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And here we go again, Jake. Mr. Gareth.
Doctor. Another episode of We're Here to Help. We're doing it again. And might I say, what a gorgeous little chapeau you're rocking today. What's a chapeau mean? It's French for hat. It's French for hat. You've got a We're Here to Help hat. Well, I mean, I like what I see.
Kevin, jump in and talk about the beautiful hat I'm wearing because we're and we're starting with merch. Let's go. People want it. People clamor. Yes. So my fiance is a professional embroiderer. She has custom embroidery. She's also worked with Jake on Minx and a bunch of shows in the costume world. And she's helping us make hats. She's actually doing it in the
other room that I'm recording in right now. And you can see there are flat broom hats, trucker hats, dad hats, a bunch of colors and cool designs at heretohelppod.com. So if you like the show and you want a hat like Jake, do that. Also, if you want to see the show, we have a YouTube, we have a
you know, good social media. You can follow us on platforms, but let's just get into why people are here. Let's get into it. Because of calls. Yes. People call, we solve. Go ahead. We got a really fun first one. There's a woman who has...
a celebrity crush and wants some kind of help with it. And I think it's a fun one. It's an interesting one for sure. And then we follow that up by I'm the caller. It's more of a personal story about something that happened to me in in the UK recently. And it's quite a tale. So I
So we invite you along on that journey. Sorry, I couldn't hear you. One second. What? Give me one second. I cannot. What is happening right now? Sorry about this. I can't hear you. Okay, can you hear us now? Hi, Gareth. This is Caitlin, our social media director.
Hi. Hi, Garrett. Nice to meet you. You too. And she had, she made a video where she's got a little qualms. Can you please pronounce her first and last name, Garrett? Caitlin Tarver-Machino. Caitlin, can you please say it correctly so we can get on with the show? My name is Caitlin Tanwakyo. Tanwakyo, that's super close.
You did really well. Yeah, why have you brought her here to tell me that I did pretty well? Because she made a video where she said you mispronounced her name. You've called me Garf, and it's just... When did we start respecting names on this podcast? Kaelin, we appreciate everything you're doing. I'm definitely a Gareth girl. And Kevin, let's start the show. Wait, what? What?
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Hi. Hi there. Who are you? Lindsay. Lindsay, how old are you? I'm 35. And where are you from, Lindsay? Toronto, Canada. Okay, this is Jake Johnson and Gareth Reynolds, and you're on We're Here to Help. Hi. So welcome. Okay. Now, this is a silly issue.
But I have a celebrity crush and I feel like that's not unusual, but it's picking up a lot of my brain space. Can I ask, is your celebrity on the show? We're here to help.
No, but I mean, like... Oh, okay. All right. Hey, Garf, that was embarrassing for both of us, my king. Yeah, that felt bad on the way out and the way back. Hey, my man Kev, let's cut that weirdness from the old Garf man. Lindsay, we can do another take if you want to try again.
I don't know. I don't know because that would be a problem for everyone. Yeah, but that was just the wrong setup from the Garfman. It didn't work from beginning to end. And that's okay. It's the same space that we've created. And so you said it's taken up a lot of space in your brain? Yes. I feel like I wonder if it's a problem to...
care about some random stranger just because you know you're a fan okay and if it's at what point is it a problem interesting so this is a real thing for you you have a crush and you're kind of getting to the point where you're like i'm spending a lot of time thinking about this person and is it weird yeah and i feel like i bring him up like if someone says something i'll be like oh well he has a song like that or he did that interesting okay so one who cares i hear you i hear you so
Uh, are you in a relationship? No, I'm not. Okay. So not because I have like a weird thing about that. I'm going to end up with this imaginary. He, he's just your, your crush has just become somebody you end up talking about a lot. Yes. And are we talking to somebody who's got some delusions? Do you think that you guys are actually, okay. You just think he's a hot guy who can sing, right?
Yeah. And via his interviews, you kind of like, you feel like you like him. Yeah. And I've met him. Ooh. Uh, well, first of all, Lindsay, I think we got to figure out who the hell this guy is. Oh, okay. His name is Darren. Chris. He is a actor singer. He was from Glee. He was. Yeah. Yeah.
I don't know who this person is. Hold on. Look him up. He's a super handsome guy. He's a singer. He was on Glee back in the days when New Girl was first starting. Yeah. I remember this guy. Yeah, he did Versace, The Assassination of Gianni Versace. He won a lot of awards for it. Gareth, did you just say married? Married, right? Yeah, he's married. Yeah, he's married. And so, Lindsay, your question is,
Is it weird that you have a crush on a married celebrity who you don't know? Yeah. No, just in general. Is it weird to be this interested in a celebrity? No. At all. No, Lindsay, it's not weird. Here's what's weird. If the call, if you said this, here's my call guys.
Darren Criss claims to be married, but we're in a secret love story that we communicate via nonverbal ways of communication. Then...
You're having mental problems. We have a secret language that's communicated through blinks. All that's, I would say like, this isn't the show for that. You do need some help. And Darren, Chris has no idea who you are and leave the poor man alone. What you're saying from what I'm getting is you find them really attractive and charming and he brings you a little bit of joy to think about. And sometimes when you're out with friends, you bring them up and get a little embarrassed, right? Yeah.
Correct. God bless. That's the whole fun of celebrities like Darren Criss. Gareth, am I wrong here? No, you're not wrong. But you did also ask on top of that, is it affecting your dating life?
Do you feel like it is? Do you feel like? No, no, no, no, because it's not like I'm sitting here like, oh, one day this random celebrity like it's not even remotely like that. I got a question for you on this, Lindsay. Have you ever been with a guy and thought that's not what Darren Criss would do?
No, but you know what? That's so funny because I do think that that's where I would draw the line. Like if I started going, oh, this guy doesn't, I'm not like going to go on a dating app and look for a guy that looks like him or something. That would be where I think it would get weird. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it's not like a type of it's like really just a doppelganger. You just like Darren Criss. Have you dated someone while you had the Darren Criss crush? Criss crush is a good name too.
Yeah, that is a good name. Yes, I have. I don't know how to describe it because it's not like a romantic crush or anything. Did that person know your feelings for Darren Criss? Did at any point they say to you anything like, oh, you really like that Darren Criss a lot, huh, hon?
Well, yeah, but only because I would go to like, let's say his concerts or plays. So it was pretty obvious that I when you go to these concerts and plays, what's the volume of attendance? How many are you seeing the same show more than once? No, no. But you're going to a variety of his performances because he seems to be very talented. He's a multi hyphenate.
Right. So like if he has a show like a play on Broadway, I just saw him in Broadway last year with Sam Rockwell. So it was a good show. But yeah, it's not like I'm living there. Right. But your significant other at one point maybe mentioned, I don't want to say jealousy, but acknowledge that it seems like you really like this guy a lot.
Yeah, but not in any way that was like threatened or anything. I feel like it's sort of like how he likes sports, like he likes a hockey player, right? And you're a fan of that. Lindsay, this is innocent stuff. You know what I think? And look, if I'm wrong, call me out. I would say my batting average is, well, not a batting average, but I would say maybe 50-50. Good advice, bad advice, good reads, bad reads.
Here's what it seems like to me. You know who a lot of people, a lot of younger women have this with? A guy named Justin Bieber, right? And it's very normal. And a lot of guys have it with Olivia Rodrigo. And a lot of people, and I'm going to keep mentioning names here. A lot of people have it with-
I don't know why I leaned into this voice, but it didn't feel right until we made eye contact on the Zoom. And then I got insecure about the voice. But here's what I will say, Lindsay, is your question. And God damn it. Tell me if I'm wrong here. But is the question is, is having a celebrity crush something that you have to age out of or it then gets weird?
Because if you were 18, there's no question. Who cares? 17. It sounds like you have no real issues. It doesn't sound like you're a weirdo. It doesn't sound like it affects your life. I think your only question is like, is it weird at 35 to have like a girlish, innocent crush on Darren Criss?
I think so because I think it's so specific, right? It's not like I'm like, Oh, I like a few different people. I like one specific person. So then it does feel like, you know, his poster is in my locker kind of thing. It's hilarious. Can I ask a question? When it started? Oh God. Like,
uh 10 years ago probably when he got on glee so longer than that you're talking 15 years 12 years ago something yeah so your crush on this guy started when glee started and it's been carrying up to this point have there been periods where it's really peaked i guess it was bigger at the beginning and now it's just like someone i'm i'm sort of following in the career of
So it's not, you know, intense in that way, but it is something that is very specific. Like if he does something, I'm probably going to go see it or something. Here's the thing. I think, I think you're, I think it's okay. I do think, I'm trying to put myself in your shoes and I'm like, is there anyone that I like,
love on that level and i do feel like i've sort of grown out of it i yeah my advice to you would be gareth you have a green bay packer tattoo on your fucking arm you've grown out of nothing i own stock in the team no you don't i do too i have it hanging on my wall because i'm a grown man as normal
You're wearing a Jersey of Milwaukee and you're acting like you've outgrown this stuff. You have a painting of a kitten behind you. All right, Lindsay, listen, it's a cat. He's a full grown cat. He's my best friend. And Lindsay, what Jake's doing is he is certainly putting a finer point on the
the fact that it isn't an issue and that yes if I had a painting of my cat hanging up and a Green Bay Packer tattoo and hell let's have a tattoo of my cat those things are fine once it if it grows into the point where you feel like people are like hey Lindsay what's going on yeah that's when it's a problem I don't think you're there yet can I jump in on that because Gareth brought something interesting and Lindsay we need the truth now
Okay. Have you had a moment where a friend gave you a weird look in the middle of a Darren Criss story? No. Promise? I promise. Has anyone ever said anything like flagging it a little bit? Has anyone ever been like, this is weird? Has that ever happened? Half of my friends also like him, like to an extent. So I feel like nobody's going to be like, oh, why? It's not like I like somebody kind of. So you're around an ableist.
Yeah, I have enablers, but not in a... I still think, like, okay, I think the reason I thought this was a problem or that I feel like other people do, I feel like a lot of men...
kind of talk down about it where sports like they're fanatic about sports. It's like that, right? Being a fan. And it's not I'm supporting his career. But yeah, I think it's cute. So, Lindsay, here's my question to you. Would you ever be dumb enough to get a Darren Criss tattoo on your arm? Dumb is such an aggressive term. Never. Never, right? Lindsay, if someone So you just like him.
Right? Yeah. Yeah. Wouldn't you judge someone for getting a tattoo of him?
Yes. The answer to that is we're all saying yes. Okay, I'm just trying to, I'm like, I'm mortared, I'm trying to find a way out. The answer is yes. I've got a question for you. I feel like that's different, yes? So, Lindsay, I think we're going to lean on, I think we're going to end this with us for sure being, you're totally in the clear, you've done nothing weird, lean in on this. But now, because the truth of the matter is, we probably could get to Darren Criss pretty easily.
Is there anything that you would like to say to him directly right now? Okay. Well, you know what? But it might be too heavy. Do it. Heavy's okay. Okay. So my dad had Alzheimer's and I met Darren last year on Father's Day.
And I was in New York and my dad was here in Toronto and I called him. My dad had no idea who I was. So I was upset. And that day I met Darren and he was so nice. Had no idea, obviously. I'm not going to tell him that. And I'm like, this is what I think people don't get. That like just being nice. Someone I'm a fan of. Right. Like that made my day.
Well, that's really lovely. Yeah, you've made it very sweet now. But I think what the takeaway is, you don't have a weird thing with Darren Criss. You think he's handsome and talented, and you like that he seems to be a sweet person, and that is something you're looking for in your life. Yeah. That's awesome.
I agree. I think that's to be celebrated. And, you know, if you did get a tattoo of him, nobody's going to judge you. That's a fine justification. Everybody would judge you. Hold on a second, Jacob. What if I get a tattoo of you guys? Nobody would judge you. That's fine. But now, Lindsay, I'm going to ask you now. That was the sweet, real answer. Okay. Do you want a silly one? No, girl. There's another side of you. And you have been crushing on this man long before last New York.
Right? So now, one side of you that's very mature and gave a great answer about your father and his sweetness. But now, there's another Lindsay, the wild girl from Toronto. Lindsay after dark. So what would that Lindsay like to say? And it doesn't have to be after dark, Gareth.
Come on. We're having fun. We're loosening up. We're all getting tattoos. Relax. There we go. It's got to be something stupid like, oh, he's my teenage dream or something stupid, right? Because he did that song on Glee. So it'd have to be like, be my teenage dream. Oh, no. Ah, you broke up. Oh, she's gone. Did we lose her? We're losing her.
What amazing timing. Is that not incredibly poetic? Please tell us you hung up on her. No. And we're brought to you by Squarespace. We not only love Squarespace, I use Squarespace for all my personal websites, but we use Squarespace for the show all the time. Whenever we need to help a caller, we're
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All right, Jake. So this is, again, this is sort of a meta one. This is similar to Fake Jake, which we just went through, where this is a bit of a meta episode. Nobody's calling in with a problem. I actually had a problem. I know you know a little bit about this. I know that we had a New York Times photo shoot. Yeah, scheduled. And I had to pay. Hours before you texted, I'm at the airport in London. They won't let me on a plane. So I was in the UK for about three weeks. And the
The long and short of it is I'm a dual citizen. So I have two passports. I have a U.S. and I have a U.K. passport. And I've traveled just on the U.K. passport before. And so this last trip, I remember distinctly looking in my desk at both of my passports and thinking, I'll just bring the U.K. passport.
Sounds fair.
And then I go there and I have my bag on the thing. You know, I mean, fully, you know how it is when you're like, travel, I got to fly all my life. It's so hard. I'm like in that headspace. I'm like, oh, gosh, 11 hours. Woes me. And I have my bag up and I hand him my passport. And the woman's like, and we just need your U.S. passport. And I'm like, oh, I don't have that. I'm like, I just I'll use that. And she's like, oh, I don't have that.
And she's like, no, no, you need your U.S. passport. I'm like, no, I don't. I'll just use that. She's like, no, you do.
And I'm like having this, I felt the blood drain for me because there were multiple things planned. You know how it is. You're flying. Yeah, of course. I mean, first of all, the next day we had a photo shoot. Yes. And I go on tour this weekend with the dollop. So it was like- You had to be home. Had to be home. So I'm like, what? And I spend the five minutes you spend in that sort of quandary of like, but please, may I-
I'll jerk off the pilot. Please. And and then the next thing I know, I'm outside Heathrow and I'm trying to call my buddy who's looking after my place. It's probably three in the morning at this point. Call and call and call. Freaking out. Tell my mother. My mother is just who I didn't live with. My mother is just beside herself, beside her. So more emotional than I was like, please don't get this emotional.
And my friend eventually calls me back and he's like, I'm like going to my desk, get my passport, go find a FedEx. This is on Sunday. Go find a FedEx and see how fast they can get this to Heathrow. I mean, the fastest is 30 hours. No.
No. Okay. No. Listen, I didn't exhaust every option and you'll find out why in a second, but I was calling the embassy. I was calling the consulate. Oh my Lord. So they were a hard, you're not getting on a flight without it? I called American Airlines. I Googled, you know, my family, my Scottish uncle was like, you go there and tell them that you'll get them bloody fired. And I'm like, I don't think that is a fruitful tactic. And yeah,
I also don't think I have that authority. Yeah, I'm just kind of being a realist about it. I'm like, I've been in these situations before and I'm like, this is not fight the system, become Tom Hanks in the terminal. This is, let's bet, you know. Please, let me figure out a way to get home. So my buddy gets my passport, but since it's Sunday, no...
a certified international FedEx shipping place opens until noon. So he's like, well, I'll go to the one right near LAX at noon and I'll see what they say. And looking online, to me, it said two to three business days was the fastest. Oh, fuck.
So I'm on pins and needles. I at this point, the ship has sailed. So I go to a hotel. Wait, so the you have now officially there's no move. You've missed the flight officially. The flight hasn't even taken off, but I've resigned myself to the fact that this is probably not going to happen, barring a miracle. And so I check into the hotel. I get a Heineken at check in. I drink it. I get another Heineken. It's by 230.
And then I go to my room and I'm sitting there and then my friend calls and he goes, I have bad news and fortuitous news. And I go, I don't love this. So, you know, kind of sounded wizardy. I'm like, what? He said, the bad news is FedEx says it'll be Thursday the earliest. They can go Sunday. This is Sunday night. Yeah. And I leave. I have shows on Saturday. So I'm like, what? I'm like, that's crazy. He goes, the fortuitous news.
is when I was confounded by the answer, there was a guy behind me in line who said, I'm about to go to Heathrow. I'm flying to London in like three hours. Wait, what? Is this true? Yeah. And he goes, he seems like a nice guy. He goes, he seems legit. And I go, seems, I go, just because he's in a FedEx. He's a random man in line. Yeah, he's a random guy in line.
But he's like, he's like, I get a good vibe. And, and, uh, and, and it's my buddy Luke and he's a very, uh, the universe might be sending us. And I'm also like, yeah, but I'd also like to get back to America. You didn't have to tell me that about Luke.
You find a stranger in line who goes, I'll take that passport overseas. And he goes, he's got a good vibe. Every con man in the world has a good vibe. So I don't know who this guy is. He puts the guy on the phone for a minute. The guy sounds nice. And what's the guy saying to you? I mean, I guess now is a good time to bring the guy in. So, so, so Ben,
Ben, welcome to the show. We're here to help you out with Jake and Gareth. And this is a time where I needed help. So my head was spinning. Ben, do you remember what the conversation was? I don't remember the specifics, but what I'll say is, and I'll tell you in just a second, but like while I'm in the line, I can see Luke and he's, you know, the white just drained or the blood just drained from his face and he just went white. He was like, I don't know what to do.
And I've kind of been in a similar situation where I need to send something internationally. And I knew you guys were screwed. You know, I knew there was no way FedEx was going to be able to get anything out. You know, it's Sunday. They're not going to send it until Monday. And as they say, the best thing you're going to do, I thought maybe Wednesday. But, you know, Thursday wasn't outrageous. So I was sitting there and I basically am like.
know like you said i'm just like hey i am flying to london i don't know what your you know how you feel about this but i'm i was coming back from a wedding up in santa barbara i had two bags i love to travel light so i was just like all right i'm gonna ship this one back home and i'm gonna head to the airport i said luke i'm gonna ship the bag talk to your guy see what he feels like and then
And then I'll talk to you afterwards. So then, you know, we get, I finished my shipping, get out there. And yeah, Luke hands me the phone and I don't remember exactly what it was, but I could hear the desperation in your voice. You were just like, I don't know what, I don't know what I'm going to do. I need this thing. I'm like, Hey guys, like I'm game for this. I know this is kind of strange, but I'm happy to do it.
You guys figured out the one condition that I had was I had a little bit of a connection and I was like, okay, look, I can't get out of the terminal. So we're going to have to figure that portion of it out. Oh, wait, you weren't finishing in London. You were going from one plane to another. Yeah.
Yeah, I was going to Glasgow. I'm still in Glasgow right now. But yeah, so we were like, I have some time, but I don't have a lot of time. So I'm like, look, if you guys, if we can figure this portion out, I'm game. And if you guys want to, you know, trust the stranger that kind of came up, I'm good to go. Really fast before Gareth, you walk us through the next part of this. Just for a question to you, Ben.
What were you thinking of getting out of this at this point? Are you, were you just being a good human being? I had no idea who Garrett was, you know, which is really uncommon. Let me just jump in, Ben, a lot of people, that's a very uncommon headspace, but keep going, keep going. No, no. So the short answer is I really wasn't looking for anything. I just was like, look, this,
This may work out. This is pretty easy for me. Assuming you can meet that condition. It's like, you know, Hey, I'll do it. I, the one thing I'll say is that I've had, I'm a dual citizenship as well. I traveled once and I used to go in with my British passport to the UK and then come into the U S with my American passport. And one time when I did that, the border patrol of the U S was like, you cannot do that. You have to travel on one passport. So I was kind of,
Hearing from Luke, hearing the story, I was definitely empathizing with where he was at. And I definitely, a decision had to be made, clearly,
quickly. That's the thing about this. Yes. Luke basically said, I'm going to drive you to drop off your rental car and I'll drive you to the airport. The plan was to go to the airport desk and say, because Ben had a connection that was two hours away, he couldn't leave the terminal, meet me, go back in because of security and customs and all that bullshit. So the idea was we'll ask someone at the desk
hey, if he brings it, can he drop it off to security? And if I meet security or can I say I lost it and someone handed it? You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're trying to conceive some of that, but a decision has to get made. Are we shitting or are we getting off the pot? Because if, but by the way, Gareth, if you make the wrong call here, you don't have a passport and you're not coming home.
indefinitely. I've seen so much locked up abroad where this moment is the one where you go, alright, yeah, put heroin up my ass. And then that person's telling this story with a scar on their face like, that was the worst decision I've ever made. So the decision gets made.
I'm doing it. I'm in. Good for you. We start a text thread, so I'm going... By the way, Gareth, you are earning the nickname Option 1 again. Dude, it is... Let me tell you. The harder thing about my headspace is when you get older, it ages worse. Agreed. Because this is a 29-year-old's decision. This is not a great decision. This is a chancy decision. But it's a... I'm in my 40s. This is now...
Where like the fact that like older relatives of mine are going like, this doesn't sound like a good idea. You have one passport. You need it to leave. You're trusting a stranger to fly with it. A guy that Luke fed in a FedEx line 20 minutes ago. So I go, let's pull this trigger. Ben sends me his flight information.
And now what I have to do is figure out how to get into the airport. So I have to. So I with with Luke's help, I figure out the terminal. What terminals are leaving there? I'm just going to book a ticket to a flight that I'm not going to take. Get in there. Cheap local one. Cheap local. A Glasgow flight, actually. So I could have accompanied Ben if I wanted. I booked that.
I, the next day get up early. I, the next day I wake up like in locked up abroad. I'm like, now I, now I actually have to strap the kilos of Coke to my chest. Now you're about to be dressed like a snowman of cocaine and you realize maybe I didn't make a great decision. Yes. And yeah, it's exactly like, it's an amazing show.
And and then so I'm like, oh, my God. And my mother is who I didn't know. I don't live with. And I stayed with. She's calling me and she's going, what do you think? Do you think he'll do it? And I'm like, I don't know. I please stop questioning deep now. If you have any questions, I'm going to get really insecure. It's over. It's over. And but then Ben starts texting me. Hey.
looking like I'll get in a little early he wants to meet at this lounge all this stuff I'm texting Ben and then Ben I basically he tells me to meet him outside of this lounge and I'm taking the escalator up and I'm like if this if this is a catfish it is epic
Like, what's his kick? And instead of it all being a ruse, Ben is standing there, sends me a picture of what he looks like. I send him a picture, and I'm like, he hands it to me, and I'm like, this cannot be fucking real. I'm like, dude, you're a legend.
I mean, Ben, I don't know what I looked like when I said he was, he, Ben, you understood the emotions I was coming with. Cause you were very much. Oh yeah. You'd had time to think about it. Cause you were like, no, it's cool. It's cool. And I'm like, what do you want? You name it. He,
Even at this point, I will say I hadn't... You had mentioned the podcast and I was on the plane and I was just like, it's a 10-hour flight, watching a couple movies. I'm just going to try to get some sleep. So at this point, I have no idea kind of, you know, the magnitude of your podcast or however you want to put it. But I'm happy to do this. I see...
I see the joy in your face that I'm actually there, you know, and that, you know, because I'm also thinking, you know, not that I was ever going to do anything, but what happens if the plane's delayed? What happens if, like, you know, and I have to run to my... Now what am I going to do? You know, I've taken on this responsibility of this passport, and I was happy and relieved as well because I didn't want to have to get into a situation where I had to make a choice of, like, am I going to have to sprint to my flight and potentially screw this guy? Or...
That would have been amazing. From both aspects, it was like, I guess you might have even been... You could have come to Glasgow to get it. So that could have been an extended story. But yeah, so I was equally... Maybe not equally, but I was also happy that this was actually happening and we were... In some ways, it came to a good close. Well, it was amazing. And I posted it on my social media. And I think the thing that is...
I think what happened was when I posted the A side of I did this and I don't know how this is going to end. So many people were like, hey, dumbass, enjoy the UK forever. You know, like there was a lot of that. There were some for the next two months. There were a lot of people who were like,
if this works, this is going to restore my faith in humanity. And not only were you so gracious to speak up, so nice to be like you want nothing, but also to just do it. I think for me and a lot of people, it was like, I don't know where the karma will come from. Not me, obviously. I got nothing. But you will. It was so awesome of you to do. And when I called my mother after this,
Jake, she cried. Good. Of course she did. Ben, thanks so much, man. Thank you, Ben. Hey, my pleasure.
HelpfulPod at gmail.com.
That was a HeadGum Podcast.