John Plagman - Section Yellow, Sobriety & Support | Rooted Wisconsin | Ep70

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What's up friends?
Welcome back to Rooter

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Wisconsin.
Appreciate you for clicking

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another episode.
Grateful to have you here.

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Today's episode is with John
Plagman doing a bunch of cool

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stuff.
Why I initially reached out to

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John is section Yellow at
Lambeau Field.

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Bringing a sober, supportive
environment into one of the

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drunkest places in Wisconsin, to
be quite frank.

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And awesome story of getting
there.

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We talked about John's journey
to sobriety, talk about some

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cool music, the start of Section
Yellow, and then we wrap up our

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conversation.
John has actually recently

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announced he's running for City
Council in Green Bay, so we

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talked about some of his
motivation behind that, which

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I'm always curious in as well.
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Let's jump into our episode

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though with John Plagman.
Sorry, I flubbed a couple of

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them on there for you.
A little extra cut.

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Did you have a billboard for a
while or do you?

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We do billboard.
We do.

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Yeah.
Yeah, I get.

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I get I get so I get good ideas,
crazy ideas sometimes.

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And then and then I have a
partner that helps me with the

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section yellow and he's
technically the president

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because he created a nonprofit
for it.

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So you need a nonprofit in order
to solicit grant dollars and

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then we can use those grant
dollars for billboards.

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You might hear me on one O 7.5
the fan because we do that, you

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know, so I'll be I'll come up an
idea.

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Go.
We should, we should advertise

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there, you know, because I'm
thinking like a fan and we get

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Department of Transportation
dollars and we can use those for

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billboards.
And so we target 6 billboards

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around Lambeau Field that will
give you a snapshot, a little a

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little a little nugget of
sobriety.

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Whether you take it or not
doesn't matter, but you keep

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doing that sublimity sobriety
will be in your head and may you

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may make some different
decisions when you show up at

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Lambeau.
Absolutely.

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And that's a, that's a huge
thing about it.

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I, I love that like a angle at
it because it can't be, we know

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it can't be forced.
You know, we're going to talk

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about those stories today.
It can't be forced.

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But at the same time that the
opposite side of the message has

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been resounding throughout the,
you know, 100 years in

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Wisconsin.
We, you know, we, it cracks me

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up every year it rolls around.
I, I, I think it might be out of

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an academic institution, but I
can't remember.

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But it's always a study about
the drunkest counties in the

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country and like 60 of 80 of
them or whatever are in

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Wisconsin.
And like, I every year, I get

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it.
I get, I see it get shared on

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social media almost as if a
trophy.

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Yeah.
And it drives me nuts.

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During COVID, there was my first
introduction to TikTok.

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I think many people there was
this map going around and people

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were going talking about it and
it, it was the, IT had different

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shades of blue and the darker
the blue, the more higher

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concentration percentage per
capita the population drink.

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So where, where I go with this
is we have 72 counties in

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Wisconsin.
All of them were dark blue, but

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there was this one area that was
white and everybody was talking

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about how like, come on,
Wisconsin really, I mean, we

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know you drink, but really like
we outside of Wisconsin, there

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was like maybe Iowa or maybe
North Dakota had one county that

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was dark, dark blue.
And then everybody's like,

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what's going on with the white
area?

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Like is that, is that an Indian
Reservation or is that some

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religious area?
No, that's Lake Winnebago.

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That's Lake Winnebago showing
up.

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That's why that's why it's
white, but it's the caricature

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of us being Wisconsin.
Now, I've been sober, knock on

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wood.
February 15th will be my 17th

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year.
So I've been sober for 16 years.

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But if you take me back 20
years, I am that guy that wants

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to drink wisconsibly.
I am that guy that will drink

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you under the table if you come
and hang out with me.

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You know, I went to school.
We'll do this.

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I'm I was born in West Bend, so
we called ourselves Benders.

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I'm half Irish, half German,
born on Saint Patrick's Day in

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the state of Wisconsin.
And then I went to school in

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Whitewater and UW Whitewater is
a different, different college

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because I used to hang out at
UWM and Madison and they they

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drink and they do a lot of hard
drugs.

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That was my first time intro to
cocaine was UW Whitewater.

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But if you came there, our goal
is to get you blacked out, have

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fun.
But we wanted to get you blacked

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out drunk.
And you, most people try to stay

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up with us and you just can't do
it.

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If you want to go, if you want
to think Madison is like the

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number one drinking school per
capital, Whitewater beats

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anybody by far.
And and then, you know, I lived

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in, I lived in Milwaukee and
then I lived in Fond du Lac.

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And Fond du Lac is where I got
sober in 2009.

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But during that whole time, the
whole goal of, you know,

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Wisconsin, I thought was to be a
functional alcoholic, right?

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Like my grandpa's.
You go to work Monday through

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Friday, and if you did that, you
could drink Thursday night, like

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at your bowling league or golf
league.

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You could kick it in a little
bit, but you got to get up to

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work and then Friday night,
Saturday, Sunday, you know, you

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got to bring it back in again.
And then Monday you're back to

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work.
As long as you're paying your

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bills, who cares?
I can drink as much as I want.

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I did that for over 20 years.
Over 20 years, I drank alcohol

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and smoked weed like that and
thought I was a functioning

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alcoholic.
The toughest part of when you're

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in in that and you think you're
normal drinking is I would show

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up at work and people like you
go out last night and I'm like,

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well, I went to a bar to watch
the Bucks game or watch the

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Brewers game.
You know, I was home by like

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9930, but now, now my kidneys
aren't processing as fast and

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when I wake up, I'm oozing it
out of my skin pores and now I'm

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smelling like alcohol and I
can't smell it.

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So I started working a lot of
Cologne, you know, and it's just

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the insanity of that stuff.
It's the insanity of the upset.

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We Wisconsinites are are where
the where the badge of binge

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drinking.
We can party it up for two or

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three days, but then we can we
can be serious adults and

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parents and go back to work.
Can't do it forever.

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Yeah, you can't.
Absolutely.

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And there's a, there's a,
another added layer in that of

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like, so your example of, you
know, I went for the bucks game,

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I was home by 9:00.
I only had 7 beers, 7 beers.

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Like when you realize how the
world consumes alcohol and

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what's actually healthy for for
people to consume 7 beers is,

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you know, quite a bit that's
already past the scale of where

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personally I think people should
go.

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But you know when not here, man.
Not here do we count the bar

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dice shots right.
I know you know, do we count the

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home run shots that we're doing
or the Packer touchdown shots

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because those are forgotten
those just go along with it.

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You know everybody that that
drinks heavy and I'll speak for

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myself because when I drank in
my drinking years and using

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years, I wanted to be a nice
guy.

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I wanted everybody to get along
with me and I didn't want to be

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a Dick.
My whole goal is don't be a

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Dick.
But later in in my drinking

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career, especially in Milwaukee.
Yeah, my.

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Career, you know, there were
times I'd be blacking out and

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I'd have to figure out, oh crap,
what did I do?

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Thank God we don't have social
media like we do now.

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This is 90s saved us.
I mean, if you're a Gen.

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X person, holy cow.
Because all that stuff could be

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on social media forever.
But I'd have to go look at my

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phone.
Who did I text?

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What did I do, Start calling
people?

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Where's my car parked?
Same.

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Damn, I couldn't remember where
my car is parked.

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And now on Saturday or Sunday
morning I'm walking around going

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where can't.
Dude, where's my car?

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You know, it's literally.
Yeah, yeah, and we same and

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we're certainly not in a silo,
right.

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And like I said, not I I never
do it from a holier than thou up

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on my high horse because I think
a lot because of that, right.

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Like we we've been there and I
get I get why it happens.

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You know, it, it's especially
for folks that are born here and

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grow up here, the culture that
you understand until you

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experience some other stuff.
What else are you going to do,

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man?
It's, it's written for you.

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So I completely get it.
But I just love talking about

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the alternatives and the
different ways you can go.

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And that's kind of where I want
to start today, man.

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Can we talk about your sobriety
journey?

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What what led you to the
realization that potentially,

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you know, the things that you
were doing wasn't the best for

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you and there was another route?
So I was a social worker in Fond

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du Lac and we'll say early 2005
was when I was there.

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That was my lonely years.
I'll say there's one thing here,

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people, let me just tell you
this right now.

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When you leave your favorite bar
and you leave that barstool that

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you sat on for the last 10 or 15
years and you get sober and and

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you think that they're going to
bronze that barstool.

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They're not the next dude
walking in that door is just

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going to take your spot and
they're going to keep rolling as

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life goes on.
Nobody owes you anything at from

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that bar because, you know, that
was where my loyalty was.

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I used to hang out at Thurman's
15 on on just off of Brady St.

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So if anybody's in Milwaukee and
knows that area, it was a good

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dead head bar.
And when I moved up to Fond du

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Lac, I was kind of living.
I was living on my own and I was

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going there's there's a weird
line in the state kind of like

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where's up north?
Yeah.

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Where does the double bubble
start?

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OK, Because I didn't know about
the double bubbles in, in, in

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Milwaukee.
But once we got up to Fond du

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Lac, anytime between 3:00 and
5:00 PM, you got the double

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bubble, You bought 1 drink and
you get another one for free.

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And I was like, this is the
greatest gift ever.

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Why doesn't everyplace have
this?

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So every bar, Fond du Lac,
Sheboygan, you know, Appleton,

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Green Bay, all had a double
bubble hours, happy hours.

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And the interesting thing was I
knew that I needed help.

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And the, the it's not funny, but
it's, it's a serious moment

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where I was a social worker and
I was taking people out of the

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mental health state institutions
and I would take them to AODA

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counseling and I would just be
off of off a Bender.

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And once I dealt with them,
where did I go?

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I went to the bar right
afterwards.

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I was a 1000% hypocrite and I
didn't know how to stop.

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I, I didn't, I was, I was being
alone.

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I remember that I would get home
from the bar and I would play

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Jerry Garcia band, huge dad head
here.

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So I played good old Jerry and I
would just start crying because

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I didn't know how to get off
this train.

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I was trying to be smart where I
would buy a, you know, a 12 pack

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of of paps and a half, you know,
one of those smaller bottles of

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Jaeger and I'd buy it right
after work thinking that that'll

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cover me for the night.
But I'd buy about 8815.

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I'd be like, man, I need another
bottle of Jaeger and I'm not

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going anywhere because I'm
drinking at home.

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I'm trying to be safe, you know,
and those are the type of just

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dumb shit logic that you think
you're doing right with it.

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So what happened was my mother
had the courage to seek out help

223
00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:03,880
for me.
And in Fond du Lac, they have

224
00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:07,240
these open speaker meetings on
Sundays where you have a really

225
00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,280
nice brunch.
You know, you pay $10, you get a

226
00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,920
nice spread of food.
And then there's a speaker, a

227
00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:15,960
speaker that comes up and talks
about their experience, strength

228
00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:19,560
and hope, their life experience,
what brought them to sobriety.

229
00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:26,920
And my mom would not leave until
somebody would go over to my

230
00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,160
house and do an intervention.
And her name was Carrie.

231
00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,480
And Carrie, if, if she hears
this, this will be cool.

232
00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,240
She's from Fond du Lac.
And she was, she couldn't

233
00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:38,720
remember when she grabbed my mom
by the arm going, I know

234
00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:41,920
somebody that could help.
And, and his name was Bill.

235
00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:43,320
And he worked at the Bland Dean
House.

236
00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:44,840
He's a director of the Bland
Dean House.

237
00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,320
And he was like, Yep, we can do
it.

238
00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:49,760
Let's meet at 5:00.
We'll go over by the house.

239
00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,840
This is on a Sunday, mind you,
and I just got my first OWI,

240
00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:59,280
which I, that, that was like,
that was like my, my limit.

241
00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,920
If I got it OWI, then I'm not
going to drink anymore.

242
00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:09,960
And we all have the yachts and,
and the, and the, it didn't

243
00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:14,640
happen to me yet, you know, or
if this happens, then I'll do

244
00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:18,720
that.
It was 5:00 in the afternoon.

245
00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:27,280
I was doing my detox, meaning at
this point in time I would drink

246
00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:29,400
on Friday and Saturday and detox
on Sunday.

247
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:33,160
I had to have a full detox on
Sunday in order to be ready for

248
00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:34,280
work on Monday.
Comes with.

249
00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:38,360
Age.
It sucks because basically I'm

250
00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:43,640
giving myself the flu, tremors,
shakes, headaches and I and my

251
00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:47,400
body is screaming for alcohol
and I'm just going through the

252
00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,240
motions.
Try heaving and I hear the knock

253
00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:53,320
at the door and it's not a cop
knock.

254
00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:55,440
It's like a like a friendly
knock.

255
00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:57,880
And I look down the stairs in my
house.

256
00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:02,560
I'm like, oh shit, this is it.
This has got to be it.

257
00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:06,960
And there's my mom, dad, my
sister, my sisters, then at the

258
00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:08,800
time husband and then two
strangers.

259
00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:14,600
And they walked up and they sat
down and and I said, I'm not

260
00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:16,440
fighting it.
I'll listen.

261
00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:22,120
I'm not fighting this anymore.
I see you brought back up and

262
00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:25,520
and the the one thing that got
that was the most interesting

263
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,720
was my mom does not allow
swearing in front of her.

264
00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,880
And everybody just like you see
in an intervention the show,

265
00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:38,000
everybody reads their thing and
we're all crying, you know, and

266
00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,320
and then I and I go, can I
speak?

267
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:45,000
And he's like, yeah, and I start
talking, but I'm making

268
00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:48,680
justifications,
rationalizations, minimizing,

269
00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,240
blaming.
I'm doing all the all the

270
00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:53,840
excuses and tools I can pull out
and just throw back at them,

271
00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,800
deflect all that's going.
I have this in control.

272
00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:00,920
I'm going to see a therapist and
I plan on making an, a, a

273
00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:05,040
meeting next week.
So trust me when they should

274
00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,200
absolutely not trust me.
And then Jim leans into me and

275
00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,200
goes, are you done with your
fucking shit?

276
00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:14,440
And I'm like, and I look at my
mom and like, you're not, you're

277
00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:15,840
letting him say fuck in front of
you.

278
00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:20,080
Holy cow, this is serious.
And and then I'm like, OK, let's

279
00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:21,520
go.
You know, we can do this.

280
00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:23,080
What time you pick me up
tomorrow?

281
00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:25,000
No, we're going now.
What do you mean we're going

282
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:26,800
now?
We're going right now.

283
00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,000
Well, there's no meetings now.
Oh, yeah, there is.

284
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,720
There's an NA meeting, a
Narcotics Anonymous meeting at

285
00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:34,320
the Blandine House.
Let's go.

286
00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,320
I said they got coffee there.
Yeah, they got coffee.

287
00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:40,400
And at this time I was smoking.
I'm like, can I smoke a

288
00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:42,920
cigarette?
They can smoke 3 cigarettes, but

289
00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:44,760
we're going.
And then that was the start.

290
00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:46,680
All right?
That was the start.

291
00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:51,240
Somebody that that's so
valuable, somebody in your life

292
00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,040
that can push you, you know,
over the edge because you were

293
00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:59,760
already at that realization.
But a lot of times our our

294
00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,640
brains won't let us do it.
That's great.

295
00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:08,520
That's great.
So but what then?

296
00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:11,599
What was that experience?
What was it when you went to the

297
00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:14,319
meeting that had to be a trip?
Can you remember?

298
00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:16,440
Is it a?
Oh yeah, oh man, nervous

299
00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:22,480
anxiety, shaking, body tremors,
man, my brain telling me get the

300
00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,640
fuck out of here, what are you
doing here?

301
00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:29,760
And then my other brain going
just chill, just relax.

302
00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,280
Follow the process, follow the
process.

303
00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,960
And what, what was cool about
the meeting was I got to hear

304
00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:42,240
other people's struggles, you
know, of what they're doing, but

305
00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:45,680
they're making it, whether it be
old timers, you know, I say over

306
00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:50,240
10 years variety or young guys
that are just in months and and

307
00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:56,120
it was cool and it was here's
one thing about alcohol.

308
00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:59,760
You can say alcoholism, you can
say alcohol abuse, you can say

309
00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:01,720
drug abuse, you can say drug
addiction.

310
00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:05,800
It doesn't care.
It meaning the disease does not

311
00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:10,120
care what color you are, what
part of the country you're from,

312
00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:12,920
what religion you are, whether
you're poor, whether you're

313
00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:17,080
rich, whether you're the
president of the United States

314
00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:20,240
or whether you're homeless.
It doesn't care.

315
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,720
I've met people from all walks
of life and the diversity of

316
00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:29,320
that attracts me.
What I get out of a A meetings

317
00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:35,640
and NA meetings is I get to
listen, I get to share kind of

318
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:37,520
what's on my chest and get it
out.

319
00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:41,680
And then I feel supported and I
recharge my batteries for

320
00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,520
another 24 hours.
Early in recovery, I was going

321
00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,840
probably about five days a week
and it was good because I was

322
00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,920
meeting other people too.
You, you definitely don't want

323
00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:56,960
to feel alone in this and your
family cannot empathize at all.

324
00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,560
They should be encouraged to go
to Alan on and thank God my mom

325
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,280
and dad did.
My mom pulled my dad along with

326
00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:04,400
them.
We're going to go to Al Anon.

327
00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:06,880
And it was cool because they,
they went to this Al Anon

328
00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:10,480
meeting and found it like that,
had other couples in it.

329
00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:13,960
And then they all went out to
like dinner afterwards or dinner

330
00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:15,480
beforehand.
So they made it kind of like a

331
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:17,400
little club.
But they really supported

332
00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,680
themselves in that where when I
was going all those times, then

333
00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,360
I was getting into service work,
you know, just helping out where

334
00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:27,200
I could with meetings and going
to a ton of different meetings.

335
00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,960
And we find like we drive up to
Appleton to the Genesis Club or

336
00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:34,280
Oshkosh at the Serenity.
I think it's the Serenity House

337
00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:38,640
or Serenity Club, drive down to
West Bend where I was born and

338
00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:43,320
raised down there.
And it I have an allergy of the

339
00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:46,600
mind.
So think diabetes, diabetes

340
00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:49,680
about the closest I could get to
it instead of insulin.

341
00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:53,120
I need a meeting from time to
time in order to kind of

342
00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:57,640
cleanse, cleanse the soul.
It's not, it's not a spirit.

343
00:19:57,640 --> 00:19:59,920
It's not my mind.
I have to cleanse my soul and

344
00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:05,200
get to that balance back again.
And as I have more days of

345
00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:09,800
sobriety, I have a better
understanding of what my

346
00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,520
character defects are, what my
shortcomings are, when to make

347
00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:18,800
amends, when I made a mistake,
but also what are what are my

348
00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,640
goals for the day?
My sponsor and I send each other

349
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,880
gratitude lists every day.
Almost every day.

350
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,040
We try to do it every day.
But what are you grateful for

351
00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:28,920
today?
You know, and today I'm grateful

352
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,200
for that.
My, my son went to school.

353
00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,000
I have a special needs son
that's nine years old and to get

354
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,360
him to school has been
challenging lately, but he went

355
00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:40,560
to school today.
You know, I, I took a nice drive

356
00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:42,440
down Nicolet Drive and seeing
the Bay.

357
00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:45,240
It's beautiful.
I'm here with you doing this

358
00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:47,760
podcast, which is wonderful.
And we're going to I'm going to

359
00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,120
do dinner with my parents and,
and, and my kids and they have

360
00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:53,280
family.
So it's breaking down that that

361
00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:55,440
daily, that daily gratitude list
too.

362
00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,080
That's that's wonderful.
And you learn all these tools in

363
00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:00,640
A and here's the other thing.
I want to at least let people

364
00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,040
know I am not an, a, a big book
thumper.

365
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,760
What that means is some people
in recovery go is the only way.

366
00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,320
And if you don't do a a, you're
a loser, you're going to fail,

367
00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,720
you're going to go relapse.
It's not how it goes.

368
00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,280
There's Celebrate Recovery,
there's even Buddhism in

369
00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,760
recovery.
There's SMART Recovery, you

370
00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:23,240
know, and there's one for
heroin, cocaine, overeaters.

371
00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:29,240
I, I being in a 12 step program
for so many years, I think

372
00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:31,160
anyone can use a 12 step
program.

373
00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,120
I think it's better than your
Catholic confession because I

374
00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:37,680
was raised a Catholic and I tell
my folks that who go to church

375
00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:39,920
regularly.
My church is in a meeting.

376
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:43,360
You know, I find my spirituality
in a meeting from the people

377
00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:45,760
that are talking.
I don't need to be talked at.

378
00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:49,240
I just want to listen and hear
what people are going through.

379
00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:52,360
Yeah, it'll be it'll be it sheds
the light on things and it

380
00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:54,080
changes your perception as you
go.

381
00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:59,800
Yeah, man, I so I'm like 8 years
in or something like that, maybe

382
00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:00,840
9 now.
I don't know.

383
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:04,160
I don't even know, but I got, I
feel talk about gratitude.

384
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:09,520
Like I feel super lucky that
like I I came to a place of

385
00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:11,920
realization almost like by
proxy.

386
00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,080
It was I started getting these
headaches when I would drink.

387
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,520
I think I developed an allergy.
Yeah, I developed an allergy to

388
00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,800
alcohol.
So the last the last day I ever

389
00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,600
drank, I had a Bloody Mary and
one beer after playing in a golf

390
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,400
tournament, of course.
And driving home, I had to pull

391
00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:29,120
off my truck to the side of the
road because I got this pounding

392
00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:31,480
migraine.
Light was shining like I

393
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,000
couldn't drive.
I was incapacitated virtually

394
00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:38,160
and I just made the the decision
at that point that I was never

395
00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,120
going to drink again.
I just wasn't going to do it.

396
00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:45,320
And you know, the flip side of
this coin is up until that that

397
00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,800
point and then maybe the next
year or so afterwards, I didn't

398
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:50,440
recognize, I didn't recognize
the problem.

399
00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:54,720
So I'm grateful that I'm
twofold.

400
00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:00,560
I was mentally strong enough to
not like have to lean on

401
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:06,000
something to fall back into it.
And that's not, you know, it's

402
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:10,200
not, again, not from a a
mountain, because I just got

403
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:11,560
lucky.
Like it's something I've always

404
00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:12,960
been kind of a stubborn ass.
We all have our.

405
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:14,520
Different.
We all have our different paths.

406
00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:19,920
Yeah, but as as I was sober for
longer and longer, not only

407
00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:22,760
that, like the health stuff
improved, but I also started

408
00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:29,000
feeling so much better.
Oh yeah, and mentally and then I

409
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,720
had these conversations about,
you know, hearing you say that I

410
00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:34,080
think everybody could benefit
from 12 step program.

411
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:38,120
I've talked to copious amount of
people in them and it's always

412
00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:43,520
that story of where, you know,
for for me who got lucky,

413
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:47,560
there's always, you know, 1000
other people that are leaning on

414
00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:49,560
it because of things or like
that.

415
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:51,160
The other side of it is the
social aspect.

416
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,160
That was the second part again,
stubborn asshole.

417
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,200
And I'm, I'm by nature pretty
extroverted.

418
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,000
So like that was, you probably
got it too.

419
00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,160
One of the common questions,
like what do you, what do you do

420
00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:02,880
when you go to a bar?
You know what?

421
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,360
I, I didn't get uncomfortable,
like not having the hand, you

422
00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:08,840
know, like this.
I, I, I was lucky enough not to,

423
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:11,640
because I was extroverted
enough, but I, I certainly know

424
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:13,640
that's none of my doing either.
That's my nature.

425
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:20,720
So like I hear these stories and
I love hearing about the tools

426
00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:25,320
or the paths to realization
because in so many ways I'm

427
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:29,560
grateful for mine that I don't
know if I would have had it.

428
00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:31,120
You know, I talk about the
stubbornness.

429
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,200
I don't know if I would have had
the strength to do the 12 step

430
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,000
program.
I don't know if I ever would

431
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,800
have come to the realization
that I needed it or anything

432
00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:41,920
like that because, you know, you
rattled it off already, You

433
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:44,560
know, where's the car?
Wake up in a yard, all this

434
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,320
stuff.
And it's like I never, it never

435
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:49,840
clicked for me until I stopped.
Let me ask you this, did you

436
00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:55,640
ever drive drunk with one eye
closed because you're seeing 4

437
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,160
lanes?
I used to have to do that.

438
00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,080
I have to close one.
So I could see three lanes then

439
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:02,720
and guessing which lane I was
in.

440
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:04,960
Yeah, that's how insane all
this.

441
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,040
Is and isn't that crazy to think
about, man?

442
00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:09,880
And it and when you're in it,
the next day you wake up and

443
00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:12,440
you're like, right, didn't
happen yet.

444
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:14,080
Right.
Didn't look outside the car.

445
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:16,560
Cool.
No dense score.

446
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:19,440
All right, let's crack one open.
It's 5-O clock somewhere, right?

447
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,640
You know.
Yeah, and that's, it's such a

448
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:27,840
devastating mentality, you know,
and and still to this day, you

449
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:30,760
know, I whatever people make
their own decisions.

450
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:32,840
You want to have 6 drinks, you
want to have 12 drinks, you want

451
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:34,440
to have 30, whatever you're
living your life.

452
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:38,760
But the not yet thing is very,
very scary.

453
00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:43,400
And when you talk about life's
regrets or the happenstance of

454
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:47,560
life and how it goes driving in
those situations, if I could go

455
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:51,640
back in time now like that is
one thing I would never ever do,

456
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,000
you know, and you and, and how
does that get clouded, man?

457
00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:58,120
How does that get clouded by
this thing?

458
00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,880
That's that, you know, this
liquid or whatever that goes

459
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:05,720
into your body that shifts your
perception so much that you

460
00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:07,920
don't even realize it.
Dude, it trips me out.

461
00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:10,200
Blows my mind.
And in the state of Wisconsin, I

462
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:16,200
will say this as a born and bred
cheese head, half of us, I'll

463
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:20,440
say half, 50% of the state I am,
I do not have any evidence based

464
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:24,400
statistics on this.
Think they drive better drunk or

465
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:25,520
buzz?
Isn't that wild?

466
00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,440
We'll use buzz.
So let's look at this supper

467
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:33,560
clubs, OK, When I went to
Whitewater, my dad used to bring

468
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,760
my grandfather down from Oricon
and we used to go to a supper

469
00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,040
club.
We would have two or three old

470
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:42,400
fashions and that was that was
social hour.

471
00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:47,320
And then we'd have two or three
beers with with our fish fry,

472
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:51,320
mostly perch, sometimes walleye
once in a while, once in a while

473
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:52,720
frog legs if you're feeling
spicy.

474
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:54,880
There's a Wisconsin what I can
get?

475
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,400
On Oh yeah, most, my dad's
always a bluegill guy, my dad's

476
00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,600
always a bluegill guy.
And then afterwards you're

477
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,760
having a grasshopper and then
you're going to probably maybe

478
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,680
have a couple drinks afterwards.
And the whole process takes

479
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,120
about 3 hours.
But right then and there, you,

480
00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:12,240
you have about 8 drinks in you,
you know, and that's, that's the

481
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:19,120
culture of, of, of Wisconsin is
that when I grew up, we had, did

482
00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:21,200
you have the kids cooler and the
adult cooler?

483
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:24,240
My dad used to play softball.
There was always the quarter

484
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:28,040
barrel after the game, 1/4
barrel for both teams.

485
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:32,320
That was normal on a weekday.
On a weekday, 1/4 barrel at

486
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:34,480
Regner Park in West Bend, That's
where it was.

487
00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:37,360
That's when I first started
drinking, stealing, stealing

488
00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:40,800
cups off the quarter barrel and
running over the park and, and

489
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,680
and finish them.
Two beers in I'm puking and my

490
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:45,920
mom's got me in the station
wagon yelling at me.

491
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:52,840
I'm grounded.
Birthdays, first communions,

492
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:58,800
baptisms, holidays, summer
picnics, 4th of July, going up

493
00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:00,840
to the cabin.
Brewer Game.

494
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:01,920
Packer.
Game leaves the house.

495
00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:04,440
Everywhere.
The the one thing people don't

496
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:07,720
understand when they come to
Wisconsin, especially people

497
00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:11,760
that find jobs here and come
here, they don't realize how

498
00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,480
entranced alcohol is in our
day-to-day lives.

499
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,480
And once again, I'm saying
there's nothing wrong with that.

500
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,600
But on the flip side, the state
needs to be more.

501
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:24,400
I don't want to say sensitive
because that might be a

502
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,520
snowflake or a woke word, and
I'm not trying to do that.

503
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:32,440
But just be cool with people who
are sober and not ask what

504
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:36,040
morally went wrong that you
effed up in your life and you

505
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,760
can't drink because, you know,
I'm not a quitter.

506
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:40,480
Yeah.
I'm not a quitter, man.

507
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:41,960
Yeah.
That's another that's another

508
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,280
funny angle, dude.
Because of my path to quitting,

509
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,800
it's sometimes like when I tell
somebody I don't drink, they're

510
00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,640
almost like nervous to ask why
they like assume that I like

511
00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:53,400
killed somebody in a car
accident, right?

512
00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:56,920
And I had to quit drinking and
nobody had my hands behind my

513
00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:57,960
back.
Like it was a choice.

514
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,280
Isn't that that's crazy, man.
We so let me let me kind of jump

515
00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,920
into this story and get into the
section yellow because that

516
00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:07,120
addresses that point.
Right.

517
00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:08,160
That's the next piece.
Yeah.

518
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:12,480
What is that?
So when I got sober and it was

519
00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:18,960
February 15th actually coming up
2009, the biggest fear I had was

520
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,600
I can't go to Lambeau Field
anymore and I can't go to

521
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:26,720
concerts and the band Fish.
So if you know the Grateful

522
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:30,360
Dead, there's this band called
Fish and I was a die hard Fish

523
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,600
fan since the mid 90s and they
were on hiatus for a while.

524
00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:35,640
And now they're coming back and
they're playing Alpine Valley.

525
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:40,840
I had about four or five months
sober and I'm going to Alpine

526
00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:44,960
and I, I destroyed Alpine man.
I mean, there are some, I got

527
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,160
some bad horror stories about
Alpine, whether it be Metallica

528
00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:53,520
concert in 89, Rush in 92, you
know, all the all the various

529
00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,920
types of Dead concerts.
They're tripping just a while.

530
00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:59,480
I have a long history there and
I worked there when I went to

531
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,080
college at Whitewater.
That was a fun summer job

532
00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:07,520
working at or Alpine.
So I'm walking in there and I am

533
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,440
nervous, man.
I mean, it's like we're this

534
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:13,840
way.
You're traveling home on Hwy. 29

535
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,880
and it's a full on Blizzard.
You barely got one lane and you

536
00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,200
got an hour to go and you can't
see shit.

537
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,600
You're white knuckling it.
You're almost thinking maybe I

538
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,000
got to pull over because I don't
want to slide off the ditch.

539
00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:28,800
That's white knuckling.
And how the anxiety I felt going

540
00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:33,840
into the show and there was this
place called the Fellowship and

541
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:38,000
not with an F with APH cause all
fish fans throw pH in front of

542
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:39,560
everything.
So it's a stick.

543
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:43,400
But they, they mirrored that off
the Grateful Dead who had the

544
00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:45,400
Warfrats and they've been doing
that since the 70s.

545
00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:50,080
Sober people want to still be a
part of the scenes and hear the

546
00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:53,840
music, but they want to do it in
a sober way so they get

547
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:57,680
connected, to be a part of each
other and make kind of a family

548
00:30:57,680 --> 00:30:58,960
about it.
Knowing you're supported.

549
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:03,480
The major biggest thing to learn
in life is to know you're not

550
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:05,880
alone.
When you know you're not alone

551
00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:09,720
in any aspect, you have support,
you feel like, well, wait a

552
00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,280
second, if I'm not alone in
this, let me learn from them.

553
00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:14,760
Let me learn from that.
Let me read on about it.

554
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,280
Let me see what's going on.
So I quickly gathered

555
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:20,680
information on the fellowship
and this was back in 2009.

556
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:25,200
So we didn't have Instagram or
not we, we didn't have

557
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:26,320
Instagram.
We didn't have TikTok, we

558
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:27,680
didn't.
Have barely had Facebook and.

559
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:32,320
We had Yahoo Groups, we had
Yahoo Groups that we were in and

560
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:34,520
I remember the first set I
couldn't find.

561
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:38,400
So they have a table there with,
with a banner that says the

562
00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:40,080
fellowship.
And you meet up there

563
00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:42,160
beforehand, you kind of
socialize, you know, that's kind

564
00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:45,000
of like remember playing tag and
you always had ghoul, you know,

565
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:46,280
the safe zone or whatever, bring
it.

566
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,000
So we had ghoul.
That was our goal, man.

567
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,840
We we would be able to just
stop, check in, know that we're

568
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:57,080
OK, and then we'd go back in, go
back in the crowd and the first

569
00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:01,600
set couldn't didn't find him.
And I'm like, I might, I might

570
00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:04,160
have to bounce because me, I
look like a hippie.

571
00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:07,000
I got long hair, you know, and
the guy I was with more looks

572
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,240
like a cop and he was my
supportive using buddy.

573
00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:12,320
So he loved getting all the weed
sent to him because everybody

574
00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:14,520
would ask me if I wanted smoke
off their bowl.

575
00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:17,640
This is pre COVID, mind you,
when everybody was smoking,

576
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,480
passing around.
Y'all share share your saliva

577
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:24,560
with a bunch of strangers.
And so my buddy Corey at the

578
00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:27,240
time just took took all the weed
and I was I was good with that

579
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,480
and I was just clenching onto a
water bottle.

580
00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,200
So Fast forward to to a separate
because there's only about a 45

581
00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:37,560
minutes that break and I found
this guy from Minnesota and he

582
00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:41,240
was sober too, and it was his
his first sober show and we were

583
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,760
ready just to go.
OK, if we us 2 stick together,

584
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:45,120
maybe we'll try to find him next
time.

585
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:48,320
And as I'm you.
Found him before you found.

586
00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:50,080
The yeah, I found him because he
was looking too.

587
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:54,880
He was looking too.
And, and I go, you know what,

588
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:57,440
let me buy you a soda.
And then we'll, we'll just hang

589
00:32:57,440 --> 00:32:59,880
out together because it's a lot
better than me going all the way

590
00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:03,240
down with, with, with the
madness of the weed and, and all

591
00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:05,480
the other drugs that were going
on and beers.

592
00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:08,800
And then all of a sudden I see a
yellow balloon around the

593
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:10,640
corner.
I'm like, God damn it, there

594
00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:12,760
they are.
And finally we saw the

595
00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:15,360
fellowship.
There was about 80 people there

596
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:19,000
all laughing, all hugging.
We're on the outside just

597
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,240
observing, going this is cool.
We kind of want to be a part of

598
00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:23,680
this.
And then immediately some guy's

599
00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:25,840
like, what's your name?
I said my name's John.

600
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:27,960
I'm from Green Bay.
He's like awesome, man.

601
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:30,640
Are you?
Is this your first sober show?

602
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:32,640
I'm like, yeah, I'm scared
shitless, man.

603
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:35,000
It's like, come on in, dude.
So you come on in.

604
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:37,600
What they have is they get in a
big circle and they have a

605
00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:40,360
gratitude list or a gratitude
quick thing.

606
00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,040
So you, you bounce a balloon
along and wherever the balloon

607
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:46,280
lands, you give about a less
than a minute spiel on how

608
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:49,480
grateful you are for whatever it
could be the song that was

609
00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,680
played, it could be making here
to Alpine, It could be your

610
00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:56,240
sobriety today, but you're just,
you're just jazzing everybody up

611
00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:59,240
with yourself.
I've heard some amazing, amazing

612
00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:03,240
stories and and then they're
done.

613
00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,680
And we did a sobriety countdown
where we all got in line.

614
00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:08,960
We rarely do this now.
We all got in line and I had

615
00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:10,719
like 3 months.
So I was at the very beginning

616
00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:11,920
of the line because I had the
least.

617
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:14,960
And there was a guy there with
30 years and I was like, cool,

618
00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:17,360
I'm like, can we hang?
He's like, absolutely.

619
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:21,920
Now I don't know how you are
with the music fan, but with Dad

620
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,679
and Fish and everything, there's
certain songs that are played at

621
00:34:24,679 --> 00:34:27,639
concerts and they don't play
every song, every set list the

622
00:34:27,639 --> 00:34:29,280
same.
So you start chasing these

623
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,040
songs, right?
Well, there's this song called

624
00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:36,000
The Lizards that Fish plays that
I absolutely love and I was

625
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,000
seeing them since 95 and I've
never heard it.

626
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:42,880
And then the second set, second
or third song in is the opening

627
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:45,400
lyrics to the Lizards man.
And now you talk about a

628
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:49,280
spiritual awakening, right?
So now Fish is playing the song

629
00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:52,880
called The Lizards to me now,
yes, playing with the crowd, but

630
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:54,480
I am connecting with the band
now.

631
00:34:54,679 --> 00:34:58,760
I'm connecting with with a
higher power God and going.

632
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:01,080
What is going on here?
I'm feeling weird with this

633
00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:04,200
whole spirituality.
I look around the whole long

634
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:07,920
'cause I'm sitting over on the
left side of the lawn and

635
00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:09,880
looking up at all the hills and
all that.

636
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:12,560
And in my head, I'm going
through a history of all the

637
00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:17,080
crazy, dumb shit that I've done
at Alpine and I tell God and to

638
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:20,080
myself going, you know what, I
am not going to fight this

639
00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:22,120
anymore.
I'm turning it over to you.

640
00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:25,080
You have it.
I get it now.

641
00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:28,040
I get it now.
No more rationalizations, no

642
00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:30,680
more bullshit.
I want to be sober.

643
00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:34,080
I want to be there for my health
and for my family.

644
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,520
And that that was my spiritual
awakening there.

645
00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:42,600
That's unbelievable, man, That's
unbelievable.

646
00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,960
There's a there's a lot of
different directions we could go

647
00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:47,160
from here.
Let's stick with the fan

648
00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:50,880
experience for a little bit
though, because it's funny in a

649
00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:54,640
in a roundabout way that almost
like keeps me out of Lambeau,

650
00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:56,880
you know, especially the
bleachers.

651
00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,320
Like if you're down in there
super close to drunk ass people

652
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:03,880
is just not my vibe.
It and it does, you know, it's

653
00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:05,920
different for everybody.
It doesn't keep me out because I

654
00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:08,360
want to Sprint to buy a beer.
It keeps me out because this

655
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:11,080
guy's the most annoying person
I've ever met in my life When

656
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:14,000
and it, it just ruins the
experience.

657
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:18,280
So let's talk about that, the
logistics of it a little bit

658
00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:20,880
because I know I, I think, well,
I shouldn't say no, I've never

659
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:23,280
joined.
But a common misconception is

660
00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:26,240
that there's like this painted
yellow section of Lambeau that

661
00:36:26,240 --> 00:36:27,480
you all go sit in the seats in,
right?

662
00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:30,640
It's more about the
collectiveness of the group as

663
00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:34,520
opposed to the a group of seats
per SE or something like that,

664
00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:36,160
right?
I did that specifically to throw

665
00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:38,560
off the people that don't hell
yeah, that don't do their own

666
00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:40,480
research.
You know, they don't do the

667
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:42,400
research.
So I knew that that I would

668
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:43,880
throw they're taking our
sections.

669
00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:46,920
I'm on the wait list.
I'm 85,623.

670
00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,760
They can't do that to us.
No, we're not taking any seats.

671
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:54,640
So I, I explained about the fish
table and the, and the warfare

672
00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:58,160
table, but the fellowship table.
Now I'm volunteering the tables.

673
00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:02,320
And I'm also, I also work
downtown as a social worker and

674
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:05,360
I'm also on the Brown County
Coalition for change, which is

675
00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:06,920
an alcohol and drug abuse
coalition.

676
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:10,120
We have all the major players
there, Felon, Amplify now,

677
00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:14,520
Previa, Aurora Health
Department, ADRC, Community

678
00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:21,080
Treatment Center, Liebertos,
AANA, Celebrate Recovery, some

679
00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:23,400
churches, some therapies.
I mean, we got like 20-30

680
00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:25,680
different people that are always
representing stuff.

681
00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:31,000
And it was 2019.
I've done the table at Alpine

682
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:33,960
now about 5 or 6 times.
And that experience, the

683
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:38,120
one-on-one connection, you
coming up to me, Brad and, and

684
00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:40,920
talking to me at that table, not
knowing anything about it.

685
00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:44,320
That's the connection.
That's where I get goosebumps

686
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:45,840
off of.
And you were going to get

687
00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:47,600
goosebumps off that memory as
well.

688
00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:53,600
And so I went up to our, our
kind of our lead person, her

689
00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:55,680
name is Laura.
She works at Amplified.

690
00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,200
She was somebody, she was a
somebody up in Bellin and I

691
00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:01,360
presented that to her and she's
like, hey John, I love that

692
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:02,800
idea.
I can get us a meeting at

693
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:04,960
Lambeau.
By the way, I call Lambeau

694
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:07,720
Field, Willy Wonka and the
Chocolate Factory because you

695
00:38:07,720 --> 00:38:09,400
never get really invited in
there.

696
00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:12,360
You never really know what's
going on behind closed doors and

697
00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:17,720
to get in there is a big deal.
So we had a meeting and did my

698
00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:21,080
little 5th grade PowerPoint
forum about why we want to do

699
00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:22,720
this.
All I was asking for is a a

700
00:38:22,720 --> 00:38:26,440
table and two chairs somewhere
in the concourse at Lambeau

701
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:28,400
Field.
Why?

702
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:30,840
Because we're going to connect
with the fans that are sober,

703
00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:35,680
whether that's recovery, whether
it's just lifestyle, religion,

704
00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:39,840
or maybe they're sober curious,
or maybe there's a sober ally,

705
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:44,280
there's a family member, a wife,
a husband who's like, I want my,

706
00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:47,320
I like my partner to get sober
and I don't know what to do.

707
00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:50,520
So we're going to, we want to
just be there as a presence.

708
00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:59,800
And it took a priest and and
we'll say a higher UPS wife to

709
00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,440
kind of make the connection and
breakthrough to the Packers.

710
00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:06,280
And then we got in.
A higher up of somebody that

711
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:08,160
works at Lambeau's wife.
Yeah, OK.

712
00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:10,080
Interesting.
A priest.

713
00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:13,760
Anytime you're stuck knowing
something, go to your local

714
00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:14,920
priest.
They know everybody.

715
00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:18,080
They do.
Father Paul DeMuth, he knows he

716
00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:19,560
was part of it.
He's an awesome guy.

717
00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:24,400
So no, he introduced me to a
wife of one of the, you know,

718
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:28,680
administrators and she, her and
I met and she's like, I love

719
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:29,400
this.
We can do it.

720
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:33,680
And then she met me, introduced
me to Jennifer and Keith, who

721
00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:36,400
are the people that run Lambeau.
And then I remember Jennifer

722
00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:40,160
walking along.
This was, this was like October

723
00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:42,600
in 2019.
And we're walking along the

724
00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:46,280
concourse and she picks out by
the QuikTrip gate.

725
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,200
She's like right here, this is
all you need is a is a table and

726
00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:50,120
two chairs.
You're good.

727
00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:52,200
Yep.
And then she's like, OK, we'll

728
00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:53,840
do it for the rest of the
season, but you got to get your

729
00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:55,560
own tickets.
They weren't going to give us

730
00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:58,320
voluntary right away on, you
know, as a volunteer status.

731
00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:00,840
So we had people that we knew
had tickets and we got them

732
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:04,280
donated and we went in there and
did it and then 2020 hits and

733
00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:07,600
then it's COVID.
So that's a stop 2021 hits and

734
00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:11,640
now we're doing it again.
But we're on a a volunteer basis

735
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:17,120
and the Today show met with us
so national.

736
00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:22,200
Programming got out to us.
Public radio did stories on us.

737
00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:25,480
The Wall Street Journal did a
story on us.

738
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:28,160
Story Corps.
I don't know if you're familiar

739
00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:30,240
with Story Corps.
Story Corps is cool.

740
00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:32,920
So Story Corps has a bus or a
van.

741
00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:36,000
It's a big grant by the
Smithsonian Institute.

742
00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:38,240
You ever get a chance to do
Story Corps do it?

743
00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:43,200
So what they do is they drive
around all year long for like 10

744
00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:47,600
years and stop in the cities and
they have a recording studio and

745
00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:50,520
you and one other person can
come in and have a conversation

746
00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:55,040
about anything for one hour and
then it gets in the vault at the

747
00:40:55,040 --> 00:40:57,680
Smithsonian's Institute.
Really.

748
00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:00,320
So my mom and I, I'll, I'll,
I'll send you the link.

749
00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:03,040
You can put it up there.
My mom and I did a story about

750
00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:06,440
how did alcoholism come in our
family because it just didn't

751
00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:08,120
surprisingly start with me,
right?

752
00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:10,760
I have 4 generations here in
Green Bay.

753
00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:14,200
Henry John Martin was my great
grandfather.

754
00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:17,160
So that's HJ Martin, which is a
major flooring factory right

755
00:41:17,160 --> 00:41:21,040
down the way.
So we have it in our family and

756
00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:25,080
it got it skipped my parents.
But my grandmother, who was the

757
00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:29,960
eldest daughter of Henry John
Martin and Margaret Martin, she

758
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:33,760
became a drug addict to her, to
heroin, not heroin, sorry,

759
00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:37,320
Valium, because that's what a
lot of women did back in the day

760
00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:39,440
when they had kids.
They would just get hooked on

761
00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:41,720
Valium painkillers.
Then you have a couple glasses

762
00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:45,280
of wine with it and you're gone.
My grandfather, he was an

763
00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:49,560
alcoholic and he, he from the
military World War Two, he flew

764
00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:54,480
planes over France to bomb
Germany, you know, and, and to

765
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:58,480
keep the bombers clear.
And that post traumatic sent him

766
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:00,800
spiraling and there was no
therapy.

767
00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:02,520
There is no medication at the
time to help him.

768
00:42:02,720 --> 00:42:06,960
So he drank all the time.
He lost jobs left and right and

769
00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:08,720
I didn't.
You don't find this out until

770
00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:10,840
you're in your 20s.
And then we kind of had the

771
00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:14,760
story about it.
So back to section yellow.

772
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:17,520
We were able to get this going.
And then we made the national

773
00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:18,960
news.
We made all this stuff.

774
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:21,800
The draft comes up and we made
the draft.

775
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:23,920
We were there for the draft,
which was amazing.

776
00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:26,200
Mind you, the NFL doesn't pay
for anything.

777
00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:31,640
We had to come up with $13,500
for three days to have a tent

778
00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:34,240
there.
The original bill was 36,000.

779
00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:37,440
Oh, but they cut you a deal.
We, we slammed down what our

780
00:42:37,440 --> 00:42:40,400
wish list was.
We had a big wish list and then

781
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:42,840
when they got the bill, we're
like, well, what if we just do

782
00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:45,320
one tent and we don't need
mocktails there?

783
00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:49,120
The draft was a huge experience.
We had over 100,000 people not

784
00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:53,360
stop in the tent per SE, but as
they're walking past and looking

785
00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:56,360
and stopping, we usually had
over 100,000 people there.

786
00:42:56,480 --> 00:43:00,600
Yeah.
And and with with with section

787
00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:03,080
yellow.
The main thing is people stop.

788
00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:06,840
They check in with us, they take
pictures, they grab.

789
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:08,880
We give away free water.
That was another add on.

790
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:11,200
Throughout the years.
We always do an additional ask.

791
00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:13,680
We have a kiosk now and and a
table.

792
00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:18,240
We give out candy, we give out
stickers like one game at a

793
00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:21,320
time, Section Yellow.
So you can kind of, you bump

794
00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:23,120
into somebody, they might have a
stick around, then you kind of

795
00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:25,800
recognize them, you know?
So yeah, it's definitely a new

796
00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:27,400
vibe.
And they're advertising inside

797
00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:29,160
Lambeau Field about Section
Yellow.

798
00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:31,560
I know.
And that leads me to one of the

799
00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:34,080
main things I wanted to learn
about today as far as you

800
00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:37,240
brought up the the the tightness
of the Packers organization, how

801
00:43:37,240 --> 00:43:38,800
everything goes.
So maybe you can't even share,

802
00:43:38,800 --> 00:43:44,640
but what what has you know, you
gave a good picture of the

803
00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:49,920
response up till now.
Do like I see this as an

804
00:43:49,920 --> 00:43:53,640
opportunity, Packers like look
at the look at just what you put

805
00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:57,440
together that look at the
attention that guy.

806
00:43:57,440 --> 00:43:59,640
I think it's an opportunity
building on what I was saying

807
00:43:59,640 --> 00:44:01,000
earlier that it keeps me out of
Lambeau.

808
00:44:01,840 --> 00:44:06,520
I think it's an opportunity for
the Packers to be another voice

809
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:12,880
in this in of of this concept in
our community that says, OK,

810
00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:17,640
there is a section yellow of
seats of where people do it

811
00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:20,480
because immediately that's I
know that you have to deal with

812
00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:22,520
that all the time because it has
to be the first place people's

813
00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:23,320
minds go.
Yeah.

814
00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:28,080
Do you see that as a
possibility?

815
00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:30,440
And I know that's it's tough
navigate waters to navigate

816
00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:32,720
because you have to manage the
relationship and all that stuff.

817
00:44:32,720 --> 00:44:35,000
But is that something that?
And it's really not the Packers.

818
00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:37,800
It's Lambeau Field and the city
of Green Bay.

819
00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:42,600
Got to remember city of Green
Bay owns Lambeau Field.

820
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:44,800
That area is annexed for the
city of Green Bay.

821
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:48,200
That's why currently right now
the mayor has not signed the 10

822
00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:51,680
year contract yet for for
Lambeau for the Packers use

823
00:44:51,680 --> 00:44:53,240
Lambeau Field.
They want more.

824
00:44:53,240 --> 00:44:56,560
Saying it like we all want to
see more concerts there.

825
00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:02,840
Lambeau Field should be a
Summerfest Every June we have

826
00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:06,360
Summerfest down in Milwaukee.
What they did with the draft is

827
00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:10,080
a blueprint for major music
festivals and they could easily

828
00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:12,080
have that.
If I had my wish, it would be

829
00:45:12,080 --> 00:45:14,400
like that.
But back to your question, Brad,

830
00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:20,120
about having a section up there,
Brown County has the lottery

831
00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:23,320
there.
All those 300 level seats,

832
00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:25,440
majority of those are Brown
County seats.

833
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:29,360
So you go, if you're a Brown
County resident, you can go into

834
00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:34,000
the lottery, I do.
And you almost 99% of the time,

835
00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:37,920
you're going to get one game.
And then you can do that every

836
00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:41,120
year.
Could you take those Brown

837
00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:45,240
County seats and take like 100
of them and make that strictly

838
00:45:45,240 --> 00:45:46,880
sober?
Oh, yeah, you can.

839
00:45:47,160 --> 00:45:50,480
Because if you go to the Brewers
game in section 200, right

840
00:45:50,480 --> 00:45:52,720
behind home plate, that's the
family section.

841
00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:59,080
And those ushers there are like
total authoritarian ushers.

842
00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:01,920
They will not let you walk
through that with a beer.

843
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,720
You got to walk around because
the press box is right behind

844
00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:07,200
you, you know, and so it can be
done.

845
00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:11,240
Would it ever happen?
I'm always great.

846
00:46:11,240 --> 00:46:13,840
Let's go back to the gratitude.
I'm always grateful that we're

847
00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:16,160
there and we're there with the
Brackers and we get to be a

848
00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:18,120
presence there.
We're also there with the Green

849
00:46:18,120 --> 00:46:20,480
Bay Blizzards.
So when the Green Bay Blizzard

850
00:46:20,720 --> 00:46:23,200
season starts, we're a great
partner with them.

851
00:46:24,080 --> 00:46:26,240
Mind you, shout out their season
openers.

852
00:46:26,240 --> 00:46:29,400
March 15th, go to that game.
It's going to be a huge game

853
00:46:29,560 --> 00:46:31,400
because they almost won the
championship last year.

854
00:46:31,680 --> 00:46:36,720
They were 5 inches away from a,
from a QB sneak from winning the

855
00:46:36,720 --> 00:46:38,840
championship in the indoor
league football.

856
00:46:39,040 --> 00:46:40,760
It was crazy.
That's a that's a great

857
00:46:40,760 --> 00:46:43,120
organization.
And we also work with the Green

858
00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:45,880
Bay Rockers.
So we're here now year round

859
00:46:46,120 --> 00:46:48,760
with everything and with the
Packers.

860
00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:51,320
Would would you say, do the
Packers know about section

861
00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:52,440
yellow?
Don't think so.

862
00:46:53,240 --> 00:46:55,560
That's the difference between
Lambeau Field and the Packers.

863
00:46:56,080 --> 00:47:00,680
Have we asked to meet with and
maybe do a little, you know, Q&A

864
00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:03,280
engagement with them?
Yeah, we have.

865
00:47:03,560 --> 00:47:06,120
And we're we're not asking for
it, but we always throw that out

866
00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:09,040
there.
There are Packer, Packer players

867
00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:11,360
that are sober.
One of the most famous ones,

868
00:47:11,360 --> 00:47:14,720
Tony Mandridge, he's sober.
He's on TikTok live all the

869
00:47:14,720 --> 00:47:15,880
time, man.
That's where I found you.

870
00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:19,040
You see Tony live all the time.
And he's never been back to

871
00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:22,920
Lambeau.
Never he has never been back to

872
00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:26,360
Lambeau and I've reached out to
him going dude, come back, stop

873
00:47:26,360 --> 00:47:29,440
at the section yellow volunteer
at the section yellow table.

874
00:47:30,320 --> 00:47:35,120
The fans love you dude, but he
for whatever reason, he hasn't

875
00:47:35,120 --> 00:47:39,000
and I respect that.
You know, the one cool thing,

876
00:47:39,240 --> 00:47:41,040
I'll I'll do this.
And then I've then I've talked

877
00:47:41,040 --> 00:47:46,360
way enough is it is cool to get
a new Lambeau tradition started

878
00:47:47,040 --> 00:47:50,720
because you have the Lambeau
Leap and we have the wave, you

879
00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:54,840
know, and we we give one of the
things we do is we give away

880
00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:57,080
balloons when people are coming
up to us.

881
00:47:57,520 --> 00:47:59,800
OK.
And this is because we used to

882
00:47:59,800 --> 00:48:02,960
put up balloons the first game.
We used to put up balloons so

883
00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:05,480
people would recognize this
because that's what I used to

884
00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:08,640
when I go to concerts.
But when one of those balloon

885
00:48:08,720 --> 00:48:12,000
popped in the concourse, it
sounds like a gunshot going off.

886
00:48:12,240 --> 00:48:14,480
It just echoes.
And I'm like, no more balloons.

887
00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:18,240
No more balloons.
We we cannot be kicked out our

888
00:48:18,240 --> 00:48:20,280
first day.
So what are we going to do with

889
00:48:20,280 --> 00:48:23,040
500 balloons?
Give them away?

890
00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:26,280
Do it during the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter there's no

891
00:48:26,280 --> 00:48:29,040
alcohol served.
So that's section Yellow's

892
00:48:29,040 --> 00:48:32,520
quarter.
So for the last six years we've

893
00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:36,800
been giving away balloons, the
people that stop by and they,

894
00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:40,320
they can be sober people.
Or if you are having a drink but

895
00:48:40,320 --> 00:48:44,160
you are not drunk and you have a
brother or a family member or

896
00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:47,480
someone you're thinking about
that you wish would be sober or

897
00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:51,120
that has passed away, that is
sober, that was sober or passed

898
00:48:51,120 --> 00:48:52,960
away of a drug overdose that
didn't make it.

899
00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:55,880
You can have a balloon, but just
don't be intoxicated when you're

900
00:48:55,880 --> 00:48:57,480
doing it because that sends a
bad message.

901
00:48:57,720 --> 00:48:59,880
But we want to be able to
incorpose anyone.

902
00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:02,720
And then in the fourth,
beginning of the fourth quarter,

903
00:49:02,720 --> 00:49:06,200
you blow up the balloon and you
pop it up and every all the fans

904
00:49:06,200 --> 00:49:09,080
love bouncing around.
Come winter, that ball, that

905
00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:12,480
balloon goes straight down.
But if you can get a wind, you

906
00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:15,240
can almost get it all the way
around the field or onto the

907
00:49:15,240 --> 00:49:17,120
field.
And we did get the Packers

908
00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:21,080
blessings that we could do that.
That kind of did it.

909
00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:25,280
We went and rogue the first
couple years, but then when the

910
00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:28,440
Today show really wanted to
focus on this balloon thing, we

911
00:49:28,440 --> 00:49:31,120
had to we had to go hey, can we
talk to mom and dad first before

912
00:49:31,120 --> 00:49:33,080
you spill the beans because we
didn't really ask for their

913
00:49:33,080 --> 00:49:34,880
permission.
So I talked to them and they

914
00:49:34,880 --> 00:49:37,640
talked to their environmental
engineer.

915
00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:38,840
It's.
Probably you good that you had

916
00:49:38,840 --> 00:49:41,120
them at that time.
Yes, yes.

917
00:49:41,120 --> 00:49:46,200
And and then we biodegradable
balloons, they're not helium.

918
00:49:46,320 --> 00:49:47,880
They don't flow out of the
stadium.

919
00:49:48,760 --> 00:49:51,480
Our little balloon thing doesn't
make more of a mess than all the

920
00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:54,280
beer bottles or beer cups that
gets bored in there.

921
00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:56,840
But it's a cool vision.
Because if I release the

922
00:49:56,840 --> 00:50:00,720
balloon, that's me telling
Lambeau Field there's one person

923
00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:04,400
in the sea of 80,000 that's
sober, and that person across

924
00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:07,880
the field that might be thinking
about sobriety, that might be

925
00:50:07,880 --> 00:50:09,760
going.
I did it again.

926
00:50:10,280 --> 00:50:12,240
Fucking told myself I wouldn't
drink.

927
00:50:12,560 --> 00:50:14,920
When I did John at the fish show
correct?

928
00:50:15,080 --> 00:50:17,960
Yeah, and I didn't drink.
And why did I drink again?

929
00:50:18,120 --> 00:50:19,800
I got to drive home, I got to
work the next day.

930
00:50:19,800 --> 00:50:21,120
I'm going to be in so much
trouble.

931
00:50:21,120 --> 00:50:24,240
My marriage is on the rocks.
My wife is going to divorce me.

932
00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:26,320
Why do I do that?
Wait, there's a balloon.

933
00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:29,120
There's hope.
There is hope even in the

934
00:50:29,120 --> 00:50:31,720
madness at Lambeau.
And then all of a sudden you see

935
00:50:31,720 --> 00:50:34,400
him popping up over here,
popping up over there, popping

936
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:35,560
over.
Holy shit.

937
00:50:35,560 --> 00:50:38,600
And made the Jumbotron.
I'll get I'll get text.

938
00:50:38,800 --> 00:50:41,840
It made live TV.
We've had the balloon pop up on

939
00:50:41,840 --> 00:50:45,440
your TV and go down.
So having that new Lambeau Field

940
00:50:45,440 --> 00:50:49,120
tradition, that's kind of like a
remember, we don't hate on

941
00:50:49,200 --> 00:50:52,280
people that drink, but we do
love people that embrace

942
00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:55,840
sobriety, whatever path you're
looking at it.

943
00:50:56,120 --> 00:50:58,040
And with those yellow balloons
going up, just keep them

944
00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:00,280
bouncing, man.
Just keep them bouncing.

945
00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:04,240
You know, it's awesome, dude.
It's marketing genius.

946
00:51:04,240 --> 00:51:07,360
It's you know, life is clearly
good.

947
00:51:08,880 --> 00:51:14,800
It's, it's a subtle but powerful
way, Like the whole thing you

948
00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:18,000
put together is a subtle but
powerful way to embrace this

949
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:21,320
within the walls of where it is
very not.

950
00:51:21,640 --> 00:51:24,640
You know that way.
It's awesome man.

951
00:51:25,160 --> 00:51:27,880
Lambeau Field is the epicenter
of alcohol abuse.

952
00:51:28,560 --> 00:51:34,480
Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh,
Fond du Lac, Obviously Milwaukee

953
00:51:34,480 --> 00:51:37,640
and Madison are the epicenters
of alcohol abuse where you're

954
00:51:37,640 --> 00:51:40,960
probably approaching, I don't
have the stats, but I believe

955
00:51:40,960 --> 00:51:45,560
it's above 28.
I would guess 30% of people are

956
00:51:45,680 --> 00:51:48,760
abuse alcohol on a regular
basis.

957
00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:53,200
That's one in three.
That's one of us.

958
00:51:53,840 --> 00:51:57,480
You know, it's got to be him
because you and I are sober.

959
00:51:59,680 --> 00:52:03,000
So it's just, it's a daunting
fact because most places might

960
00:52:03,000 --> 00:52:08,120
have 12 or 15% and in the state
of Wisconsin, you have places

961
00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:10,720
that are 30% and people are
proud of that.

962
00:52:10,720 --> 00:52:15,240
And I, I get it makes money,
makes money, but we can turn, we

963
00:52:15,240 --> 00:52:18,520
can turn the stereotype around
and go, you know what, there's a

964
00:52:18,520 --> 00:52:22,120
lot of sober people here too.
Brad, you are the reason why I

965
00:52:22,120 --> 00:52:25,320
started Section Yellow because
remember the gym that that did

966
00:52:25,320 --> 00:52:28,600
that intervention with me.
I have season tickets.

967
00:52:28,600 --> 00:52:33,000
I get them through my cousin.
Eh, I offered him a game long

968
00:52:33,000 --> 00:52:36,120
time ago, like going to let me
pay you back, I want to take you

969
00:52:36,120 --> 00:52:38,480
to a game.
He's a crazy nut Packer fan.

970
00:52:39,200 --> 00:52:41,960
And he said no, I can't go up to
Lambo, it's too much of A

971
00:52:41,960 --> 00:52:44,760
trigger.
And I said he was the

972
00:52:44,760 --> 00:52:50,880
inspiration for making this
there because nobody, nobody

973
00:52:50,880 --> 00:52:55,000
should look at Lambeau Field and
feel anxious of coming to a game

974
00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:57,480
if you're sober.
We are there.

975
00:52:57,480 --> 00:53:00,760
Section Yellow was there to make
you feel very cool and even,

976
00:53:00,760 --> 00:53:03,320
like, like, take, for instance,
you're sitting in that stand and

977
00:53:03,320 --> 00:53:05,560
let's say you got drunks all
around you and you're like, this

978
00:53:05,560 --> 00:53:08,080
sucks.
You come and hang out with us.

979
00:53:08,080 --> 00:53:10,160
We got extra chairs, hang out
with us for a while.

980
00:53:10,560 --> 00:53:12,920
Once you feel a little bit
better and you get your

981
00:53:12,920 --> 00:53:15,960
batteries recharged, you take a
little break, jump back in it

982
00:53:15,960 --> 00:53:16,800
again.
Yeah.

983
00:53:17,720 --> 00:53:19,920
Yeah, that's awesome, man.
And and when I look, you know,

984
00:53:19,920 --> 00:53:22,920
put on the old marketing hat and
I look at it from APR lens,

985
00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:26,360
there's all kinds of stats right
now that I love to see about how

986
00:53:26,360 --> 00:53:28,960
younger generations are limiting
alcohol in their lives.

987
00:53:29,400 --> 00:53:31,440
When you think about the next
people that are going to be

988
00:53:31,440 --> 00:53:34,720
filling those seats, man, the
it's in the Packers best

989
00:53:34,720 --> 00:53:37,600
interest to take a little look
at what you're doing, maybe dive

990
00:53:37,600 --> 00:53:41,400
in a little deeper and see what
see what else can build from

991
00:53:41,400 --> 00:53:43,440
this, because you've done a hell
of a job so far.

992
00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:48,280
And to me, the sky is only up
and the path is only up from

993
00:53:48,280 --> 00:53:50,760
here.
And and there's so much

994
00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:55,080
incentive for them right now
because as it ages out, like I

995
00:53:55,080 --> 00:53:57,720
hope to see these numbers
continuing to dwindle and

996
00:53:57,720 --> 00:54:01,240
decline.
And then pretty soon, like that

997
00:54:01,240 --> 00:54:03,840
script is going to flip and, you
know, there's power structures,

998
00:54:03,840 --> 00:54:07,360
structures in all of life.
And one of them is back to the

999
00:54:07,360 --> 00:54:10,560
making money thing.
OK, well, now how are we going

1000
00:54:10,560 --> 00:54:12,680
to make money?
Maybe John was on to something

1001
00:54:12,680 --> 00:54:13,560
here.
You know what I'm saying?

1002
00:54:14,080 --> 00:54:16,720
Couple things, we would love to
have a section yellow signature

1003
00:54:16,720 --> 00:54:18,680
drink there that's non
alcoholic.

1004
00:54:18,680 --> 00:54:23,120
That would be awesome. 2 is we
are at Stadium View for

1005
00:54:23,680 --> 00:54:26,160
tailgates now.
Stadium View partnered with us

1006
00:54:26,160 --> 00:54:29,080
last year and we did five games
where we have a section yellow

1007
00:54:29,080 --> 00:54:33,800
tailgate in in the madness of
Stadium View, you know, so we

1008
00:54:33,800 --> 00:54:36,240
have this little pod, but there
it was very successful.

1009
00:54:36,440 --> 00:54:41,040
We had about 6-7 volunteers each
game before the game, like 3

1010
00:54:41,040 --> 00:54:43,760
hours before the game.
And then, you know, there's

1011
00:54:43,760 --> 00:54:46,640
about maybe 20-30 people that
would hang out in that part of

1012
00:54:46,640 --> 00:54:51,200
the parking lot over there.
Back to the draft.

1013
00:54:51,200 --> 00:54:54,800
So I talked to a executive
director, took him out to a

1014
00:54:54,800 --> 00:54:58,760
supper club, took him out to the
Union Hotel and showed him

1015
00:54:58,760 --> 00:55:00,360
around a little Wisconsin
flavor.

1016
00:55:00,760 --> 00:55:03,640
And I, I hit him up with the
whole section yellow thing at

1017
00:55:03,640 --> 00:55:05,800
every stadium.
Because some stadiums will say,

1018
00:55:05,800 --> 00:55:08,360
well, we have a sober section.
They do, they have a family

1019
00:55:08,360 --> 00:55:12,560
section, but they're not
addressing sobriety awareness.

1020
00:55:12,960 --> 00:55:14,240
It's not about sitting
somewhere.

1021
00:55:14,240 --> 00:55:17,520
It's about the awareness and,
and putting that, that, that,

1022
00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:21,160
that seat of knowledge in, in
every fan.

1023
00:55:21,160 --> 00:55:24,120
So they understand it.
And what I asked about and when

1024
00:55:24,120 --> 00:55:28,080
I brought up is, you know, in a
couple years you might need us

1025
00:55:28,080 --> 00:55:29,840
because it doesn't have to be
alcohol.

1026
00:55:30,720 --> 00:55:32,800
It can be gambling too.
Yeah.

1027
00:55:33,160 --> 00:55:36,720
And gambling's way worse than
alcohol money wise.

1028
00:55:37,400 --> 00:55:40,920
Because I've never, I mean, I
just put it this way, I like to

1029
00:55:40,920 --> 00:55:44,160
gamble as well and I found out
that my addictive mind likes

1030
00:55:44,160 --> 00:55:47,960
anything that shoots a couple of
couple of endorphins and and

1031
00:55:47,960 --> 00:55:49,360
dopamine.
Going.

1032
00:55:49,360 --> 00:55:50,680
Yeah, and it could be.
It could be.

1033
00:55:51,040 --> 00:55:55,560
I mean, for the Super Bowl, you
know, I bet my mom 5 bucks on

1034
00:55:55,560 --> 00:55:57,280
the coin of the flip of the
coin.

1035
00:55:57,280 --> 00:56:00,960
Of course I go tails never fails
and it always God damn, it

1036
00:56:00,960 --> 00:56:04,640
always fails go heads, people.
But you know what I mean?

1037
00:56:04,640 --> 00:56:07,440
It's just that little juice of
dopamine that you're looking

1038
00:56:07,440 --> 00:56:09,560
for.
So gambling and how it's on your

1039
00:56:09,560 --> 00:56:12,560
phone and how you can gamble
just excessively.

1040
00:56:12,800 --> 00:56:15,600
Once again, not hating on the
gambling, but that's a slippery

1041
00:56:15,600 --> 00:56:19,480
soap where you can get deep, you
know, into debt and and that's

1042
00:56:19,480 --> 00:56:22,160
where people really have really
have a hard time.

1043
00:56:22,160 --> 00:56:23,240
You know what I just saw
yesterday?

1044
00:56:23,240 --> 00:56:26,120
Dude, that blew my mind.
I had no idea that you could do

1045
00:56:26,120 --> 00:56:29,440
it, but I I saw this like Yahoo
headline or somewhere online I

1046
00:56:29,440 --> 00:56:30,840
saw it might have been a social
media post.

1047
00:56:31,360 --> 00:56:35,080
FanDuel no longer will allow
credit card deposits.

1048
00:56:35,080 --> 00:56:37,760
I was like, you could put money
on there with a credit card.

1049
00:56:38,160 --> 00:56:40,520
Imagine the people that are up
shit Creek right now.

1050
00:56:41,400 --> 00:56:43,680
And 30%?
Yeah, like I used to use

1051
00:56:43,680 --> 00:56:46,480
DraftKings a little bit, but I
didn't know you could do it with

1052
00:56:46,480 --> 00:56:48,920
a credit card.
That's wild.

1053
00:56:49,360 --> 00:56:52,520
Yeah, I tried.
So let's talk about this.

1054
00:56:52,560 --> 00:56:54,960
So, fantasy football, how many
leagues are you in?

1055
00:56:55,040 --> 00:56:57,840
Two OK.
I think 2 is reasonable, Yeah, I

1056
00:56:57,840 --> 00:57:00,360
was a couple 100 bucks.
I was up to four or five and I

1057
00:57:00,360 --> 00:57:03,680
have a section yellow league, a
work league and then a couple of

1058
00:57:03,680 --> 00:57:06,880
buddies league.
So three, you know, and one's

1059
00:57:06,880 --> 00:57:09,760
only the most is like 100 bucks.
Yeah, and we try to keep it, you

1060
00:57:09,760 --> 00:57:13,640
know, more for the trophy and
bragging rights and anything.

1061
00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:17,880
But gambling's going to be a
big, huge issue when alcohol

1062
00:57:17,880 --> 00:57:19,920
goes down.
And the NFL knew what they're

1063
00:57:19,920 --> 00:57:22,320
doing.
You know, they, they are.

1064
00:57:22,320 --> 00:57:27,920
I I love the NFL, but they, they
know how to run everything.

1065
00:57:28,080 --> 00:57:30,120
Oh yeah.
And it's all about making

1066
00:57:30,120 --> 00:57:33,240
profit.
Yeah, it's so tight and it that

1067
00:57:33,240 --> 00:57:36,320
that can kind of be a decent
segue into another piece of what

1068
00:57:36,320 --> 00:57:40,120
I was getting Wisconsin directed
is I think a lot of that money

1069
00:57:40,120 --> 00:57:45,600
and power in the Tavern League
holds us back a little bit.

1070
00:57:46,040 --> 00:57:49,560
Legalize it, legalize weed and
get it going.

1071
00:57:49,560 --> 00:57:52,120
Governor Evers, why aren't you
doing that already?

1072
00:57:52,520 --> 00:57:54,720
I just saw something again
recently, but then the the big

1073
00:57:54,720 --> 00:57:58,760
headline was Robin Voss says no
way to legalize.

1074
00:57:58,760 --> 00:58:01,400
We're on an island where
everybody else is is got

1075
00:58:01,400 --> 00:58:05,200
legalized weed and we want to
still pussyfoot around with it

1076
00:58:05,200 --> 00:58:06,560
and go, well, let's try
medicinal.

1077
00:58:06,560 --> 00:58:10,640
No, Yeah, you're you're oozing
tax dollars out of our state.

1078
00:58:10,640 --> 00:58:12,040
So much of it.
So much.

1079
00:58:12,040 --> 00:58:14,880
And as somebody in long term
recovery, you'd be like, John,

1080
00:58:14,880 --> 00:58:17,320
why do you want it?
Because that were those tax

1081
00:58:17,320 --> 00:58:20,800
dollars just like cigarettes are
will go to preventative

1082
00:58:21,080 --> 00:58:25,040
awareness and treatment.
Yeah, and, and people that need

1083
00:58:25,040 --> 00:58:29,040
treatment, especially the detox,
because we only have one detox

1084
00:58:29,040 --> 00:58:32,280
center here in Green Bay and
that's Bellin and beds could be

1085
00:58:32,280 --> 00:58:34,080
full.
When beds are full, guess what

1086
00:58:34,080 --> 00:58:37,200
we're doing as a social worker,
you start calling the Saint

1087
00:58:37,200 --> 00:58:41,720
Elizabeth's down in Sheboygan or
maybe in Appleton and then St.

1088
00:58:41,800 --> 00:58:45,360
ES in in Sheboygan.
I believe it is remote, maybe

1089
00:58:45,360 --> 00:58:46,800
flip flop.
Just trying to find a bed.

1090
00:58:46,800 --> 00:58:50,440
Just trying to find a a a a cute
mental health facility that will

1091
00:58:50,440 --> 00:58:53,240
do detox bond.
Alex has got a great detox at,

1092
00:58:53,560 --> 00:58:57,800
at Saint Emilians.
And we, we need better

1093
00:58:57,800 --> 00:59:02,640
infrastructure for, for our, for
alcoholism and alcohol abuse.

1094
00:59:02,920 --> 00:59:07,600
And if, if you made weed
legalized, number one, you don't

1095
00:59:07,600 --> 00:59:10,080
have oozing the money out.
Number two, you take it away

1096
00:59:10,080 --> 00:59:15,960
from the drug traffickers and #3
you can, you can add the amount

1097
00:59:15,960 --> 00:59:18,400
of scrutiny that they have to go
to, to make sure everything is

1098
00:59:18,400 --> 00:59:21,160
safe.
And there isn't any, any

1099
00:59:22,200 --> 00:59:24,440
ketamine, not ketamine, any
fentanyl in it.

1100
00:59:24,920 --> 00:59:28,880
You know, here's the sad part
about my kids growing up.

1101
00:59:29,600 --> 00:59:31,640
When I grew up, you didn't
really have to worry about

1102
00:59:31,800 --> 00:59:34,840
smoking a joint or doing a line
of cocaine and experimenting and

1103
00:59:34,840 --> 00:59:38,280
not have to worry about dying.
My kids, when they grow up, if

1104
00:59:38,280 --> 00:59:42,800
they do decide to partake, I
don't want them to die because

1105
00:59:42,800 --> 00:59:45,680
somebody cut it up with with
fentanyl and they are putting

1106
00:59:45,680 --> 00:59:48,320
fentanyl in weed.
I just saw something about that

1107
00:59:48,320 --> 00:59:48,840
again.
What?

1108
00:59:48,840 --> 00:59:49,520
What?
Really.

1109
00:59:49,560 --> 00:59:52,880
Yeah, I've never seen.
As a bigger kick, they will dust

1110
00:59:52,880 --> 00:59:56,200
it with weed and you will not
recognize it.

1111
00:59:56,400 --> 00:59:58,640
So anything you're getting off
the street and you're not

1112
00:59:58,640 --> 01:00:02,400
getting at a dispensary has the
has the higher.

1113
01:00:03,280 --> 01:00:06,560
I don't know what the stats are,
but it's extremely high

1114
01:00:06,560 --> 01:00:10,080
probability that it could have a
dusting of fentanyl because it

1115
01:00:10,080 --> 01:00:12,960
gives it more of a kick.
That's devastating.

1116
01:00:12,960 --> 01:00:15,280
Bigger high.
I haven't heard that at all.

1117
01:00:15,640 --> 01:00:19,920
So I'm an I'm an advocate of
legalization and used to a

1118
01:00:19,920 --> 01:00:24,120
certain extent, but that, you
know, the Tavern league will

1119
01:00:24,120 --> 01:00:27,440
stomp around and say we've never
spent one lobbying dollar

1120
01:00:27,440 --> 01:00:30,680
against legalized marijuana.
Well, OK, maybe you didn't

1121
01:00:30,680 --> 01:00:35,600
directly say this is explicit,
but you know, the people that

1122
01:00:35,600 --> 01:00:38,000
they're funding have those
conversations.

1123
01:00:38,000 --> 01:00:40,680
So whatever, stomp around and.
See and and they're selling weed

1124
01:00:40,680 --> 01:00:45,080
and infused weed products
through through they make

1125
01:00:45,640 --> 01:00:48,080
infused.
I haven't been in a bar in many,

1126
01:00:48,080 --> 01:00:52,800
many years, but my sister drinks
and she said John, I had a beer

1127
01:00:52,800 --> 01:00:57,120
last night but it was full of
wheat, so.

1128
01:00:57,120 --> 01:01:01,440
That's what carouser is that has
it's micro dosed, micro dosed

1129
01:01:01,440 --> 01:01:08,400
THC that like that thing.
I, you know, it's for me

1130
01:01:08,400 --> 01:01:12,560
personally, it's anything that
limits specifically that alcohol

1131
01:01:12,840 --> 01:01:15,680
is what I think is that's where
my my focus is.

1132
01:01:16,240 --> 01:01:20,680
And, and you think about, you
know, the value of providing

1133
01:01:20,680 --> 01:01:23,880
alternatives and what whatever,
you know, be the devil's

1134
01:01:23,880 --> 01:01:26,720
advocating and counter your
argument with saying, well, OK,

1135
01:01:26,720 --> 01:01:29,000
what do you, what's trading one
thing for another thing, blah,

1136
01:01:29,000 --> 01:01:31,720
blah, blah, Which, you know,
there's a valid conversation

1137
01:01:31,720 --> 01:01:37,680
there to be had.
At the same time, the the

1138
01:01:37,680 --> 01:01:40,480
options that come behind it with
the funding that you're talking

1139
01:01:40,480 --> 01:01:43,880
about, of where the tax dollars
would go, leading to an, a more

1140
01:01:43,880 --> 01:01:46,680
informed decision making process
for both sides and everything

1141
01:01:47,160 --> 01:01:51,320
that is where like all of that,
regardless of the side of the

1142
01:01:51,320 --> 01:01:53,240
fence you're on, makes complete
sense, right?

1143
01:01:53,240 --> 01:01:57,200
Because so I hadn't heard
anything about the connection

1144
01:01:57,200 --> 01:02:01,200
between fentanyl and St. weed
that that's wild to me.

1145
01:02:02,360 --> 01:02:05,080
But we certainly know that.
I mean, Theo, one of the biggest

1146
01:02:05,080 --> 01:02:07,640
podcast on the planet jokes
about that all the time about

1147
01:02:07,640 --> 01:02:11,480
how like, I think it's I think
he said it in like he had that

1148
01:02:11,480 --> 01:02:14,520
crazy week where he had Bernie
on and then he had Trump on and

1149
01:02:14,520 --> 01:02:16,720
I was like that this is the
coolest thing ever to have these

1150
01:02:16,720 --> 01:02:19,280
two back-to-back.
And I think it came from that

1151
01:02:19,280 --> 01:02:21,640
where he makes the joke about
you can't even do cocaine

1152
01:02:21,640 --> 01:02:23,240
anymore.
But it's super true, dude.

1153
01:02:23,280 --> 01:02:27,600
It's super true.
And I don't know, I just

1154
01:02:27,600 --> 01:02:31,840
appreciate your your place in it
and what you're trying to do

1155
01:02:31,840 --> 01:02:34,160
with with the group.
A couple other places I want to

1156
01:02:34,160 --> 01:02:37,120
get to today that'll veer us off
of this path a little bit.

1157
01:02:37,120 --> 01:02:39,280
One I didn't even know growing
up in West Bend.

1158
01:02:39,280 --> 01:02:41,880
You ever run across a dude named
Bob Bonifant in West Bend?

1159
01:02:41,880 --> 01:02:43,880
You know that.
Guy class of 90 E.

1160
01:02:44,040 --> 01:02:48,200
OK, he's, he's retired now.
I don't know how old he is, but

1161
01:02:48,280 --> 01:02:51,840
I just asked because Bob was
pretty instrumental in my career

1162
01:02:51,840 --> 01:02:52,520
path.
Yeah.

1163
01:02:52,800 --> 01:02:55,600
So I I worked at a radio station
in West Bend for.

1164
01:02:56,520 --> 01:03:00,160
Was it right by gas station?
Across the street, maybe.

1165
01:03:00,360 --> 01:03:02,280
Yeah, kind of right on the main
drag.

1166
01:03:02,280 --> 01:03:03,680
What?
Was there was a factory right

1167
01:03:03,680 --> 01:03:08,040
across the street too?
I'm I'm picturing my youth right

1168
01:03:08,040 --> 01:03:09,840
now.
I can't even remember the name

1169
01:03:09,840 --> 01:03:12,160
of the core Rd.
Was that no, not the core Rd.

1170
01:03:12,440 --> 01:03:14,400
God, I can't think of it.
I don't remember any of the.

1171
01:03:14,480 --> 01:03:16,440
I just picture where it is.
I can picture where.

1172
01:03:16,440 --> 01:03:18,040
It is.
I can picture Bob and some of my

1173
01:03:18,040 --> 01:03:20,880
Co workers and then I can
picture the little AM studio

1174
01:03:20,880 --> 01:03:22,720
that I sat in and board up the
NASCAR race.

1175
01:03:22,720 --> 01:03:24,160
Did you ever go?
Did you ever go to the bars

1176
01:03:24,160 --> 01:03:27,640
around Big Cedar Lake?
No, I did quite a bit of fishing

1177
01:03:27,640 --> 01:03:30,000
around that area, you know.
Big cedar, little cedar.

1178
01:03:30,000 --> 01:03:31,000
Those places are awesome.
Oh.

1179
01:03:31,320 --> 01:03:34,320
Man, did I.
Catch Whitetail Inn best fish

1180
01:03:34,320 --> 01:03:36,320
fry in that area.
I'm sure other people will say

1181
01:03:36,320 --> 01:03:41,160
it, but when I think West Bend
and think you know that area of

1182
01:03:41,160 --> 01:03:43,280
Washington County, I think of
the Whitetail Inn.

1183
01:03:43,280 --> 01:03:47,920
It's on the I don't even east
side of Little Cedar or

1184
01:03:47,920 --> 01:03:50,280
something.
Yeah, so I spent a lot of time

1185
01:03:50,280 --> 01:03:52,080
around Little Cedar.
That was my favorite lake to

1186
01:03:52,080 --> 01:03:54,760
fish there because when I worked
there, part of the time I lived

1187
01:03:54,760 --> 01:03:56,400
in Menominee Falls slash
Jackson.

1188
01:03:56,400 --> 01:03:57,880
Yeah.
So I was just wondering, man,

1189
01:03:57,880 --> 01:04:00,560
that that would have been a a
funny connection.

1190
01:04:00,720 --> 01:04:05,720
But the the other piece that I
want to talk with you a little

1191
01:04:05,720 --> 01:04:08,600
bit about is that I I just
recently saw that you're running

1192
01:04:08,600 --> 01:04:11,360
for City Council.
Yeah, I want to talk about that

1193
01:04:11,360 --> 01:04:16,760
dude, because sure, I love the
anybody who takes a step in the

1194
01:04:16,760 --> 01:04:18,720
direction of impacting their
community.

1195
01:04:18,760 --> 01:04:21,360
So that ultimately ask, again,
you ask about the podcast, what

1196
01:04:21,360 --> 01:04:24,600
I'm trying to do is connect us
in a way that's outside of

1197
01:04:24,600 --> 01:04:28,560
politics.
At the same time, I appreciate

1198
01:04:28,640 --> 01:04:34,600
somebody who steps up and, you
know, give some of their time

1199
01:04:34,600 --> 01:04:37,520
and effort and intention to
their local community.

1200
01:04:37,520 --> 01:04:40,360
And one of the main ways to do
that is local politics.

1201
01:04:42,200 --> 01:04:44,160
Really, really double edged
sword, right?

1202
01:04:44,160 --> 01:04:47,640
You're going to immediately
probably have some friends that

1203
01:04:47,640 --> 01:04:50,040
maybe don't, you know, they're
going to go the other way

1204
01:04:50,040 --> 01:04:52,160
because you do that.
And then you're going to develop

1205
01:04:52,160 --> 01:04:53,600
this group of people that aligns
with you.

1206
01:04:54,000 --> 01:04:57,480
What's your what's your
motivation to do that?

1207
01:04:57,480 --> 01:05:00,240
And what made you decide I'm a
run for City Council and just

1208
01:05:00,240 --> 01:05:01,880
throw my hat in?
This room, I am going to try to

1209
01:05:01,880 --> 01:05:07,280
do this in my best brief,
straightforward talk, OK,

1210
01:05:07,280 --> 01:05:09,840
Because I don't want to give you
my political Sometimes you can

1211
01:05:09,840 --> 01:05:12,160
go on a political spiel and
sounds like a used car salesman.

1212
01:05:12,160 --> 01:05:14,640
I don't want to do that.
I want to be real here, and I'm

1213
01:05:14,640 --> 01:05:17,080
always real.
But when you go door knocking

1214
01:05:17,080 --> 01:05:19,640
and then you've knocked on the
100th door, you start getting a

1215
01:05:19,640 --> 01:05:20,920
script and it just kind of
rolls.

1216
01:05:20,920 --> 01:05:23,440
Off Oh yeah dude and everybody
knows when there's a news mic in

1217
01:05:23,440 --> 01:05:26,040
front of somebody, no matter how
real you say it is, it's not

1218
01:05:26,040 --> 01:05:28,800
real we're an hour and 15
minutes into chatting that's why

1219
01:05:28,800 --> 01:05:31,760
I do what we do because we can
actually talk about life and.

1220
01:05:31,760 --> 01:05:32,640
Normal stuff.
Here you go.

1221
01:05:32,640 --> 01:05:37,320
I I moved to Green Bay in 2010.
OK, I'm a fourth generation

1222
01:05:38,240 --> 01:05:40,480
Green Bay resident going all the
way back to my great

1223
01:05:40,480 --> 01:05:43,560
grandfather, Henry John Martin.
My grandmother was born here, my

1224
01:05:43,560 --> 01:05:46,960
mom was born here.
I was not born here, but I've

1225
01:05:46,960 --> 01:05:49,800
moved here.
I have two kids.

1226
01:05:50,200 --> 01:05:52,800
I'm a homeowner.
I live over by Baird School.

1227
01:05:53,200 --> 01:05:55,920
I'm also a social worker
downtown and I do this

1228
01:05:55,920 --> 01:06:02,360
nonprofit.
When the Green Bay had a city

1229
01:06:02,360 --> 01:06:08,320
assessment for home, they did it
in October.

1230
01:06:08,320 --> 01:06:13,520
And then in November we got the,
the the property tax bill and

1231
01:06:13,520 --> 01:06:15,640
everybody's jumped.
It was like, what?

1232
01:06:16,000 --> 01:06:20,040
Now our value went up OK, but
mine jumped up 900 bucks.

1233
01:06:20,040 --> 01:06:23,800
And you did it in November, but
you didn't prorate it for two

1234
01:06:23,800 --> 01:06:26,440
more months and then charged me
the whole year.

1235
01:06:26,560 --> 01:06:30,400
You charged me the whole year.
And I reached out to my Alder

1236
01:06:30,400 --> 01:06:33,240
person and didn't really get a
response.

1237
01:06:34,760 --> 01:06:40,080
Then it happened this year, went
up instead of 900 bucks and went

1238
01:06:40,080 --> 01:06:43,120
up 300 bucks.
And that, that that affects my

1239
01:06:43,120 --> 01:06:45,160
bottom line.
Because you know what, we're

1240
01:06:46,520 --> 01:06:50,160
we're all struggling.
We're all a couple paychecks

1241
01:06:50,480 --> 01:06:53,840
away from serious decision
making.

1242
01:06:54,280 --> 01:06:58,920
You know, I'm fortunate that I
work and I can provide for my

1243
01:06:58,920 --> 01:07:03,120
family, but you take my job away
and I'm out of work for six

1244
01:07:03,120 --> 01:07:05,800
months or a year.
We're we're doing different

1245
01:07:05,800 --> 01:07:10,720
things.
I don't think my counterpart who

1246
01:07:10,720 --> 01:07:12,320
I'm running against understands
that.

1247
01:07:12,960 --> 01:07:14,800
She has more business and
finance.

1248
01:07:14,800 --> 01:07:17,720
I'm social work.
I'm more in the community.

1249
01:07:19,000 --> 01:07:23,000
Also, trash pickup.
Now this is itty bitty stuff.

1250
01:07:23,000 --> 01:07:27,160
Trash pickup.
The leaves fall in November.

1251
01:07:27,760 --> 01:07:29,040
You know they're going to fall
in November.

1252
01:07:29,040 --> 01:07:31,640
Three years straight, I did not
get my leaves picked up.

1253
01:07:31,640 --> 01:07:33,360
And then the snow falls on top
of it.

1254
01:07:33,640 --> 01:07:36,080
And now I got dead grass all
along.

1255
01:07:36,680 --> 01:07:39,520
And they'll say, well, you could
drop it off at the city dump.

1256
01:07:39,520 --> 01:07:42,720
No, I pay tax.
My taxes just went up, man.

1257
01:07:43,680 --> 01:07:45,560
Bring the truck over and just
scoop them up.

1258
01:07:45,560 --> 01:07:46,720
I put them on the edge of my
yard.

1259
01:07:46,720 --> 01:07:49,400
Let's do that.
Come on, messenger.

1260
01:07:49,640 --> 01:07:53,480
Don't get much of a reply.
So that and then, then my son

1261
01:07:53,480 --> 01:07:55,840
has special needs and we're
going through the school system

1262
01:07:56,080 --> 01:08:00,400
and Baird school is amazing.
But the Green Bay Area public

1263
01:08:00,400 --> 01:08:04,200
school and I am going to go out
on a limb on this has some real

1264
01:08:04,200 --> 01:08:08,160
rework that needs to happen.
There are $25 million in debt.

1265
01:08:08,400 --> 01:08:12,680
Their school board is in chaos
and, and the administration

1266
01:08:13,280 --> 01:08:16,600
might need a, a dodge cleaning,
you know, because there are a

1267
01:08:16,600 --> 01:08:19,640
lot of administrators and I'm
going to get hate on that

1268
01:08:19,640 --> 01:08:22,680
because it's union, but I, I'm,
I'm an advocate for the

1269
01:08:22,680 --> 01:08:24,720
teachers.
I'm not an advocate for all the

1270
01:08:24,720 --> 01:08:26,279
administrators that are making a
lot of money.

1271
01:08:26,560 --> 01:08:30,000
And we're, we're not getting
our, we're going to get

1272
01:08:30,000 --> 01:08:33,080
25,000,000 from, you're going to
go to Evers and get in that

1273
01:08:33,080 --> 01:08:36,600
rainy day fund.
What is it 440 or 4 billion?

1274
01:08:36,600 --> 01:08:37,720
I don't even know how much it
is.

1275
01:08:38,000 --> 01:08:39,920
He doesn't never, he never
cracks open the checkbook

1276
01:08:39,920 --> 01:08:43,240
anyway.
So it's these type of issues

1277
01:08:43,880 --> 01:08:47,800
that I'm like in my recovery.
I cannot sit back and keep

1278
01:08:47,800 --> 01:08:50,880
whining and complaining without
taking an action step.

1279
01:08:51,479 --> 01:08:53,520
So what is the action step I can
take?

1280
01:08:54,279 --> 01:08:56,960
I reached out to Representative
Ahmad Riviera Wagner,

1281
01:08:57,279 --> 01:09:01,720
representatives are here to ask
for advice and he's like, here's

1282
01:09:01,720 --> 01:09:05,160
what you could do.
You could do the school board or

1283
01:09:05,160 --> 01:09:08,120
you could run for City Council.
The City Council is going to be

1284
01:09:08,120 --> 01:09:12,120
the toughest race in District 1
because Jennifer is a very well

1285
01:09:12,120 --> 01:09:15,880
known Alder person in her
district.

1286
01:09:16,200 --> 01:09:19,040
More in her location because
she's in Red Smith area.

1287
01:09:19,319 --> 01:09:21,319
I'm over in Baird.
Well, that's what matters for a

1288
01:09:21,319 --> 01:09:24,040
City Council race, right, Is it
is your perception in the

1289
01:09:24,040 --> 01:09:25,800
immediate border area?
Correct.

1290
01:09:25,800 --> 01:09:30,439
But the whole district is Baird,
Baird School, Red Smith area,

1291
01:09:30,439 --> 01:09:34,680
Nicolet Drive, UW, GB and then
some other outlying areas.

1292
01:09:35,520 --> 01:09:41,720
And for me, I think, I think I
can do this.

1293
01:09:43,560 --> 01:09:45,960
You have Republicans, you have
Democrats.

1294
01:09:47,120 --> 01:09:51,960
My dad was a card carrying
Ronald Reagan, Vietnam veteran

1295
01:09:51,960 --> 01:09:56,680
Republican.
My mom was a Kennedy Democrat,

1296
01:09:56,680 --> 01:09:59,200
but she'll say she's
independent, but she's mostly a

1297
01:09:59,200 --> 01:10:01,960
Democrat.
I'm in the middle.

1298
01:10:02,520 --> 01:10:05,800
And here's what I want to
appease to to people in

1299
01:10:05,800 --> 01:10:11,160
politics, because politics is so
divisive if you're Republican or

1300
01:10:11,160 --> 01:10:13,440
you're Democrat and you're sort
of in the middle.

1301
01:10:14,360 --> 01:10:18,200
Which is 90% of the population.
Let's start our own let's start

1302
01:10:18,200 --> 01:10:21,000
our own party and call it the
fuck you party.

1303
01:10:21,600 --> 01:10:24,680
OK, let's call it the fuck you
party to the to the left wing

1304
01:10:24,680 --> 01:10:26,720
and the right wing political
spectrum.

1305
01:10:26,720 --> 01:10:27,720
And let's just be done with
them.

1306
01:10:27,720 --> 01:10:30,480
And then let's do common sense
rules.

1307
01:10:30,920 --> 01:10:33,160
It's common sense rules.
But there are people like are

1308
01:10:33,160 --> 01:10:36,080
you because this is non
partisan, But I had to take the

1309
01:10:36,080 --> 01:10:38,880
Democratic ticket because she's
the heavy Republican.

1310
01:10:39,120 --> 01:10:42,200
So I, I need I want to help.
If you don't get the help,

1311
01:10:42,560 --> 01:10:44,720
you're basically running all the
way uphill.

1312
01:10:44,720 --> 01:10:47,640
And that's what it is, man.
The, the, the system is

1313
01:10:47,640 --> 01:10:52,680
structured in a way that feeds
it feeds the separation of two.

1314
01:10:53,160 --> 01:10:57,440
And you know, you can talk about
all the incentive for that for a

1315
01:10:57,440 --> 01:11:00,120
million years, right?
Like a divided population is

1316
01:11:00,120 --> 01:11:01,800
easier to rule and all of this
stuff, right?

1317
01:11:02,360 --> 01:11:06,920
But it feels like like just
taking the temperature of the

1318
01:11:06,920 --> 01:11:11,720
air of our society right now.
It feels like there's an

1319
01:11:11,720 --> 01:11:17,000
appetite for this swing back to
the middle right where most of

1320
01:11:17,000 --> 01:11:20,440
us live.
And you know, I can't remember,

1321
01:11:20,520 --> 01:11:23,320
I think it was before the show,
I said this like we have so much

1322
01:11:23,320 --> 01:11:25,640
more in common with our neighbor
than we do the billionaire

1323
01:11:25,640 --> 01:11:28,440
lobbyist who's being the playing
the puppet strings of these

1324
01:11:28,440 --> 01:11:31,320
things and that stuff.
I had Brian Johnson on a while

1325
01:11:31,320 --> 01:11:34,360
on a while back and I, I was
intrigued to hear he had a

1326
01:11:34,360 --> 01:11:36,200
story.
I can't remember verbatim, and I

1327
01:11:36,200 --> 01:11:38,360
might even mess up some of the
logistics, but he had a story

1328
01:11:38,360 --> 01:11:40,920
about how similarly he had to
like pick a party.

1329
01:11:41,120 --> 01:11:43,320
I don't know if that's
nonpartisan or not his role.

1330
01:11:43,320 --> 01:11:44,840
I would think it is, but I I
could be wrong.

1331
01:11:45,320 --> 01:11:51,280
Regardless, he had a, a like a
smear campaign done against him

1332
01:11:53,120 --> 01:11:57,920
that was directed from political
dollars from the opposing party.

1333
01:11:58,960 --> 01:12:02,200
And like, that's for the a local
race.

1334
01:12:02,200 --> 01:12:05,280
So we can sit here and think
that it's only president and

1335
01:12:05,280 --> 01:12:06,240
Congress.
In the house.

1336
01:12:07,000 --> 01:12:09,000
But it flows all the way down to
the bottom.

1337
01:12:09,720 --> 01:12:14,440
And I think I haven't, I haven't
dipped my toes in this water

1338
01:12:14,440 --> 01:12:18,920
yet, But eventually, sometime I,
I foresee a, a future, Brad,

1339
01:12:18,920 --> 01:12:23,200
that's going to kind of be in
the same spot where like, I

1340
01:12:23,200 --> 01:12:26,840
think it's an instrumental way
to impact your immediate

1341
01:12:26,840 --> 01:12:32,840
community in a way that makes
sense and in a way that is, you

1342
01:12:32,840 --> 01:12:35,880
know, reflective of beliefs and
supportive of what you're trying

1343
01:12:35,880 --> 01:12:37,040
to do.
Because that's where I think we

1344
01:12:37,040 --> 01:12:39,560
change it, dude.
Like we can't change the, the

1345
01:12:39,560 --> 01:12:42,480
president, really.
We can't change the, the entire

1346
01:12:42,480 --> 01:12:44,880
structure unless everybody
decides to stop paying those

1347
01:12:44,880 --> 01:12:46,800
taxes you were talking about,
which won't happen.

1348
01:12:47,520 --> 01:12:54,040
But what we can do is we can,
you know, dude, I one, let me

1349
01:12:54,040 --> 01:12:55,840
stop here for a second.
I think it's awesome.

1350
01:12:55,840 --> 01:12:59,600
The reference of your parents,
you know, living on 2 mountains.

1351
01:13:00,520 --> 01:13:03,120
Like that's it's a crazy time
when I because my parents live

1352
01:13:03,120 --> 01:13:05,600
with me.
After my divorce, I brought my

1353
01:13:05,600 --> 01:13:08,880
parents in to live with me so I
can expand their life real quick

1354
01:13:08,960 --> 01:13:12,520
because I work at a place that
tries to do aging.

1355
01:13:12,520 --> 01:13:13,880
So I want to slow down their
aging.

1356
01:13:14,160 --> 01:13:18,000
But when I come home at dinner
time in the 530, Evening News

1357
01:13:18,000 --> 01:13:20,840
comes on.
It's game on between those two

1358
01:13:20,840 --> 01:13:22,640
and I'm just refereeing.
No shit.

1359
01:13:22,640 --> 01:13:25,080
Oh yeah, it gets hot.
That's awesome.

1360
01:13:25,160 --> 01:13:30,000
It's hot late man.
I and I don't think I think that

1361
01:13:30,000 --> 01:13:31,800
probably used to be more common
than it is now.

1362
01:13:31,800 --> 01:13:38,120
Even couples are like get on
board or divide.

1363
01:13:38,360 --> 01:13:40,200
You know, I think that's kind of
the place we are.

1364
01:13:40,200 --> 01:13:44,280
And I love hearing that, that,
you know, and for a couple that

1365
01:13:44,280 --> 01:13:46,120
sounds like they've been married
for a long time, it's probably

1366
01:13:46,120 --> 01:13:49,960
pretty colorful, right?
I, I should know, they're pro.

1367
01:13:50,120 --> 01:13:53,320
They're 57.
The 60 is coming soon.

1368
01:13:53,320 --> 01:13:56,440
So my sister and I got to start
getting the party ready because

1369
01:13:56,440 --> 01:13:58,400
we did the 50th.
So I know they're, they're

1370
01:13:58,400 --> 01:14:01,160
closer to 60 than 50.
But yeah, they've been married a

1371
01:14:01,160 --> 01:14:03,800
long time.
A long time.

1372
01:14:04,000 --> 01:14:09,440
And, and I just, I don't know
man, that the whole temperature

1373
01:14:09,440 --> 01:14:12,240
of, of society right now is just
uncomfortable.

1374
01:14:12,240 --> 01:14:15,920
And I, I think that we've like,
and, and social media has been a

1375
01:14:15,920 --> 01:14:17,120
huge part of that.
It's funny.

1376
01:14:17,400 --> 01:14:20,520
I teach social media marketing.
It's funny because social media,

1377
01:14:20,920 --> 01:14:24,160
like for all the good that it
does for the world, they're like

1378
01:14:24,280 --> 01:14:27,400
it does.
It highlights and puts on a

1379
01:14:27,400 --> 01:14:30,960
pedestal the fringes, the 10% of
people on each side that are

1380
01:14:30,960 --> 01:14:35,160
willing to just be outlandish,
say shit that's not true, or be

1381
01:14:35,160 --> 01:14:37,920
so convicted in a belief that
there couldn't be anything else

1382
01:14:37,920 --> 01:14:40,320
right.
Now it's a 32nd drug.

1383
01:14:40,560 --> 01:14:43,240
Yeah, there's a fact that
dopamine in your retirement, you

1384
01:14:43,240 --> 01:14:46,800
can lie and make it look true
and nobody's going to contest

1385
01:14:46,800 --> 01:14:50,760
it.
And you throw in AI in there and

1386
01:14:50,760 --> 01:14:53,520
now everything's fake, but it's
claiming it's true.

1387
01:14:54,000 --> 01:14:57,120
And let let's take this, let's
switch gears a little bit, but

1388
01:14:57,120 --> 01:15:00,200
we'll come back to it.
My parents understanding AI,

1389
01:15:01,040 --> 01:15:02,120
they're they're done with
technology.

1390
01:15:03,040 --> 01:15:04,720
They're done.
And I got to literally tell mom,

1391
01:15:04,720 --> 01:15:07,160
that's AI.
You can't believe that it's AI.

1392
01:15:07,840 --> 01:15:09,680
But where?
Where the Republican and

1393
01:15:09,680 --> 01:15:13,200
Democrat, both sides, the the
crazy left and right, where

1394
01:15:13,200 --> 01:15:17,200
they're attacking our elders who
don't understand it and they can

1395
01:15:17,360 --> 01:15:19,520
make them believe it?
Oh hell yeah, really quickly.

1396
01:15:19,520 --> 01:15:21,560
And they could still vote.
They're still a card carrying

1397
01:15:21,560 --> 01:15:23,480
member of society.
You know they can do it all.

1398
01:15:23,480 --> 01:15:25,880
Man, it's wild.
Well, cool.

1399
01:15:25,880 --> 01:15:29,600
Thanks for sharing.
I, I applaud anybody that takes

1400
01:15:29,600 --> 01:15:33,080
a step in the direction of
serving locally.

1401
01:15:33,160 --> 01:15:35,440
Yeah, in a in any type of way,
man.

1402
01:15:35,440 --> 01:15:38,000
Just real simply, it's it was
for my kids.

1403
01:15:38,320 --> 01:15:41,880
You know, I want my kids to grow
up and I think a lot of families

1404
01:15:42,360 --> 01:15:44,560
in District 1 and in Green Bay
want this.

1405
01:15:45,160 --> 01:15:47,480
You want your family safe, you
want to raise your kids, you

1406
01:15:47,600 --> 01:15:49,480
want to have a nice
neighborhood, you want

1407
01:15:49,480 --> 01:15:51,480
affordably be able to buy
everything you want.

1408
01:15:51,600 --> 01:15:54,720
You want nice roads and you want
to do it responsibly.

1409
01:15:55,000 --> 01:15:57,920
And you also want to help other
people like homeless people,

1410
01:15:58,080 --> 01:16:00,880
people that are having drug
addiction problems, people that

1411
01:16:00,880 --> 01:16:03,280
might be having other societal
problems.

1412
01:16:03,440 --> 01:16:07,320
So that's where I'm kind of I'm
a way big Democrat on on for

1413
01:16:07,320 --> 01:16:10,720
social issues or when it comes
to fiscal issues, I might be

1414
01:16:10,720 --> 01:16:13,840
leaning more conservative.
So the cool part about this is

1415
01:16:14,400 --> 01:16:17,800
when I go door knocking and
there's only been one person.

1416
01:16:17,920 --> 01:16:21,400
There's only been one person
that goes the husband I met

1417
01:16:21,400 --> 01:16:23,920
talked with him and he's like,
well, let me talk with the wife

1418
01:16:23,920 --> 01:16:26,160
and then what?
He talks to the wife and then

1419
01:16:26,160 --> 01:16:28,760
she goes, I can hear in the
backwards, if that guy's a

1420
01:16:28,760 --> 01:16:31,640
fucking Democrat, you slam the
God damn door on him.

1421
01:16:32,080 --> 01:16:36,320
And then he comes back like all
sullen, like I'm like, I heard

1422
01:16:36,360 --> 01:16:39,200
I'm good, I'll walk away.
And that was the only weird

1423
01:16:39,200 --> 01:16:42,400
experience I had.
But otherwise, people that you

1424
01:16:42,440 --> 01:16:45,640
may have a Trump flag or a Trump
thing up in their garage, I'll

1425
01:16:45,640 --> 01:16:46,960
still knock on your door.
Dude.

1426
01:16:47,640 --> 01:16:50,920
We have the similar.
We have similar goals and values

1427
01:16:50,920 --> 01:16:56,280
we want for our family.
That's what I'm representing.

1428
01:16:56,480 --> 01:17:00,400
That's the people I represent.
I don't represent an ideology.

1429
01:17:00,800 --> 01:17:03,760
And once you get further from
that middle, it doesn't become

1430
01:17:03,760 --> 01:17:09,880
politics, it becomes religion.
It becomes a drug for people and

1431
01:17:09,880 --> 01:17:13,320
you will not change their mind
because they are indoctrinated

1432
01:17:13,320 --> 01:17:16,120
in that drug.
Let's bring it more centre.

1433
01:17:16,400 --> 01:17:20,400
Yeah, buy all those social media
videos, buy the the news outlet

1434
01:17:20,400 --> 01:17:22,880
they decide to watch and where
they do that when.

1435
01:17:22,960 --> 01:17:25,960
My mom goes to bed at 9:00.
You know what's the first thing

1436
01:17:25,960 --> 01:17:29,160
that goes on in my house for my
dad?

1437
01:17:29,560 --> 01:17:32,240
Fox News.
Fox News going on, man.

1438
01:17:33,760 --> 01:17:36,480
Yeah, well, cool, John.
It was great chatting with you

1439
01:17:36,480 --> 01:17:37,400
man.
Thank you, Brad.

1440
01:17:37,400 --> 01:17:40,080
I love this.
What you got going on here is

1441
01:17:40,080 --> 01:17:43,920
cool and keep doing it.
We got to get you live out in

1442
01:17:43,920 --> 01:17:46,360
the field.
Yeah, let's talk about that.

1443
01:17:46,360 --> 01:17:49,760
I think there could be a really
cool scenario of a little social

1444
01:17:49,760 --> 01:17:52,680
media live talking to some
people right down in the weeds

1445
01:17:52,680 --> 01:17:55,640
who are experiencing Lambo
through a sober lens.

1446
01:17:55,640 --> 01:17:57,200
There you go.
Appreciate you man.

1447
01:17:57,200 --> 01:17:58,440
Thank you.
Appreciate it too.