Join us on a journey of reflection on this past year living through the pandemic, the social and institutional politics around it, and how we can take care of each other moving forward. Episode content warnings: COVID, death, illness
Join us on a journey of reflection on this past year living through the pandemic, the social and institutional politics around it, and how we can take care of each other moving forward.
Episode content warnings: COVID, death, illness
Follow us on instagram @wethepeoplepresent
Resources and action items on our Linktree
Cover artwork by Be Boggs
Music by Malaventura
Full transcript available HERE
Lyonel: We're We the People
Tina: And we're recording from the occupied territory of the Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi people,
Dana: Or what you probably know to be Chicago,
Aja: And the Chumash, Kizh, Tataviam people-
Lyonel: or Los Angeles.
Dana: Guess what. We're all on stolen land. Take a second to learn whose land you occupy
Tina: And take meaningful direct action to decolonize and restore these lands to their rightful stewards.
Aja: Action Items and resources can be found in the link tree on our Instagram @wethepeoplepresent
(music)
| Lyonel: That's my first time. |
| (Uproar of laughter) |
| Lyonel: HEY EVERYBODY welcome to We The People! It's Lyonel here!! |
| Aja: Hiiii! This. Is. Aja! |
| Dana: It's Dana! |
| TIna: Aaand it's Tina. |
| Dana: Ayeeee! We got it. |
| Aja: (Singing) BA-ba-da-da! |
| Lyonel: (Joining the singing) We made a ji-ingle, hey! It's u-us! Hey hey! It's U-us! Tina, go! |
| Tina: (Does not go) |
| (Laughter) |
| Lyonel: Aaaand BOOM. |
| Tina: Just a deer in the headlights over here. |
| Lyonel: No, that was your part. It was deer in the headlights. |
| (Laughter) |
| Tina: Yeah yeah yeah. You all can't see it because this is a podcast, a strictly audio medium. But I was fantastic. |
| Dana: Yeah. She made choices that I don't think I've ever seen before. |
| Aja:No. |
| Lyonel: Wonderful. |
| Aja: In real life or on screen. |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Tina: (Laughs) |
| Lyonel: Oh, my God, y'all. Well, speaking of choices, if you had the choice to- Let's make it a Round Robin! |
| Tina: Look at that Segway!! |
| Aja: YAASSS!! |
| (Laughter) |
| Lyonel: If you had a choice, what is the first trip you're going to make after COVID? Ooooohhhhh I feel like- who's feeling FROSTY today? |
| Aja: Oh shit, there's too many options for this. |
| Dana: Frosty, frisky. |
| Aja: Emotionally? Just straight into y'alls arms. |
| Dana: (Sympathetic) Hmm. |
| Lyonel: Aww. |
| Tina: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Aja: Well, Lyonel, I see you every week. So. |
| Lyonel: I know. But like, I know. |
| Dana: There's a difference. There's a difference. |
| Aja: Yeah. But if I was just going to go fuckin, take a trip? Uh, probably... Josh and I keep going- talking about when we're going to go to Italy, so probably Italy. |
| (Oohs and ahhs) |
| Aja: Just everywhe- Just go. |
| Dana: That's on the list for sure. |
| Aja: For a while. Just buy a one way ticket, see what happens. |
| (Laughter) |
| Dana: Just stay there for a while. |
| Tina: See how we do. |
| (Laughter) |
| Aja: Bop around from country to country or from city to city? It'd be great. |
| Dana: Yeah. It's pretty cool that you can do that in Europe so easily from country to country. I have to two options. Two answers to this. One's realistic. One's probably like go see my family in Boston, either go to New York or go to L.A. and see my friends. |
| Aja: Ah man. I forgot about my family. |
| (Laughter) |
| Dana: I know. I know. I know. But the other option is like happy fun time. And that's I think I have one regret in Barcelona is that I didn't go to the nudie beach, so I think I would fly to Barcelona. |
| Tina: You gotta!! |
| Aja: (Gasps) |
| Dana: Go to the nudie beach. I would rip off my clothes, scream into the ocean void and then head in, headfirst. And just like be there for I don't know how long. (Laughs) That's where I'm at. |
| Tina: Ahh. Sounds lika a dream. |
| Aja: Right?! |
| Tina: I did go to- when we were in Spain for my cousin's wedding a thousand years ago. My family and I went to one of those beaches together. We were not nude. We were just at the beach and it happened to be one of those. And we were like, okay. And then we left. Thank god. |
| Dana: Yeah, we we had that I had that experience with my entire family, even the kids. And we didn't know it was at Martha's Vineyard and we didn't know that we did it. And we were like, oop. Oh. This is the human body, children. That guy's tan everywhere. |
| (Laughter) |
| Tina: Oh no. |
| Aja: Tins, where would you go? |
| Tina: Yeah. I mean, definitely like to I want to come to L.A. to visit Aja and Lyonel and also all the other people that I love there. And also for some, you know, for some sun and some trees. |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Tina: But I, I am lucky in that visiting family also takes me to one of my very favorite places in the universe, which is the United Kingdom. |
| Aja: YEAHHHHH. |
| Tina: So I would probably go to like London, definitely to Scotland, just like fuckin, find a farm in the middle of the highlands and just like, you know, live my Pride and Prejudice dreams. But also there's so many. |
| Dana: I know. |
| Tina: I just want to go everywhere. |
| Aja: There's so many places. |
| Tina: I want spend so much time and so much money that I don't have. |
| Dana: Same. |
| Tina: Like, traveling all over. Right. Not right before. (Laughs) Not even close to right before. A couple of years before this all happened, I did like just three weeks. I had three weeks in between gigs and I had like disposable income. And I went to Amsterdam and then I went to London and Scotland to visit family. And then I went to Spain and Portugal to visit my cousin who was living there at the time. And it was fucking unbeliev- one of the best times of my life. It was so fucking fun. So I would want to do something like that, just kind of bopping around visiting people in the cool places that they live. |
| Dana: YUM |
| Tina: Yeah. And eating all that fucking food. |
| Dana: I know. |
| Tina: OOH! Just a food tour of the world, I guess is what I'm saying. |
| (Laughter) |
| Tina: Lyonel, what about you? |
| Lyonel: Um. I, I mean first trip you're going to take after COVID. I'm so- I've got so many things I want to do but I think I'm going to go back to Amsterdam like I. fucking. Like, if I could have a. If I could have one place to have a house outside of America. Y'all know Tina Turner lives in Switzerland? |
| Dana: No. |
| Lyonel: Tina Turner. |
| Aja: Am I surprised, though? |
| Dana and Lyonel: No. |
| Lyonel RIGHT? Exactly! |
| Aja: That makes sense. That make sense. |
| Lyonel: She like lives in Switzerland means I was listening to this podcast that was talking about her. How like- that means that she travels to America for a gig and goes home to her house in Switzerland. |
| Tina: That's the dream!! |
| Lyonel: Her chateau. Oh! |
| (Collective UGHs) |
| Dana: Fuck. |
| Lyonel: But my like, dream is to have a place along the water in Amsterdam. So I think I would go to continue scouting lik-. |
| Tina: Oh, my God. |
| Aja: Ugh. Love it. |
| Lyonel: My best friend, Sasha and I talk about all the time, we're like, we're going to have our two bedroom home, that we build on the water and our husbands are just going to have to get over it. |
| Tina: Yes, that's the way! |
| Aja: I love that, and it reminds me of- there was a few years ago, there was like- was it Spain? There was some country that they had all these old castles in that you could get for like. I mean, less than fifty thousand dollars, but you'd have to, like, fix them up? But I was like, "WHO WANTS TO GO IN ON ONE WITH ME!?!?" |
| (Laughter) |
| Aja: And my friends were like "ahahaha". |
| Dana: LETS GO BRO!!! |
| Aja: And I was like, Oh, no, I'm serious. Like, let's do it. And then that's just kind of fizzled out. But that is what, you know, when COVID's over, y'all, look for. Check your inbox, because I'm probably like, "LoOk aT tHiS CaStLE, iT's ThIrtY tHoUsAnD dOLlArS!". |
| (Laughter) |
| Dana: OK, done. |
| Tina: I'm in. |
| Lyonel: Oh my god, if we got a CASTLE?! |
| Aja: Amendment to JUST seeing y'all as my first trip, I think I would do a road trip around the country to see everybody that I love. |
| Dana and Tina: YESS!!! Awww. |
| Lyonel: I love it!!! |
| Dana: It's a HUG TOUR!! |
| Aja: SO many people. Yes!! A HUG TOUR. I'm going to rent a van! |
| (Laughter) |
| Aja: (Shouting) WE'RE GOING ON A HUG TOUR!! |
| (Laughter) |
| Aja: Well I mean, I guess now is as good a time as any to say: Our topic this week is COVID! |
| Tina: Pew pew pew pew!! |
| Dana: Corona, Corona, Coronaaauuughh. |
| (Laughter) |
| Lyonel: (A la "La Bamba") LA LA LA LA LA LA- COVID! BA-DA-DA-DA-DA! LA LA LA LA COVID!! |
| (Eruption of laughter and various attempts to join in) |
| Dana: This is what it looks like a year later, I you hear that past selves?? This is where we're at now! |
| (Painful Laughter) |
| Lyonel: Oh, my God. The COVID awareness in me, is the COVID awareness on YOU! |
| (Laughter) |
| Aja: AHAHA. That one got me late. |
| (More laughter) |
| Aja: I don't know. One of my- I was telling Tina and Dana that one of my friends has COVID. It's very mild case. They just got- she just got diagnosed and-. |
| Lyonel: Like this week? |
| Aja: Yeah. Like a couple of days ago. And she was like, cool. I haven't left the house in two weeks/year. So like I don't really know what to do with that. Her kid is in school so they think they that someone passed it to a kid and her kid passed it to her. But it's just like- it's so infuriating for so many people that I know that I've gotten it who have done everything they're supposed to do. And I still get it. And then there are people out there just gallivanting around who never get it or get really mild cases and don't care. Meanwhile, five hundred thousand people like. It's such a wild tornado of emotions all the time. |
| Tina: Yeah. |
| Dana: It's a nonstop roller coaster. |
| Lyonel: I mean, it's ultimate act of chivalry, right? It's the- in a year of Black Lives Matter in a year of like, hey, like this. Of course, these people matter like it's trendy, right? It's been trendy to be like racially progressive, but ultimately, When all these things were coming out for like different minority groups, you had to, like, actually stand up against the issue and be like, yo, that's incorrect. This is something- that's not something I'm going to stand for at the time, so right now. To have the opportunity to save other people is where you're seeing people either like follow through with that or not. So like your friend is staying at home, but because other people are careless, it gets back to her, unfortunately. And that's the part that, like sucks is you just have to be actually looking out for other people and you can just see people who are doing that and people who aren't. |
| Tina: Yeah, it just- it pisses me off so much because like, yeah, we do- those of us who are taking it really seriously and have basically given up our entire lives, our entire careers, to keep ourselves and each other safe, like are facing the repercussions of the actions of other individual people who are maybe not being as careful. But ultimately, we're all suffering because the government hasn't done its fucking job and has prioritized the economy over protecting people like for the past year. You know? Like this could have been nipped in the bud pretty- I mean, not super quickly, but like- the toll could have been much less if we had just, like, decided to, you know, sacrifice elements of our economy, which is a thing people fucking made up. But now, like the you know, the responsibility lies on individuals to make good choices, to protect each other. Instead of the government making one fucking choice to protect everybody and to allow people to not, like, lose their income, you know, lose their business if they don't make risky choices. So it's just like like, yes, people are making dumb choices. And I'm mad at people who are doing that. But I'm also madder at the government for, like, even allowing that to be a possibility and for making me be mad at individuals when it's really not their fault because, well, you know, some people are being really reckless and like it's clear they don't care about other people. But like, I don't know, it's just a nightmare. (Cheerfully) Its just a nightmare |
| (Laughter) |
| Dana: Yeah, it's just a nightmare. |
| Aja: Then you have people like the- what is it? The points guy? Who, like his whole career, is showing people how they can use credit card points to travel for really cheap. And he's been doing it through COVID. And it's just like, what are you tell- like the idea that not only is the government NOT taking care of us the way that they could, but like people are making choices based on their own, like. |
| Lyonel: Is he saying that you should be traveling right now? Or is he just saying, like this is still like how your points would work for you? I can see- |
| Aja: He's- he's not telling people to travel, but he's still giving tips for how he's traveling. So in that way, it's like encouraging people to travel. It's like leading by example, like saying, well, I'm doing it. And not that everyone can or everyone is. But it's like if you have a platform, and he has a platform because he's THE points guy, like he's famous FOR that particular thing. That like he's just continuing to do it. And then he was- I was listening to some podcast about this and he went on a trip and met with a bunch of other points people. Out, like in another country, like they all went and I guess I think they quarantined or whatev- But it's just like people aren't being careful with how they are sharing that they're doing things. Because even if he's doing it, quote unquote righ, and like quarantining and getting tests and like, you know, has the vaccine or whatever. Like it's still- there are still people who aren't going to know the whole story. And then, I mean, like. Take his word as gospel and be like, OK, well, he's doing it so I can do it, too. |
| Dana: Yeah, there's a- there seems to be a disconnect with people with they think because and especially people that have either a bunch of followers or are like some sort of celebrity or they have, you know, an audience, right? They seem to think that during this time, if they are OK and they did this and this and this and nothing happened, that means it's OK. Right? But they're not taking into consideration the fact that their actions, if they're not- every action has a reaction. (Laughs) Like and with this airborne virus, you don't always know if you're OK. You may be asymptomatic and there seems to just be a disconnect with that, with, like you following all of these rules and and still hanging out with other people. But it's like you still hanging out with other people. You still could have got it there. You still could have got it on your way there. You still could you literally can get it anywhere. |
| Tina: You could have spread it, too. And someone else may have gotten sick. |
| Dana: You could have fucking spread it!! There's just a disconnect. Like it seems like there's a- I don't know. Maybe like a like a knot. I don't know. |
| Lyonel: I will say this, though. I actually have an opposite opinion to you two, because I hear you're saying. I see both sides, but I actually think what COVID has created is a sense of judgment? And so what a lot of people also are able to do are sit at home and judge. And while I do think that the points guy does have a platform and like people do follow him. The problem still goes back to the point Tina made, which is that we don't have a government that supports us. So therefore people are left to their own demise to figure out ways to bring in money, because while, yes, in a perfect world, we should all be sitting at home in our bubbles, in our quadrant, not making money. We don't all have that privilege. Like that in itself is a privilege for people. And instead, what ends up happening, people have to do the best they can with where we're doing for the first time ever. So if he's like, I'm getting tests, we all got tested. We all did this thing. I understand, like he's still getting on a plane. But some people still have to get on planes to do different things in their life. Like, is it right? Is wrong? I don't know. But it's like if you have to travel somewhere, if you have to go- like airlines are still open. So therefore people get on planes. Like if it was a huge issue, our government should have shut down airlines, but they didn't. So what I'm saying is people still have to go around protocols and get things done in the same way that my mom is a hairstylist. When they shut down the government, they closed all that out. Guess who they weren't paying? Hairstylists, anyone who makes their own money based off of things, based off of clients, not based off of a salary. So we can pull the last phrasing of your life. So that means that when my mom wasn't working, there was no money coming in for her. And then when, Texas, which was one of the worst places with protocols, allow people to go back to work. My mom then went into her office and was able to start seeing some clients. But I have so many friends, SO many friends who sat on the computer and passed around all this bullshit that was like, oh, you want to go to a hairstylist? How selfish of you, how like stuck on yourself that you're so narcissistic and that you're so like, focused on keeping your beauty standards up when, there's two sides of it. Because if they don't go to a stylist, my mom's not a bad person. She's not up here trying to spread COVID. But she is trying to pay her rent. She is trying to eat. |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Lyonel: And so there's this weird- I feel- I'm very torn between these two things because I think that no one knows how to do this right. |
| Dana: No. |
| Lyonel: I think what we want is for everyone to stay at home and quarantine perfectly. But we can't do that because we don't have structures set up to help us do that. And while some people do have higher platforms where people follow underneath them, at the end of the day, everyone is just trying to do this the best they can. |
| Aja: Yeah! |
| Dana: Yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Aja: Well, I'm not saying that he shouldn't do his job. I'm just saying he's got a big- he's got- and I have to fact check myself because I didn't do a ton of digging to see how responsible he was being, but he's got four hundred thirty seven thousand followers. He's, his whole platform is about traveling. So like, I don't know HOW careful he's been saying, like, hey, if you're going to travel, make sure you do it healthily. Hey, if you're going to travel, like- I don't. I'm just saying people with a big plat- you are totally right. And I don't feel that way about businesses that are trying to stay open, and I do think that businesses have to do what they do, because to Tina's point, the government hasn't helped us the way that they should. |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Aja: Like. No one can do it right, because no- like people who are out of work are out of work and they have to do what they can to survive. I totally understand that. I'm saying people with a huge platform like Kim Kardashian having a fucking birthday party on an island with all of her friends, that's not setting a good example for the- it's giving people NOT only an example of saying, hey, look what we're doing, this is still OK. But then it's making people, you know, to our point about beauty last week, like it's making people be like, oh, well, if she's successful in doing it, then like if I'm going to be successful and happy, then I can also do that. And I probably should because like, she's doing it. So, you know? Like I think that there's a big responsibility that comes with having a following in a business that is specifically about travel that I just don't know, like on top of the government not doing what they could to help us, I think people are being irresponsible. Or people are giving up, giving people excuses to be irresponsible. |
| Lyonel: I think that if he, and again, I should, I would have fact checked myself to make sure that, like I'm quoting what he did correctly or not correctly, because if he didn't do any of this, then like, fuck, that's all the shit that I'm saying. |
| (Laughter) |
| Luyonel: Turn that shit over. But if he did- if he went to meet with people to discuss things for work, et cetera, or had a need to travel, and he followed protocols, X, Y, Z. I don't think that that's in the same caliber as Kim Kardashian getting on a plane with friends to go and party and celebrate for whatever she wanted to do. Like, I don't think that those two messages are the exact same. However, I see what you're saying, which is the idea that people follow them and people are like, if they can get on a plane, I can get on a plane. But I do think that I've been on set for commercials. I, I go on set with people. And so what does that mean? Like Tyler Perry flew his entire team to location and like housed them and put them up and then made them quarantine for ten days and then tried to follow protocols as best he could. And people still showed up with COVID at the beginning. And RuPaul flew in all of her clients and all of the contestants and put them in a hotel and made them quarantine for ten days before she shot the episodes as best she could. So I think that also gives breath to people being like, well, I can still put up projects and like have people COVID test a little bit. But like, are we saying that that's OK to do projects if you follow protocols? Or should like, or should all those things be removed during a time of quarantine? I guess that's what I'm saying. I think it's a weird dichotomy of like, when is it right? And when is this wrong right now? |
| Dana: Yeah, I do think that this is like, you're kind of fucked either way. Because we weren't- the government didn't do shit for us and the number one incentive to keep people at home is money. And we didn't get that. We got, what, twelve hundred dollars for how many months? And we STILL haven't gotten a second fucking check?! Like, it's DISGUSTING, truly. Like how we have been treated as citizens of this country, to be able to like- there's so many people at the food bank lines, like all of the shit that exploded and they're STILL not getting taken care of. So I totally get it. I totally understand. People need help. That's- and that's to Tina and your point: that's the larger, looming thing above us right now, is that our government didn't do shit. And is continuing to not do shit. |
| Tina: Yeah. |
| Dana: And so we're fucked. |
| Tina: Yeah. I mean, what I'm- I guess what I'm kind of like coming to a realization of as I listen to all of you talk about, because I think like- I think you're all right because it is so complex and it's-. |
| Lyonel: Like you're ALL right? Or you all are alright? |
| (Laughter) |
| Tina: All of the above |
| (Laughter and "All rights") |
| Tina: But I do- like I think that like, yes. Obviously it's fucked up in the first place that, like, we as individual people are even having to make these choices and distinctions. Because it's not our, you know? You know, going back to like capitalism, like it's not our fucking job. Should we always be framing everything in that way? Like, ideally, no. But we live in a capitalist society where, like, labor is a commodity. But I what I'm hearing is like I think if you have a large platform and you have financial security and you can reach a lot of people and you have the resources to like to not be working all the time or going out there and putting yourself in a position that might endanger other people, I think transparency is the key. I don't want to tell you, you can't do that stuff. Because like the government is saying you can. |
| Dana: We're ALL nodding. Sorry. |
| Aja: Everybody's noddinggggg |
| (Eruption of laughter) |
| Lyonel: There it is! |
| (More laughter) |
| Tina: But like, I think if you have a large following or if you have a wide reach to a lot of people, you can do what you want because the government is telling you you fucking can. It's legal, you can do it. But I think it is your responsibility to say, "These are all of the steps I took. This is how safe I'm being, like these are all of the precautions I'm taking" so that, like, people who see that, see that you're doing this thing, but also see, like, what it took for you to do it in a safe way. And I think, like, that's the missing step a lot of the time is like I don't just want the image of, like, what you're doing and how you're thriving during COVID or how you're continuing to, like, foster your business. I need to see also what you're doing to make that happen and how either hard it is, how involved it is or how easy it is, because, like, all you had to do was quarantine and you had the financial security to make that possible. Like, I don't- I don't care what the narrative is, but I need to see what you did because that yeah, that sets the example, too. But, you know, at the end of the day, too, like the precautions that have been put in place and like the kind of metrics for safety that we've been following are also set with health as the number two priority, with the economy as the number one priority. So even though, like health mandates are not set with health in mind. |
| Dana: (Laughs) Yeah. Money. |
| Tina: They're set with like health as like a second fiddle to money. Yeah. So, like even that, I always and, you know, I'm coming at this from the perspective of someone who was already kind of a hypochondriac and already- with a compromised immune system. So I already kind of had to be conscious about a lot of this stuff and like seeing the precautions that have been widely accepted. It's like, well, if I do this, then I'll be safe. Like number one: There is nothing that will one hundred percent keep you safe except staying the fuck away from people. |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Tina: And I know that's not feasible for a lot of people because we live in a society that's fucked up and capitalism is a nightmare. But like there are things you can do to make it less bad, but also like we've been fed narratives that are not keeping our best interests at mind, but keeping the interest of the economy over our personal safety. So like taking all that with a grain of salt too. Like- I don't even know what point I'm trying to make. It's just a nightmare. |
| (Laughter) |
| Dana: We're here for it, though. We're here for it. |
| Aja: Yeah. And I think. Part of that is social media, honestly. Because that's the thing, is like- that guy, it's not like he's- I mean, he has a blog. And this is a company and to be transparent, again, I have not dug super deep into what he's doing or they what they're doing and what they are putting out there. The Instagram post that I'm looking at now, some of them do say COVID, but one from like, what is this? Six days ago is like, "Here's how you can get these points and then you can be on this plane too" like it's not being like when it's safe, first of all. Second of all, how many people actually read a full caption? |
| (Laughter and ooohs) |
| Lyonel: Say that! Say that. |
| Tina: Not I! |
| (Laughter) |
| Aja: So, like even if people are being responsible and like being like, "Here's my travel plans, here's how I prepared for it." Like, it's still not enough if people aren't reading the full captions and getting the grasp. You know, social media is just I mean, social media is poison, first of all. But it's like even if- even non influencers, like people like my family who have been traveling the entire quar- taking advantage of the fact that everywhere is empty, posting that on social media and making it seem like everything's OK, like that has a ripple effect. And so, no, I don't think that- I do think that. OK. I do think that projects and people's jobs and work need to- they have to do what they have to do. And NO, I don't think that projects should shut down, if they can do it safely. And I think the TV, film and commercial industry has been doing their best with that. And I really applaud the effort that they've been, you know, what I've heard from friends that have been on set. Like you, Lyonel, and others, like they've created a whole job about around COVID compliance, which is fantastic. But it doesn't mean that I think that's a separate conversation. Like business is trying to stay open is a separate conversation from people posting on their platforms and quote unquote, influencing, other people subconsciously or consciously to be like, oh, well, they're doing it. So it's probably fine if I do it, you know? And social media is continue- like when restaurants opened here. It's like people are posting pictures on their patios. So much so that even Josh and I, who are very careful and don't go anywhere, he goes to the grocery store and I literally never leave. |
| (Laughter) |
| Aja: Like people that I don't want to say too much. But like, I know people who have been like, "Oh, I'm so excited. Like the day restaurants opened up outside, I went out to eat" and I'm like, ARE YOU NUTS?!?! |
| (Laughter) |
| Aja: THE DAY?!?! I mean, I know it's outside and people are posting pictures about masks?? And like, you know, like and I don't know, maybe they've all been quarantining together or maybe they're all vaccinated, like, I don't know. But it's just scary to me that there is so much influence out there from people who don't- who aren't taking precaution and saying like, hey, or not saying if they've taken precaution or not reading if someone else is taking precaution to like, keep each other safe. That's all I mean about the influence and like the big, big followings. |
| Lyonel: But the biggest influencer is the government. |
| Aja: The biggest Influencer is the Government. |
| Lyonel: They don't have like, an account, but the biggest influencer is the government and what they're saying-. |
| Tina: Put. That. In. Quotes! |
| Lyonel: Hello?? What they're saying is like- |
| Dana: And they're a shitty influence too. |
| (Laughter) |
| Tina: Yeah, they're bad. . |
| Aja: It was other governments. Other governments were like "You can't come here, America!". |
| Lyonel: YEAH! |
| Dana: Get your ass out of here! |
| Lyonel: They're a great influencer because what they said was like, "Open the state." And so what did we all do? Not we, but what do we do? "Oh, my God. Oh, the states are open. The restaurants are open. It's OK for me to go!" You know, we believe it. We believe it because we THINK they have our best interests at heart. |
| Tina: Yeah, because they told us it was safe, even though it was for the economy. It wasn't for our safety. |
| Dana: Right. |
| Aja: No. |
| Lyonel: The biggest Influencer I've ever seen. It's the government. |
| Aja: Did y'all see? Did y'all see that? I can't remember. I'll have to fact check myself. I saw some- some I don't know if it's a Tik Tok or whatever Tok about social media. But basically someone did the research and were like they could the government could easily give every American twelve thousand dollars. |
| Dana: Yeah! |
| Tina: Yeah. |
| Aja: By not- and not cut into our national debt, not cut into- by changing one thing, we could all have twelve thousand dollars and the government just won't do it. |
| Lyonel: Because the heart of America is to keep everyone working. Like, why would I make it easier on you if you have to, you know? Like why would I do that? |
| Aja: Ugh. That made me nauseous. |
| Tina: (Interrupting) Listen, I said it once. I've said it a million times. |
| (Laughter) |
| Tina: CAPITALISM IS EVIL! |
| Dana: Burn it down! B-b-b-burn it down! B-b-burn it down! (Laughs) |
| Lyonel: I actually would love to open up the conversation, switch it a little more towards- because now I would say that the win is that there's a vaccine on the table, right? The win are that there are three now that are on the table and being distributed. And before we open the conversation, I would love to pose the question to you three, myself included on this, but. So with vaccine in mind, should we be asking people how and why they got the vaccine? As it's rolling out? Or just like, what your thoughts are on that? |
| Aja: Like, should I be asking other people? Or like the government asking people when they go to get their vaccine? |
| Lyonel: Should we, like as we start to see people get the vaccine and the vaccine is distributed, um, should we be asking? Like there's someone we know, like, for example: Tina got the vaccine. Do we think it's appropriate for me to ask Tina how and why she got the vaccine? |
| Aja: Mind your business. |
| Lyonel: I've been seeing that question a lot, and personally, as somebody who like also. Got the vaccine and got my second dose Friday afternoon. |
| Dana: Oo-OOO!! |
| Lyonel: Right?? Oh, my God!!! |
| Tina: Pew pew! Pew pew pew!! |
| Lyone: I make this funny joke, but it's the truth. I was like, you know that Cardi B song where it's like, "Oh, park that big Mack truck right in this tiny garage"? I am the tiny garage, and that second vaccine was the big mack truck. |
| (Laughter) |
| Lyonel: I was hesitant, because after my first one, I told a few people and I was met with: How did YOU get the vaccine? Why do YOU get the vaccine? So my question. |
| Aja: Mind your business. |
| Tina: Mhmm. |
| Dana: Yeah, yeah. It's a difficult- it's a difficult thing because I think it's sometimes it is personal or sometimes it's about luck or sometimes someone's jealous that you got it before they did and you just happen to get it. And so the intention there is always not great. (Laughs) But then on the flipside of that, I think it should be up to the person. I think it should be up to the person to display that visibility, because there's a whole lot of anti-vax bullshit out there, too. So I can see the opposite of that, where the person takes the responsibility of being visible and saying, you know, I got the vaccine. I believe in science. But I think- I guess what's the point of those questions? |
| Aja: Yeah, it doesn't matter. |
| Dana: Yeah, yeah. It doesn't matter. |
| Aja: Every vaccine is- gets us closer to our country being OK, again. |
| Dana: Like we should all be vaccinated because that's what will get us out of this. So like I guess what-. |
| Aja: What is your intention with that question? Is my question. Like check yourself before you ask it. |
| Dana: Yeah. Check yourself before you ask it, because the intention there for me most of the time is is out of jealousy or frustration or like bad. It's bad, unless it's like white people that are really rich that fucking cheated the system. And- |
| Tina: And went to the south side to get vaccinated? |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Tina: Because that was happening. |
| Dana: Yeah. Took a bunch of like, you know, brow- black and brown community spots to get the vaccine. |
| Aja: (Gasps) |
| Dana: THAT pisses me the fuck off. That's like the time where I'm like, no. It happened in Chicago, it happened in Philadelphia. Like it's happening a lot of different places. So. |
| Tina: Well, OK, so I- yes, to a certain extent. I honestly- I feel like I'm going to sound like a broken record this whole episode, but I think it comes back to the same thing. The government's fucking up our vaccine rollout. |
| Aja and Dana: Yeah. Yeah. |
| Tina: And so people are getting vaccinated in I mean, in kind of a weird, bizarre order, you know? Like, chronically ill people and immunocompromised people had to wait till after some people who like they may see as like not as high risk as they are because the rollout has been a nightmare and it's much harder for certain people to get vaccinated. So I think like, it's coming out of a frustration with the way that's shaking out. And not necessarily, you know, it might manifest as anger at the individual who got vaccinated for, like, you know, feeling that they don't deserve it as much as you or, you know, they're not in as much danger as you are. But I think at the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that, like, we're mad that like, this- the rollout is not happening in a way that makes sense. |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Tina: You know? Like I'll be perfectly transparent because I don't mind people knowing, like, I got vaccinated because I work as a teacher. Like I have a teaching job. And that made me eligible. And I'm also, you know, I have a compromised immune system. So I was like, yeah, I'm going to go fucking get vaccinated because it keeps me safe. It keeps people around me safe. And it means that because the public schools in Chicago are fucking open again, which is a nightmare, like, it means that we have another line of defense when inevitably I need to step in and fill that need. Because like teachers are going to get sick because it's fucked up. Yeah, but I like and I get the frustration. |
| Aja: The government doesn't support our teachers!!! |
| Tina: Yep! |
| (Whoos, celebratory noises, and circus music humming) |
| Tina: Confetti falls from the ceiling, but it's just like- |
| Aja: COVID. |
| Dana: Shit. |
| (Uproar of laughter) |
| Dana: It's COVID. |
| Aja: I think it's jus- yeah- I- it's just- the que- and to- buh di dit dit do do! |
| Tina: (Singing) Ba da da du dat dum! |
| (Laughter) |
| Aja: Why are you asking the question? |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Aja: What- check- What are you meant? Do you? Are you genuinely curious to know? So that you might be able to get one too? Do you feel like you have something in common? Is this a learning thing for you? Or are you going to judge and are you going to be mad? If you're going to be mad, check why you want to be mad. Is it at the person? Or is it at the fucking government ? Like, check yourself before you ask that question, because you're also asking inadvertently people, like you said, it's a very personal thing. Like people could not want to share their the reasons that they're immunocompromised, they might not want to share. They're like severe like mental anxiety about it and they might not want to talk about that. And also, like, it's not. Your business. |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Lyonel: Yeah, and it really just triggered me when I saw it, because it- it's birthed of a place that is so America, which is like individualism. And it's the idea that, like, I'm successful and I'm better than you are. I'm successful. How do you have something I don't have? So I'm scrappily going to get it from you, is what the basis of that question is. Is how are you getting ahead of me and how can I catch up and then beat you? Which is a lot of what America is in its essence, you know? Even the idea of a valedictorian, even the idea- like we can't even go through a system at which, like the win is like, completion. The win is like you got the grades. It's like: who did it best? Let's establish the winner. |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Lyonel: I will say, though, y'all, with vaccines, what's interesting is, I think vaccines are the American dream. And what I mean by that, because, you know, there's always a turn. |
| (Laughter) |
| Lyonel: I don't think that- I think the reason why people love the vaccine is because America's health care system is more interested in covering up issues than actually fixing behaviors. |
| (Laughter) |
| Tina: Yep, yep, yep, yeah. |
| Aja: Yesss.. |
| Lyonel: You DON'T want to implement a mask mandate. We don't want to force rules and things like that to stabilize our culture. We do- we don't even want to give money to governments to help them facilitate changes and things like that in public health and behaviors of people. But what we DO need to do is just cover up the issue. That's why we have a drug addiction in this country. That's why we have this COVID problem in our country. We look for Band-Aids, America looking for Band-Aids all the time. Because- cause this isn't going to fix behaviors of people, right? |
| Dana: No! |
| Lyonel: People are just going to be vaccinated and able to do what they want to do. |
| Dana: Yeah, they're just trying to like and it's it's happening in politics, too. Now they just want to like kind of fix things and overlook things and put Band-Aids over shit. But like, we got to look deeper. White supremacy, COVID, like all of this shit is coming to a surface because of all of the rotten, terrible shit under it. And all that we want to do is Band-Aid all this shit. And it's just like, no. We got to look deeper, we got to look under. Because it's not going to be solved if you don't do that. |
| Lyonel: We have 4G, but I was getting my nose checked in a carnival tent, you know what I mean? It's like the idea of the vaccine. |
| (Laughter) |
| Aja: You said that and now I just am imagining you in like a tent, and there's clowns everywhere. |
| (Uproar of laughter) |
| Tina: (Still laughing) Thats it Aja! |
| Dana: Poking shit up your nose. |
| Tina:(Still laughing) That's why I can't stop laughing!!! |
| Aja: Like a car drives in and like, 30 clowns get out and they're like "THIS ISN'T COVID COMPLIANT!!" |
| (More laughter) |
| Lyonel: EWWW!! Oh my god! |
| Dana: AMERICA IS A CIRCUS!!! |
| Tina: (Starts singing carnival tune) |
| Dana: But you're right!! No, you're right! |
| Aja: (Laughing) They're like, doing the glass box thing around you. |
| Dana: It's just I couldn't get that- I couldn't get that image out of my head. (Laughs) |
| Lyonel: Like squirting flowers with water at me. Oh! This is so gross. |
| Dana: Your doctor is a clown, too. Like, he starts pulling out like (Laughs) |
| Aja: For like, ten minutes. It's just like. |
| Dana and Aja: Scarves. |
| Dana: Where is this vaccine? |
| Lyonel: It's the q-tip. That's what the q-tip felt like. Like, WHEN IS THIS OVER? |
| (Laughter) |
| Tina and Aja: Oh my God. |
| Dana: Stop it!!! |
| Lyonel: Y'all this is actually, very truthful. |
| Dana: No, you have a good point though. Like, our public health, the amount of funding that goes into our public health obviously is- is abysmal. And people have been on- . |
| Tina: And health care is privatized, too. Like, you know? . |
| Dana: Right, it's not public. |
| Tina: You were saying like, look, we have to look underneath all these problems. I know exactly what you're going to find when you look underneath. |
| Dana: Yeah (Laughs) |
| Tina: And it's capitalism. |
| Dana: (Laughing) Right. It's all the same fucking thing. |
| Tina: I just like- I and in the service, I feel like because we do have this platform and we are talking about it already, but like in the service of transparency and setting a good example, like the vaccine isn't- I mean, like, yeah, it's like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. Like it's not- it's going to like, staunch it a little bit, but it's not going to solve the whole problem. So like, once you do get vaccinated, you have to keep wearing a mask. You have to keep avoiding people until like the numbers go down far enough that like we are able to loosen restrictions. And I would say maybe don't trust based on what we've seen already, like don't trust when the government tells you it's OK to loosen restrictions because their interests are primarily not your well-being. |
| Dana: Right. |
| Tina: It's people making money. So, like, keep on the precautions once you're vaccinated because like, this is the next step. This is how we take care of each other until more of us are vaccinated, until more of us have a fighting chance. |
| Aja: Remember when they were like, let's just close everything down for like two weeks. |
| (Laughs) |
| Tina: Remember, flatten the curve? |
| Dana: A YEAR AGO. That was essentially a year ago. |
| Tina: UGHHHH |
| Lyonel: Think of what a difference if we shut everything down for two weeks. Like two weeks, if we took two weeks. Everything just stopped. |
| Dana: And people just complied. |
| Tina: If they paid people to stay home. |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Lyonel: It takes 10 days for the average person to get through it. Ten days, at Max. Two weeks? We would look like Australia, they opened up come from away. Like, you know, we talk about anti-vaxxers, but really it's like, what are they anti- against? What is it what is an anti-vaxxer actually like? Because if they don't want to- are we assuming anti-vaxxers don't want to quarantine also? |
| Tina: I don't I think they're are two separate things. |
| Aja: Yeah. |
| Lyonel: Got it. Because my question is, what's the hold up? Like, either we don't want to shut- like what's the holdup from shutting America down for two weeks? Or what's the holdup with getting everyone vaccinated? |
| Aja: I think that the anti-vaxxer thing is two separate conversations also. Because there are like anti-vaxxers who have always been anti-vaxxers, and there are people who think COVID is a hoax, so they don't want to get the vaccine, because they think it's whatever. I only know a little bit because of my friends with kids. So, like the idea- there, there's an anti -vaxxer thing- like in this, I'm not an expert by ANY means, but from what I understand and what the small amount that I've read, they're anti-vaxxers that think that the vaccines are actually harmful to their children. And people are like, oh, my kid got a vaccine and then they were diagnosed autistic, which is a whole other fucking conversation. That we don't need to get into right now. But I think that there is a fear that the government is putting something in our bodies that we don't need? For like anti-vaxxers who have always been anti-vaxxers it's like your dirty vaccines are going to ruin my children's whatever. Like it's not actually needed. It's- it's toxic to the body. If the body needed it, it would be in there already. And it's not in my family. |
| Tina: Oh, my God. |
| Aja: It's a whole thing. |
| Dana: And that movement to- truth be told, ever since inoculations or vaccines have been around, there are- there has always been an anti-vax movement. So it's not new, but it's certainly- it's certainly worse, I think now because misinformation is a whole other virus. |
| Aja: Thanks, to our government! (Laughs) |
| Tina: Yeah, well, and I think it's- I do think they're rooted in the same thing, which is like you can't tell me what to do with my body or my child's. But like, you can't you can't tell me what to do. It's the American way. Like I have freedom, America, flag, eagle like I and freedom equals I can do whatever the fuck I want and like, fuck the consequences it has on anybody else. That's the American attitude. That's American individualism. And like, I think if we had shut down, you know, for two weeks, like. Yes, that would have been super fucking helpful, but there would have still been people who were like, you can't tell me not to go anywhere. You can't tell me not to like, be around people just because, like, people think that equals freedom. Because their personal freedom is more important than taking care of the collective good because of the narrative of this country, like, you know, the narrative around colonialism, the narrative around like we discovered this. We found this. This is ours, when, like. It's based on a lie. But I think anti-vax narratives, while it's a different issue, I think people who have been on like that bandwagon since before COVID, it's still rooted in the same thing of like, you can't tell me what to do. You can't tell me what will or will not go in my child's body, which I get. But it also affects other children. It affects primarily immunocompromised children. |
| Dana: Right. |
| Tina: If you don't get your child vaccinated against the measles, your child might get the measles and be fine. They might pass it to another kid who will not be fine. Like it's not just about you and your child. I think vaccination as an issue, like we need- people are stuck in this kind of individualistic attitude about it and like I get the impulse to like not, you know, to to be in control of what goes into your body, but it's more than just about you. And the whole COVID thing is like you may get it and be fine, but someone else may not be fine. And I just think we're like this country's so far gone that we're- it's hard for us to frame anything in that context of, like, how things affect other people. Which is sad. |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Aja: And it stems, again, from the government! And we've talked about before how other countries have REALLY supported their citizens through this, through quarantining and everything. And ours just. Fucking. didn't. |
| Dana: Yeah. Because, you know, there's a rise and lack of trust in quote, unquote elites and quote, unquote government. And if you don't trust scientific studies and if you don't trust- and if you kind of lump all of that in the same, the media science, the government, all of these like entities in the same thing, then you're going to start to not trust anything that comes out of that funnel. And I think that's why there is a severe amount of misinformation that's circulates the Internet, especially in regards to vaccines as well. |
| Lyonel: (Cheerfully) Well, this seems like a very interesting point to wrap up with. |
| (Laughter) |
| Lyonel: Which is, I still think at the end of the day, personally. I think it's very important to trust science on this one. Um, just in my opinion, from the skill set, I don't have a medical degree. Like, I do have common sense and I have knowledge of things like- things that I feel like I run up against people like- give me their two cents. But like at the end of the day, I don't have a medical degree. So I'm not in the arena to tell someone that the medical- in medicine that I know more than them. So therefore I trust science that this is, we should be getting vaccinated when we have the opportunity to and while COVID's been a roller coaster, this is how we get out of it. That's my two cents. |
| Tina: Yeah, I feel like we have to prioritize the voices of people who are the most vulnerable, you know? People have been saying this since, I mean, the beginning of the pandemic. A lot of people on the disability community have been saying, like, oh, this proves that, like, I could have done this work from home. You know? Like people are making accommodations because everybody's at risk now. And it's not just me, like having to deal with you not understanding that I need this accommodation. So, I mean, in a way, I think like COVID and the whole pandemic have thrown into sharp relief like, the gaps in our system and the people that it allows to fall through the cracks. And the obvious solutions to those things. You know, like I think a lot of these problems have come to the forefront because we're all in a very vulnerable state. We're all in a state where, like our normal modes of communication and relating to each other and conducting business are not available to us. So I think like the problem solving that's come out of that has been amazing and also really depressing because it just shows like a lack of, I think, creativity and imagination in terms of the government's response. You know, the government is not listening to this, but do your fucking job! |
| Dana: I mean, they might be. My name is Omar. So. |
| Tina: (Laughing) True. |
| Dana: I don't know. I mean, I think- it's hard that we're stuck. And if you find yourself constantly thinking about yourself first before anybody else, then this is a friendly reminder to maybe think about other people and to act accordingly. And if you are finding that, you know, you don't trust scientific evidence, then look at historical evidence. That's what's so frustrating to me sometimes, because it's like if you don't trust science, then just look at our fucking history. (Laughs) Like, how do you think we got over the black plague? Or like- |
| Aja: Polio. |
| Dana: Polio! |
| Aja: Measles, mumps. |
| Dana: Or think, smallpox, things that we no longer have, because we took vaccinations. Like, come on now. Just look at our history, read a little history. |
| Aja: This isn't new. |
| Dana: It's not new. It's not a new argument. |
| Aja: None of this is new. There's always- there's been historically in you know, since it's been medically possible, a vaccine is how we've gotten over everything, your so right, Dana. Yeah, my thought is the same. Is like- if you're thinking about yourself or your only your family, like- We are tiny, tiny fucking dots on a rock flying through space in a galaxy that's inside another galaxy that's inside a sola- you know, like, we're- there's like a potentially like a multiverse, like we are so small. So please get over yourself and do the best you can while you are here. And the best you can means taking care of the people that you DON'T know because you don't know what that- what/how they're going to take care of you back. You don't know what- what how that's going to impact your family or your community down the line. Like the best thing you can do is just the best thing. Like. UGHHHHH. And also, if you think that it's a conspiracy, like, OK, so cool. If it is a conspiracy and I was wrong, then I stayed in my house to take care of people and did my best. And if I get the vaccine. |
| Dana: Right. |
| Aja: I got the vaccine and maybe I'm an idiot for getting the vaccine. But hey, I did my best because that's what the science was telling me. And if you're wrong, you are potentially responsible for the deaths of five hundred fucking thousand people in this country. |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Lyonel: Wow, that's a really great way- That's a great, great point. It's almost like calculate your conspiracy. If mine is a conspiracy. I love that. I love that, Aja! That's. That's Chef's kiss, I just kissed my hand. |
| Aja: Which side of history do you want to be on? |
| Tina and Dana: Yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Tina: And I think for the people listening, like. You know, I mean, I hope none of you all think COVID is a conspiracy, and if you do, I hope this episode fucking helped. But like, I have a feeling that like- like none of this is to say, like, don't take care of yourself and don't put, like, you know, taking care of your own health, your own well-being, your mental health at the expense of like taking care of other people. But they have to co-exist. Like, this is a time of crisis. And I think what we do as people in a time of crisis is reflective of who we are. And I think like it's going to- it sucks for all of us. Like, we're all having a hard time. But like, just know that, like coming out of this is what we- what we have to do and taking care of each other is how we do it. |
| Dana: Before we end, has anyone had any COVID dreams? Like- like I've had dreams or I've left my mask at home and I freak the fuck out. |
| Tina: Every time I have a fucking dream, like no one's in a mask and I have a panic attack about it. |
| Dana: (Laughing) What is that? Our brains are dicks! Rude. |
| Lyonel: I have a dream of never meeting my husband- never seeing my husband's face to we're at the altar. Like we want-. |
| Tina: (Amazed) Really?? |
| Aja: (Laughing) I thought you were just going to say, "I have a dream that I'm never going to meet my husband." And I- |
| (Laughter) |
| Dana: Awh, poor Lyonel! No... |
| Lyonel: This isn't funny- |
| (Laughter) |
| Lyonel: But I've had a dream where, like, literally I don't meet my husband till we- I mean, I don't see my husband's face until we're actually at the altar and I do this thing of taking our masks off. (Laughs) |
| Dana: Oh, bet you that next dream is going to be like- like Drake is tattooed on his face or something ridiculous (Laughs) |
| (Laughter) |
| Lyonel: Like, he has no teeth |
| (Laughter) |
| Tina: I will say, though, real- real quick re: masks. I hope, like masks stay a thing that we do. To take care of each other. Speaking as someone who gets sick literally all the time, someone with a compromised immune- like I would love if people continued to wear masks when they weren't feeling well. |
| Dana: Yeah. |
| Tina: That would be amazing. That would stop the spread of illness like flu season where I'm- like I hope it becomes part of our culture because it works and it's a way of taking care of people like. So, you know, I have no faith in this country for doing that once it's like no longer in people's own personal interest. But like, as someone who it does affect, that would be really great. So I don't know for something for people to keep in mind, like if you are feeling sick in the after times, maybe you have all these masks now that you spent money on all these cute little cloth masks. Wear em. |
| Aja: Keep people safe. You're a speck on a rock. |
| Dana: It's no mistake that our flu numbers, like our flu numbers are so low and it's because of masks. Like we're not getting the flu is because of masks. That's it. |
| Tina: I haven't had a cold in over a year. And that is unprecedented for me. Like, I have at least four debilitating colds a year. I haven't had one in a year, and that's why. Also, because I've been around people at all, which helps. |
| Lyonel: I haven't licked my fingers, after opening a bag of chips in honestly a year. |
| Aja: Even CHEETOS? |
| Dana: You haven't ate Cheeto dust? |
| Tina: EVEN CHEETOS?? |
| Lyonel: 20 seconds full wash. I can't even do Cheeto dust, y'all. |
| Tina: Oh God! |
| Lyonel: No Cheeto Dust whoa. Say that word five times fast. |
| Dana: (Fails) |
| Tina: (Succeeds) I have to do a hand motion with it! |
| Dana: (Starts beatboxing) |
| Lyonel: Aja, go, you're the deciding factor! Dana and I are out. (Laughs) |
| Aja: (Succeeds) |
| Dana: (Beatboxing) |
| Lyonel: (Sarcastically) Oh. Congratulations, did y'all just- |
| (Outburst of laughter) |
| Dana: He mad. Lyonel maaad. |
| Lyonel: My lips were too slow y'all. I'm so sorry. Well, I'd love to sing one song I feel like represents this day for us and we can all get on out of here. |
| Dana: OK. |
| Lyonel: I won't do my- Ugh I was going to do a Donald Trump impression. But I couldn't. |
| Dana: (Groans uncomfortably) |
| Lyonel: (Singing soulfully) Oh, beautiful for spacious skies. (Talking) I'm gonna skip it. (Singing again) A-MERRRICAAA. A-MERRRICAA. God shed his grace on me. (Talking quickly) Until next time, thanks for tuning into We The People where we like to keep it fresh, funky and always unfiltered. |
| (Laughter) |
| Lyonel: Bye now! |
| Aja: WAIT. Review and subscribe!!! |
| Dana: Yeah, right! |
| (Laughter) |
| Aja: Just like if we need something to sit on. Sit on? |
| (Laughter) |
| Aja: (Laughing) If we need something to bounce off of that's our list. |
| Lyonel: I love that it went from "sit on" to "bounce off of". They're the same dick to me. |
| (Laughter) |
| Dana: Both are dirty in my mind! |
| Lyone: Saaaame pee-paw. (Laughs) |
| (Everyone joins in) |
| Lyonel: I'd love to squat on it. |
| (Outburst of laughter) |
| Dana: We're going to do that from here on out. Every idea that we have. We're going to say, I'm going to say "I'm just going to sit on it for a second". |
| Tina: I'll squat on it for a second. |
| Lyonel: I just want to squat on it for a second. |
| Dana: Bounce around. Bouncing around. |
| Aja: I just like to move my pelvis. Around it. |
| (Laughter) |
| Lyonel: Let me just get comfortable with it for a second. |
| Aja: Let me introduce myself. |
| Tina: Let me wrap my hand around that. |
| Lyonel: Oh my God |
| (Laughter) |