SPEAKER_05 0:00

Welcome back to the Blurred Spectrum Podcast, everyone. Thank you for coming once again to listen and love the way that we talk. Yes. Anyway, so we have uh our panelists here this week. Uh we have a, you know, a this week we're doing something a little bit different. Uh one because we have some of our panelists, of course. This is the we're recording this on the week of Thanksgiving, so a lot of people are traveling. You would think they wouldn't be, but they're actually traveling within their homes. It's a long story. But um they're preparing for cooking and uh merriment uh with the restrictions that we've been given due to the pandemic that is going on, but they're trying to make sure that uh those who can be taken care of are being taken care of. So uh that being said, the episode for today is a thanks for giving. Uh, what are these things in this pandemic uh uh election, uh uh fear mongering, riot-heavy million marches type of year that it has been 2020? Uh don't forget the murder hornets. Uh what do we have thanks for? What what what are we actually still happy about? What are we glad that occurred that you know will take us, you know, hopefully through these last month and a half into 2021. Um, so today the panelists that I have with me, well starting with myself, uh Shu Chino Shogun. Hello. Uh we have uh Shay One.

SPEAKER_04 1:28

Hello.

SPEAKER_05 1:30

Uh we have uh The Doctor. What's good? And we have The Black McCoy.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

Bonjour.

SPEAKER_05 1:36

So as I said, we're gonna just talk a little bit about the things that we are thankful for as it pertains to you know 2020. You know, nobody's I mean, I've heard it's uh uh garbage, a dumpster fire. I've heard that it's been, you know, when you know babies uh uh um uh defecate upwards, they said that's what to this year is as well. Um but uh I've heard that this year has been um has been something for a lot of people. Uh but we are here to hopefully tell you some of the few things because we've we've we've discussed our grievances with this year as well, I believe in every episode, um, but specific ones, of course. But we're here to try to you know bring a brighter side or a lighter side to um anyway, uh more positive spin. There it is, on uh what 2020 has been. So, what I will do is I will start with the doctor. What are you thanking, or what are you giving thanks for? There it is.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Oh, what am I giving thanks for? So it's interesting because in some ways it is something that is a bit more of the negative side of 2020, or it's a reaction to the negative side of 2020, but it's something that is very positive to me, and I'm sure to many of us, where you know I think this is has been a real benchmark year in terms of in terms of us as black people fighting for our civil rights. Like we've seen a huge, you know, kind of vocal outpouring of you know resistance to racist policies, to police brutality. You know, we've had all these protests, and we've seen, you know, the beginnings of a lot of changes and a lot of conversations that we've never really had before. Like I don't think in my lifetime we've ever talked about, say, defunding police. Like that has never been a conversation that I've in my lifetime I've been aware of, at least not in the public sphere. So, you know, I see us really laying the foundations for, you know, just real impacts when it comes to you know our civil rights. And that's something that, you know, it's one of like one of the bigger things I'm thankful for. Um on a lighter note, uh I'm also really thankful for 2020 has in some ways felt like a renaissance of black content creators, black artists, black actors, you know, and we're seeing a lot more celebration of those, you know, than you know, we have at me also at many points in my life. Um, you know, and especially like with um the paddock of Chad, the passing of Chadwick Bozeman, you know, we really started to celebrate like more of his legacy and his work. Um power, brother. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, this is something that you know I see us going in a really good direction with this, you know, and you know, I think those are at least related to you know me being a blurb, like those are two things I'm very, very thankful for for this year.

SPEAKER_05 4:40

Awesome. I mean, I I completely agree. I think uh I think on social media, I think on television and movies that you know hopefully have been streamed, uh a lot of you know, black actors, black creators, black actresses, um, you know, musicians, uh anybody who as an artist creates, I believe that, you know, between them having the time on their hands, because we weren't, you know, really moving around, and then two, because they saw the need for individuals who look like them to be either inspired or you know, look at something positive, especially with all the negativity that was on the screen. I think they really took that as a call to action or a charge to go out and do something different or kind of few put fuel in their tank to be able to, you know, put out more things that are positive. You know, um, I've seen so many different, you know, short stories and TV shows, people trying to, you know, create even more. I've seen more YouTube channels pop up with you know different content, not just comedy, but people are you know trying new things to entertain individuals to give them something else to look at other than the negative things that they see. Um so I agree. Yeah, it's it's uh calling it a renaissance, I think is an accurate, although people may not feel that way, but I believe it is an accurate uh statement to use.

SPEAKER_03 6:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 6:06

Uh the Black McCoy, uh, what are you thankful for, or rather giving thanks for?

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Um I am uh this is a very difficult question, and I feel personally um vilified in trying to give the c give an answer. Um I'm personally thankful for the liberation from a place of work that I did not want to be at any longer because I while I believed in the work, I did not believe the methods that were taken in order to get the people get people there. Um I'm also thankful for um new creative ideas that I've had, um despite whatever barriers may have been included in their inception, um or during their inception rather. Um and um sociologically speaking, I I I I don't really know if there's like a huge, huge thing I can point out. Um but I'm trying, I'm thinking. Um I guess I'm also thankful for I don't know, I guess the opportunities that I've been afforded as far as you know, doing this podcast and um trying to remain like engaged as a creative person and making sure that you know other people have the opportunity to be engaged in a in a very creative way for by people who look like them and for giving them the kind of conversation and representation that they they may not have known that they needed, but I'm gonna tell them that they need it. Um particularly from us. Um also just grateful and thankful for the people that I have met and had the opportunity to um develop closer relationships with. Awesome.

SPEAKER_05 8:14

Yes, I you know, I believe we can all agree um that uh for one, this podcast, which of course started in 2020, was um put together uh at at its at its crux. It was put together to kind of give us a voice to be able to talk about certain topics because we felt the need, or we felt rather there wasn't a place for that currently, and you know, we just wanted to put it out there so you know our thoughts and our feelings and our emotions and our you know creative sides could definitely be vocalized in this environment. And going from that, I believe the group of individuals that we put together for this panel, uh for this podcast, um, have become close and fast friends, um, not just acquaintances. I believe each and every one of us, um I believe everybody's met everybody. Uh I think oh for our live episode, yes, everybody's met everybody. And um I I couldn't have just you know piggybacking off of uh the black McCoy. I don't think I could have on purpose put together a group that cohesively worked the way that this podcast and group works. Um between how we interact, between how we communicate. I I'm I'm you know, I'm not going into what I'm grateful for or thankful for, but I agree like this podcast is something that I can say I'm thankful for. Um uh and the friends and the individuals that we brought together uh definitely um is something that we will not take for granted and two we will hopefully hold into the future. I don't know any other way to say that. But yeah, before I go too deep into what I'm thankful for, uh Miss Sayone.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

I have a lot to be thankful for in this uh trash of a year, you know, and um I would I think a lot of people have that same uh feeling for 2020 per se. But there has been a lot of good that that has come out of 2020 for me personally. Um, you know, this podcast, it was unexpected, and I've gained a lot of friends and people that I can talk to, coming from various backgrounds, different walks of life. Um, you know, you have the doctor who has wonderful insight. Uh, he's kind of like our, I would say, um we we we go to him, like doctor, what do you think? Do you deny this?

SPEAKER_03 10:57

No, he doesn't have to approve the name the Dr. Toes.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Right. Like we have like a doc, like to me, he's like a main celebrity in my head, like the doctor, what is what does he think? Like he just gives this one life, you know. And um you have the philosopher, you know, the the black McCoy, who basically makes me think outside of my head in certain aspects and uh you know of day-to-day life. And he he really makes us unpack everything, whether we like it or not, and just makes everything much more deep. And I love it because I love anything that makes me think more. So, you know, Shogun, who, with his you know, booming voice and elegance, uh able to just moderate with such class and swag every single podcast, and you know, all of our other podcast members, like Miss Skittles and then Joe T S G and Samurai bracelets and you know, or shampoo bracelets, they keep changing their damn name all the time. But you know, they're we just have a wonderful family here, you know, of different personalities, and I'm just very grateful because I'm very much a recluse and I just kind of stay home. So to be able to engage in a different blurred family that I probably wouldn't have gone out of my way to do it. Um, I'm very thankful for that. Um, I would definitely say cosplay. Cosplay to me has been something that is a bit of therapy when it comes to anxiety at work or dealing with family stress or dealing with past trauma. Cosplay has always been something that has kept me grounded, more so now that coronavirus, we have to stay home. So it has forced my creativity in like a Spitfire type of way. Like, boom, what are you gonna think about? What are you doing? You know, how are you gonna execute this different new ways? So if I were to just do cosplay for cons, I don't think I would have progressed as fast as COVID-19 has made me when it comes to cosplay. Um, I would also say trans rights. I really love how this year and last year has pushed forward trans rights, pushed forward, you know, um what is your how do you like to be called? They, them, non-binary. I love that because it also educated me as well, something that I wasn't, I would say, as educated when I was younger. And there's just so many different ways that people want to be represented by. I love that. I love how we're we're seeing, you know, that there is a disparity with trans rights and we need this to be out in the forefront and talk about it. And this is something that for this year specifically, I'm seeing their voices be heard more so in the media so that we can push that out there and you know have a change. And also black media, I would say the different characters that black actors are portraying in media. You know, you're seeing sci-fi, you're seeing so many different black faces, different black faces, not just a typecast of the same actor. You're seeing different generations, people that you've never seen. And I love that as well, you know, and um the inclusion and not just black, you know, black characters in media, also non-black characters in media. Like I'm seeing a lot of different Indian um representation in the media, which I love. I'm seeing different Asian countries in the media that is basically forcing us American viewers to also see as well. Because sometimes we stay in our box and we don't want to really, you know, see outside the world, but we're seeing it, and I love it because the world is so vast and beautiful, and we're seeing different cultures and ethnicities. And so I'm very grateful for that in this particular year.

SPEAKER_05 15:01

Yeah, I can't argue with any of those. I wouldn't even try. Um, but yes, I agree completely. First of all, stop it. Thank you. Beautiful voice. What?

SPEAKER_04 15:11

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_05 15:12

Um, um, so for the things that I am grateful and thankful for as it pertains to 2020, um, it's of course, you know, a combination of everything that you all have said, but also on top of that, a lot of the negatives that have happened this year, I believe, have caused each and every one of us to, and I believe, you know, uh the doctor kind of uh touched on this, all of the negatives that have happened this year have caused us to not necessarily grow, but understand the environment in which we are in. A lot of us felt like we were, I don't use the word safe, but we were in a space where at least we understood the person who was next door, or stood the person who worked in the next cubicle, or stood the person who would, you know, stand across from us at the laundromat or at the grocery store. And I think all the stuff that has happened this year between you know coronavirus, between the election, between you know the riots and the mis uh the uh the injustice of African Americans in the US and across the world, I believe it's caused us to really see like who are we really dealing with and who it's given us a level of we're no longer ignorant. Like a lot of people, like, oh, I know it exists, but you know, it couldn't be this person, it couldn't be that person. And I think we now, I mean, I hate to say it this way, but we now know what where we are and who is around us. Um, because there's nothing worse than you know being in an environment where you don't know not necessarily who your enemy is, but you don't know who your who's really got your back. There's nothing worse than being stabbed in the back and it was from somebody who you 100% trusted. And I believe, you know, we are now seeing who our quote unquote brothers and sisters are or who our allies are that can aid us in different ventures and in different situations. Um, as I said before, I'm also thankful and grateful for this podcast. Uh, this wonderful group of individuals who have been brought together uh by completely spontaneous means, to be honest. Um, certain people uh we that were you know a part of the initial group thinking about it, then the next layer of individuals who are world-class cosplayers, um, I don't care what they say, world-class cosplayers. Um that um have, I believe, not just our shown our viewers or listeners, but also shown our panelists that you know anything is possible if you just attempt to do it. Um you could it could not be what you specifically want, but if you try to do it, you'll you'll accomplish something and you'll learn what you can do the next time. And this isn't just about cosplaying, this is about anything, any task or any job or any um uh activity that you try to accomplish or try to perform. If you try and you attempt and you put your your effort into it, you'll be able to achieve it. Um and of course, then our researchers, our doctors, our instructors, our teachers, our professors who are on this podcast who who have given us from uh uh dissertations to uh uh medical uh medical documents and and help helped us to understand where we are, where we could be, how we could be thinking, how we should be thinking, how we can take care of ourselves. Um, I never knew I needed a medical analysis on uh an anime character. I never knew I needed to know the philosophy behind comic books. Like there's certain there's something different about knowing what you believe you know, knowing what you've experienced, and then having someone explain to you not that your experience is wrong, but think about it this way. And it causes, as Ms. Uh Sayon A said, it causes you to think outside of your head. You look at things a different way and you look at things in a way that um other people, either other people could be looking at it or the way that it was originally intended to be seen. Um, I am thankful for uh, I think, you know, it's what was it, eight years ago, you know, or almost 16 years ago. Um we were being told about change. Um, we were being told about hopes, we were being told about, you know, different things that will come as times evolve. As, you know, think about all of us. You know, we were all in high school, middle school 16 years ago. And, you know, certain things happen around the time we were in middle school and high school that, you know, cause us to really look at the world a little bit differently. Uh, things like 9-11, uh, things about, you know, going to war again. I mean, we're all, you know, technically always at war, but you know, going to war once again. Um, and you know, different things that we experienced and we saw, I feel like as time went on, we were able to be told by those adults, if you will, here should be your expectation. This is where you're supposed to be going. Do this, do this, do this, and you'll be able to do that. And I think as a collector, I'm I've I I don't think I've ever seen our entire age group connect on a word by the name of adulting. Um, I never thought I would. But um when I finally understood what it was, I realized I'd already been doing it for quite some time. Uh, I think all of us can agree that um what our definition of an adult was when we were kids is by no means what we are. And what they were, those adults that we saw, um, some of us strive to be those things. Some of us strive to never come to what those things are. Some of us, some of us avoid it like the plague. Some of us try our best to put on an armor that says adult. Uh, but at the end of the day, I think everybody in our age group has been adulting. And I thank 2020 for teaching us how to level up an adult uh in a way that we never thought we could before. Um at all. Uh yeah. Yeah, there's many things I'm thankful for. Yeah, a lot of things. I won't take everybody else's time. Um uh, but I will ask a collective question. Um, as we're approaching 2021, uh, you know, there have been uh many people talking and speculating on yes, you know, everything's gonna change when 2021 comes, when the ball drops, when the clock changes. You know, uh some people went as far as to say coronavirus would be gone, and uh uh uh, you know, uh there won't be any civil war, and uh we'll all be able to hold hands kumbaya uh as soon as we get to J. Now we all know that that is not how it works. Uh, the last time we should have thought that way is at least our age people should have been Y2K when they thought that everything was gonna shut down um and nothing happened. So, what do you think will happen when we cross over from 2020 to 2021? Actually, not facts, not fictionally, but what do you actually think is going to happen? And anybody can jump in and answer.

SPEAKER_01 22:27

So, ooh, and I don't want to be like the dummy downer in this situation. Because, yeah, I think, well, I'll put it like this. I think it's gonna get worse before it gets better. Although I am confident it will eventually get better. Um, you know, I think when we talk about going into 2021, like that is gonna be a very tense time politically. Like as we are seeing, this is not a normal transition of power, you know. So that's you know, there's definitely going to be a lot of resistance, um, a lot of you know, I'll call them issues that arise, you know. So it's just it's it's gonna be tense. Um, you know, I think that transition is going to be somewhat difficult. I think pandemic fatigue is really set in pretty hard at this point. Like so um where you know, you're probably aware of um the vaccine trials have recently come out or whatnot. So I think going into 2021, that's gonna be a big focus as far as rolling that out and instilling trust in the vaccine, which you know, and you know, because that's again like there's issues with that too. Like, you know, we right now we know we're not fully sure how well it works. Uh, you know, we don't know that much about it, like I guess, um, you know, outside of the pharmaceutical sphere and whatnot. So it's um yeah, like that's gonna be something going into 2020 going into 2021. Um but you know, other than that, like I feel like I feel like so much of it revolves around the pandemic that it's a lot of it really depends on where we are with the pandemic when 2021 hits. Um you know, and you know, and I think you know, we don't know exactly where that's going to be. Like apparently we have good vaccines coming out and whatnot, but um, yeah, it's it's definitely a big question mark right now.

SPEAKER_05 24:28

Um yeah. Okay. Uh Simon Air.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Um, so I believe you know, I'm just gonna piggyback on what Rod said. A lot of it has to do with the pandemic itself. You know, there's all these activities that are on halt or on pause because of the pandemic. That is the big elephant in the room, so to speak, whether we like it or not, it's just always there, it's always looming above our head. We cannot go back to normality until this pandemic is taken care of, which is going to take some years. My original prediction was 2023. People looked at me crazy when I said it was 2022, 2023, only because our lifestyle, specifically in this country, is so social. So we do everything social, you know, whether we like it or not. When we go to work, it's around a lot of people. When we have conferences, it's it's a lot of people, you know, whether we have our our our you know, our interaction with our family, it's a lot of people. And so you have a virus that lives off of that interaction. And we as a society is having a very hard time coping with that. That's why you have numbers jump drastically after Halloween, because people just want some sort, some form of normality. But you have to under, you know, people have to understand there has to be some type of social sacrifice that needs to be done before that normality can can actually happen. And with this particular country, we're very stubborn. So, because of that stubbornness, it's gonna take a longer time for us to get there. And with the vaccine, you know, I'm in I'm in pharmaceuticals. I've been in pharmaceuticals for almost six years now, and it is an issue when it comes to um the vaccine for the for the flu, we'll go back to that. It took, I would say, about 10 or 20 years to get a successful flu vaccine that was tested and tried, and you know, you saw the effects and the defects. You you were you were able to have enough of a a human population to see how it works for like 10 years for you to get enough data with this vaccine. This is the fastest vaccine known to man uh ever. So I have reservations on it myself because you know, I'm nervous, you know, and I'm a first responder, so I'm probably gonna have to be the first to first one. And um it's it's it's a lot of feelings w regarding that, you know. What are the not saying that you shouldn't get, you know, I don't want to discourage people from getting something that could perpetually save your life, but I think because when people were dying at a at a huge rate, um, you know, in such a short amount of time, there was pressure to just get something out. I don't know if that's good or bad. But um, I think that with that trust or mistrust that the doctor was saying, that is gonna that is gonna be the main theme of 2021. It's gonna be a mess because you're gonna you're still having people that are gonna be out there trying to be social. You're still gonna have rates go back up. It's gonna be uh, you know, uh a f a fluctuation of getting better, getting worse, getting better, getting worse. And people are tired and people want to go out and have fun, and people are just gonna do what they're gonna do anyway. So I really don't think we're gonna see us getting back to normal, us, you know, going out and hugging and talking and and having fun. Um, I would say 2022, really completely gone by 2023. That's my prediction. Um, you know, to be to be completely and utterly frank. Um, and that's okay, you know, as long as people just do what they're supposed to do and not be selfish, we can be able to come out of this okay. Um, but until then, 2021's gonna be a shit fire. You know, not to be a Debbie Downer, but um, when it comes to the coronavirus, and because everything is just so dependent on the uh quarantining and our lifestyle, just to keep us safe and our loved ones safe, we just have to suck it up and do it for mankind, so to speak, so that we can get back to where we were beforehand or close to it.

SPEAKER_05 29:02

The black McCoy. We have uh two individuals who are trying not to be Debbie Downers. Um, hopefully you can save us. What do you think about 2021? You're muted.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

Sorry, I don't think anything really big is gonna change in 2021. Um partly because um it's it's very similar to what Sandia was saying, that we as a society are very social. But what I want to say is that we as a people are much more codependent on other people being around for things, which is pretty fundamental to how we are, just you know, generally speaking. I don't want to say that, you know, it's just an American thing, but it's we as human beings understand ourselves to be social creatures. Um, we understand ourselves as having the need for other people around in order to be fulfilled in some way, shape, or form. Um, we don't even, well, I'll say from my view, we don't even have what it means to be fundamentally ourselves without the acknowledgement or the recognition of other people and around to do that. Like we don't have identities if no one else is around to affirm that we exist in the first place. So when you even when you extend that beyond just a singular context into a more global context, especially when you incorporate things like more of a capitalistic economy, um in which we are extremely dependent upon going places, doing things, like even the the way in which we you know get to work um is dependent upon the fact that we have to be around other people, we have to be somewhere, we have to depend on one another in order to function. But I think if anything, if there's anything that the pandemic has shown us, that it is that that mentality is insufficient. Um, and that when it comes down to what we really need to do for ourselves is we continue to advance. If interest advances a people or as a as a well, I think that evolutionarily speaking, human beings are pretty much petered out or kind of, you know, we've we uh we've plateaued as like evolution as far as evolution goes. And the only thing left for us to evolve in is technology. Um, and so as we try to continue to remain connected to one another while, you know, through this time where we it's very precarious to be physically be around other people. Um I can I think the the most optimism I can I can glean is the the ability to figure out what it looks like for us to continue to be social without having to sacrifice our own well-being or even increasing the the um the methods that we use to be you know clean and sanitary and um safe with one another. Because I remember like even when I look at some of the memes, it was like, you know what, I I really don't want to go back to non-pandemic life. I'm surprised I was just letting y'all breathe on me like this, like all the time. Like it's just it's interesting. Um, and I think that there are more interesting, you know, larger ramifications as well. Um I remember like when pandemic life first started, people were like, you see a lot more animals coming out and doing things uh that feels different being outside. Like it we got a chance to really see how much us being human beings was having an impact on the world around us, and not even just other human beings, but like the the wildlife, the the environment. Like we, if anything, the pandemic showed us that we're the ones fucking up the environment. Whether you want to believe it or not, our absence was the like it was the it was one of the I will say it's nigh the perfect experiment to show how fucked up as a people that we really are. Um, because we weren't able to uh well I'll say we were poised to recognize how we were positioned amongst each other and amongst everything else. But kind of as I digress a bit, um, I think the the best thing that will happen with 2021 will be um a vaccine at some point. Hopefully Seone won't be one of the first guinea pigs for it. Um I care for her deal. I don't want anything to happen to her. Um I think the that might be it. Um hopefully the I I want to say that 2021 would hold like the opportunity for people to, you know, get get back, not get back out there, but like get their lives back together and so on and so forth, because I know the pandemic has been a lot more difficult for people who have had a lot more to lose from not being able to go to work or not be able to apply to jobs and do a lot of different things that are generally considered to be um non-essential, but are essential. Um and people have gotten the opportunity to see the many disparities that we have in our country based on the fact based on the minimal fact of like, oh, just stay home. Well, a lot of people can't afford to just stay home. A lot of systems that we have in place can't afford people the luxury of just staying home. People still wanted their rent money, people still wanted to make the money that they wanted to make off of different property endeavors, and not even just that, but just the the money that comes from people having to take public transport, the money that comes from people having to Uber places or having to, you know, go to gas stations and you know, different things that people do that seem menial became that much more significant because now we under we have a lens through which we can understand the the extreme impact of those things that have on our society as a by at large, by and large, excuse me. And one thing that I really want to happen post-COVID is a much more egalitarian view of why living wages and you know benefits and you know companies and and companies and things of that nature acting and treating people in a much more, not even just humane way, but an ethical way, because otherwise people are gonna be left out to dry. People are gonna be left in the dark. No one will have the the assistances and the the fail-safe that they need and that they are supposed to have as far as you know what they give up in terms of um in terms of what they entrust to their government in order to be safe and secure. And that's part of the part of what it means for us to live under a government is to be able to trust that when the chips are down, we can count on someone to be there for us, and our government is supposed to be that entity, but if it can't be that entity for us, then it calls into a question a lot of things. And even Trump's administration has its own good and it's in its own right. And I will have I do have some backup for that statement. Um so when I was in grad school, I had a colleague who we when this election was happening, one of the things they said is that they hoped Trump won. Um and I was very curious about that statement, but I was I was trying to hold on until you know they got to the point. Um and but they said they hoped Trump won because it would add, it would give people the wake-up call that they needed. And it would force people to see the farce of a democratic system that we actually have, how farcical, how nonsensical, and how corrupt, and how you know um kind of gross and disgusting our system, our government, our society is to the extent where one, we would let something like this happen, two, we would have to deal with the consequences of something like this happening, and really having to kind of hold the mirror up to ourselves. And I think that Trump's administration, um, this pandemic was the opportunity for all of us to have to do that, whether, regardless of, you know, the way in which it was done, who was responsible, blah, blah, blah. But it had to have been done. It was, it was necessary. We couldn't, as a people, move forward without having to take this huge step back and have that large step back be embodied in our government, in our the way in which our society chooses it, chooses how it wants to function, and then some.

SPEAKER_00 37:11

Wow. Can I piggyback on what you just said? Because that was brilliant. Everything, but especially about the Trump administration. Um the person that told you that they wish that Trump did win just that we could see.

unknown 37:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 37:27

Black people have been complacent for a while just so that we can be in our safe space. Not necessarily that we were safe, like Sushi said, but more so that we just kind of we didn't want to deal with too much because we already dealt with enough. But that complacency had a huge negative outcome on we just stayed in a box and we kind of just didn't want to get out of that box. The Trump administration made us see whether we like it or not, that complacency wasn't even safe. It was even more damaging. It was on purpose. It was on purpose to keep us in that box and not to ever come out of it to know our place. So it is uh a blessing and a in disguise and a curse because that that had led to so many dead lives that were unnecessary. You know, so many lives were lost just for us to see that. And that it should never where we are in 2020, where we are now in the 21st century, it shouldn't even be what we are seeing. We should not be seeing a replay of 1950s in our daily lives now. It's the new age 1950s, 1960s. And that, you know, with the Trump administration, it had made me really think that, like you said, your neighbor you made you know who your neighbors were and to make you look out for signs. And for also to to not take certain signs for advantage as well, and to know you what you deserve and to not be quiet, you know, to be heard. And I that is the one thing I will say with the Trump administration in 2020 specifically, that I am grateful for is that we said enough is enough. This is bullshit. We're gonna, you know, we have a right to be here like everyone else, and we're gonna fight for our rights that we've been doing since we were brought to this country, you know, and you know, for the the Native Americans who were stripped of their country, we're gonna stand up and start talking to these people and letting them know or fighting and let them know we're here, deal with it. This is our land as well, as many everybody else, you know, all of the non-white people, black people, we're all here and we're gonna be treated the way how we need to be treated, and you're just gonna have to deal with it or learn to deal with it, and we deserve our place on this world without having to get persecuted or shot and killed, or you know, having social, economic, racial injustice, whatever it is, we're not having it anymore. So, you know, like Suchi and the Black McCoy said, um, it it was a blessing in disguise, just so that there's a huge wake-up call uh for everyone, and even for white people, that they were complacent in their ideology of it's not affecting me. So I don't really, I don't really know what's going on. But now they're forced to see it. And I I will say that, you know, with some white people that I've seen, you know, the growth as well, you know, because there has been some growth amongst white people in this country who are forced to see it, you know, even it goes back to what we were taught in elementary school. The history on what we were taught was false. And the the realization of what the actual history was, it's like we have to completely unpack everything that we learned and really research and know what the truth was. And they were teaching that to everybody. So everyone is getting a wake-up call, not just black people, but white people, like, oh my gosh, you know, Christopher Columbus didn't find this place on purpose, he was trying to find India, like you know, so and then turned into servitude. Oh, you mean slaves, like you know what I'm saying? So these are these are things that was taught to us the whole class as an elementary school. The textbooks were fucking wrong. And so, you know, it's we are learning, relearning, and we're now willing to learn and hear it to know what the actual truth is. We've been so tired of the lies, and now we're actually forced to see the truth, everyone, even in the even across the world, you know, um, countries that are more homogenous, so to speak, on a racial level, you know, they're seeing what we're going through that they don't necessarily get to see as well. So Black Lives Matter in Korea, in Japan, in the Middle East, that is some revolutionary type of I've never thought I would see that, you know. Um, so with 2020, there has been a lot of bad, but a lot of good. And that is that revolution, that that renaissance on a global scale, that I think that if it wasn't for someone like Trump, and not just Trump is is just one man, but Trump is also the representation, right? He's he's the representation of old white America that has been grasped on to so long for hundreds of years. So he's just a representation of how America, America has always been, but wants to hold on to because they're starting to see the change in the world. And that's why there's so much pushback, because they don't want to see that change. They don't want to see the global change of people really starting to see, oh wow, this is how it actually should be, not how it has been for so long. So I don't know. I I it, you know, there's you you have the bad and you have the good. And so with the bad, and unfortunately with these horrible sacrificing of lives that are unnecessary, we've come to a pinnacle of change, something that needed to happen. And I don't think it would have happened if you didn't have something this negative come to place.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

Yeah. You know, it's interesting, and you know, just to piggyback off that, like I feel like a defining characteristic of 2020 is a lot of white people finding out. That racism exists in a really overt way that many of them didn't think exists. Like, you know, it's with George Floyd being one of the most recent examples. But if we think of all those videos leading up to that, like these unarmed black people being killed, you know, like one after like every two weeks, it was another one. And I had plenty of white colleagues who would tell me, like, oh my God, like this still happens in America, and this is just unbelievable. Exactly. So it's like, no, it still happens, but now we're actually seeing it on camera more. Like, you know, this has always been here, but you know, now there's evidence. And, you know, that does change a lot of minds. And it speaks to you know what you're saying about how we've seen we've seen more support for Black Lives Matter, that movement, than we ever have. You know, Black Lives Matter as a movement has been around for a lot longer than many people realize, but it just started getting real like national and global acceptance this year.

SPEAKER_05 45:06

You know, the media is finally posting it.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

Yeah, exactly. You know, yeah, it didn't get mainstream media attention for a very long time. And it was considered controversial, like even it's still considered controversial, you know, to an extent to an extent, but to a much bigger extent before it was seen as like, oh, this fringe movement.

SPEAKER_04 45:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:27

Um, I remember at one point I got a little bit of trouble for having the Black Lives Matter side, you know, in my office. And you know, and nowadays, like, shoot, we have all over campus Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter. So, yeah, like it's there's definitely been a big change when it comes to that, you know, and to speak to the point about like how we're kind of starting to break out of certain delusions, you know, delusions as in how secure we are and how safe we are. I feel like between the issues of racism and the issues with the pandemic, America has really shown its ass as far as its social systems and structures. Like, you know, and I have, you know, again, like a ton of colleagues who and a ton of family and a ton of friends who had so much more faith in the American healthcare system before this pandemic hit. You know, now, mind you, like me, I'm sure like the sound eggs is too working in healthcare, like we see a lot of the issues and limitations, you know, and like, oh, this is not a perfect system. And even though, yes, you can save some lives, you can have really good members of that system, the larger system has a ton of flaws. And all of those flaws got highlighted with this pandemic, with everything from a lot of like the early misinformation and suppression of information, you know, a lot of issues around the problems with health insurance when a big pandemic hits, and you know, people, you know, the issues with people can't access tests because we don't have a good testing worldwide because we waited way too long to get any of this done. You know, so yeah, we saw all of that. And these are things, it is it's so important to see these things because if you believe that, oh, America has the best healthcare in the world, you know, then you would never want to improve it. You have no reason to if you really think it's the best healthcare in the world. But no, I mean it's not. Like there are a ton of things that we can improve in this system, and that is one of the big things, you know, not even just a healthcare system, but our social system, like the way unemployment works. Like, no, we don't have the best or most secure unemployment system in the world. You know, unemployment support system, we don't. Like, and that also showed itself in this pandemic when you compare what a lot of other countries are doing as far as unemployment support, compared to what we did for like, I think three months. We had like a series of stipends through the CARES Act, and then that just stopped. Never really came back. So, yeah, like it's seeing these issues is so, so important because it gives us the space to actually improve them. You know, and I think that's a big part of why we're seeing this surge in or this growth in uh a desire for progressive policies, you know. And it's why, you know, like people like um Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, uh, what you call it, Rashida, like the whole squad, like they become they've become so popular and well loved in a lot of ways because you know, those progressive ideas about like health care, about all, you know, about having a good, strong social safety net, I mean, a lot of people are seeing for the first time now why you need those things. You know, and you know, I mentioned before, like if it doesn't affect you, it's easy to dismiss or easy to miss. But when grandma can't get the health care she needs, you know, you know, or you know, your best friend, like, you know, they can't actually get in an ER to get treatment, you know, or they've lost their job and unemployment just is not coming through for them. Well, then you gotta start caring about those issues. It's very easy to be conservative on things that can't hurt you. But once they start to hit a little close to home, you know, then all of a sudden everyone's a progressive. That's how that goes. Like, so yeah, I'm really, you know, I'm really glad that with all those issues, we're starting to see some of those needs that we have to address.

SPEAKER_00 49:48

And on a healthcare level, because I don't think like the doctor and I really kind of had a conversation on like the medical side, per se, um, on this particular podcast, I do love how the pandemic has forced people to pay attention to their insurance. A lot of times, you know, even before I was in the medical system, I just kind of like, all right, we pick a plan, just pick a plan. And there's so much education needed that no one ever tells people on how to stop for insurance. And now people were like, oh, we now know what deductibles are, we know what prior authorizations are. And this is something that beforehand, no one knew what the hell that was because there's a little bit of controversy, I would say, with when it comes to insurance. And it's kind of like a blind eye, so to speak. You just kind of pick an insurance and that's what it is. But people are starting to notice that, okay, well, insurance is kind of like based on uh, you know, based on what I'm going through. If I'm somebody that needs to go to the hospital, I need an insurance that's going to pay for my hospital visits more. You know, if I, you know, if I need something that I don't have to spend so much co-pays going to the doctors, I might have a high deductible, but my co-pay is lower. So they're starting to become more educated about insurances. There is, there is a full transparency that is not there when it comes to the healthcare system that a lot of people, you know, in, I would say, I can only speak for America, did not know about that I didn't know about unless I was actually working in the medical system. So I would say that this pandemic has forced people to see what they need to do for the future. Um, it has forced them to see how to shop for insurance, the terminology, the lingo for insurance, so that they're not confused, you know, how to save money. There are so many avenues on how to get your medication to have a zero copay that it was not advertised because why would you want to advertise something that's gonna basically kind of lose money on your end, so to speak? So I would I do love how a lot more people in this country are being educated on how to go about shopping for insurance, what to expect, the terminology, what to do, and also to get involved with the doctor and not completely letting it go and being done with it. You know, oh, this insurance, you know, this medication isn't covered. Okay, I guess that's it. No, they know how to now fight for it. All right, doctor, this isn't covered. What else? What are the alternatives? What can we do? What's our other plans? So I'm starting to see more interaction with patients and the doctors and the insurance companies. It's not just a one-sided thing anymore. So I love how people are want to be more knowledgeable because of, I guess, the the disparity when it comes to the healthcare system that they were dealing with, so to speak, with this pandemic and getting um tested, especially is that so you know I'm I'm 100% with you, the doctor. Um we see a different, a different side of it because we're in it. Um and other people are starting to see it as well that are not in the healthcare system, and that's a great thing.

SPEAKER_05 53:03

So yeah, I I I mean, I, you know, I was gonna, I don't want to piggyback off the piggyback off the piggyback, but um, I will say uh I I do agree with all of your points. Um I think that the blindfold of not understanding just how a lot of systems work um has been maybe not completely lifted, but it's been slightly lifted, or maybe it's become translucent, maybe it's made a taffeta, I don't know. But um at this point, I feel like a lot more people are asking questions. And I think that's the biggest thing. Um you know, when you're not sure if you're covered, if you're not sure that you have like, okay, biggest thing. Now that the pandemic occurred, and now that many people are in this situation where they're not sure if something was to happen and they go to the hospital, will they have to pay out of pocket? Now they're asking questions, okay, well, how do I prevent that from happening? How do I lower the amount that I'll have to pay? Uh, people are, you know, asking questions about, well, you know, what happens if my child is allergic to this and can't take the vaccine. A lot of people are asking, you know, or or are worried about, you know, what happens if my child, you know, what if I or my child has an allergic reaction and all the hospitals and clinics are dealing with COVID, when will they have the chance to see me? Because as we know, when the when the pandemic really was, well, I mean, it's still in high gear, but when it first started, most hospitals were accommodating all of those patients, everybody who was infected. A lot of places did not have beds for other individuals with ailments or issues. So when they would go to the hospital, they would be sitting there. And the first question is, are you, you know, are you having any COVID symptoms? If the person says no, and if they didn't have a gunshot wound or a knife in their back, they will go off to the next COVID patient. And, you know, now people are really asking questions because, like, I need an EpiPen. Not me, I'm just saying the person may be saying, I need an EpiPen because I have an allergic reaction. Well, do you have COVID? You know, is that, you know, or do you feel a certain type of symptom or something something of that nature? So there's there's um the the rise in question asking, the rise in trying not to be naive, trying not to be ignorant to certain topics, certain concepts. Insurance is a big thing. I agree with you completely, Sayone, um, about how people just don't don't, specifically don't know about the details of how their insurance plans and their healthcare policies work. Um, unless you went to a job or had an occupation that puts you through um benefits training. Like my job in the past has put me through benefits training where they had somebody from these insurance companies come in and they broke it down and allowed us to ask questions about how does my dental plan work, how does my medical plan work, how does a deductible work, how does this work, how does that work? And I'll be honest, outside of my parents telling me and outside of that particular training, I wouldn't know how any of that stuff works. So think about individuals who aren't getting benefits training. Think about people who may not even have uh high-end benefits, so they have to pay the deductible. They they have to do the co they can't do the co-pays. They have to pay, you know, $2,000 out of pocket every time they go to the doctors over something, you know, minuscule because they don't know how to connect it, how to ask those questions to keep themselves protected. And in a in an environment where, you know, your medical safety should be, let me say is, because some people still don't believe COVID exists, um, but in a in an environment where your medical safety should be your number one priority, unless you have a unlimited amount of money that can pay for all of these uh uh surgeries or antibiotics or vaccines or whatever you need to pay for, you're gonna find yourself in a situation where you get to the door. Sometimes they treat you in, and I'm y'all tell me, y'all in the medical field, but sometimes they treat you first and hand you the bill later without having a conversation about how much this is gonna cost, how much these pills are, how much your prescription is, and all that stuff, at least from my experience and what I've talked to people about.

SPEAKER_00 57:17

Um that's true. Um when it comes to COVID patients, um because they're so high risk, and because so many people have been dying in the hospital, um, caregivers, nurses, doctors, um, there is, I'm not gonna say a fear, but there is a uh alert, so to speak. And so we don't care about the finances. We just want to make sure you're taken care of, and we want to make sure that um you're taken care of in a timely manner to save you as as much as possible and to also to protect the other people in the hospital. So it's just more so like, how can we get this resolved quick as possible? Insurances take too long, and then you know, in the beginning with COVID-19, insurances didn't even have a hazard policy set, neither did hospitals. That's why there was so much miscommunication. You know, I have COVID. I'm a I'm I I work in the hospital, I work as you know, in a medical facility and I have COVID. How are y'all gonna pay me? And there was no documentation set in a lot of these places at that time in March. You had so many people that caught COVID, what do I do now? And the medical facility didn't even want to pay for it because they're like, I don't know, you know, you you know, there's no nothing set in stone. And that's when they had to force it. They had to force like, listen, this is a part of OSHA, you know, or and doesn't matter what the hell you guys got, you gotta have work. Work has to pay it. Yeah, work has to do it. And you know, a lot of companies, private companies, so to speak, even some hospitals, they didn't really want to deal with it, so to speak, until they're forced to, until too many healthcare providers were dying, you know, um, as in trying to help patients. Um, you know, what about PP, you know, the the the PPI? There was no PPI anywhere. You know, you couldn't even, we couldn't even go to the store to buy it for ourselves. And so that's when Amazon had to put in place, listen, the people who need this the most are the people that actually deal with COVID-19 patients the most. And that is the healthcare providers. So you guys cannot get your gloves and get your Lysol. You got you're gonna have to wait because you're not dealing with the COVID-19 virus as much as they are who are dying in these hospitals. And um, you know, so they were starting to put things in place later. I do think that for this country, they did a horrible job in setting up beforehand, like they should have had something set in place. What is an emergency protocol for um a pandemic of mass proportions? Uh they have one.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:02

They had one, they had and somebody had one and somebody terminated it. Oh, before I I was actually going to I was gonna talk about uh or mention um I had recently seen the um uh the Obama uh President uh Barack Obama uh interview for 60 Minutes that he did uh uh a couple weeks ago or a week and a half ago, or it was released a week and a half ago, and he, you know, there's this uh according to the reporter or interviewer, there's an unwritten, unwritten, written rule about how presidents are not supposed to talk ill of their uh um uh what's it called? Uh thank you processors. And uh he followed that rule, and a lot of people said, Well, you shouldn't have, we feel like you shouldn't have done that, because a lot of things would have not taken place had you said something, but because he was kind of following that rule, he didn't say anything bad uh or anything at all about Trump. He just kind of said, Hey guys, he's the president, and he would just, and that's why Barack was just off doing what he's doing, living his best life these last four years.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:16

Sorry to interrupt you, there's so many like cultural varying cultures, I'll say so many different cultural norms of like whole saving faith or not saying something for any one reason or another, just to um just to salvage the so-called um idea ideation, reputation, whatever shit that doesn't actually matter, especially when you're dealing with the welfare of an entire nation of people. I don't give a fuck if you say something bad about them or not. If it's some shit that would be like, hey, this is probably something you all should be aware of going into this. I don't care if it was private people who are staffing at the White House, I don't care if it's uh anyone to whoever the fuck it was said to.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:00

No, no, I I don't don't don't get me wrong. Like he he did everything he was supposed to do in terms of talking to the Trump administration, talking to President Trump himself, talking to everybody in the White House and in the government, like he was supposed to before he left. What he couldn't do was talk to anybody, or not couldn't do. What he chose to do was not talk to the press, not talk to the media, not talk to uh uh anybody after he was already in the house. So once it was January 20th or 21st, whatever day that was, he didn't say anything after that. Like he was he minded his damn business because it wasn't.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:34

And that's why I don't like that kind of mentality. And I understand that. I was just making sure I think it's a good idea. No, I understood that entirely. Like it didn't elude me at all. That's why I don't support that mentality when it especially when you start to move it along certain accesses and start to transition it upward into different institutions and things of that nature. It's like, at what point is minding your business uh a disservice to those around you? At what point is minding your business actually harming other people instead of actually doing something? It's such a passive stance to take that when you put it put it specifically in this context, you're the one fucking up at a certain to a certain degree. Because now you're the one withholding information, and then you start to get into notions of quote unquote laws of omission, which I don't particularly agree with in conceptually speaking. However, like omitting certain information that would be pertinent for the people around you, especially if it's something that, like I said before, would affect the welfare of the entire nation. It should probably be something that a whistle should be blown on. Like if Obama needed to become a whistleblower after the fact and he got flagged for it, I would have more respect for him as the as the former president of the United States, being able to say, hey, this is the shit's about to get really fucked up for X, Y, and Z reasons. This is what's about to happen. Um, this man will not make a good president. Um, this like he will ruin not the things that I have done for the nation, but the things that have preceded my administration at large. Like so many things, like if if he had I don't want to say if he had the integrity, but I will say if he had the the gall to say something, then a lot of things could have been avoided, or we could have been prepared for so much more in some capacity, even if we were only marginally prepared, we would have still been able to be uh be more well off than we are now. Or I'll say that so many people in the country would have been had the capacity to be more well off than they were during this pandemic or the things they had to suffer through during this pandemic. I agree. 100% agree.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:36

Yeah, I agree to an extent. I agree um when it comes to, like you said, saving face. Um, but also I don't think anybody would listen to him. And that's really what I believe as well. If he would have blow that whistle. Um, look at Dr. Fauci. You know, he was saying things that everyone was not listening to. He was saying, you know, he was laying down the facts. This is what's gonna happen. This is how many people is gonna die. If this isn't, you know, get set in place. People can be whistleblowers and people can state the facts, but if they're going to be listened to, it's something else. And I don't think, yeah, and I and so it's like it's a game. I'll say that. Yeah, I nothing in this country is black and white at all, especially politics, especially, you know, the presidential, I would say, culture. There's just too much, there's just too much games in it. And it's like you kind of have to just sit here and be like, how am I gonna play this? If I say something, I'm either gonna be, I'm gonna kind of be that villain, so to speak. If I don't say anything, I'm gonna be a villain. So it's like you're damn if you do, if you're damn if you don't. And then you have someone who did speak on the potential and how bad this shit was. And no one listened to him until people started dying on a horrible portion. So I don't know. It's not, it's not so black and white with me when it comes to that. Um, you know, everyone has their own faults in some way, but would it, would it change? Would it would it make a difference? And we're kind of seeing both sides of the coin with that. Some it did, some it didn't at all. And you know, you're having somebody, you know, bring out all this information and it still didn't change. So um I don't know. I I'm kind of on the fence with that one. That's what you're saying, but I really honestly don't think it would have made that much of a difference at all. People knew who Trump was. People knew who Trump was from the 90s. People knew how he, I mean, he's nothing new. People knew who he was, people knew how racist he was, people knew how he treated the people that he employed. You had people that are coming out who are whistleblowers that were Hispanic and Latin and black people and the shit that he would say to them and how he treats them. People knew. The citizens put Trump in there, you know, people knew. But the hatred in this country elected him. And that's really what it is. There was just so much hate and the hatred outdo, you know, or outdid the, I would say, the positive thought process. And that's why I really don't think it would have, it really would have made a difference. One man cannot save the ideology of a country. You know, whether he did what's a blown or not, it did, it didn't matter. People still see Trump as their savior and messiah, no matter what type of carnage he did previously or current, they just don't give a fuck. And so Obama saying something would not have changed a damn thing. Probably would have made it worse, to be truly honest, in my thought process. Um, you know, so it it's it's it's a very gray area when it comes to to that for me, so to speak.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:15

Yeah, some of the time. I don't disagree with you, it gets pretty gray. Yeah, at a certain point, it's just like we're we unless we have a time machine or alternate dimension which we can analyze.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:25

Yeah, he was just uh he some of the things he was saying in the interview is, you know, he understands, you know, all of the stuff that was happening, but one of the things he admits is although if he had said something, um, he does feel certain people would have maybe taken action uh sooner. But at the end of the day, the things that occurred these last four years were already there. There was just a thin veil that was over them. And he even stated that eventually it was going to happen anyway. He and you know, the interviewer was saying, Well, do you feel like Trump was the cause of everything that's happened? And he said, No, I don't believe that Trump was the cause. He believes that Trump was the accelerant. It was already going to happen. The individuals already felt the way they felt. They already were, you know, whether they were feeling oppressed, whether they were feeling antagonized, whether they were feeling mistreated, whether they were feeling that their jobs were taken, whatever they were feeling, they were already feeling it. The only thing that happened was Trump accelerated them bubbling to the surface and doing all the things they were doing. Could what he have said cause certain people to act that would have stopped it? I don't think so. Could it be could the people have maybe prepared a different way? Possibly. But set certain things in place, and this is between the uh uh the racial injustices, between the pandemic, between the war, between the relationships of different countries, different uh um uh nations. Uh Obama did things for eight years and set certain things in place that will prepare us for the future. And the interviewer said, How do you feel about the uh all the work you did, the eight years of work that seemingly was undone within a four to six month period? Because the pandemic relief team, the uh certain uh uh uh uh restrictions on um that that were placed on other countries outside the US, and the certain agreements that were made with certain uh countries and uh principalities, like so many things were undone and almost like ripped to shreds as soon as the Trump administration came in. And he just was like, you know, he just hopes for the best, but there's really nothing he could have actually done. That's not what we're really talking about. We're actually talking about things that were great before, and talking about uh where we think 2021 is gonna bring us. And um, I think we've cohesively kind of agree that um it relies heavily on what is done about the pandemic leading into 2021. If the um if the vaccine or if the you know humans who should be handling this situation responsibly do so, it could definitely go down. I mean, uh Fauci and many other uh scientific and medical professionals have said multiple times that one of the number one vaccines that we've had since the beginning is following the instructions of self-quarantining and social distancing. And if we started with that point, we could not, we could, we could have prevented a situation from happening like this. I mean, they were even uh I'm sorry to go back to that interview again, but they were even talking about uh H1N1 during the Obama administration, and people did die. Like that's not something that did not occur, but certain that's when he put the pandemic relief team together, uh response team together to answer situations like this. Because he he he it's he he he honestly said it scared the hell out of him. He said, faced with a situation and a pandemic that could rock the entire country, let alone the world, he wanted to be in a place where he saved as many American lives and first responders' lives as possible. So he put together the situation and the team to be able to prevent situations in the future from happening. And it goes to show you that if people don't listen or heed the word of individuals who have seen something and set something in place, then the next years aren't promised. So I agree with Say One and the doctor and the Black McCoy that you know 2021 is only promised based off of what we decide to do, as well as what happens with the vaccine and the pandemic. Um, but I'm gonna go ahead and wrap up the episode. Did any of you have anything else to state that you were either thankful for or any final talking points that you wanted to have? Honestly, I would like to hear say your nay, say the nay if you have one, Miss Ma'am.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:50

I do. I I am thankful for finding blurred love. I will say that. And um, you know, so that's fun. It's great, you know, being in love with someone that is like you, you know, it is great. You know, there's no explaining why you like the things you like, yep, you know, or validating, you know, a certain aspect of who you are. Like they just get it. They, you know, and and I'm in love with a with a basically a best friend, and that's that's the best type of love. And um, you know, I guess as you get older, you just kind of know what you want. You know, you don't have to go through the ins and outs of, oh, I don't know, I don't know. You just know. And um, you know, we're we're both, we're we're just I'm just incredibly happy. And we've been um dealing with pandemic relationships, which is crazy. But um we have it definitely had made the relationship so much stronger, um, you know, being innovative and creative on how we communicate uh while social distancing. And um I I'm just very grateful that I was able to find someone um who I just get and who give me, and um it's just such a blessing. And 2020 did the damn thing with that.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:15

Oh the talent claims, everyone, the talent claims. The doctor.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:26

Something else I'm thankful for. Um I'm thankful that we've all managed to stay together as long as we have. Like, you know, it's considering how long that you know, how I guess spontaneously this kind of started, you know. I always wonder, like, oh, well, you know, what will this look like a month from now or two months from now? But yeah, we've really been going strong. So I'm very thankful for that and for the relationships I've been able to you know make through this podcast. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:54

Yes, Lord. 25 episodes and what is that, 10 months, seven months, eight months, whatever something like that. 25 episodes, yep. Yeah. Yeah. Black McCoy.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:07

Uh um, do I have anything else? Uh I'm having I'm not gonna force it. I don't have anything else to call off time.

SPEAKER_05 1:15:20

All right. Um, yes, as always, my uh my thankfulness, of course, uh is um those that are around me, um, those that I care about, those that I love, those that um love me, and uh love me for who I am, what I am, what I do. Um those are the things and the people that I am 100% grateful for. Uh, I feel you on the blur love girl. I feel you, definitely. Um it's just amazing. Um so on that note, I will uh wrap up the episode. Thank you, panelists, for joining us uh on this journey. Uh thank you, listeners, for joining us on this journey as well about the things that we're thankful for. Uh, stay tuned for, of course, our next episode. We're gonna keep on chugging. Um, of course, you can catch um or reach out to us. Well, you can catch us on any place that you have a podcast, which is uh Google Podcasts, it could be Spotify, uh, Apple, iTunes Podcast, uh anywhere where we find podcasts, you can find us. Um and then uh also if you want to directly message us, you can message us at the blurred spectrum at umbralstarcade.com is our mailbag, or reach out to us on our social medias, which is uh Blurred Spectrum on Twitter and the Blurred Spectrum on Instagram and Facebook. Uh as well as if you want to check out some of our videos, you can catch those on the Umbral Star Cades uh YouTube channel. Uh if you want to reach out to me, Suchino Shogun, I'm on uh Umbral Starcade on everything except for TikTok uh and maybe LinkedIn. But other than that, yeah, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube. Uh there's another one. Uh did I say Twitter? I said Twitter. There's another one. Twitch. There it is. Twitch. Um wait, are we on Snapchat?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:13

Sion A.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:14

No, we're not on Snapchat. TikTok took their took their heat.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:23

I mean, everybody else took away.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:25

Oh, Sionate. Yeah, I didn't understand. Um maybe I'm too old for Snapchat. I I I'm just too tired. Yeah, it's like instant messenger. Don't do it.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:42

Don't date yourself, girl. You got the tray wig on, don't do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:48

Don't get in trouble with that. But uh I am Sionay cosplay on Facebook. Sion A underscore cosplay on IG. You will see a Sion A on TikTok, just one video that I'm not on there, so don't even worry about it.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:05

Um, the doctor.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:09

Uh, the black McCoy. You can find me at the black mckoy on Instagram, and you can find me at the black mc under well, black mckoy cosplay on Facebook, and you can also find me at the Blur Spectrum Blur Spectrum Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch. All right.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:28

Thank you everyone for participating on this episode. Thank you all for listening. Uh, we hope to bring you more and more episodes because we are definitely, definitely thankful for at the above all else, our listeners and those that view the things that we post. Thank you very much. Please continue listening. Please continue viewing. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any ideas on episodes or content. Uh yeah, other than that, happy, happy thanks. Or uh enjoy the food on Thursday. Enjoy the thing. I know we had to think about that.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:01

We're like, do we want the thing?

SPEAKER_05 1:19:03

Do we want the thing? I don't know. Well, some people don't eat turkey, don't forget. Some people are uh vegans.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:12

Oh happy banquet day.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:14

Banquet? I mean, don't that need people? You can't have people at your house. Topurkey.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:19

Oh damn, that's right. Umis day.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:25

Happy it is day. We just started something. Happy it is day, everyone.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:38

Bye, thank you.