(cheerful music) – Welcome to “Ear Biscuits,” the podcast where two lifelong friends talk about life for a long time. I’m Rhett. – And I’m Link. This week at the Round Table of Dim Lighting. We’re talking about life, post-vaccination. We’re talking about, “When I’m fully vaccinated, I’m gonna…” Fill in that big, old blank. – And we’re both, half vaccinated. – Half-vaxxed. As of this recording. – And soon to be fully Vaxxed. – And so we’re going to talk about the excitement and anticipation and then the re-entry into more of normal life, or just how we’ve anticipated that in our brains versus the reality of starting to carry that out and also talking about a phenomenon called re-entry anxiety. (Rhett grunts) – So– – And we’re not talking about space travel? – No I’m talking about– – Or sorting the mail? (Link guffaws) – No, no. Not talking about that. But yeah, so I think, you know, there’s kind of a dark side to getting on with our lives, having been vaccinated. – Yeah. – And of course, that’s not to say, you know, we’re recording this and then releasing it a few weeks later. So just in full disclosure– – We’re always a little bit ahead of the game. – There’s some things that we’re not as current as possible and things change and update so quickly, that I just wanna put that out there. – Yeah. And you know what? Because we’re talking about vaccines, there is a lot of vaccine hesitancy out there, right? So, you know, me, I can’t just, I can’t just move along. (Rhett guffaws) I can’t just get my vaccine and not say anything about it. So, here’s what I wanted to do before we get into the rest of the episode. – Yeah. – I wanted to make my vaccine pitch. My pitch for why I think you should get the vaccine. I got it and I think that you should get it, if you’re not in a risk group and if you qualify. – There’s a lot of information floating around and it sways people. – Yeah. – Most people like me, you just wanna make a decision and get on with your life. And, you know, I don’t go on Facebook. I don’t do… I find myself avoiding engaging in a lot of the information and the deep dives because it stresses me out and I just want to get on with it and move past this. And that’s not necessarily a healthy thing, but I know that there’s a lot of people like me out there that are… They haven’t gotten vaccinated and they don’t know if they are, but just looking at the information and all the conflicting opinions is very intimidating, overwhelming, anxiety-inducing and you just wanna curl up in a ball and avoid it. – We live in a very interesting time where it is legitimately very difficult to move forward with decisions like this without at least some sort of hesitancy because of the way the information and misinformation spreads, right? – And because there’s so much attachment to what these decisions mean about who you are, who you’re affiliated with, what your core beliefs are. – Everything has been politicized. It’s very– – Yeah. – It’s loaded. All these decisions and perspectives are so loaded. – Yeah, well, here’s what I’m gonna try to do. I’m gonna try to put this… And again, I’m not a scientist, I’m not a doctor. You already knew that. I’m a guy who eats weird things on the internet and has a podcast with his best friend. Hi Link. – Hey! – But I am a concerned citizen. And I’ve been thinking about this in a way that I hope can cut through a lot of the numbers and the arguments and a lot of things that can get kind of confusing and misleading and just kinda talk to you as a friend. Now, first of all, if you think that the medical establishment is an extension of the Deep State and the vaccine campaign is a scheme to inject microchips into people, to control them, this pitch is not for you, okay? You can fast forward, or you’re probably not listening already, but if you are listening, I do have something for you at the end, so please stick around. – Ooh! – This is my pitch for those of you who are on the fence. You have reservations about the vaccine. You’ve heard about the side effects. What about those blood clots? Why aren’t these vaccines developed really quickly? How do you know that they’re safe long-term and by the way, COVID, isn’t that dangerous? Why would I get a vaccine with unknown side effects when I’d probably be fine if I got COVID? If you thought anything like that, this is for you. Okay, so let’s start with the ultimate purpose of the vaccine. The vaccine is not primarily about protecting you individually from the virus. Vaccines are our best available tool for eliminating disease across a population. In this case, all of humanity. This is how we end a disease. So, framing the decision around your own personal risk is kind of missing the point. This isn’t about you as much as it’s about us. It’s not a me thing. It’s a we thing. Now, speaking of the we thing. If we don’t reach herd immunity, there’s a real risk of COVID continuing to evolve and form variants and we’re gonna be dealing with this for a very long time. The more people who get the vaccine, the more likely we beat it. And even if we don’t reach herd immunity, which, given the vaccine hesitancy and the limited rollout around the world, there’s a very real possibility we will not reach herd immunity as we would like to, but even so, more vaccines mean less of a problem with COVID for everybody down the line. So, it’s not like a lost cause by any means. Now you may have heard that the vaccines don’t stop infection, or transmission, but they only lessen the symptoms. And you might be asking, “Well, why do I have to wear a mask “after I get vaccinated?” Well, scientists are actually very hesitant to make claims until they have good data. It’s kinda their thing. But they’re getting a lot of data very quickly. And the latest data indicates that these new vaccines, not only prevent severe COVID and hospitalization almost completely, but they also very likely prevent infection as well as transmission. Therefore, the hesitancy to move beyond masks and social distancing has been because we wanna make sure that that is the case, okay? That’s a big part for that. A big part of that. But what about the risks? This seems to be the thing that most people talk about. What about the risks? Specifically the thing that I hear a lot is, if the mortality rate of COVID is so low, is it worth taking the risk of getting the vaccine? Well, the mortality rate of COVID isn’t that low. There are a lot of factors and data’s still coming in, but COVID is likely, at least 10 times, more deadly than the flu. But, I’ll give it to you. Even if you get it especially if you’re not in a risk group, you very likely will not die from COVID. Now for me, a healthy dude, not that young, 43, but I’m not in a risk group, I don’t have risk factors, but it’s the long-term complications from COVID that are the most concerning to me personally. Long-term symptoms affect people of all ages and have occurred in people with mild, moderate and severe COVID-19. These can include lung damage, heart damage, lasting fatigue, joint pain, neurological disorders, loss of taste and smell, sleep disorders. And these are showing up in significant numbers. Okay, but, okay, I get that. But what about the risks of the vaccines? Well, let’s start with the blood clots from the J&J vaccine. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine ’cause that’s what, at least right now, as we’re recording this, that’s what everybody’s talking about. Six people out of about 7 million who were vaccinated developed blood clots. And as of today, as of recording this, one of those people has died. That’s horrible. That’s upsetting. But just to put that into perspective, it’s about one in a million chance of getting a blood clot and a one in 7 million chance of dying from a blood clot from the J&J vaccine. To put that into perspective, you’re much more likely to die in a car accident on the way to get the vaccine than you are to get a blood clot from the vaccine, much less die from the vaccine. But keep in mind they still paused the J&J vaccine in many places because of this risk because the scientists are actually very concerned with safety, so much so when there’s this statistical blip on the radar they stop to evaluate. They’re not trying to take advantage of you. They’re not trying to use you as guinea pigs. They’re actually showing that safety is their number one priority. Okay, but that’s J&J. That’s only a small percentage of the vaccines. What about mRNA? The Moderna, which is what I got and the Pfizer which is what you got? – Hm mm. – This stuff’s unproven, right? I mean, we are just a bunch of guinea pigs being experimented on. Well, we have a lot of good reasons to believe that mRNA vaccines are safe. Likely safer than traditional vaccines for a number of reasons. So, they underwent some of the most rigorous safety testing ever. Fast, quick, yes, but rigorous nonetheless. – Hm mm. – But what about the long-term risks? Well, these vaccines are actually not that new. Trials were conducted for mRMA vaccines in 2009 for prostate cancer, 2013 for rabies and mRMA vaccines were already in clinical trials for HIV, cancer and Zika-patients before the development of the COVID vaccines and nothing found in those trials led to hesitancy to move forward with COVID-19 vaccines. This isn’t something that was just pulled out of the back pocket of scientists and doctors in response to this pandemic. It was something they had been working on for quite some time. And the mechanism of mRNA vaccines is a new approach to vaccines, but it’s actually really straightforward and there are lots of advantages, including safety. Now, there’s a lot of misinformation about this, but messenger-RNA doesn’t get anywhere near the nucleus of the cell that contains human DNA. And it disintegrates quickly after the message that it is communicating, is read. It does not alter your DNA because it cannot alter your DNA. Now you may have read on the internet about scary things like antibody dependent enhancement, the idea that getting these vaccines is gonna cause you to actually have a higher chance of dying down the line from getting COVID-19, especially a variant, or that there are ingredients in the vaccine that might cause cancer. All of this was taken into account when developing the vaccine and there is no reason to believe that these are risks from the vaccines. Just plain and simple. There’s a lot of good literature on all of this and how these things were studied in depth throughout the development, including the antibody dependent enhancement, which is something I see a lot of people talk about. Now, does that mean that nobody will have adverse, short-term, or long-term complications from the vaccine? Of course not. People are going to have adverse reactions to this vaccine. And with so many people being vaccinated, we’re going to see significant, statistically small, but significant because anything that happens to a person is significant and worrying in some people right? The most common adverse reaction is gonna be an allergic reaction. That’s kinda what we’ve seen so far, but we have every reason to believe that the long-term complications from COVID itself pose a much higher risk. So here’s the bottom line. The only way to justify vaccine hesitancy as it relates to vaccine risk compared to the risk of COVID itself, is to drastically overestimate the risk of the vaccines, while drastically underestimating the risk of COVID itself. Do you see what I’m saying there? People who have hesitancy about the vaccine tend to also diminish what the real risks of COVID are. It’s kinda like saying, “I’m not gonna go on that flight to California “to free solo climb the face of El Capitan “because flying is dangerous.” Or maybe a better example. Lots of people who are scared of flying have absolutely no problem driving to the airport, even though they’re way more likely to die in the car on the way to the airport than in the plane on the way to their destination. This is an irrational fear based on risk perception, not actual risk. And the same thing is happening with a lot of people who are getting the vaccine. Who are not getting the vaccine. Same thing is happening with a lot of people who are not getting the vaccine. So, in summary. Step one, properly framing the issue is key. Assessing whether, or not you should get the vaccine should be framed first as a community issue, not as a personal one. The collective risk to everyone is much higher when you don’t get the vaccine. In step two, you’ve gotta properly frame the risk. We have good reason to believe that your personal risk from getting the vaccine is significantly less than your risk from acquiring COVID and experiencing adverse effects. Now, this is still taking into account the fact that you voluntarily get the vaccine, but you won’t know necessarily get COVID. You see what I’m saying? People are like, “Well, I’ve not choose to get COVID, “but I’m choosing to get the vaccine. “Doesn’t that inherently increase the risk of the vaccine?” No, the COVID risk is still greater just being a person who lives in the world. So, even if you’re thinking about this as an individual, it still makes sense for you and your personal safety to get the vaccine. So please, for all of us, get the vaccine. Now, if you’re a conspiracy theorist, thank you for sticking around. – That’s why I’ve just been hanging out here. – You may be wondering why I took this time in our sometimes comedy podcast, usually comedy podcast (Link grunts) to put together this message. I’m gonna come clean. I’m a part of the Deep State. I’m being personally paid by Dr. Fauci, who is a friend of mine, who has my Venmo account, to communicate this message on behalf of the Deep State, to the end of being able to control as many people as we possibly can in the long-term future. Dr. Fauci and I regularly attend, sorry Link, I’m letting you know this for the first time as well– – Yeah, I’m– – Regularly attend– – Kinda floored. – Hollywood parties together, at least we did before COVID. We look forward to going back to those parties, where mainly the thing that we do, I mean, there’s cocktails and there’s mingling, but we kind of do that for like 90 minutes and then we all go to the basement and that’s when we do the real good stuff, which is drink the blood of children. Now you may be wondering how do I have such good skin at the age of 43? It’s not some sort of face washing and, you know, exfoliation routine. It’s regularly drinking the blood of children. – How is that? – It’s kind of metallic taste. – Okay. – But we put it through a Brita. – Oh. – And you still get the stuff that you need. The adrenochrome. – Gotcha. – If you wanna stay young, if you wanna be in control, if you wanna be on the side of the people who are gonna win in the future, join me and Dr. Fauci. Drink the blood of children. You heard it here. – And yet I haven’t been invited. Okay, cool. – I didn’t think you were ready yet. (laptop slides on desk) – Okay, there it is. The laptop’s going away. You know, I appreciate you organizing those thoughts and putting that out into the world because it’s easy to be overwhelmed by information. I think a lot of it has to do with people making decisions based on who do they trust and why and what do you really want, personally. Like, what are your motives and your values and how do those things all add up, you know? So, there’s a lot of people who are just, it’s just… It really comes down for a lot of people, and I think this is my experience a lot of times, it’s just, who are you following? Who are you trusting? – Yeah. And why? Really, why? – Well, we could do. We could do, not necessarily a podcast, but a whole show on how you choose where you get your information from and what the point of that is and if you can trust. I mean, first of all, some of the numbers that I threw out and the statistics and the data, I know there’s a lot of people who are just like, “Well, you just believe all the propaganda data.” “You don’t believe the real data “which I can find on the internet.” Again, that’s such a pervasive problem in our society right now, there’s nothing I’m gonna be able to say that’s gonna sway you on that. The only thing I can ask is just continue to be open-minded and self-critical. You know, I’m not gonna try to change your mind on that. I’m just gonna joke about Dr. Fauci. Well, I’m not joking though. It’s true. I drink the blood of children. I wanna make that clear. – All right, so let’s shift gears a little bit into, what now? We’ve made our decisions. We’re about to, you know, in a couple of days I’m gonna get that second dose in my arm and then I got two weeks later and then I’m totally free! And this is what I’ve been looking forward to since the very beginning of lockdown. And then, you know. So, I think there is an evolving set of guidelines associated with what you can and can’t and should and shouldn’t do once you’re fully vaccinated. So, disclaimer at this point, again this is three weeks old even the moment it comes out because of when we’re having to record this conversation. So, we defer and direct you to the latest and greatest guidelines that we are not giving here, in what to do and not do when you are fully vaccinated, okay? – Having said that, – So. – I think we can safely assume, or for the purposes of this conversation, so we don’t have to keep coming back to that point, I think that the way that I’m thinking about this question is, I’m just kind of saying, if things were to suddenly get back to normal and I was able to do all the things that I did before, how do I perceive those things and what am I thinking about those things, whether that be going to a movie, or a concert, or whatever. I don’t know exactly when those things are gonna happen, but I’m just saying for the purposes of this conversation I’m thinking about like the next year and the freedoms that might come back. – Yeah. And so, let’s start in that positive aspirational place. And then I’m sure we’ll talk about the anxiety flip side of that and kinda dealing with that. And even some of that I’ve personally had a taste of already and it surprised me. But let’s just start at the… I mean, what are the first things, just like throw out words. – Restaurants. – Right, okay. For me– – That’s a big one for me. – Movies. I haven’t been to a movie. – Movies, yeah, I’m on board with movies. – And one last. And we’ll come back to all this – Concerts. – Yeah. In a way that I’ve never felt about concerts before, I’m like, “Now’s the time. “I’m gonna be that concert guy.” (Rhett chuckles) – Yeah. – Extended family visits. Going back home to North Carolina. – Parties. – Parties? Okay, now you’re really getting into it. – Parties with people that you know and parties with people that you don’t know. – Wow! – There’s two kinds of parties. – Okay. – So, I’m talking get togethers and then I’m talking, like, parties. I’m talking about me and Fauci in the basement. With drinking (Link chuckles) the blood of children with a stranger– – Uh mm. – And not worried about anything. Especially the children. I don’t know how many times I’m gonna keep coming back to that ’cause I know it’s offensive to people, but I just can’t help it. – I’m really tempted to just keep going – I can’t help it. – harder in it, but I don’t wanna do it. – People are just gonna, I mean. Hmm. (Rhett inhales deeply) – By the way, totally unrelated. We’ve got our – Have the same, – friendship rings on today. – Same, same ring, yeah. – Look at that, right? Hold up, hold up your hand there. Look at that. Friendship ring day. This is a previous sponsor. We have not discussed this. And so as a total aside– – Hm mm. – I feel like we need to get this out of the way, okay? We are wearing the exact same ring. – It was a sponsor, “Manly Bands.” We might as well say it again. – Right. – And one of the stipulations, not stipulations, but one of the opportunities, – Well, we’re gonna– – was you get to get a ring from– – Well, I’m not gonna promote something unless I can experience it – Yeah. – and know that I wanna promote it. – But you, – So, yeah. – You requested – Well. – just the silicone ring. ‘Cause they had like the, basically like a rubber ring, that you can wear when you’re doing activities and stuff. A lot of people wear them full time. So, you don’t have to worry about your. We know some people who’ve gotten their fingers taken off because of wedding rings. – ‘Cause the ring got hung on something. – But you’re like. I wear… There’s a lot of sentimental value with the ring that you have because it was your grandfather’s ring, so you’re not gonna take that off. – No, I’m not gonna replace my wedding band. – So, you asked for the silicone ring and I was like, well I just bought my wedding ring for like 200 bucks before we got married, I’ll keep it around, but I’ve always wanted to have a wooden ring because you know me and wood. – That’s not how I remember it at all right, Rhett. (Rhett guffaws) – You have a tendency to. You have a revisionist brain. You have a super revisionist brain. – Just because we disagree about something doesn’t mean that you’re the one that’s right. (Rhett guffaws) So let’s be clear on that. And we do have a witness. (indiscernible) – Are you gonna tell me– – I’m gonna tell you– – Are you about to tell me that you chose that ring? – No, Imma tell… Imma gonna say, okay, we were given it… These are pricey rings. They’re gonna send one as a sample, but they’re not gonna send two. That’s what we were told. – True that. – So, then it was like, “Oh, well, who gets the ring?” – But that was when – And then– – you said you didn’t want to change your wedding ring because it has sentimental value. – That didn’t mean I didn’t want a ring. – Oh, I didn’t know that. – Exactly because then you just said what ring you wanted. – But I was like, I’m happy to change my ring. – And then I’m like, you know what? And then I’m like, you know what, If I really wanted a ring, this’ll be the point where I would say, “I’d like to try out a nice ring,” but I elected not to. And then you were like, “Oh, they have wood rings.” So then you chose this ring that we both are wearing. (Rhett chuckles) – Okay, that’s the part I thought you were taking – And I was like, “You know what? “I’m interested,” I was like, “Do they have one of those rings “that won’t rip your finger off? “A rubber ring? “I’ll take one of those ’cause they’re cheap “and we’ll try it.” Now, by the way, at this point having gotten a sample that we did not pay for I will gladly pay for another one, but I did not pay for this one to match you. What happened was, the ring that you ordered came and it was too small. I don’t know. You screwed up the sizing. – Yeah, I did. – Your fault, not the sponsors. – Yeah, yeah. Because instead of sizing, we told them what we thought my size was. – And then I’m like, “I bet it would fit my finger.” So the ring that was too small for you fit perfectly on my finger and then I had it – On your right hand. – and you didn’t have one. – Right. But then you ordered another one ’cause you really wanted it even though now we got, I had no idea, I was like, (Link chuckles) I got him. I know he’s not gonna love this. We have friendship rings now. – So you’re gonna keep wearing that? – Yeah, and I’m gonna call it our friendship ring. – And while we’re talking about rings – Because I know you. (Links chuckles) I know that makes you – while we’re talking – a little uncomfortable. – about rings, I’d been wearing the aura ring. You know, this is basically a fitness ring. It measures biometrics. It is a fashion statement, but that wasn’t my primary reason for wearing it. – Oh, I ordered one of those too. So we’ll have double – Well, yeah, – friendship rings. – but we both have new aura rings coming. And so the question is – Yeah, we’re gonna have, – we’re gonna have two rings that are the same? – That’s– – We should have gotten– – I think that’s kinda cool. – We should have gotten different because there’s multiple options for aura rings. We should have gotten. Maybe they’ll send us two different kinds. – Oh, we’ll look into that. Okay, sorry for the aside. But yeah, I enjoy having a friendship ring with you. Don’t you? – I’m sorry that I accused you of– – Don’t you? – You have a revisionist mind, but I thought what you were saying was, you were gonna say is that you chose this ring and I was like, “Hold on a second. “No, you didn’t.” – You knew I wasn’t gonna replace my wedding ring, so you assumed that I didn’t want a ring and I have nine other fingers, that’s all I’m saying. – But I didn’t know you were gonna start doing the multiple rings on hands thing because I kinda just started doing it. – Oh, see that’s your– (Rhett guffaws) And I’m saying, you know what? Multiple rings can’t be your thing. – Okay, and I agree with that. Just like glasses can’t be your thing. – And beards can’t be yours. (Rhett guffaws) We are gonna morph into one person. – Yeah, I mean. – Listen, I don’t have an appointment yet, but I just wanna go ahead and give you a fair warning that glasses… The last time I went to the eye-doctor, over two years ago, I was told that I needed glasses, but then– – And you haven’t gotten them because I’m the guy with glasses, but you’re starting to send me over the precipice ’cause I’ve noticed how big you want things that we need to read blown up and I’m like– – Hmm, right. – That’s kinda getting to be too much. – Yeah. – I mean, the dude really can’t see if they’re having– – I’m having trouble. I’m having trouble seeing. – Okay, so back to post-pandemic. Let’s go back through these things. The first thing that came to my mind was movies. And then right when I’m on the precipice of scheduling. And I’m telling the kids, I’m like, “I don’t even care what movie it is.” – Right. – Like, I’ll see that King Kong vs Godzilla if I have to. – Right. – Even though I have no interest whatsoever in seeing it, I just wanna be in a movie theater. And you know, someone told me, when I got to this point in the conversation with them, they said, “You know you can rent out a whole theater now because… “I mean you gotta pick a slower time “and just have all your friends show up.” I’m like, “No, no, no! “I wanna be where everyone’s strangers. “I wanna do the old thing. I don’t wanna do this rent out the theater thing. And I don’t care what movie it is. And I know exactly where I’m gonna go. My favorite theater, – Uh mm. – ArcLight Cinemas, the only theater at the highest standard where they charge the same amount, no matter if you’re a kid or whatever. So it deters. There’s so many reasons besides just not incentivizing bringing more kids in a disproportionate amount. – And for those of you who are not from Los Angeles and haven’t been to Los Angeles, haven’t been to an ArcLight Cinema, just a quick little summary of why they’re the best, okay? – It is more expensive. – They– – But they control every aspect of the environment. – What, are you gonna control the conversation? (Rhett laughs) – Well, it’s kind kinda my thing, you know. It’s my favorite theater. – Well, it’s also my favorite theater. Can I have a favorite theater too? – No! (Rhett laughs) No! You can’t have the same favorite theater. – It’s everyone’s favorite theater in Los Angeles. – Go ahead. – They bring someone out before the show. You know how sometimes you’re at a movie theater and it’s not loud enough, or it’s too loud, or it’s not in focus? And then you’re like, (Rhett clicks tongue) “Am I gonna have to be the person to get up “and miss part of this movie and go tell the guy “who’s serving popcorn that they need to tell the guy “who’s running the thing in the thing “that this is not working?” – No. – That doesn’t happen at ArcLight. They bring a person out who greets you, everyone and says, “Hey, my name’s Daryl. “Welcome to this showing of King Kong vs Godzilla.” “It’s a great film. “I enjoyed it.” – This is how long it lasts. This is how long the previews are gonna be. – And I’m going to be standing over here to the side to make sure that the picture and the sound quality are perfect before we move on. – Yes. – They do it. So you don’t have to talk to the doofus who’s serving popcorn. Not everybody who serves popcorn is a doofus. It’s just in my experience, I’ve had to go talk to a doofus before, about this and that’s why I’m frustrated. – And you know what? – That doesn’t happen at the ArcLight. – And it literally is the first thing I’ve been looking forward to doing. – And if you take your phone out and text at the ArcLight, you will be– – There’s a laser that comes from behind the screen and it will obliterate you. – Yeah, yes. You will be murdered. You’re just, yeah, you’re taken out. – Right. – Because that inhibits everyone else’s experience, okay. If you care about film, or should I say cinema. – But they bring in clone – We care about this. – of the person So if you’re there – No one ever knows. with loved ones – Yeah. – and you’re really enthralled in the movie and somebody pulls out the phone, yes, they’re obliterated, but they’re immediately – Yeah. replaced with a clone. – And their phone is gone though. – All of these reasons make it the number one thing I’ve been looking forward to. And they just went under. (Rhett laughs) – All this conversation about them– – They waited until the end of the pandemic, literally right now, to announce, “Oh, you know what? “Can’t do it anymore, guys. “Can’t hang on any longer. “We’re gone,” like weeks before everyone can start. I don’t understand the timing and I’m so frustrated. – And not just ArcLight. – Now I gotta find another theater that I’m willing to watch movies in. – Not just ArcLight but because Pacific theaters bought ArcLight. Pacific theaters, which I think is the theater that’s at the Americana. That’s not opening either. – Crap. Oh, well, I think then other companies will have to come in and still make them movie theaters – Because they’re still there. What are they going to turn it into, like a jump gym? – But– – Like one of those trampoline places? (Link sighs heavily) – So– – They gotta still make movies there. – I literally don’t… I now I have to find a new movie experience ’cause I was exclusive to them. – I’ve heard there’s still reason for hope. That there might be… – Yeah. – Jessie said it had something to do with, this is a thing that happens. I think that there are also a lot of people in Los Angeles who are making a huge stink of this already because this is film town. – Maybe, maybe. – We all stay through the credits at the end of the movie. It’s a super film snob town because this is where so many movies are made. – Okay, maybe there’s hope– – And so I think that we may come together as a community and say we don’t just wanna watch movies at our houses. We don’t wanna just watch movies at theaters where they don’t have it in focus, or it’s not loud enough. – Yeah. – We wanna watch movies at the ArcLight. – Okay, I’ll hold out a little hope. It’s kinda like that thing where a company goes bankrupt and then like a few months later they’re still around. – Right. – It’s like, what, what? Some sort of tax – Like Trump. – Ploy? – Yeah. – What happened? – Yeah. – So that was literally my number one. If you were to put your number one, is it restaurants? – No, it’s not number one. It’s not number one because I really like my new television. You know, I finally did the – Yeah. – I finally did the 4K OLED television. – Yeah. So what is your number one? – Eating. I mean restaurants. – Restaurants. – And there’s just something about eating at a restaurant versus getting takeout from a restaurant. – Oh yeah. I mean, I’ve really forgotten. I think I’m gonna go to a restaurant and be like, “Oh yeah, this should have been my number one.” The food tastes so much better. We supported our favorite restaurants locally and they’d send you their signature dishes deconstructed, – Yeah. – so that everything doesn’t over melt together. – You lose the presentation of the food. And many times you lose the freshness of the food ’cause it’s coming to you in a bag. You also lose, a big part of it for me, is just the ambience. I mean, for me eating is about all the senses being stimulated, right? And I love eating at restaurants. I’d love the entire experience. And yes, I understand that there are restaurants that are open for outdoor dining and that they’re socially distanced dining– – We haven’t doing that. – Right, so because we’ve been following heightened protocols associated with production so that our limited crew, we can all protect each other and continue you know, making our shows. – Our standards are higher than just the general California standards which are already higher than the general sort of national standard. – So we’re admittedly behind. – Yeah. But even in my own brain I’ve locked off the restaurant zone because it hurt too much after a few months at the beginning of the pandemic to dwell on it. So now I’m finding it difficult to reopen those compartments. But I think when I go to a restaurant the other part I miss is that, yes, you still got the whole phone situation in your pocket, but how it sets the stage for connection you stare across the table at somebody, me and Christie on a date, a date is much different out than trying to recreate it in your own home. Matter of fact, we just got to a point where we thought we were going to do the date thing and then it just didn’t happen. – Yeah, we did it. We held on for a little bit. – It just didn’t happen. – We did a thing for a while where we would, I would turn the lights down, put on some music and we would eat at our little sort of breakfast nook. And then we would make the kids eat in a different room or like eat in the dining room and– – Right? – I don’t know, it worked for a while, but it’s just so hard to maintain the separation and the discipline. – Yeah. And then you’re still doing the dishes and the preparation. – Yeah, right. – Even if you order out. – Yeah. You know, it’s like just being waited on in a restaurant is so awesome. – And yeah, I mean, I love the experience– – And it’s like, I mean, I’m starting to get excited now. Cause it’s like, I mean I think I’m going to be at a restaurant and I’m gonna be like, “Wow, I feel like a King!” Like, there’ll be just this renewed appreciation for the whole thing. Look, someone’s coming up, and just anything I want, well and I can just tell this stranger and they’ll go away and they’ll come back with it! – And that’s why, I mean, one of the many reasons that the cost of living in Los Angeles is so high, you know compared to North Carolina for instance, is the event, like we’re so close to so many things including so many great places to eat. Like there’s just so many, you can never eat at the same place twice and keep having these completely dynamic excellent dining experiences. Now I’m not saying you can’t get it– Well, maybe one of your favorite things in LA. – Yeah. – As well. – It’s, I mean, it’s one of the things I’m like when I think about how much money I paid to live here, I’m like, you kind of have to start reminding yourself of the advantages, because especially one of the reasons there’s been this mass Exodus of people from Los Angeles during the pandemic is because they’re like, if all I’m doing is hanging out at home, why am I going to be in this tiny little expensive place when I can go to a less expensive, larger place and have the same experience, right? I totally get it. I dunno, we’re not moving because we’ve built our lives here and we built our business here but it’s like, I’m ready to experience the city that I’m paying so much for. – Well, I mean, I came so close to buying a van that, you know, I wouldn’t have lived out of it, but I would travel in semi-live out of it on little trips. And, (Link guffaws) that’s taken a back burner now. It’s like, I can rent somebody else’s van whenever I want to do that. – Yeah. – But yeah. So that’s the update on that aspiration. It was, I had the tunnel vision of the pandemic goggles, you know, and I’m, I’m gonna rent a van again. Imma, trust me. I’m gonna do it, but I’m not, I don’t I’m pretty sure I’m not going to buy one. – The other aspect of this is parties. Now again– – Before we get to par– – Let’s go with the friends. Cause I think that’s the incremental thing– – That’s what I’m saying. That’s what I’m saying, there’s two aspects of this. And so I’m saying that the first part which I’ve experienced a little bit of is getting together at people’s homes, right. Now, very recently. – Yep. – So we got together with another well, okay. So there’s a couple that was fully vaccinated, Jessie and I are, you know, Jessie’s fully vaccinated now, I’m half vaccinated. And you know, once you’re a few weeks out from the initial dose of these Moderna or Pfizer, you’re very well-protected, especially if you’re around other people who are vaccinated, right? And so we made, so there’s we see each other and we see this one other family, but there was a friend who we hadn’t seen in over a year who was at this family’s house and texted us and said, “Hey, I’m over here.” “I’m fully vaccinated.” – I’m fully vaccinated. – They’re totally cool if guys come over and it was a Friday night and– – It was probably, it was like it was like 7:30 or 8 pm. – It was like eight. I already, here’s the thing. I already, I had my plan. And my plan was we were going to watch a movie and I don’t remember what it was, but I had it picked out. And then we got the texts and I was like, “Ah, I kind of had this plan, “but I haven’t seen this person in a year.” Yes, let’s go. And we go over there. And I mean, again, there’s like hugs, first thing was we’re hugging. This is a little bit unusual, right? Just, I haven’t hugged a lot of people– – Yeah. – In a long time! – Now you’re not a hugger. So when that happened, what was your experience? Because there are people who are huggers and they’re like that might be the top of their list to have like physical connection with– – I’m not a– – Friends. I’m not a hug instigator, but I’m not an anti– I’m not– – No you’re not… – I’m not a anti I’m the anti-hug. You, but you’re not– – I’m a hugger. – So I’m a good hug receiver. – Right. – And like, I’m a good hug reciprocator. – You’re kind of neutral. You can, I think you can take it or leave it. I think I could too. No judgment here. – Uh… How was it? – So given that you could take or leave a hug in normal life, was it therapeutic? Was there a release? – I don’t want– – Or was it the same? – I’m not gonna, I don’t want to be dramatic. – Don’t be dramatic. I’m just saying– – Be honest. – Yeah, I’m saying that I’m going to be honest and say that it was really good, but it wasn’t like, “Man, that feels good!” “That feels different!” That’s like a giant step forward. It did not feel that way for me, it just felt, in fact, as we then sat down and began to have a conversation around the kitchen table it began very quickly to feel like old times again. And I actually consciously sort of stepped out of the conversation and went into my own head and thought to myself, like, “This is interesting,” because I feel like I’m totally here again. Like I feel like the past year is just a memory. Now I know again, it’s going to be a slow process of getting back to normal. And I know this is not, I say this, you know being sensitive to the fact that this is not the case for a lot of people, but it just kind of hit me. I was like, “Hmm, I’m immediately back “in the same mind space and social space “and social experience that I was before all this happened, “like having this conversation.” But I could tell that not everyone at that table felt the same way. – And you should also say who from my family was or wasn’t at that table. So we began to talk about you, because you and Christy had also received the text from this person to come over. – Yep. – And there was a conversation and the conversation was, they were like, “Are you thinking “Link and Christy are coming?” I was like, “Well”– – This is between you and Jessie? Are you already at the– – Already at the table. I was like, “Well, you know, Link and Christy, “they, the Neal-plan may already be in effect “and this may be difficult for them to dislodge from this.” And then we had a conversation– – And you pretty much knew what that plan was. – Well, and I’ll just say it’s funny because, okay, so it was, it was the McHargue’s house. And because Mike said, “Well, here’s the spectrum.” “On this end of the spectrum in terms of…” I can’t remember the term he used, but it was basically like social flexibility or something like that. He was like, “You have the Neals and the McHargues.” – Yup, they gather on one end. – And at the opposite– – Of the spectrum… – Very socially inflexible. – You have the McLaughlin’s. – And I was like, “Well, let me butt in and say, “That is true.” The McLaughlin’s and the person who was the guests there. I was like, “That’s true of my wife “but I’m kind of in the middle.” I kind of straddled the fence on this one because I will admit that it was not easy for me to just drop what my wanted to do and watch a movie and come over. I tend to kind of get into a plan. And as soon as we finished that conversation, knock, knock, knock, your wife and daughter show up, but noticeably you’re not there. – Yeah. (Rhett scoffs) – So just to rewind a little bit. Yeah, we’re, we’re sitting down like we, it’s eight o’clock-ish. So all the Neal’s without prompting now, we all gather on, in the TV room on the couch and we put on “Survivor,” every single night! – Ooh well, on Friday night you’re having this? – Even Friday night! – Wow. – I gave up a long time ago on trying to like say, “Yeah but on the weekends, we’re not doing “Survivor.” That’s a weeknight thing on the weekends we’re going to do our own things or we’re going to watch movies or it’s gonna it’s gonna feel like a normal weekend, not just like another night like every single night we watch “Survivor”. (Link guffaws) – Friday nights? – I mean, even,– – With your kids? – Even me, I was like, “This is too much, guys.” And I lost, I lost the argument. And then I was okay with that. – Okay. – And then months later I’m really okay with it. And then this, this one night, it’s like any other night for the past year, we look forward to this. We relish in it. If, you know, if anything breaks that up just within the home, somebody gets mad. You know? It’s like, if somebody is not as into “WandaVision” as the rest of the family, introducing, like putting “WandaVision” above “Survivor” or, has been a problem. – Yeah, how do you watch other things? Or how do you watch movies? – We double up, we don’t watch movies. (Rhett scoffs) We watch, we watch– – We don’t watch movies, I’ll just be honest with you. – If it’s whatever’s on Disney + that we’re all, the new series that we’re all gonna watch, we watch that on Friday and then we watch “Survivor” afterwards. (Rhett laughing) – It’s ridiculous. I know it is. We’re so extreme in this way– – What’re you gonna do, at this pace, you’re definitely gonna run out. – We are halfway through the Season 39 finale. – How many seasons are there? – 40. – So you’re getting close to running out… – And last night we, we paused it at a strategic halfway point of the finale because it was getting to be, it’s a school night. It’s getting to be bedtime. And I’m like, “Guys, I don’t think we should go.” Like tomorrow night we’re going to watch the rest of the finale. And then the next night, I know you’re going to want to just start with season 40. That’s the last one. And we’ve heard that it’s like the best season. I don’t want to go to it. I want, I wanna wait. (Link yells) The complaining starts like, “No dad, you’re being crazy.” And it’s like, there are some episodes, seasons that we skipped. I think we should delay the gratification of Season 40 go back and watch some of the… We’re so into it. Now let’s watch some of the seasons that people said sucked. – Yeah, you’ve become dependent. – We are dependent on “Survivor” every single night– – To survive. – So I’m like, listen, we’re going to blow through season 40 in two weeks. That’s that’s the pace we’ve been on. – Yeah. – We kept increasing. I mean, it is this like dependent compulsion, leading to addiction kind of trajectory. – You’re going to have to figure out some sort of– – And I’m trying to point that out to him last night. I’m like, “Listen, guys, we need to delay season 40, “so that we can build it up more and look forward to it.” Even if we skip three nights. – Hmm. – I wanna keep that Season 40 dangling out there until it’s closer to Season 41 coming out. And then I’m also talking about when Lily goes off to college, I’m like, you know, what are we going to do with “Survivor?” She’s like, “We’ll just watch it and talk about it.” I was like, no, no, no. We’re gonna save “Survivor” for holidays when we’re all back together, (Rhett scoffs) and then we’re gonna watch those seasons. This is how small my world is become. – Yeah. – Two weeks ago, we talked about the wanting to look into communes. It was very tongue in cheek but it was rooted in this feeling that I have of I really liked the control and the perceived, is different kinds of safety that has nothing to do with COVID or pandemics of just smallness of this isn’t this is my world now. And this is, I know what to expect. And it is fostering some things that aren’t healthy and that are, this is what I discovered. And this was, this is a moment. It was a test. We were sitting down and then Christie looks up and she’s like, “Oh, we were invited over “to the McConnaughts to see so-and-so.” And he’s over there, now he’s fully vaccinated. And she locks eyes with me. And I bet if you were to ask her what she saw in my eyes I think it would be fear. (Rhett laughing) And it had nothing to do with the friend or how much I love and miss him. It was, and it wasn’t just about a threat to the routine, but it was, things are changing. Now we had already planned to get together. This was a Friday night. We had already planned to get together on Sunday night– – Hm mm, at my house. – And I was, I was getting mentally prepared for that. – Hmm. – And then this was dropped in my lap and I’m like, well you know, I was just, I was getting ready for Sunday. And now this thing right now, right now, right now and there were some mitigating circumstances in our house. I had actually just gotten the vaccine the day before and experienced a headache. And it, then I thought, I, I felt totally good that day, the second day, which is the day in question. And I went for a bike ride when I got back, the headache came back. I did too much too soon on day two, shouldn’t have done that. I actually didn’t feel good. And you know, there were other members of the family. You can figure it out by matter of elimination that just that were reticent for their own reasons. So that led to, I’m going to stay at home with them and we can, we can blame it on the kids but I have these things going on inside of me. And I don’t know what’s happening in my brain and with my emotions, but I just, I don’t, I’m not willing or ready to do this. I’m not motivated enough to overcome these feelings tonight. I’m working forward to being ready by Sunday. And then I ended up, we watched “Survivor” without Christie and Lily because they gave us permission to and I felt dirty and horrible. – Oh my goodness! – And I said, it didn’t feel right. And I don’t want to ever do that again. And then I went to bed and my head was killing me and I was so I was glad I wasn’t there. I wouldn’t have, I wouldn’t have been a positive contributor to that reunion, even though I hate that I didn’t get to see our friend. And I, you know, I don’t want him to think that it had anything to do with him specifically but it really brought to light things that I was just not aware of at that moment. And then, you know, so we’re getting, we can get back to the positives, but we might as well go through this anxiety because that’s what I s– I never thought, I never had what I would call “Social Anxiety.” I don’t think. It’s so hard to remember. – So you think that that’s what it is for you? – Well– – Like, okay, maybe that’s one way to describe it, but– – What if you were invited to, let’s not just say it’s a get-together with people that you’ve know and you’ve seen a bunch, and then one additional person but an actual social thing. Like a, like a party– – Like I do, even when we have, when you did your monthly game night and you had extent, like more friends show up for that, including us– – Back in the day, pre-COVID? – Pre-COVID. There were sometimes I do notice that there’s a little heightened level of anxiety that I experienced, associated with, even with that. But some of it’s just excitement that can feel like anxiety. So I didn’t really know what was going on but I would say that there are plenty of times that I’m not totally at ease, even with like my second tier friends that like I trust and enjoy and love. So there was an inkling of that, that I recall from pre-COVID. But now on Sunday night, when we got together I got to tell you the thing that you saw when you looked around the table and you could see in people’s eyes they were experiencing something that you weren’t you felt totally normal and maybe exhilarated to be back together. Even on Sunday night, when we all got together I actually felt when we left I felt a little discouragement. You know, there’s a lot of self judgment that I, that tends to come into play with me, but there’s I’m a lot more in my head right now, because of this whole re-entry thing– – You were– – Than I even realized. – I did notice that you required quieter than normal. – I felt weird, you know? It was just like, because it’s a combination of getting reintroduced to something that I feel like should be just like flipping a switch. – Well– – But it wasn’t, and it wasn’t anybody’s fault. And it wasn’t, nobody did or said anything to make me feel weird. It was just, another part of it might just be sheer unmet expectations. You know, you build something up and you look forward to it then you, then you let go of it. And then you realize it’s coming back and now there’s fear in the equation, but you still have this hope that like, this is going to be so dynamic. This is going to be, I mean, I never been to prison but I would be interested to talk to somebody who has experienced re-entry from prison. – It’s probably a little more intense– – More intense, but there’s a sliver of parallel, at least, you know? – I could tell, I made note that multiple people both on Friday night and on Sunday night were not acting like themselves. – Hm mm. – And or what I remember of them in those settings, right. And I did notice that about you, I was like, “Link’s being like, typically he’s very talkative. Sometimes we have to pull him back a little bit. – Yeah. – But that is not– – And I really thought I would have been that happy– – But that’s not happening. – Especially with the prep. I’d be like, I don’t want to come on too strong. – And, but, okay. But what I ended up doing was after dinner, we’re all kind of like hanging out and I needed to use the restroom. So I went upstairs to use it. And I will do this at most get-togethers at my house. I will go upstairs and then I’ll be like, I’m going to just hang here for a second. But that was, and I did that on Sunday night. – You did disappear for a little bit. – But I always do that and always did that. – It wasn’t longer than I would believe like an involved dump would take. – I don’t even think it was a dump, I think I just– – Oh, I know, I’m just saying– – Think I had a pee. – The amount of time that you took– – Was under cover. You gotta, you gotta, you gotta keep in mind you don’t want to like, draw attention to how long you’re in the bathroom, but it could, people start thinking things. They start assuming things, but that’s my introversion. That’s my, I got, okay, I got time for people and I got energy for people then I have to pull it back. But actually, as it was happening, ’cause I’m also in my own head a little bit. I was like, am I having like, my energy has been impacted by this pandemic? And I’ve got low capacity for people right now? Then I was like, no, no, no, you’re just an introvert. And you did this before the pandemic. – Hm mm. – So I just kind of went back downstairs. But in the midst of the conversation, like, all right we’re having a conversation, to me, I was also thinking and noticing it. I was like, I kind of feel like I’m just back where we left off but I can tell that more than a few people are not at that place because our conversation feels different. There are more gaps. There’s more like awkward– – Why do we keep talking about dogs so much? Like, that’s the thing I told Chrissy. I was like, you know, I was disappointed, like, I kind of thought we would talk about what we were experiencing, kind of what we’re talking about now. I feel like I would’ve had a better time if we could have just talked about that. But maybe you talked about that some on Friday night without us. But we ended up talking about dogs on four different times. We were over here eating and then we moved over here and then we went inside and it was just like, we don’t have as much to talk about. We keep going back to dogs. – I don’t know– – Was, that’s what I– – But, you also, you’ve always attached expectations to what conversations will be. – Yep. – That was, that’s not a pandemic-thing. That’s a Link-thing. There’s many times, and this is sort of a gripe between my wife and you. This is like one of the sources of conflict between Jessie and you is like, Jessie will start talking about something, and you’ll be like, “Ah, uh, can we, “let’s not talk about that right now?” – Right. – She normally not dogs. (Rhett chuckles) – Cause like I could have said, I think legitimately, “Ah, you you know, “we’ve talked about dogs three times tonight.” I’m curious. How are you guys doing? Cause I feel weird as shit right now. You know, it’s like– – Yeah. – But I also didn’t have the energy and I didn’t want to do that at that moment. But, uh, (Link chuckles) you know, I do own the, the conversation police thing because it is an outward manifestation of my, my inner critic and the control thing that has to do with expectations associated with connecting with people. Whether that, like the dynamics. I think about it too much. “Oh, who’s included, who’s interesting?” Can we, you know, are we… yeah, too much. (Rhett chuckles) Too much for people. So on that piece of it, so yeah. It’s kind of like parsing what, what’s true of my former self? What’s new in the mix now, what, this being a process, you know, I even, I did a search because I know that there’s people who are dealing with this more like, and to a greater degree, there’s people who might’ve already been agoraphobic or have some sort of social anxiety already that wasn’t something like me, that’s like, “Did I have that?” – Yeah. – Is that where this is coming from? Nearly 50% of Americans say they feel anxious about resuming in-person interactions, post-pandemic, according to a report from the American Psychological Association. A phenomenon psychologists have dubbed “Re-entry Anxiety,” and Kiko, put an echo on that, thank you. “Re-entry Anxiety.” (echo bouncing) (crosstalk) – I’ve heard of a lot of people talking about it. – I just want to go through this and I don’t wanna get bogged down in it, but SCL Health, I think this is like Colorado Hospital. Doesn’t matter. Very practical advice to deal with if you’re, if you’re struggling with re-entry anxiety just like a handful of things. First, they say start small. If you haven’t left the house in much over the last year don’t suddenly rip out the band-aid and walk into the most crowded marketplace you can find, start small, plan a hike with a few friends work your way up from there slowly confronting your sources of fear, with a little more exposure each time. Exposure therapy is what it’s called by doctors. This next point really resonated with me, “Start soon.” If anything is making you anxious, you should confront the issue as soon as possible. The longer you wait the more the anxiety ferments and works itself up. So not only does social isolation have short term health implications that can impact mental health long-term, it doesn’t mean you should throw a party and you need to be subject to the guidelines as we said up front. But a little socialization goes a long way. You got to say, “I’m engaging in this process “of re-entry and I have to take baby steps “and I need to start soon, or now. Another another thing was, piece of advice was “Looking at the big picture.” A good thing to do is to ask yourself, “What truly makes me happy.” And whether that’s family, the outdoors, returning back to life, let the big picture be a major motivator to overcome the fears in comparison to them, in combating reasons to not start or delay. You know, I was gearing up for Sunday. I wasn’t ready for Friday. I listened to myself and you know but if there wasn’t a Sunday plan, I’d, I might would’ve felt differently now about my decision to not go on Friday. – Hm mm. – And then two more things, buddy up, find someone you know and trust who’s in a similar phase or has a similar experience and understands you that you can buddy up with and support each other through the re-entry process, talking about it. I mean, even this conversation is freeing for me because it’s like, “Hey, you’ve heard “what’s inside of my head.” I’ve kind of given you this emotional brain-dump so to speak. So it’s, I think the next time we’re like, if it’s next weekend, that we’re in a small group setting, there might be an opportunity for you to say something to me or me to say something to somebody else who’s opened up to me, that type of thing, you know, I think it really helps. And then yeah, they, they note in the end for some people it’s going to be a breeze like the way you described it could potentially, I could experience jealousy or envy or, or beat myself up because it’s not as easy for me as it is for you. And that’s no fault of yours. And this is my responsibility to process that in a way that doesn’t, you know drive a wedge between us and somehow then send a message that you can’t enjoy your re-entry experience. That’s not– – Well it remains to be seen– – That’s not fair to you. – Well it remains to be seen as well as– – Oh, but hold on. I just wanted to make one… But the main point I was trying to make that they were making at the end was if you come to a roadblock, you can seek out help. That’s beyond just a friend, you know, a professional– – Yeah! – Help to get you through this. And ain’t no shame in that. What were you gonna say? – I think the thing that I am, I’m not going to be surprised if I experienced some anxiety, I’m interested to see, is a big crowd. Like if we’re going to a basketball game and there’s a herd of people going through the small door and then they’re all crowded together. Like I can only assume that when that kind of thing starts happening more and more often, so not socially distance, large gatherings people packed into places, people at concerts. – Yeah. – People are going to panic. You know, I think the reasons for the anxiety, they may not be rational, but a lot of them they probably come from different places. Like I can imagine that– – Sure. – One of them is just like, I’m seeing a lot of people close to me, touching things. I’m watching their mouth move… – Oh gosh, the mouths! Just the scene of mouths– – People touching things. And so if that’s something that you struggle with is just the idea of the, the germs of it all, the humanity of it all. – Yeah. – Then that could be something. And then it just may be, oh, a social anxiety. I don’t know how to say the words that I used to say when I meet people, but that whole surrounded by people, I’m not saying I anticipate it’s going to be a problem. But if, to me, I feel like if I’m going to have an anxiety issue, I doubt that it’s going to be with my friends that I see on a pretty regular basis but it might be in a group of strangers. Like that could be where something like, “Oh, all of a sudden this, this is such a new experience.” And again, I mean, I guess there… It depends on where you’re at in the world. It depends on where you’re at in the country. These are, I’m sure there are people listening to this podcast who are in States where they’re like “Ah, it’s kinda just been the same for a long time for us,” guys are like, “You guys are crazy and California is nuts.” – We’re proud and we’re affirming their decisions– – Yeah! – All along the way. And it’s like, “Well, we’re not trying to affirm “your decision if you didn’t, if you didn’t lock down “or wear a mask or whatever.” – But uh… – Yeah. – So yeah, when it comes to parties, like with friends I’m committed to like getting back to that magic spot but then like then beyond that, like, okay, ’cause to me it’s, it’s not about catching anything or exposure or the like, I dunno, I don’t worry about that. It is the social thing. And like, it’s just like getting reacquainted with that. So it was like the parties with strangers, sorry. Oh yeah. It’s like I was on the fence about how much I enjoyed that beforehand, so– – Well, that’s the thing that’s kind of odd to me is we, you know, we’ve done we’ve done at least an episode of the show about our approach to Hollywood parties. And I’m not talking about the Fauci-parties where I drink the children’s blood. I’m talking about like industry parties, where you dress up and you have cocktails and their music is too loud. Both neither of us have ever been a fan of those kinds of parties because of the whole, I can’t have a conversation with you right now. Cause I can’t hear you because of the music and I, is this for clout or what is the reason I’m walking around this party? Who am I trying to talk to? Am I trying to tell John Mayer that I love him? Or I might just trying to meet somebody that I might work with… And– – Both. – As we’ve established, you tend to be comfortable with being like, well, I’m just going to go up to a little Dicky and start a conversation. And I’m like, well, I’ll let you go up the little Dickie and start a conversation. And then once you’re in, I’ll come and join it, right? As we hilariously told the story one time. But interestingly, it’s so funny that the whole story about little Dicky involves him telling you that his name is Dave. And now the show that he makes, is just called Dave. (Rhet laughing) – Yeah. – The way that it play, every time I see that show advertised, I just think about that story, but– – I can’t bring myself to watch it for that reason. – I, my prediction is that everyone’s going to have some latent sort of anxiety in this. And again, I, I’m not I’m not minimizing, there’s people who are really struggling and this is a serious thing and they are going to need to get professional help. I understand that, that’s not my scenario. That’s not my situation. And I have empathy for the people who are going through it. But I think that everybody is going to have there’s going to be awkwardness when you go back to that party with the music and the talking to each other which was already difficult for everyone involved, even though we tend to not talk about how difficult it is. Throw in the fact that like, “I haven’t been in an environment this loud “let alone with this many people”! When that ha– My hope is that out of a, in an effort to kind of help us all ease back in, that the DJ will be like, “Man, I’m going to go a little easy on these people.” – I’m telling you– – You know what I’m saying? Cause I just think that there’s so much opportunity for parties to be transformed. I mean, we did a whole chapter of this in “The Book of Mythicality,” about how we didn’t like loud parties. I just feel like there’s an opportunity here to not just go back to the bullshit party where you can’t hear anybody. – Yeah, I got more thoughts on this that relate to something else that we’ve been talking about and laying groundwork for… – But you’re not going to bring it up now– – No. – You’re thinking of bringing it up later– – I’m just telling you so that we won’t forget to talk about it– – Oh! – Later. Another, you know, I talked about the prison and prisoner being released-analogy, but it’s also thinking about like an astronaut who’s been in the International Space Station for like a year and then they come back to Earth and they’re like, even though they’ve worked out and everything and they’ve stayed healthy and they’ve been focused on what it is they’ve got to do, then they come back to this world and all the gravity takes its toll you know? And it, it takes a while to like even figure out how to physically walk properly. I think? Doesn’t that happen. – I’m sure, yeah. Depends on how long you’ve been up there. – And relate to people, you know? And so I’d be interested to see what they’re saying about that. I’d take a, there is an astronaut masterclass but I don’t think it’s related to this. – A masterclass? – Yeah, so I’m interested in one of those. Let’s bring on an astronaut to talk about how to re-enter the world socially. – Not sure that… Oh, well, okay. If he, if he makes the connection to that, yeah. – Okay. Or she, women can be Astronauts. – That’s true. If they make the connection to that. – There we go! (Link chuckles) – So, this is just kind of put in a capper at least this is how I hope we’re rounding a corner that like, you know there’s not going to be any, we don’t have to return to any type of lockdown. I don’t even want to talk about that. I’m hoping this is a bookend on an experience that if you, if you go back and listen to our conversations, as we were entering into it we were thinking of things like, “Okay, we’re living history.” There are opportunities associated with this. Let’s embrace this moment for what it is. Let’s be as responsible and healthy as possible but let’s also embrace the experience of it. So when we’re done with it we have lessons from it and we can move forward. I’m not ready to say that yet because we’re realizing that we’re still having… The re-entry is an experience in and of itself that I want to have that mentality of “I’m embracing this moment by moment “as part of history and giving myself grace to be on that process of reentry.” That it it’s okay that it’s not flipping a switch for every single person. And that we’re not on the same pace but we are on pretty much the same trajectory of moving past this and the ones that we love, some of them need an extra hand or a little more understanding, more patience to get there. – Well I think the fact that a lot of us, a lot more people can relate, people like you, as an example that wouldn’t have said that you had any sort of social anxiety who are like, “Is this what I’m experiencing now?” I think a large number of people experiencing that, is a great opportunity for more people to relate to those who had social anxiety disorders before the pandemic started. – And to astronauts. – And to astronauts. – So we can, you know, never hurts to have a little more empathy in the world and to have those conversations about other people’s perspectives. – Yeah, it’s my rec. Imma give it to you. I recommend this week that you go through your old shoes– – Hmm. – Put on a pair of shoes you haven’t worn since the beginning of pandemic, you know you got those shoes that are in the, you shoved them to the back of somewhere and you’re like, “I’ll bring these out for something” I’m not necessarily talking about dress shoes. It doesn’t matter. Whatever. Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. That’s someone else being your former self. I think it’s, I don’t know. It’s just like a practical, physical, active embodiment of reconnecting with your former self. And then after walking in those shoes all day you realize why you haven’t worn them in a year. And it has nothing to do with the pandemic. Then either give them to Goodwill or if they’re really horrible, just throw them away. And let it go. – Hmm. – And consider it an act of embodiment, an exercise in remembering your former self but also deciding that you’re not obligated to still be that person moving forward. Maybe there’s things you wanna change. You’re looking at my shoes. – I was thinking you were like wearing like a different, I haven’t seen you wear a different pair of shoes. – I don’t take the advice I give. Oh, okay. (Rhett chuckles) (upbeat music) – Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. – I think is good advice. I think there’s a third option– – Do it! – That somebody just told me about ’cause I, cause I have a tendency to go through all my old clothes and shoes. – Yeah? – And then donate all of them which I think that that is, priority number one is to donate. But somebody said, you know you should save some stuff that’s more notable and indicative of the time period because your kids will want to wear it at some point or want to be like this is my dad’s old shirt from 20 years ago. These are my dad’s shoes from 20 years ago. And I think that there’s that again, I give away most of it but keep a few pieces as memorabilia for your children. Somebody just gave me that advice. And I don’t remember who it was, but I was like, that’s a good idea because I don’t have, like I think about the stuff that I wore in college and I see it in these pictures, but like, it’d be cool if I could be like, “Look, here’s the shirt I wore in college.” “You’re wanna wear in college?” (Rhett chuckles) Or just do you want it just as a piece of history? – So keep ’em, (Rhett laughs) for that reason. – No, give away most of them – Keep some of them… – The experiences is the more important part? – You’re right. – It’s not really about what you do with them afterwards. – It just hit me, you know? – Okay, all right. – #EarBiscuits, let us know what you think. What’s your experience on re-entry? – And I am, genuinely interested if there’s anybody who, what I had to say about vaccines made you think something new and different. I would, I continue to be interested in being able to be a force for good. And I want to know if I just pissed a bunch of people off, didn’t change anybody’s mind, or if you’re like, “Oh, actually I’m going to do this now.” I just, from my own personal data points let me know or just tell me why, why I’m wrong. I’m also very open to that. #EarBiscuits. – [Link] To watch more “EarBiscuits,” click on the playlist on the right. – [Rhett] To watch the previous episode of EarBiscuits, click on the playlist to the left. – [Link] And don’t forget to click on the circular icon to subscribe. – [Rhett] If you prefer to listen to this podcast it’s available on all your favorite podcast platforms. Thanks for being your Mythical Best. (upbeat music concludes)