I mean, gone are the days when people wanted to go to the malls. That was the place to go, to go walk around, you know, go see the Christmas decorations at Christmas time, or Thanksgiving, or all the different holidays, and how that was just a thing. And if people came together, that's where you met your friends, and the whole kind of society was oriented around that. Now I don't even have to ever leave my home. Yeah, I really don't. I can do my banking on my phone. I can do my I can have my prescriptions brought to my I don't have to leave my house or anything. And I just think that Amazon has filled a void, oh yeah, that has happened to our society, that we have become more selfish. We just, we just have and, and look, some people are generally afraid. I think sometimes people watch too much news, of course, I think they've got themselves, or they feel like they walk out the house they gonna get shot. I mean, you know, it just, I mean, some of it's a bit of paranoia, yeah, but we, you know, we have, we just, we've gotten lazy, and Amazon has made it awfully convenient. And, you know, give Jeff Bezos, I mean, he came up with this, this model, yep, of delivering goods to you. And I mean, I mean, we are. They're even talking about, you know, using drones now to drop stuff off. I could see as time goes on, no drone just dropped stuff at your house. We just do away with the car. Think about that. Now. Have to worry about paying gas, maintenance of vehicles and
Ian
all this. All these new ones are all electric. Yeah, right. Which, I mean, that's cool, but at the same time, it's also like, but, I mean, I think it's for me, it's just, I'm just noticing them more because they're all unique, and I feel like there's a whole bunch of them now, and it's like,
Jason
man, but I'm, I'm thankful that I have the option that if I ever am in a situation where, hey, I have no help, yeah, the only I have to have somebody deliver stuff to me. I'm glad it's there, right? I really am. You know, of course, I'm mourn the the pulling back that our society kind of we're devolving back into our tribe, so to speak. And that's a disturbing trend. And you know, we've kind of touched on that, and in other episodes we've we've done, but, you know, I'm thankful that technology has made life easier for a lot of people. I'm not one of these proponents that hate tech, or I believe tech is neutral. It can be abused, or it can be beneficial. It just depends on the people that are behind it. So and I
Ian
think that's why I'm so apprehensive towards Amazon, because I'm like, I just don't want to you. Don't want to feed the beast. I don't want to prop up the most, most wealthiest man in the world. And I know, and I know that no matter what I do, I'm probably gonna do it anyways. But I'm
Stoney
like, must is gonna be the first trillionaire. I know he is.
Ian
Well, that's also,
Jason
if you ever buy an electric vehicle. I know. Thank Ellen moss for that. And I tell you what I've noticed now, a few people have been buying a.
Stoney
Oh, yep, I'm more interested in in the hydrogen cars coming out, as I think BMW said they got it. And it's, it's less than a five minute refuel. You take out this, and it's easier to have hydrogen tanks at a gas station than it is a charging station,
Jason
yeah, as long as the prices, oh yeah, they got to compete. I agree. I think overall, I mean, just what the prices that are now, items that should not be what they are at all. I it's too much profit being built into that stuff. I do believe that there is some gouging going on.
Ian
Speaking of I don't, I'm not gonna, we're not gonna go down this, this topic too far, but it could be a topic for a future. Episode is the rapid price influx of coffee
Jason
for that? Well, I think that just tied in with the
Stoney
tariffs. They're trying to make Donald Trump look bad. But
Ian
there's all but there's also some other things in play besides terrorists, but it is that too, yeah, that's also a big thing that, like is we're
Jason
paying, but you know that, as I'm saying, at the end of the day, you're still gonna have your coffee. I mean, that's what I'm saying. The real the real question is first
Ian
world, first world problems. I mean, the real question is, how expensive? Is too expensive. What is that threshold in which you look at something and say, we can say coffee, we could say a car, we could say whatever. What is that threshold that's too much,
Jason
basically, when basically, the most people say, I'm just not buying
Ian
that's what it's gonna take for Americans a cup of coffee. What would that price be?
Stoney
Obviously, it's revolutionary to say that you can go to jail for saying
Jason
that. For my the coffee I buy, I buy a low asset coffee, yeah, and it, it cost me about 20, $22
Ian
a bag for a bag, yeah, just a lot of money, yeah, for just call. But it's also really nice coffee, but it's good
Jason
coffee, yeah, and that's what I drink every morning. But still, gotta find some more Kopi Lou wag.
Stoney
I have one more thing that I'm I'm pretty thankful for, okay, and I want to, I have a disclaimer for this one. All right, I love New York, and I love the people of New York, but I am thankful I do not live in New York.
Ian
Yeah, does this have anything to do with what we were talking about last week? It has
Stoney
everything to do with it, because this Zohan Madame, yep, is an idiot. Okay, Did y'all see the interview that he did over the weekend. I did not No, I missed it. Okay, this idiot has no idea how economics work, and I'm going to quote his interview. Okay, okay. Now follow me on this one. I've proposed that we raise $10 billion to pay for our economic agenda and to start to Trump proof our city. He says we're going to match corporate taxes, and they can pay it over here, just when people say they're going to Florida, whenever you wherever you are headquartered, as long as you do business in the state of New York, you are taxable for that corporate income. Dude, we are talking about corporations that make millions of dollars, not in revenue, but in profits, and they're saying they're going to leave. If you want to do taxes in New York, you will. I mean, if you want to do business in New York, you will still be
Ian
taxed on he's going to shut down the state,
Stoney
Staten Island. What is it? Long time ago, Baker incorporated around Baton Rouge Central, Incorporated. And what was the last one. What was the last St George, yes, Staten Island has said that they are going to succeed from New York. Wow, they announced that this morning. Well, of course, they said, We're done. We're not even going to do
Jason
this. Well, I mean, I mean, I have to really go down that road too much, because we talked about that last
Stoney
week. I don't want to, but I'm just saying I'm thankful I don't live there, because they're going to be
Jason
he's a 34 year old, you know, rich kid that has really no clue about the working class or or economics, or anything like that. I mean, it's he's tapping into, and this is another fear. He's tapping into fear. He's tapping into a lot of young people that are just dissatisfied with the way the status quo is right now regarding the affordability. And that's another issue altogether. And I'm
Ian
curious now. I wonder what's going to happen, because that's like, you well,
Jason
take. Can't really, he can't really do too much without the governor of New York, she's already said acquiescent to that. So I believe we mentioned that last week, that you know Governor, I believe, is whole children. I forget her, her name, but he she has indicated that we know new taxes, okay, talking about that would drive her out of office, right? Well, I mean, even they recognize that. But you know one
Stoney
thing I want to remind you all of before the internet, every village thought they had one idiot. Boy, were they proven wrong? Oh yeah, I'm just think about that one for a
Jason
minute. I just, I just think there's a lot of there's just a lot of distrust and a lot of anger, and just, you know, there are a lot of people that just, you know, we're the country's convulsing a bit right now, and believe me, as I said, I'd be very curious if this is replicated in Other cities, this sort of politics and
Ian
what i But obviously, with this week, you know, I as this episode releases, Thanksgiving is going to be at the end of this week. Take the take a moment, I mean. And obviously, many people do this already, many people that I know are probably people that attend church regularly. I think we do this on an occasion I know there's a Bible study that recently happened at the church that I was attending that kind of did this sort of thing. Or just make a list. Take a notebook out, take some time and make a list of things you're really thankful for, not like, any of the like, there's a there's probably 10 to 12 things that, like, you would probably say already, health food, at home, all that stuff. Write all those down if you have to, to get them all out. But like, really dig down deep. Get past those. Get past that list right there, that that that those portions that you feel like are kind of at the surface level, get down deep and start really appreciating what's around you, the little things in life. That's the stuff I think would really once you get to look back on that after this week is over with, and look back at it again. Whenever your life and your week picks back up into that rotation, look back at that and realize these little things in your life that you're really thankful for. That's the kind of stuff that I've been doing recently as well. It's been helping me out a lot to slow down and just take take stock of what I have,
Jason
I'm grateful for, for all the blessings that I've, I've been given, and because I know there are a lot of people out there that I've got a whole, got a got it rough. And so, yes, I do. I am grateful for, as I said, for, for, you know, I am living in, a free country, right? I mean, as of right now, I'm pretty much free to believe what I want to believe. I can pretty much do what I want. I can free to kind of move around wherever I need to go. You know, all the things that in a lot of parts of the world people don't have, yeah, and so we always have to be grateful that while, yes, we have problems, everybody has problems, there's no utopia on Earth. There never will be a utopia on this earth that will come in the next life, but it won't be in this one. We have to always be mindful that we've got it pretty good, especially here in America. And you, believe me, a little parts of our listeners that may be in Europe or in Australia or other places around the world that you know they they've pretty much probably their life is fairly good too, right? I'm sure they got their challenges wherever they live, but you know, it could be a lot worse, and that doesn't mean to mitigate, right? That there's problems, but you know, we do have it pretty good.
Stoney
I need to differ with you. What's that? And you know, I don't like disagreeing with either one, but I'm going to disagree with you, okay, especially since the accident, when I'm sitting there, it can be in the car, can be on the couch, or it can be in the backyard. When I hold Miranda's hands and I look in her eyes and I see how much she loves me. I found my utopia, and I don't care what's going on around right that moment when I realized that I have a true gift from God, that somehow I still can't imagine, that she looked at my dumb ass and said, Yeah, this is the one I want. But for that moment, I found my utopia, right? So I do believe that we can have it, but we got to make it, and we got to realize it.
Ian
And I think that that's a perfect segue, I think, into also that, like the ending part. I know you've said this before, every time we get to. This part of the year. But I think we're all of all of us here. I think are thankful for you listeners that listen to this show, that keep coming around, that keep downloading the episodes, that leave us your comments and that kind of stuff. It really does. We love the comments. We need more of the comments. It's been, it's been really great. This has been a really, really up and down journey, but it's been so it's been so fun, interesting, yes, but for anybody who would like to we have the email address get offended together@gmail.com, where you can send some more long form responses. On Spotify and on YouTube, we have comment sections for more like short form responses. If you'd like that, be sure to like and subscribe and all the platforms that you listen to us on, thank you again and until next week, bye, bye,
Jason
Goodbye, everyone and God bless.
Stoney
We live in a world that moves faster than our souls were designed for, one that shouts, scrolls, refreshes and demands, a world where everyone has an opinion, but very few have peace, but Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving hands us a moment to breathe, hit pause, to look around and realize that even in a chaotic, confused and divided world, there is still so much good worth noticing. If you want real gratitude, here it is, be grateful for the moments that didn't go your way, but taught you something. Be grateful for the people who left because they made room for those who truly care. Be grateful for the battles you won and the battles you're still fighting, because both mean you're alive and moving forward. Tonight, we hope you feel seen, encouraged, reminded that life is worth celebrating. We're thankful for you, every listener, every share, every person who sits at his digital table with us each week, Happy Thanksgiving from the retrospect. Family, you're the best. Peace.