Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Ahoy there, everybody. You're listening to the Jan Arden Podcast. I'm here with Caitlin Green and Adam Karsh who are in their Toronto homes, respectively. I am in Strasbourg on a river ship.
I dare I say river boat because I don't think that's right, Caitlin. And that's where I'm doing the podcast from today. I want to just add that as the resident below deck super fan, it has been a thrill to see Jan giving us a tour of her room on board the river ship cruise boat. It's so nice. Yes. All those things. We just had a they had three tours excursions today that went out.
Um, I should probably give you a little backstory. I'm here to do a couple of concerts on river cruises. So, uh, like 18 months ago, we sold something called like the Jan Arden scenic river cruise, and they sold out in eight hours, both of them.
And of course, Ukraine war, COVID numbers going up slightly caused a few cancellations, but there's some intrepid souls and that's where I am today. So I'm very, very grateful to be here kind of on a working trip. But we just spent the day in Strasbourg, which is right on the German-French border. It is Strasbourg has been
claimed by the French for centuries and then by the Germans for centuries. And they've kind of agreed to disagree. And it's kind of Lloyd Minster. It's the Lloyd Minster of Canada straddling Saskatchewan and Alberta. Lloyd Minster. Hello. And, but it is remarkable. The, it is like walking through medieval times. There's the Notre Dame cathedral here, which is not the Notre Dame that you're thinking in Paris, but,
But it is equally as impressive. And if you want to go into my Instagram stories at Jan Arden on Instagram, you can follow along with me this next couple of weeks and see us walking in some of these ancient towns and cities. And it has just been a real pleasure meeting a few people and
Eating things and there's no end to the shapes of bread here. Can I just say that? What's the best thing you've eaten so far? Yeah, the best part about travel is the food. Well, you know, they're going out of their way to be accommodating to me. There's, I mean, the bread, there's been so many beautiful soups and pastas. Last night I had these amazing, um,
deep fried curried cauliflower knobs and these falafel balls and gorgeous coleslaws and salads. And I had the world's greatest tomato soup today with, you know, another cleverly shaped knot of bread that I had with the world's most delicious olive oil. So there's no end to stuff. I may have eaten my body weight in radishes this morning, but, you know, they were there. Someone cleaned them. They were cut up. So I ate them.
So what's your next stop? We go to, I want to say Baden-Baden. Double Baden. I think Chris and I, for one thing, we're going to an opera, a tiny mini opera tomorrow. And I will be handing out champagne flutes to all the scenic passengers. But I think in the afternoon, we're going to kind of take it easy. But Chris and I are going to hop on the electric bikes that are on the ship.
And we're going to do a little tour around Baden-Baden where we don't even have to freaking pedal. Okay, so I'm presuming you're on like a river tour of the Rhine. Yes. And so are you heading towards Germany or are you heading south towards Switzerland? I think we're going to be going... We've come from Switzerland. I was in Zurich for a couple of nights just getting my feet under me. Then we had a car drive us to...
Sorry, I had to pick a moment. And then last night we sailed here to Strasbourg. They call it sailing.
although there's no sails involved. And you just sleep and you can feel the purr of the engines. And I got up at one point to go to the bathroom, as you do, and I threw the curtains open and just the river was so quiet and the ship was cutting through this glass-like water. And there was all these lights kind of in the hills and I could hear like birds kind of swishing by. And it was really magical.
Because it looks like, if my understanding is correct, you'd be heading north further into Germany from here. And on your little route, oh, yeah, here's Baden-Baden. All right. Yeah, okay. So there's Baden-Baden, which isn't too far away. And as you keep going, you will eventually, after the city of Mannheim, you will hit a town simply called Worms. Just plural, Worms. Right on the river. I'm sure they have great bakeries in Worms. Yeah.
I hope they have some fishing because it would be a little too on the nose if they didn't. Yeah, I don't. I mean, such an interesting history through here. I love Germany. It's one of my favorite European countries, to be honest. I really love France, too. But there's something just about...
how these people make their way through life and there's no end to the castles. There's no end to German castles. At some point after Baden-Baden, we sail through this really important valley. They're taking everybody up on top of the ship
And I think they have some kind of a cocktail reception. And there are so many castles that for like three or four hours, we're just going to be in this beautiful sunny weather tomorrow. It's supposed to be 22. And folks are going to be having their cocktails and their little ordevores. And just looking at castles that are by the dozens. So who knows what was happening between the years 700 and 1650, but they were building stuff.
Yeah. Cause I mean, so you're in a part of Germany that I very much would like to see cause it's a little further down, obviously close to Switzerland. And, um, I haven't been that way. I went to Berlin. I don't, I don't really like it. So I need to be proven wrong because all my friends who have been in Germany and I have German friends who are like from Dusseldorf and they're like, you're crazy. That's just Berlin. That's not the rest of Germany. That's like a
these issues that you had are exclusive to Berlin and the rest of Germany doesn't really like it either. And I was like, oh, okay, good to know it wasn't just me. But I found it to be kind of a bummer. So I want to see the rest of Germany where you are right now. Yeah, you're not the first person to say that about Berlin. And I think obviously the West and the East are still miles apart as far as even culturally. You know, when that wall went up, it was a very dark time.
And it was, they're still undoing it. I'll never forget Ronald Reagan, you know, talking about take down that wall and people out there with sledgehammers. And then they were selling parts of the Berlin wall. You could buy a chunk for, you know, some of it ranged from five bucks to thousands of dollars, depending on what graffiti was on it. But yeah, I,
Germany really is magical. Strasbourg, which is where we spent the day today, is I want to start singing something out of a Disney musical and put on some kind of an apron very tightly, cinching it around my waist and kind of dancing with a basket of bread through the town square.
It looks so beautiful because I looked it up and it looks really, really stunning. And yeah, what you just described was essentially a scene out of Beauty and the Beast and your belt. And I would say that your tour manager, Chris, is the beast. Yes. And you are correct. And he's the one that knows every song to every little town, little village. You guys have to recreate this. You know, I'm going to have him do it tomorrow.
But he does. He knows the whole song word by word. And I think it is from Beauty and the Beast. It is. There must be more than this provincial life. Yes. The baking and pretzels are big here. They were doing pretzels here four or five hundred years ago. And I would imagine it was a very hearty, travelable bread.
And even some of the stone carvings above doorways have two young people each holding the side of a large pretzel, which are called bretzels here. So I think it was just like the hot dog of the day. And there's no end to people wandering around just eating sausage. No bun. It's in their fist, maybe with a napkin.
They range in color from white to dark brown to red to a blood sausage. And there are dozens, dozens, dozens, if not hundreds of sausage kiosks. That's an aggressive look on the go, you know, just walking around eating a loose sausage. It looks so funny. It looks ridiculous, I would bet. You know, and then there's just no end to the coffee shops and the
But they did have quite a few plant milks here. I made the mistake of being naive and I went to this little, looked like a local place on my walk in Zurich. And I just said to the woman, do you speak English? She goes, of course. And I said, oh, do you guys have any plant milks? Yes, oat, soy, almond. I think she named off something else and I was really embarrassed because I'm just like, she goes, we have all of them. Which one would you like? And...
So I just, I learned my lesson to, there's, everyone speaks English. People are, and they're not offended if you don't know, you know, Swiss German or German German or French German or, everyone really goes out of their way to be accommodating. Tourism is a huge part of the European economy and they have obviously been blindsided this last couple of years. But tourism is a absolute thing.
integral part of European life. Yeah. I mean, you've described the antithesis of my experience in Berlin. So I am really encouraged to go because in Berlin, I don't know about the plant beverage options, but we couldn't even pay with a credit card some places. We're like...
I would have to... It was bizarre. It was like, did the Cold War end? Like, what happened here? Like, I was like, what's going on? Like, Kyle would be running around trying to find an ATM that was, like, out of the side of, like, a blown-out building. And I'd be waiting, twiddling my thumbs in a restaurant while he had to come back with cash.
and a bunch of like cool looking Berliners were just glaring at us being first world problems stupid Canadians you're listening to the Jan Arden podcast I'm very happy to be reporting from Germany I'm with Caitlin and Adam don't go away we'll be right back lots more to talk about
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And Caitlin and Adam are home in Toronto. What's the weather like there? And it's earlier there. I'm what, six hours ahead of you guys? Five hours? It's, well, it's 1230 here. Yeah, it's 1230 here, so 530 there. And then, is that right? Or 630? Yes. 630, yeah, okay, six hours. And it's like, it's overcast but kind of warm here. But it's, you know, it's not bad. I am leaving on Thursday to go to Bermuda. Oh.
Oh, do tell. See, I don't feel so bad about that. And you have family in Bermuda, don't you, Caitlin? Yeah, we abuse the hell out of them. Free place to stay. So we do the mooch tour. So we're going down to spend a week there with my brother-in-law and his wife and their three kids. And I just cannot wait to go. Like Bermuda is one of those places where you forget that it's two hours flight pretty well just over from Toronto. And you can get a two hours. Yeah, it's not far. Yeah, it's close. I've been there once.
It's beautiful. Yeah, it's so, it's heaven. It is literally heaven. Yeah, I get it. And it is very close. It's expensive, fair enough. I mean, we have a free place to stay, but. What are they dealing with the British pound in Bermuda?
I think we mostly pay U.S. But it is... I think you're right. I think you're right. Yeah, it's very British, obviously. It is like a banking haven. Everyone wears those socks pulled up and the Bermuda shorts. When you see a group of little school kids with their knee-high socks pulled up, it is adorable. Um...
Yeah, they're so cute. So yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited to go sit on the beach. They're public beaches. Like you go to like stay at a hotel or you like go to a private beach club or whatever and it's still beautiful. But then sometimes you go to just a public beach there and you're like this is nicer than most five-star resorts on other islands. Well, I think they've done a good job trying to keep the building down. I know they have really strict rules.
rules about, you know, apartments or hotels on the like, they're, they're pretty, they want to keep it as nice and as true to form as possible. Maybe that's a racist thing that I'm entering into. They want to keep it the way it is. So they're very reluctant. It's like, you couldn't, you and I could not move to Bermuda, Caitlin, Adam, we couldn't go there.
Well, you can because there's a ton of Canadian expats who do live there, but you can't own property. So you rent. You can't own property.
So that's what it is. You can't own property and like you can't become. You can't go there and build. Well, you can't even buy a house. So you can't go there and buy a house unless you're a Bermuda citizen. If you give birth to kids there, then they're not Bermuda citizens. There's no like natural, like you can't, you're either there or you're not. And so I think that's why people leave oftentimes is it's quite small. And like, there's no Starbucks, there's no McDonald's, there's no chain, anything. They'll never let that stuff go there.
Yeah, everything has to be independently owned. They prioritize Bermudian businesses, and it really works for them. But it's a totally different experience than what you're used to when you travel. Well, it is bizarre. Like in Strasbourg just now, this huge cathedral, like gorgeous, built over, like I was saying, over a period of 700 or 800 years, they kept building onto this place. Chris, across this beautiful cobblestone ancient square, spots a Starbucks sign.
And beeline, I'm like, how did you see that? He goes, I can see them anywhere. I just know, awning. So, you know, there's still that, and I'm sure there's some reluctance to...
have this ancient town that's part Roman as well. The Romans, welcome to your history lesson today, folks. The Romans came up here and Strasbourg was actually kind of a walled city where they protected the Roman Empire until it fell apart in the year, what, 400 and something.
But there's a lot of Roman structures here still as well. So it's such... Caitlin, I'm telling you, you would love it to have that kind of history and you still see that Roman distinctive archaeology, that architecture, sorry. And then all of a sudden you get into the German stuff, which is very distinct. And then the French people, theirs is very distinct. It's amazing how...
identifiable it is. And our guide was, I don't even know how they learn all this stuff, but you just walk around and you can't even take in all the information.
That's kind of the aesthetic that like every once in a while, if I don't, if we know when we weren't really leaving Canada, if you want that like quick hit of the European aesthetic, you just go to Quebec in Canada. It's the closest you're going to get, but I, you really miss it. Like, and then when you go places where it's so beautiful and you just think, dang it, how did we not get any of this going over here? Like, how did we not, how did no one travel, you know, who was building stuff in Toronto or Calgary or Vancouver? How did they not travel other places and go, we should stay here?
steal some of that. Like Stockholm is one of the most beautiful cities I've almost ever seen in my life. And you're like, would it kill us to put together a decent fountain? Just one, just a couple of decent fountains downtown. No, it's about money. They're not going to, they're not going to build something like that. It's going to be ultra contemporary. And they're going to say, well, we're not going to, when you see the facades, even of these churches and of the buildings and the extra mile that they went,
to have gargoyles or angels or cherubs or any kind of, like there's goats, cattle, oxen, donkeys, horses. They have all kinds of animals. Things that meant something to people were these buildings. But yeah, it's the difference between Canada being 150 years old and most of it, whereas in Quebec City, you're probably looking at
late 1600s what are you dealing with in Quebec I don't know much about it I feel very foolish it's just a lot prettier like old Montreal and like Quebec City somebody write us somebody tell us how long someone correct us because it must be fur traders that started it all
Listen to me. Listen, if you're tuning into the Jan Arden podcast, there's actually no factual things that we're telling you here today. You're going to have to go onto the internet and
How old is Quebec City? There's a homework for you. It says 1608 is when the first trading activities were in the area. I said late 1600s. Yes, you're probably not that far off. I just also think it's like priorities. And like, dang it if the French don't have their priorities straight as I like to see it. Which is like you go into like a gas station in Quebec and you have like the best selection of wine you've ever seen in your life.
I'm like, this is just, it just reminds me. I remember driving through Italy with my husband and there again, you stop at like a giant, giant gas station where like trucks would fill up. And it's so, so this is not the epicenter of culture. You're on the side of a highway, but you'd go in to pay for your gas and they'd have a place where people would sit down and it would be very welcoming and everyone's having a cappuccino and you could get some prosciutto and some fresh mozzarella. And I was like, this is life people. Come on. Why have we not stolen any of this goodness? Yeah.
I saw a family today being in this outdoor cafe and they were beautifully dressed. I mean, people are so beautifully dressed here. They're not in Lululemon pants. No Ruth sweatpants? No, there's no sweatpants with skid marks on them. There's none of that.
You know, this family was sitting there, of course, a little girl, nine or ten years old, little boy, three or four years old. The mom was having a glass of white wine or a Chablis or something. The dad was having this gorgeous-looking beer and a lovely, like, beer...
And then they got this charcuterie board plunked down in front of them by the cutest young waiter in the world. And these kids just dug into it. I'm looking at them taking, you know, little pieces of ham and a piece of cheese and putting it on their piece of baguette and, you know, making even the three-year-old kid, the little guy. And I just thought, wow, they weren't cutting stuff up for them. They were both just leaning over and making up their lunches.
And I did. It just struck me. Even Chris was like to me, he goes, man, that looks so civilized. Yeah. Acting out or crawling on the GD ground and, you know, screaming. They were really well-behaved children.
Yeah, I just, I don't quite, I don't know. It depends. And you know, it's a real dice roll and what kind of kid you get. So I just, I remember going to restaurants with my parents and I was an only child. So it was like a big treat and I really wanted to go and be an adult. Like I always just was like, I can't wait to be an adult. And so going and sitting still and having a meal and I would order crab cakes and I just really wanted to do all the adult things because it was like a treat.
So I just feel like there is a part of that where you're so used to the opposite here, where you're not going to completely recreate European culture. I just, again, can we not steal some of the better stuff? Quebec did it. They're right next door to me. You're listening to the Jan Art Podcast. We are traveling the world of etiquette and well-behaved children. Don't go away. We'll be right back. ♪
The love boat soon will be making another run. The love boat.
Something exciting for everyone. I don't even know if that's the words, but it's close enough. Welcome back to the Jan Arden Podcast. I'm here with Caitlin Green, Adam Karsh. I'm on a riverboat. They're in their apartments. My basement. Condo, houses. Yeah, Adam. At least you have floors. I don't. I do. I do. I'm in the basement, though, which is fine. I like it. I'm telling you, Chris and I, my road manager is here with me, obviously, because this is a working trip. Yeah.
And we're the only people in masks in all of Germany. Can I just say that? There's nobody, there's no one wearing masks on the ship. We did, they did require us to have masks on the transfer bus to go to Strasbourg. And then everyone just takes them off. But I'm wearing masks in the common areas. Like, I really feel, and I want your opinions on this,
I don't feel conflicted. I'm going to do what I need to do because I have a huge tour coming up. I want to stay well. But, you know, in Switzerland, the day I got here, there was reporting 40,000 cases of Omicron a day.
So what's your take on it? Am I, I mean, I'm going to keep wearing the mask. I'm erring on the side of caution. People are looking at me weird and they know I'm a tourist. Oh, I was just going to say that. Yeah. Cause that was always a thing I found when we would travel before, like when my husband and I would travel, this is before COVID, you would recognize some groups of tourists because they would have masks on and they would travel with them. And so, I mean, now,
I just wonder. I got into, now, okay, now what I do notice is it's a dice roll when you get into a ride share or a taxi. So sometimes the drivers have them on and sometimes they don't.
And sometimes I'm like, sir, your car reeks like cigarettes. So I'm leaving my mask on if not for the smell filter alone. But I roll all the windows down, like all that stuff. And I just, you know, it's strange. It feels like it's setting dependent. I never understood the masks in like the restaurant. Walk to your table in a mask, but then sit down and COVID disappears. Like that stuff is just dumb.
Right. So that's why it was always a bit odd to me. But then I went to a Leafs game for work and same thing. It's like you're walking around and some people had masks on and some people didn't. And then you get to your seats and now you can take your mask off because you're eating and drinking, but you're in the same arena. I'm like, guys, I just don't think this makes sense anymore. So there's some situations where I don't think it matters. Well, you're not wrong, but I still, and I know I'm not the only one, I do feel...
I haven't had COVID as of yet. Most of the people that I know have. But I really, I don't know what version I'm going to get of it. And I am a little bit scared. I think of Lisa and, you know, I know I've talked about her, but conjunctivitis was in emergency care. Her lungs were tough for a couple of days. Sore throat she's ever had, but her eyes are still a huge issue.
And it's just one of the weird side effects of getting it. But I...
I just think, what version would I get? And how would that affect people that have had tickets for two years to see our tour? Yeah. That's the one. That's the one. Like, I went to the bathroom at this little cafe today. And of course, in Europe, all the bathrooms are down a very dark, deep staircase, like Beauty and the Beast. And you're going past a glass rose in a case. And you're wondering if you're going... Anyway. But I did finally make the bathroom. But I wore a mask down there.
And I just thought, I'm wearing a mask into the bathrooms. Yeah, nobody wearing a mask ever bothers me. And there are places where I feel much better wearing one. But I also am like, I wear a good one. Sometimes I see people's little flimsy cloth mask or they have it hanging under their nose. I do think...
And 95s. Yeah, same. And I'm like, so I know I'm like, oh, I have a reasonable amount of protection. The people who are just wearing a flimsy cloth mask around, I'm like, that's not doing anything. With their nostrils out. Exactly. So there's some stuff where, again, I think it's performative. I don't think it's even very evidence-based. And so I just, you know, forget about it. If I'm going to a healthcare setting, if, you know, especially at work, work is a different scenario because if one person gets sick at work and then infects
everybody else, all of a sudden your entire on-air staff is gone. And then same with you, Jan. If you get sick, then people lose out on their tickets. Or if you test positive for COVID before you enter one country, then does it block you from moving forward with your trip or whatever? When you're working, it's a different story. And I think there's different rules around it for everybody. So counsel me here. Uh-oh. I don't know what I'm talking about, so there's a problem. Well, I still feel like a mask is...
part of protecting myself. But you're right. You know, you see 18,000 people at a hockey game. You're not seeing these, you know, bananas numbers coming out of a Leafs game. You're not saying there was 19,000 infections last night. I mean, obviously we're not counting anymore, but there is no, there is no one here in masks, but I feel responsible to myself, to my colleagues, to wear a mask. And I am conflicted. I'm not, I am.
Yeah, it's hard. I'm with you. And I've okay. I've had COVID. Right. Remember, I mean, I'm all good now. But I would say that having having COVID, maybe I feel a little bit more protected in this short term time because I'm immune. Right. I can't give it. I can't really get it. That being said, I am still wearing my masks.
wherever I go in any situation that requires for my sake just to be I feel better I don't want to get it again or something else I don't want to spread it so just Jan like what you were saying you're being extra careful and Caitlin you're still wearing I'm wearing my mask too so good on you
And predominantly when people are sick, I think we should have adopted well before COVID because, you know, Asian countries are probably looking over at us and being like, you grossies. Like they would just, it's common sense to when you're feeling sick, put on a mask. I'm going to get on the subway. And it wasn't weird and it wasn't politicized. It was just part of living life and hoping you don't A, get sick yourself and get other people sick.
So I would hope everyone's tolerance for getting sick all the time has kind of decreased. Coming to work sick has definitely changed. Like if somebody comes to work sick, I'm like, you monster. Because now the COVID protocols in place mean that everyone might have to stay at home, might mean that everyone's kids are stuck at home. It has all these ramifications. So I do, I certainly understand the work thing. But I remember being in...
in scenarios like on flights and at restaurants and at least games. Well, the flight, they were like, you will get fined and you can be removed from the plane and,
Your mask goes on and when you're finished eating, put it back on again. Like Air Canada was adamant. They didn't screw around. You know, we're on a flight for nine hours and there's no nonsense there. That is locked and loaded. I know it isn't in the States. I know they're making it optional, but, you know, I don't know much about what's happening there.
There, as far as our flight attendants just sort of dropping shifts like flies because they're getting sick on these planes or, but it is. They were even with, I think they were even with masks. Because again, I returned to, they had this point at the flight where you'd be eating and drinking and they're like, take your mask off. And I would always look around and be like, so. And I think that a lot of the people that worked on the flights were.
were getting sick of wearing them every day. Because I remember I've been in healthcare settings for like hours and hours on end. And when I had to wear the mask for like hours at a time, I thought, oh, if I had to do this for work, it'd be a pain in the butt. Well, anyway, to everybody out there, I think you have to do you.
And, you know, use your common sense and certainly in, like Caitlin was saying, if you're going for medical appointments or if you're on transit, you know, if you're taking the train in somewhere or the buses or in a rideshare or in an Uber ride.
I'm going to stick with that. That's what I'm going to do. And here on the trip in common areas, I'm wearing my mask. When I get to my table, I'm taking it off. And when I get back to my room, I take my mask off, but I'm Chris and I are the only people doing that, but everyone's been very kind about it. Cause I even said at the very beginning of this trip, um,
I'm going to do this because I'm going on tour and I don't want to let down the people that have bought tickets and I don't want to let down the band. People have been working on this show for two years now and I'm going to do the best I can to stay well. You're listening to the Jan Arden Podcast. I'm with Caitlin and Adam and we're going to come back and we're going to talk about a few really wonderful uplifting things other than masks. Don't go away. Hello.
It's Jan Arden. I'm here. I don't know. I was going to say something. I was going to do it. What accent was that? It was Italian Latvian. I stopped. Guten Tag. Yes. Guten Tag. Is that good day? Good morning? Good day in German. Thank you, Kate. Jan Arden Podcast. You're listening to us. Caitlin and Adam are at home in Toronto. I'm here. The ship has just pulled away from the shore. We're leaving Strasbourg. We are now heading to Baden-Baden.
And, yeah, I'm just watching the river go by. You guys, there's a lot of swans here. And apparently evil people ate a lot of frickin' swan. Just got to say, glad that little thing didn't last here in Germany. Don't see a lot of swan on the menus, but apparently they liked eating them because they were very impressive, stuffed on a long wooden table for the guests coming into the room.
Coming in to dine with you. Swans, peacocks, exotic birds of every description. Oh, the things I've learned in the last 36 hours, folks. I feel like that would be gamey. Oh, yeah, I'm sure. But, yeah. Yeah, not my thing. But, like I said, impressive. A swan, couple of swans on your table. Yeah. Like, just sort of peering at you on top of... No, thank you. Yeah. Oh, gross. I googled, what does swan taste like? And it said they have a fishy taste.
Well, they eat fish all day long, don't they? That really tracks, but it's just confusing. I just don't, you know what? No. Well, they're here. Thank you. They mate for life. So let's hope the medieval people had the common sense to kill them both so they didn't leave one poor guy flying through the sky searching for his love. Human beings are cruel. We're just, can you eat a cob of corn? Come on.
Well, back in the day. Just Googled roasted swan. Don't do that. Save you a click. Stop Googling things. I'm telling you. Oh, that's not a good look. To wrap up our mask conversation, I know that the three of us are not the only people in a quandary about masks. Yes.
I am not going into a grocery store without a mask. I'm just not. And if it is a false sense of security, that's fine. We touched on the break, the handwashing thing. Caitlin was saying she was a chronic and continues to be a very fastidious handwasher. I think that is more important than even masking is washing your damn hands.
Yeah. And that's just regular old pre-COVID viruses. I would go to dinners with people and we would share a taxi or an Uber or get on the subway. And then we sit down and I would have to go to the bathroom to wash my hands before we had dinner or did anything else. I don't even want to touch my face. I was like, ugh. And I always carried hand sanitizer with me. And I was the person who had all the wipes on the plane. So I have long been...
a little bit obsessive about that type of thing. But that stems for me from having contracted whooping cough. So I... I'm so off. Is that a thing? Yes. I had like a Victorian era child's disease. Like it was so weird. And it's because my vaccine expired and I didn't realize that they expire quickly. I didn't...
Yeah, the pertussis vaccine actually expires rather quickly. So you should re-up on that fairly diligently. I didn't. I got very, very sick. I cracked a rib. I coughed so hard. I had lung issues for like a year. I was a hot mess. It was honestly, guys, the sickest ever. I was so much sicker with whooping cough than any of my friends who've contracted COVID. I can't even begin to tell you. Whooping cough. But there's a vaccine for whooping cough? Yeah, it's called pertussis.
Okay. It's part of your DPTP booster shots and lots of kids get them. It is so on, it's so bad for babies. It can kill a little baby. All right. So you really want to make sure that you're, you're fully inoculated. If you're ever going to be around a child. I'm going to go get a vaccination for whooping cough before the day's out. I'm having this ship pull up to a pharmacy.
Yeah. And don't forget about German measles. But you know, these things you forget about and they, I didn't, I was like, what am I like? I'm like, I've had all my shots. I'm an adult. And then no, I got sick. So ever since then, I've been very on top of my hand washing. And now if I felt, if I feel under the weather or if it's a really serious rampant cold and flu season, or if a bunch of coworkers are sick, I have no problem popping on an N95. I've just always questioned the whole, now we're at the table. So COVID doesn't exist. It's dumb. Right.
I'm with you. Yes, you're right about that. I get it. I get it. But, you know, there was no blueprint for this thing. And I think masks saved a lot of lives. I'm never going to change my stance on that. I think they did. Because a lot of people didn't know if they were carrying it, not carrying it. And when everyone was wearing a mask is when it obviously had the most effect. If you were, you know, it just made sense. But now as we
make our way into yet a new phase of COVID-19. You know, the rules are changing and they are changing so rapidly. So I once again want to reiterate, whatever it is that you need to do, don't feel
Don't admonish other people, A, and just do what you think you need to do. And for heaven's sake, if someone asks you, do you mind putting a mask on? My son is yankety-yank, ding-ding-dong, or whatever the case may be, I don't think it would hurt you for 10 minutes to go, oh, of course, I'm going to do it.
No, yeah, let's do that. I also just encourage everyone to stop talking to each other on the street because this is another weird thing that's happened. And you've seen, I've seen people like they police each other in both directions at a store or where. Talk to each other in the street. You mean having conversations about why don't you have your mask on? Exactly. Everyone thinks this is a conversational opener for weirdos everywhere and it's not. Okay.
So everyone's treating like, why are you still wearing a mask? Why aren't you wearing? Go away. Go back to the point where you stop feeling so comfortable. It is not a good pickup line. Do not approach strangers. How about that? This feels very 80s PSA, but like, don't, I don't want you to talk to me. So, yeah.
It feels like weirdos used it as an opener where they were like, oh, and then I have headphones on and I'm chewing a large bratwurst. What about this? And I'm wearing sunglasses. I am sending you as many messages to not approach me as possible. Exactly. Don't. Yes. Sunglasses speak volumes, as do headsets, as do chewing.
But let me tell you what, that has really not deterred people from talking to me over the years, but I digress. No, it's so fine. I just, uh, I, you know, where I live way out in the sticks. So I'm not, I, I haven't been around people a whole heck of a lot.
So this is actually my first foray out into kind of the modern world. And I mean that in earnest, you know, just being around so many people all day today. I said to Chris, I feel so weird walking around hundreds of people and no one's got masks on and no one, children, old people, just me. And I'm like, well, and they are looking at me like I have a breast cup. Yeah.
I had a clothing mishap and oh, look at that girl. She's got one boob bug for sure. That's what I feel like. I keep looking down to see if something's hanging out of my, like, do I have something on? Is there snot on my nose? No, you have a mask on you idiot.
I'm bad at noticing mask wearing too because I remember back when like the old days of, what do you call it, the convoy thing that happened. Yeah. So when that happened, I was at a highway rest stop and there were a bunch of anti-maskers there and they were really excited to try to get into it with people.
And so if you had a mask on and they didn't, they were like looking at you. And then they would find an excuse to talk to you like I was just mentioning. And so they would try to find an excuse. And they all weren't wearing masks, but I was and I didn't notice. And so we left and my friends who I was with were like, that was so weird. I was like, yeah, everyone's super chatty. Go away. They were like, yeah, they were all not wearing masks. And I was like, oh, I don't.
Didn't even know this. Now I get it. Now I know what's happening. Well, here we are. Another podcast in season one has gone by very quickly. Please hit the subscribe button to the Jan Arden podcast. Caitlin and Adam and I would appreciate it. That way it pops up every week right in front of you and you can see us and listen. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being such awesome freaking listeners out there. We just appreciate you so much. We love getting your comments at Jan Arden pod. We always want to hear from you.
And listen, we're on a learning curve here too. We don't know what we're doing, but man, we sure enjoy talking to you guys week after week. And this has just been so much fun. Travel along with me. I'm doing the next couple of podcasts here out on the river. Caitlin's going to be in Bermuda. So this is going to be interesting next week. Maybe you'll be, you're back by then. I'm not sure.
But listen, look after yourselves. You guys do you. Do your thing. Stay safe. Stay positive. Caitlin and Adam, miss you guys. Hope to see you in person soon. Miss you too. Until next time, don't eat swan, totally do. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.