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Kitschy Trip to New York City - Part 2 · I Hate Talking

• 0:29
  I Hate Talking: Welcome to episode 38 of I Hate Talking.
• 0:32
  I Hate Talking: Hi everyone.
• 0:33
  I Hate Talking: So this episode will mainly be the exciting conclusion of our kitschy trip to New York City, but before we get to that, we do have a new word or phrase of the episode, as well as just a few more details, bonus details about the trip before we get back into the rest of our timeline and description of our trip.
• 0:56
  I Hate Talking: OK, so today's word or phrase is the word epitome.
• 1:01
  I Hate Talking: OK.
• 1:02
  I Hate Talking: So this is an interesting one because if you follow normal rules of English pronunciation, you'll probably pronounce it epitome would sort of be probably what somebody that with no other contexts would perhaps attempt to pronounce this word as because of having an E at the end.
• 1:24
  I Hate Talking: So that therefore creating that O to be a long O epitome, but that is in fact completely wrong because it is pronounced epitome.
• 1:33
  I Hate Talking: I'm sure I've read it before.
• 1:36
  I Hate Talking: I can't picture it though.
• 1:38
  I Hate Talking: I can't um remember a time that I did read it.
• 1:41
  I Hate Talking: And yeah, I know the word, but I would not read that and think that's the word, unless I had to go back with context and be like, oh, that must be the word epitome.
• 1:52
  I Hate Talking: Perhaps, and I guess I missed my opportunity to see if you would have pronounced it correctly or not if you had just been reading.
• 1:58
  I Hate Talking: Oh yeah, you should have.
• 2:00
  I Hate Talking: Too late now too late now.
• 2:02
  I Hate Talking: I would have probably missed it so bad.
• 2:05
  I Hate Talking: So the definition of epitome, we will get to momentarily, but the reason that it has the long E sound at the end and also an offbeat syllable emphasis because the emphasis goes on the pit epitome is because it is of Greek origin and there are a number of Greek words that because they are from Greek that they pronounce all the vowel sounds.
• 2:36
  I Hate Talking: And there are no silent vows.
• 2:38
  I Hate Talking: OK.
• 2:39
  I Hate Talking: And this comes from the Greek word epitomma nine, which means to cut short.
• 2:45
  I Hate Talking: It's actually made up of two.
• 2:47
  I Hate Talking: Source Greek words EPA, which means in addition, and the temenine to cut.
• 2:55
  I Hate Talking: So those two words together means to cut short and is then therefore used in a way that epitome literally means the summary thing or a particular example of what something is in its longer form.
• 3:13
  I Hate Talking: So, sorry, got lost.
• 3:17
  I Hate Talking: What are the two words?
• 3:18
  I Hate Talking: So, in summary, or as an epitome description of the Greek source, there is Epa, which means in addition, and the Temenine, which means to cut, that then came to be used as the single Greek word.
• 3:36
  I Hate Talking: Apitomaine and then that became to be used within the Greek as just epitome, and that is now therefore what we use in the English.
• 3:46
  I Hate Talking: OK, epitome.
• 3:48
  I Hate Talking: Those are such hard words.
• 3:50
  I Hate Talking: Those are hard words and there's no guarantee that I'm pronouncing those correctly, but I do believe that I'm pronouncing epitome correctly because that is the English word.
• 4:00
  I Hate Talking: -- There -- you go.
• 4:00
  I Hate Talking: In full disclosure, I wanted to take Greek.
• 4:04
  I Hate Talking: My father used to teach Greek.
• 4:06
  I Hate Talking: He would not let me take his class because he knew my limitations and he knew our relationship would not benefit from it.
• 4:14
  I Hate Talking: He taught Corne Greek.
• 4:16
  I Hate Talking: So not modern day, but I'm sure he could do a way better job at this right now.
• 4:22
  I Hate Talking: That is true, so perhaps he'll listen and give us some feedback.
• 4:26
  I Hate Talking: So the reason that we're using this word epitome as our word or phrase of this episode is because the definition in the modern day usage again from our Oxford language dictionary is a person or thing that is a perfect example of a particular quality or type.
• 4:43
  I Hate Talking: Or a summary of a written work like an abstract.
• 4:47
  I Hate Talking: So you can see the source definition of the word epitome with meaning to cut.
• 4:54
  I Hate Talking: Into basically taking a larger work or a larger particular person or thing and then summarize it into the epitome or that perfect example or summary of that thing.
• 5:08
  I Hate Talking: Interesting.
• 5:09
  I Hate Talking: So I feel like When I use the word epitome, or someone else, it's saying, yeah, this is the best, like, this is the overarching, this is the goal.
• 5:19
  I Hate Talking: I never feel like it's in a sincere way.
• 5:23
  I Hate Talking: I feel like people often use it in kind of more sarcasm nowadays.
• 5:28
  I Hate Talking: Would that be true?
• 5:29
  I Hate Talking: Or do you think that it's still used very sincerely?
• 5:33
  I Hate Talking: So if you do look at some of the definitions and some of the more Actual uses of this word, you do find that it does have a perhaps slight negative context to it that that is maybe used in a cutting fashion that it is not meant as a compliment, but what we are talking about epitome and the epitome of traveling light, that perhaps it's either a neutral or maybe even positive use of the word.
• 6:02
  I Hate Talking: OK.
• 6:03
  I Hate Talking: So, as you may have learned from our previous episode, and if you have not listened to that, definitely go back and listen to that before proceeding with this episode with the fact of traveling light as well as the conclusion of our travels.
• 6:19
  I Hate Talking: But as you know from that previous episode that we all had our own single backpack that we were carrying on this trip so that we did travel light and that was because of a number of reasons described in the previous episode, namely bag fees and bag checks with all the different stops that we had, but I believe that I probably was the epitome of traveling light because I packed multiple articles of clothing that were on their last legs, so to speak, and I had no intention of bringing those home.
• 6:52
  I Hate Talking: OK, I thought that was a really great idea, but also I had such a hard time with it for me and the children, because when you're on vacation, that's when we take a lot of photos.
• 7:03
  I Hate Talking: So I wanted to look our best for the vacation.
• 7:08
  I Hate Talking: But also, we had tons of layers on because it was so cold, so you didn't even see most of our outfits, and it was fine.
• 7:17
  I Hate Talking: But I did think that it was really smart that you came home with less than you started with.
• 7:23
  I Hate Talking: Well, I don't know if that's true because we had a lot of kitschy souvenirs, so that did allow us to have some more space.
• 7:30
  I Hate Talking: That's true, you carried a lot of that for the kids because they were supposed to carry their own.
• 7:33
  I Hate Talking: Correct.
• 7:34
  I Hate Talking: I did not expect that to happen in all instances, so it was nice to have some extra space because of the pants and other articles of clothing that were left in the trash of the New York hotel room.
• 7:46
  I Hate Talking: And hopefully someone that needs them could use it.
• 7:49
  I Hate Talking: That is true.
• 7:50
  I Hate Talking: They weren't in that terrible condition that perhaps somebody that was in need of those things are now using them at this very moment.
• 7:58
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, so speaking of moments and moments within time, we now will return to the exciting conclusion of our kitschy trip to New York.
• 8:08
  I Hate Talking: And then the guy tells us, you better hurry, they're leaving in 4 minutes or you have to wait an hour.
• 8:16
  I Hate Talking: So then I'm like rushing us again.
• 8:18
  I Hate Talking: I grab your stuff, let's run.
• 8:20
  I Hate Talking: So we start running.
• 8:22
  I Hate Talking: Outside till they get to the boat.
• 8:24
  I Hate Talking: Correct.
• 8:26
  I Hate Talking: And We did not make it.
• 8:28
  I Hate Talking: We didn't.
• 8:30
  I Hate Talking: We ran so hard.
• 8:31
  I Hate Talking: Everyone did.
• 8:32
  I Hate Talking: I'm proud of all of us.
• 8:33
  I Hate Talking: But right before we got there, they took off.
• 8:36
  I Hate Talking: So there was perhaps maybe 20 people in front of us that also were in the same situation and then there was people that were queuing up behind us that again also were trying to hurry.
• 8:49
  I Hate Talking: So then we did make the decision to just camp out and wait in the cold, windy weather.
• 8:55
  I Hate Talking: Of New York City on the water for the next boat.
• 9:00
  I Hate Talking: There were some people that left and went back to their vehicles or whatever the case may be.
• 9:07
  I Hate Talking: I'm not sure if they actually ever made it on the boat because the reason that we stayed was because If you left, you had to go through security again.
• 9:15
  I Hate Talking: And if the ticket capacity had been met, they may have not let you through.
• 9:21
  I Hate Talking: Right.
• 9:22
  I Hate Talking: So you're taking a big chance.
• 9:24
  I Hate Talking: So we chose to stay there and that was a rough hour.
• 9:28
  I Hate Talking: A lot of our kids were cold.
• 9:30
  I Hate Talking: Some were having a great time.
• 9:32
  I Hate Talking: But it was just so cold and exhausting.
• 9:36
  I Hate Talking: It wasn't the best hour we had.
• 9:37
  I Hate Talking: But then the boat did arrive and we're able to board the said boat and that is where we purchased a number of kitschy souvenir items including the sunglasses and Statue of Liberty figure and Oh, -- and a duck that says I love -- Liberty duck.
• 9:56
  I Hate Talking: Yes, there you go.
• 9:57
  I Hate Talking: That's right.
• 9:58
  I Hate Talking: Yes.
• 9:59
  I Hate Talking: And I think some people got candy.
• 10:01
  I Hate Talking: We feel better, we're warmer in the boat.
• 10:03
  I Hate Talking: So we're not on the boat till 11 o'clock at this point.
• 10:06
  I Hate Talking: And so even that was stressful then, like, oh, we are an hour behind schedule.
• 10:12
  I Hate Talking: And we thought Precisely, and the first stop from the New Jersey side is Ellis Island, and we opted to skip that because there wasn't necessarily any particular historical significance for our family because our families either did not immigrate through Ellis Island or even immigrated before formalized immigration through -- that channel or -- maybe they were born here or maybe they were so always.
• 10:41
  I Hate Talking: That's true, I guess.
• 10:43
  I Hate Talking: So then we arrived on the Statue of Liberty Island, I guess that is known as Liberty Island, is that correct?
• 10:51
  I Hate Talking: I don't actually know the name of the island.
• 10:54
  I Hate Talking: I don't, I don't know it either.
• 10:56
  I Hate Talking: We were there though.
• 10:58
  I Hate Talking: We were there.
• 10:59
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, so we stayed on, we enjoyed ourselves.
• 11:02
  I Hate Talking: Everyone really loved the boat ride, and it was so fun watching the kids' expressions as we got closer to the Statue of Liberty.
• 11:10
  I Hate Talking: Like, this was what they really wanted to see.
• 11:12
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, we have so many photos and it was such a pleasant, so enjoyable.
• 11:17
  I Hate Talking: I'm so glad we did it.
• 11:18
  I Hate Talking: Liberty Island.
• 11:19
  I Hate Talking: I was, I knew that I had read a sign as a good homeschooler and that was why I remembered that.
• 11:26
  I Hate Talking: All right.
• 11:27
  I Hate Talking: There you go.
• 11:29
  I Hate Talking: So then we got off and everyone's super stoked that we are on Liberty Island.
• 11:34
  I Hate Talking: And we enjoyed our time there and then we also went into the platform.
• 11:41
  I Hate Talking: We did not get tickets.
• 11:42
  I Hate Talking: I don't even know if we were able to get tickets for the crown and then obviously, in this day and age, they don't let any people up into the torch.
• 11:51
  I Hate Talking: So we only were able to go to the platform.
• 11:56
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, so the crowns months in advance.
• 11:59
  I Hate Talking: I actually looked 2 months out.
• 12:02
  I Hate Talking: And it was all sold out already.
• 12:04
  I Hate Talking: There's maybe a couple slight times that were very inconvenient.
• 12:09
  I Hate Talking: Uh, yeah, it sells out, I think they said like 6 months or something like that in advance usually.
• 12:14
  I Hate Talking: But the platform sells out too often.
• 12:17
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, we did get to go to the platform.
• 12:19
  I Hate Talking: That was really awesome.
• 12:20
  I Hate Talking: But to go to the platform or the crown, you cannot take any baggage at all.
• 12:27
  I Hate Talking: So you have to buy a locker and store all your stuff there, which we did, and did the platform and had a good time and looked at all the sites that you could see from the elevated position of the platform of Statue of Liberty and went through a number of the museums and gift shops that were located there as well.
• 12:49
  I Hate Talking: But then we left without our bag, which I guess you, -- I knew that I had -- on my part.
• 12:56
  I Hate Talking: I would not have been intentional.
• 12:57
  I Hate Talking: I forgot about it.
• 12:59
  I Hate Talking: No, I was like, well, this is nice, you don't have to walk around with it.
• 13:05
  I Hate Talking: Let's enjoy the rest of the island and then come back.
• 13:08
  I Hate Talking: And if I had remembered it, I would not have left without it because I would not mind carrying it around and I actually sprinted from the dock back to the baggage station, back to the dock because there was a possibility that our boat was there and departing soon.
• 13:27
  I Hate Talking: Right, you thought that our boat was leaving and you were like, take him on the boat.
• 13:31
  I Hate Talking: I was like, we're not getting on the boat without you.
• 13:34
  I Hate Talking: And I also didn't think that was our boat.
• 13:36
  I Hate Talking: Then I trusted you, so then I got confused, like, is this our boat?
• 13:40
  I Hate Talking: But it wasn't.
• 13:41
  I Hate Talking: It wasn't.
• 13:42
  I Hate Talking: And this is where the 2017 information from AI got me all bent out of shape because it said that that was the boat that we needed to be on, but it was not.
• 13:52
  I Hate Talking: That was the boat that was departing to the New York side, whereas we needed the boat that was arriving later and going to the New Jersey side.
• 14:00
  I Hate Talking: Right.
• 14:01
  I Hate Talking: So once again, you rushed and then we got to our proper boat and just waited for another 20 minutes, half hour.
• 14:09
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, we did have a nice spot outside of the wind that was protected.
• 14:13
  I Hate Talking: And then at a certain point a number of people started queuing up, so we joined that line in the cold wind and waited there for a few minutes and then we're able to enjoy the boat ride from Liberty Island back to our rental car.
• 14:26
  I Hate Talking: Yeah.
• 14:27
  I Hate Talking: So our next adventure was to get to New York City.
• 14:30
  I Hate Talking: And so we were going to take the rental car.
• 14:32
  I Hate Talking: It was gonna be like perfect timing for how long it took.
• 14:36
  I Hate Talking: To drive into the city for our hotel to be ready.
• 14:40
  I Hate Talking: So perfect.
• 14:41
  I Hate Talking: Like finally something's good, right?
• 14:44
  I Hate Talking: So we get some lunch and you drop us off at our hotel and our room is not ready.
• 14:50
  I Hate Talking: -- So then the kids -- and I, the room was not ready yet, though it actually was, there's a story behind this.
• 14:57
  I Hate Talking: So continue.
• 14:58
  I Hate Talking: So yeah, so we didn't think our room was ready.
• 15:02
  I Hate Talking: You dropped us off and we're going to go return the car.
• 15:05
  I Hate Talking: And I stayed in the hotel with the kids just for less walking.
• 15:08
  I Hate Talking: We were exhausted.
• 15:10
  I Hate Talking: So we camped out in the lobby and some of them fell asleep and we waited for about an hour, hour and a half.
• 15:18
  I Hate Talking: Hm, I don't think it was that long.
• 15:19
  I Hate Talking: Maybe it felt that long to you.
• 15:20
  I Hate Talking: I think it was less than that, but I did have to drive the car from the hotel where I dropped you off to the rental return, which was a different.
• 15:30
  I Hate Talking: To return, obviously not back at the Newark airport.
• 15:33
  I Hate Talking: So we did actually somehow get that transfer for free with the car rental company, which sometimes they charge an extra fee for that, but they did not in this case, that was good and dropped off the car, which I did have to go around the block one extra time because of the one-way street.
• 15:48
  I Hate Talking: I don't think that added a lot of extra time, but then I did have to walk from the rental car location back to the hotel.
• 15:55
  I Hate Talking: And that did take a little while, and when I arrived at the front desk to inquire why the room was not ready with our digital key, because that was our plan also to bypass the front desk.
• 16:10
  I Hate Talking: They said that the room we had selected with our digital key was not available because there was some maintenance issue and they had to check with us to reassign us to a new room.
• 16:23
  I Hate Talking: So we actually could have checked in perhaps maybe you didn't even know this until right now.
• 16:29
  I Hate Talking: I'm learning this right now.
• 16:30
  I Hate Talking: I just didn't think they did it anymore or something.
• 16:33
  I Hate Talking: Right.
• 16:33
  I Hate Talking: And perhaps it was an excuse of the front desk person.
• 16:37
  I Hate Talking: I have no idea, but.
• 16:38
  I Hate Talking: We did have a room immediately available to us as soon as I inquired.
• 16:42
  I Hate Talking: So, perhaps that was the true reason.
• 16:44
  I Hate Talking: I have no reason to believe otherwise, but nonetheless, we were able to then get into our second and final hotel room of the trip.
• 16:54
  I Hate Talking: Right.
• 16:54
  I Hate Talking: And then by this point, all the kids want to do is sleep in the beds.
• 16:58
  I Hate Talking: But we only have one night in New York City, so we agreed to let them sleep for a little while or just watch TV or whatnot.
• 17:07
  I Hate Talking: And no, we were gonna go out for dinner and see all the Christmas lights.
• 17:11
  I Hate Talking: We only have one night here.
• 17:13
  I Hate Talking: Precisely.
• 17:14
  I Hate Talking: And we did just that.
• 17:16
  I Hate Talking: We went and saw the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and recreated some photos from when we were there pre-kids and went and saw some of the downtown Times Square area with the lights and all the Christmas decorations there as well in the nightlife of New York City.
• 17:37
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, and one of the other things they really wanted to do was see the Lego store.
• 17:41
  I Hate Talking: And they close at 8 p.m.
• 17:44
  I Hate Talking: So, again, we're looking at the clock like we gotta hurry if you want to go to the Lego store.
• 17:50
  I Hate Talking: So that was actually one of the motivating factors to get them out and about was we got to go because they're closing soon.
• 17:57
  I Hate Talking: And we stayed until they closed.
• 18:00
  I Hate Talking: We did, and when we arrived there, there was actually a line because they have to control how many people are in the building.
• 18:07
  I Hate Talking: And we saw that line and we're like, oh no, but it was actually only like 5 people deep, so that was actually not a very large delay.
• 18:15
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I was worried though that we would not get in in time.
• 18:19
  I Hate Talking: So we saw Times Square at night.
• 18:21
  I Hate Talking: We saw the Rockefeller tree and we saw the Legos, and then we also ate hundreds of hot dogs.
• 18:27
  I Hate Talking: So that's an exaggeration, but yes, we had so many hot dogs from those little stands.
• 18:34
  I Hate Talking: And then we did get back to our hotel yet again and then promptly went to bed because we had yet another appointment in the morning for ice skating.
• 18:43
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, 7 a.m. once again for ice skating at Bryant Park.
• 18:48
  I Hate Talking: So we got to do that and I think that all went relatively on schedule.
• 18:54
  I Hate Talking: I think we walk there, maybe there's a little bit of rushing to get ready in the morning, but nothing really outside the norm.
• 19:01
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, the Russian was to wake everyone up.
• 19:03
  I Hate Talking: No one wanted to get up.
• 19:05
  I Hate Talking: They were tired.
• 19:06
  I Hate Talking: And by this point, they're exhausted and so sleepy because we're up another late night.
• 19:12
  I Hate Talking: Uh most of them were like, just go without me.
• 19:15
  I Hate Talking: I refused to go without anyone.
• 19:17
  I Hate Talking: We got up and went.
• 19:19
  I Hate Talking: And we went and we checked in and we were like the first ones there, maybe not the first, but like maybe there's only like 1010 people in front of us.
• 19:28
  I Hate Talking: So we were some of the very first people on the ice for that particular session.
• 19:33
  I Hate Talking: So that all went, I think, relatively smoothly, except for the fact that not all the kids were all that skilled at ice skating.
• 19:39
  I Hate Talking: -- It -- was their first time, none of them had ever skated before.
• 19:42
  I Hate Talking: And it was an experience, a lot of falls.
• 19:47
  I Hate Talking: But they were troopers and they had uh those little push chains they got to use.
• 19:52
  I Hate Talking: So it was an experience.
• 19:53
  I Hate Talking: It was fun.
• 19:55
  I Hate Talking: And then from there, after the skating, we went to some more kitsy souvenir shops and got hot chocolate and I think that was about it, and then perhaps headed back to the hotel to rest up and get ready for the, our trip home.
• 20:12
  I Hate Talking: Yes.
• 20:12
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:13
  I Hate Talking: So that worked out so well.
• 20:15
  I Hate Talking: You went back to Times Square.
• 20:16
  I Hate Talking: Yes.
• 20:17
  I Hate Talking: One of our sweet children apparently the night prior saw his souvenir he wanted, and he did mention it that night to us, and then he's like, but I'm gonna wait cause maybe there's something better.
• 20:32
  I Hate Talking: Well, apparently Saturday morning comes and he really still wanted it from that store.
• 20:38
  I Hate Talking: So we all first started trekking out that way and then realizing everyone's so tired, it's taking forever.
• 20:45
  I Hate Talking: So you took the little ones back and I took him to go back to the store.
• 20:51
  I Hate Talking: And we finally get there to find out the store doesn't open for another hour.
• 20:56
  I Hate Talking: We're like, oh no.
• 20:58
  I Hate Talking: So, that souvenir was not obtained and there was actually probably a better souvenir that was found later on.
• 21:05
  I Hate Talking: So that worked out nonetheless, but that was yet another sort of rabbit trail that we took during the trip.
• 21:13
  I Hate Talking: Then we were all back together at the hotel and ready to begin our trip home.
• 21:19
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, so we loaded up and packed up, and we walked down to Macy's, and we got to see Macy's and the Empire State Building, and all that was great.
• 21:28
  I Hate Talking: And then we were going to get on the train to go home.
• 21:31
  I Hate Talking: And we stopped at McDonald's.
• 21:32
  I Hate Talking: Yes.
• 21:33
  I Hate Talking: Well, so, again, for rushing, we knew the times of the trains and you wanted to get there for a certain train.
• 21:40
  I Hate Talking: So then we find out that our airplane is delayed.
• 21:44
  I Hate Talking: So we're like, well, it's delayed, so we can take a little bit longer at Macy's and stuff like that.
• 21:51
  I Hate Talking: So, we still had a little bit of time, so we went to McDonald's and had lunch.
• 21:55
  I Hate Talking: And do I get to hear what happened now at McDonald's cause you haven't told me yet.
• 22:00
  I Hate Talking: This episode is going far longer than we expected, so I'm not sure.
• 22:05
  I Hate Talking: Maybe we'll have to save that for the next episode or bonus content.
• 22:09
  I Hate Talking: Something happened in McDonald's and he won't, he was like, I'll tell you on the pod, and I have, I've been weighty.
• 22:16
  I Hate Talking: Or do we want to do it now and then break this up into a two-parter.
• 22:20
  I Hate Talking: Whatever you want to do.
• 22:22
  I Hate Talking: So, yes, Cliffhanger, I will tell the McDonald's story at the very end of this episode.
• 22:31
  I Hate Talking: But before we do, we'll talk about the train and our delays because the plane was delayed a certain amount of time and we thought we had extra time and then the plane was moved up.
• 22:42
  I Hate Talking: So it's still delayed, but it was actually earlier by maybe 20 minutes I think.
• 22:47
  I Hate Talking: So then we were concerned that perhaps they were gonna move it up even further or even revise it to the original scheduled time.
• 22:54
  I Hate Talking: So that was also in the back of our mind that was a little bit of a concern.
• 22:58
  I Hate Talking: And then I think.
• 22:59
  I Hate Talking: As a traveler, I have pretty good understanding of airports and ground transportation and even in other countries can understand where to go for like terminals or again sort of like taxi stations or ground transportation stations or whatever the case may be, train stations, especially maybe in the East Coast.
• 23:23
  I Hate Talking: I have no clue what I'm doing.
• 23:25
  I Hate Talking: You know, it was so overwhelming.
• 23:28
  I Hate Talking: And we kept looking online and trying to read everything, and everyone's just pushing there.
• 23:34
  I Hate Talking: It was so stressful.
• 23:35
  I Hate Talking: So finally, I was like, you keep the kids here against this wall.
• 23:40
  I Hate Talking: And I was like, I'm just gonna go play dumb.
• 23:42
  I Hate Talking: I knew that they have to have this kind of question all the time, right?
• 23:45
  I Hate Talking: So I went to one of the workers and just said, I don't know what I'm doing.
• 23:50
  I Hate Talking: I need to get to Newark Airport.
• 23:51
  I Hate Talking: Can you help me?
• 23:52
  I Hate Talking: And he was so helpful.
• 23:54
  I Hate Talking: I tell him how old our kids are and how many tickets we need and all that kind of stuff.
• 23:59
  I Hate Talking: He's so helpful.
• 24:00
  I Hate Talking: Tells me how much it costs and what ticket to go, and he goes, they're 40 now.
• 24:03
  I Hate Talking: I was like, oh, no.
• 24:05
  I Hate Talking: And I was like, well, what's the next one?
• 24:07
  I Hate Talking: And he was really confused.
• 24:08
  I Hate Talking: Like, don't you want to go now?
• 24:09
  I Hate Talking: I was like, Yeah, but I have to go get my family.
• 24:11
  I Hate Talking: Do I have time?
• 24:12
  I Hate Talking: He's like, Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 24:12
  I Hate Talking: Just hurry.
• 24:13
  I Hate Talking: So I pay him, get our tickets, and I run back to you.
• 24:17
  I Hate Talking: I'm like, hurry, let's go.
• 24:18
  I Hate Talking: They're boarding now.
• 24:20
  I Hate Talking: So we all get up and run to the, where he told us to go.
• 24:23
  I Hate Talking: And he was so helpful and it worked out.
• 24:25
  I Hate Talking: It did work out and we did get on the train that I had wanted to get to, which was like the blue line or something to take the Penn Station to the Newark terminal and then transfer to the air train so that we could go from the train and ground transportation station to the terminal station.
• 24:45
  I Hate Talking: But nothing was labeled in that accord.
• 24:48
  I Hate Talking: It was not.
• 24:48
  I Hate Talking: Nothing followed the AI answer.
• 24:50
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, well, we knew we needed to get on the blue line, but nothing corresponded to the blue line on any of the screens within the stations.
• 24:58
  I Hate Talking: It was all just like station numbers and station destinations, which did not make any sense to me.
• 25:05
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, but we, even once we got on the train, we had several minutes.
• 25:10
  I Hate Talking: I was like, uh, we like ran.
• 25:12
  I Hate Talking: Now we're just catching our breath, but we were there.
• 25:15
  I Hate Talking: So we were some of the later people to board the train because we didn't have seats, but apparently that's not a problem.
• 25:22
  I Hate Talking: I guess they allow people to stand on the train and we did depart and then at the next stop or two, many people did depart from the train and we did get some seats and we did get to have our tickets punched.
• 25:37
  I Hate Talking: So that was a fun experience for the kids, -- I -- think.
• 25:40
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I like that um.
• 25:41
  I Hate Talking: Another thing that one of our kids really wanted to do, like the Polar Express, how they punch it and they get the ticket back.
• 25:47
  I Hate Talking: So there was a concern that we would not get the ticket back because she was collecting the tickets and there was another gentleman later at the transfer station that was collecting tickets, which makes sense because if you're a frequent commuter, you're not going to want to keep the ticket and dispose of it later.
• 26:02
  I Hate Talking: You would want just the person to take the ticket if you have no need of it.
• 26:05
  I Hate Talking: But we were able to ask the person if we could keep the ticket, and they, I think, looked at us like tourists and allowed us to keep the ticket.
• 26:15
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, I'm sure we weren't the first to ask, but yes, it was a very touristy thing too.
• 26:19
  I Hate Talking: And some of the kids fell asleep on the train, so that was also, I think I carried some of them from the train to the next train.
• 26:28
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, well, you carried the bags.
• 26:29
  I Hate Talking: I carried them.
• 26:30
  I Hate Talking: I was so tired.
• 26:32
  I Hate Talking: I don't even remember.
• 26:33
  I Hate Talking: Yes, but you carried our bags while I carried them, and yes, we got to the 2nd train, got on that.
• 26:39
  I Hate Talking: So then we got on the air train from the training ground transportation terminal to our terminal and went through security, which I think that was relatively easy as well.
• 26:51
  I Hate Talking: Security went well and then we got to our gate, which we knew was going to be delayed, so no major issues there and knew that it was gonna be a late night of arriving in our home airport and driving home, but By that point, we were already aware that that was going to be the situation.
• 27:14
  I Hate Talking: And knew that I would just walk to the car to retrieve the car and pick you up at the terminal so that we do not all have to do the walk because of our parking lot issues at the start of the trip.
• 27:28
  I Hate Talking: Right, yeah.
• 27:29
  I Hate Talking: The wait was longer than we expected still, but I think we did all the activities we wanted to do on vacation.
• 27:37
  I Hate Talking: It was like that relief of like, we did it, it was successful, and we're just gonna camp out and wait.
• 27:44
  I Hate Talking: And then we got on the delayed airplane, and again, that flight was relatively uneventful.
• 27:50
  I Hate Talking: I think there were some people that slept, some that still had the energy to stay awake during the plane ride.
• 27:56
  I Hate Talking: And then we landed and we were like, yes, we're back, we're ready to go, and we deboarded and then we're promptly told to get in yet another line.
• 28:06
  I Hate Talking: And it was so disappointing because we thought we were done.
• 28:10
  I Hate Talking: But we had to take that transfer bus from the satellite terminal back to the main terminal that we had forgotten about.
• 28:17
  I Hate Talking: But I think we got on the very first one and we were on our way.
• 28:21
  I Hate Talking: So once again, the lady was like, hurry, and we're like running to get on there right before it left.
• 28:27
  I Hate Talking: Yes, so we did not have to wait, other people did.
• 28:30
  I Hate Talking: So once again, we ran and got on the bus and got to the main airport.
• 28:35
  I Hate Talking: And then do we stop on the way home from the airport to get McDonald's again.
• 28:40
  I Hate Talking: OK, so we were hungry.
• 28:43
  I Hate Talking: We were all sort of out of sorts because of all the delays and time zone changes and odd sleep schedules, but we stopped at McDonald's yet again.
• 28:52
  I Hate Talking: Yes, 2 McDonald's in one day sounds like a perfect vacation.
• 28:56
  I Hate Talking: And then made it home in a total of 56 hours.
• 29:00
  I Hate Talking: Yeah.
• 29:00
  I Hate Talking: It was so exhausting.
• 29:02
  I Hate Talking: And it was just so crazy how every time it was like a rush, rush, oh wait, never mind.
• 29:08
  I Hate Talking: Now you're late.
• 29:09
  I Hate Talking: But everything worked out.
• 29:11
  I Hate Talking: We did everything we wanted to do, and I had the best time.
• 29:16
  I Hate Talking: I loved it.
• 29:17
  I Hate Talking: Very good.
• 29:18
  I Hate Talking: So, wait, did you love it?
• 29:20
  I Hate Talking: I did love it, though I had the strangest experience in the McDonald's bathroom.
• 29:25
  I Hate Talking: Hey, I can't wait to hear about this.
• 29:27
  I Hate Talking: You were in there for so long.
• 29:29
  I Hate Talking: We waited, so we get your seats.
• 29:31
  I Hate Talking: And again, it's really hard to find seats, right, at a McDonald's in New York City.
• 29:37
  I Hate Talking: So I was glad we have a table.
• 29:38
  I Hate Talking: I sat down to place our orders waiting for you cause you're like, I have to go.
• 29:42
  I Hate Talking: I'll be back.
• 29:43
  I Hate Talking: So finally, after a long time, I text you or call you and I'm like, do you want me to order food for you?
• 29:48
  I Hate Talking: We're waiting.
• 29:49
  I Hate Talking: And then you're like, order without me, it'll be a while.
• 29:53
  I Hate Talking: So I wanna know, and then he wouldn't tell me what happened.
• 29:57
  I Hate Talking: Precisely.
• 29:58
  I Hate Talking: So, as you said, it's downtown, this is right outside of Penn Station.
• 30:03
  I Hate Talking: There's a lot of people, there's difficulty even in finding seats.
• 30:07
  I Hate Talking: The bathrooms are security controlled because obviously they don't want people to go in there and whatever, they only want to give out the security code and the key code to paying customers.
• 30:21
  I Hate Talking: And I think there was another gentleman that was waiting on the restroom that knew the code, so he gave me the code because you had not ordered yet or retrieved the code and maybe it wasn't even printed on the receipt or anything.
• 30:35
  I Hate Talking: And he didn't speak English as a primary language, so it's a little bit hard to understand him.
• 30:40
  I Hate Talking: So he was a foreigner, tourist as well, I suppose, and told me the numbers 24, 5, is that what it was?
• 30:50
  I Hate Talking: No, but I don't know what the men's was.
• 30:53
  I Hate Talking: Whatever you told me the men's was, the woman's was the same numbers, but a different order.
• 30:58
  I Hate Talking: Yeah, it was weird.
• 30:59
  I Hate Talking: And I heard that conversation too, cause there was somebody telling And for the woman's, and he said the same thing that it's the same numbers but a separate order.
• 31:09
  I Hate Talking: -- It's like 7420 -- or something like that, yes, so we shouldn't be telling the McDonald's.
• 31:16
  I Hate Talking: Well, we, yeah, we don't even remember what it is.
• 31:18
  I Hate Talking: We know it was four digits.
• 31:19
  I Hate Talking: But anyway, so I tried that code.
• 31:22
  I Hate Talking: It doesn't work, try it again, it doesn't work.
• 31:24
  I Hate Talking: So then the McDonald's worker is on like some sort of power trip because he has the code and he knows that I need the code.
• 31:33
  I Hate Talking: And he's like trying to tell me the code but not really trying to tell me the code.
• 31:38
  I Hate Talking: I don't understand what the deal was.
• 31:41
  I Hate Talking: Like a riddle or like a math problem.
• 31:44
  I Hate Talking: I'm not sure.
• 31:45
  I Hate Talking: I think he was like, maybe, maybe he was legitimately trying to know.
• 31:49
  I Hate Talking: And if you order, if I, if you ordered 4 Macs and 2 large fries, like that kind of thing.
• 31:57
  I Hate Talking: Right, so, and I guess probably maybe within like their policy they're not allowed to type it in for people.
• 32:03
  I Hate Talking: -- So you -- just tell them my wife's ordering the food right now and I'm using the bathroom.
• 32:07
  I Hate Talking: I don't know.
• 32:08
  I Hate Talking: That's what we were doing.
• 32:10
  I Hate Talking: That is true.
• 32:10
  I Hate Talking: You were a paying customer.
• 32:12
  I Hate Talking: OK, go on.
• 32:14
  I Hate Talking: And eventually, like I had the 3 digits correct, but they were the last 3 digits of the 4 digit code.
• 32:21
  I Hate Talking: So I think he saw this and then like realized that either he could just release his power play or that I was a legitimate customer.
• 32:31
  I Hate Talking: So then he informed me by like pointing at the number pad that I was missing the first digit.
• 32:37
  I Hate Talking: Which was a 0, which I will probably never forget that for the rest of my life.
• 32:41
  I Hate Talking: I don't remember the last three digits that I was trying to type in, but the very first digit was 0 and then entered the three digits that at the time, I did know, and that unlocked the door.
• 32:52
  I Hate Talking: doing that.
• 32:54
  I Hate Talking: So that 1015 minutes you were gone was because you were, couldn't open the door.
• 33:01
  I Hate Talking: No, I was gone at least 30 minutes and that was only probably about 5 minutes of this interchange because the.
• 33:08
  I Hate Talking: The foreigner was there and he was using the restroom and -- then came out and informed me of -- the door for you.
• 33:16
  I Hate Talking: Just hold it open.
• 33:16
  I Hate Talking: I don't know.
• 33:17
  I Hate Talking: There was, I think that also may have been like the foreign thing like it's not proper to hold doors or like he thought, I don't know, -- you can't let you in because you're not paying -- paying customer.
• 33:27
  I Hate Talking: He thought maybe he was going to be breaking American law and would -- get arrested in New York City and -- there's security guard standing there.
• 33:34
  I Hate Talking: So then I'm in the restroom.
• 33:38
  I Hate Talking: There is one urinal and one stall.
• 33:42
  I Hate Talking: I need to use one.
• 33:45
  I Hate Talking: So when did I call you?
• 33:46
  I Hate Talking: What part?
• 33:48
  I Hate Talking: Have I called you yet?
• 33:49
  I Hate Talking: In, when you called me, I was inside the restroom.
• 33:52
  I Hate Talking: I had bypassed the security code and was waiting for my turn for the stall.
• 33:58
  I Hate Talking: Because otherwise you could have had me just talk to the McDonald's guy like I am on the app right now, sir.
• 34:03
  I Hate Talking: OK, go on.
• 34:03
  I Hate Talking: So then there's a gentleman inside the stall, and I don't know how long it was, but at least 10 minutes.
• 34:11
  I Hate Talking: And Still waiting.
• 34:14
  I Hate Talking: So I'm like, then I'm like, this is ridiculous.
• 34:17
  I Hate Talking: So I knocked on the door and said something to the effect of, are you soon done, buddy?
• 34:21
  I Hate Talking: And there's no response.
• 34:23
  I Hate Talking: And nothing gets this gentleman, I think perhaps was.
• 34:28
  I Hate Talking: On the spectrum or something perhaps nonverbal.
• 34:33
  I Hate Talking: I got down on his hands and knees and peered at me from underneath the door.
• 34:38
  I Hate Talking: And did not make a sound.
• 34:42
  I Hate Talking: And then sort of just retreated.
• 34:47
  I Hate Talking: And I was at a loss for what I should do in that situation.
• 34:52
  I Hate Talking: So I continue to wait because this was sort of my only option, I think at that point because there were maybe other places of business or public areas but was going to probably run into the same issue with it being Secure and would need some sort of passcode or whatever the case may be.
• 35:14
  I Hate Talking: So I was committed to continuing to wait.
• 35:16
  I Hate Talking: Were you really nervous?
• 35:18
  I Hate Talking: I'd be so scared at this point, like, about my safety.
• 35:22
  I Hate Talking: No, I was not particularly concerned.
• 35:25
  I Hate Talking: He was very well kept.
• 35:27
  I Hate Talking: There was no particular danger that I sensed from this particular child.
• 35:32
  I Hate Talking: Now he was a grown adult, but yes, more childish in nature, I suppose.
• 35:37
  I Hate Talking: OK, so then this continues for another few minutes, I guess, and then this gentleman exits the stall and I proceed to.
• 35:50
  I Hate Talking: Utilize the facility there.
• 35:53
  I Hate Talking: And during this time, I guess perhaps this gentleman's curiosity, it's the best of him, and he again.
• 35:59
  I Hate Talking: Go down on all fours and peers underneath the stall.
• 36:03
  I Hate Talking: Oh no, see that's what I'm scared of.
• 36:05
  I Hate Talking: And not really an issue.
• 36:09
  I Hate Talking: I'm taking care of what needs to be taken care of from a business perspective.
• 36:13
  I Hate Talking: So, go about my business and that it's just one quick glance and then he returns to whatever he's doing outside.
• 36:22
  I Hate Talking: And then By this time, I think there's another person that enters into the restroom and they are also waiting on the set facility, so.
• 36:33
  I Hate Talking: -- There's only one stall -- stall in the men's room.
• 36:36
  I Hate Talking: OK, 11 urinal, one stall.
• 36:40
  I Hate Talking: OK, y'all are needing the stall, OK.
• 36:44
  I Hate Talking: So then I exit and then the gentleman that was in there to begin with, apparently wants to go back in there.
• 36:52
  I Hate Talking: But the first two.
• 36:55
  I Hate Talking: The new person that is here and they go, use it, and then the gentleman goes to the sink and has like stuff laid out, so it's very strange because what kind of stuff like a shaving kit, like a travel bag type thing.
• 37:10
  I Hate Talking: And he's extremely well kept, like pristine, a white sweatshirt that is not stained in any form or fashion.
• 37:18
  I Hate Talking: So he's crawling on the bathroom even though he's crawling in the bathroom.
• 37:21
  I Hate Talking: And then I asked him if he can excuse himself so I can use the sink because it looks like he's set up again for like the long haul at the sink station here and again nonverbal but sort of just motions that I can do that and I wash up and then depart and then wished in my mind good luck to the gentleman who was still in there with him.
• 37:46
  I Hate Talking: Good luck.
• 37:47
  I Hate Talking: Oh my goodness.
• 37:50
  I Hate Talking: OK, it's better.
• 37:51
  I Hate Talking: It is better than I expected.
• 37:54
  I Hate Talking: It also works.
• 37:55
  I Hate Talking: I was really worried when you, I called and I was like, are we waiting for you?
• 38:01
  I Hate Talking: Do you want me to order?
• 38:02
  I Hate Talking: You were like, it's gonna be a while.
• 38:06
  I Hate Talking: I was like, 00, what happened?
• 38:08
  I Hate Talking: I was afraid that there was like an explosion or like a leak or I don't know.
• 38:13
  I Hate Talking: But you came back clean and didn't seem distressed.
• 38:17
  I Hate Talking: Then I also thought like, maybe you're sick.
• 38:19
  I Hate Talking: Like we had a lot of street hot dogs.
• 38:21
  I Hate Talking: Maybe you got sick and shoot, this is gonna be really hard to fly home ill.
• 38:25
  I Hate Talking: But you just had a really friendly neighbor.
• 38:29
  I Hate Talking: I did.
• 38:30
  I Hate Talking: And then one of the kids had to go to the restroom, and that is precisely the reason that I said that you could take him.
• 38:35
  I Hate Talking: I mean, well, I, yeah, again, I thought maybe the bathroom was really gross or something, or the creeper guys, I guess, maybe.
• 38:45
  I Hate Talking: I interesting.
• 38:47
  I Hate Talking: The worker, was the worker still there when you left?
• 38:49
  I Hate Talking: The worker was not inside the restroom.
• 38:51
  I Hate Talking: He was just sort of floating out there.
• 38:53
  I Hate Talking: I think he's maybe like a person that would clean up the tables and bust the tables and monitor for the restrooms.
• 38:59
  I Hate Talking: And it, it seemed like he maybe knew this person and this was like not a occurrence.
• 39:03
  I Hate Talking: So maybe there was some sort of deal he did know him.
• 39:07
  I Hate Talking: Maybe he did know him and he was trying to protect him.
• 39:09
  I Hate Talking: He's like, are you a creeper?
• 39:10
  I Hate Talking: Why do you want to go in where my buddy is?
• 39:12
  I Hate Talking: I gotta protect him.
• 39:13
  I Hate Talking: There you go.
• 39:15
  I Hate Talking: I'm the creeper.
• 39:15
  I Hate Talking: Exactly.
• 39:17
  I Hate Talking: All right, so from your friends at I hate Talking, until next time, remember, it is only through talking that we begin the journey to understanding.