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Saving a Stranger on the Subway: A 15-Minute Turnaround · D-constructing Topics

• 0:00
  What's going on, everybody? And what's going on, folks? My name is David,
• 0:04
  and I'm your legendary host of this legendary podcast, the Deconstructing Topic Podcast.
• 0:09
  Oh, let's go, let's make it happen. We got another good one once again in my
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  podcast here because one of the things that I always have said about my podcast,
• 0:19
  one of my mottos is that, hey, listen, save it.
• 0:22
  Mine is saving a life, and it's a reason why I say that because the thing is
• 0:27
  this. Your boy, Deconstructing Topic Podcast, or your boy, David, you know, the host.
• 0:34
  Let's go. But not just the host.
• 0:37
  I just want to thank the people that are out there listening,
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  because when you come into my podcast, you're going to learn a little bit of it all.
• 0:45
  But the fact that your boy has indeed saved many lives, and it's not just me saying it.
• 0:52
  There's been many people who have reached out to me, And even across my lifetime,
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  For some reason This universe Has put people Who have Been on the brink.
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  Of let's just say Giving up And even if Then they are not On the brink But at
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  least They are on the edge Of saying I quit And for some reason Deconstructing Topics,
• 1:17
  For some reason He's out there He's there People be like Oh David You're,
• 1:21
  talking in your Third What is he You got an extra character Then I'm like,
• 1:25
  you know, absolutely. Why not? They say, why not?
• 1:28
  Because sometimes you want to bring some of these good stuff, these good stories.
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  And last, I'm not going to say last, but a couple of weeks ago,
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  once again, I find myself in a situation where I'm saving another life.
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  And I love it. And I'm here to tell you about it. Because it's not just saving
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  a life, but just the whole process of it.
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  You're going to relate to it. I've related to it, what was happening.
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  It was one of the most beautiful, you could say 15 to 20 minutes kind of situation
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  experience that I've dealt with.
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  Now, I could make this podcast in regards to people out there that don't know I'm in New York City.
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  I rely on my public transportation, the MTA, the Metropolitan Transit Authority,
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  whatever the case might be.
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  I rely on taking on the subway, going to my destinations because I do not drive.
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  I do not have a license either. Hey, listen, people are like,
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  yo, wait a minute, you're talking a little bit too much about your life.
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  No, I'm not, because my park is an extension of my life.
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  But the fact is that for those people out there, commuters, people that are
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  living in New York City, and even if you're living in Chicago or any city or
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  metropolitan area or town that you depend on public transportation,
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  you already know how that is in New York City.
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  It seems that it is an adventure at times when you take these subways and these
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  buses, Because there's always something going on It's always something.
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  But a couple of weeks ago, it's one of my favorite and it tells a lot.
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  And I always have said, for some reason, since I was a young kid,
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  a young pup, I always have been an observant, observant things.
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  And I always say, hey, listen, there's a reason why I'm here.
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  There's a reason why I created this podcast.
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  There's a reason why I am in the place that I am as a leader of helping people
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  because I want to help people. That's my thing.
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  I drive for it. Like I said, if you listen to my previous podcast in regards to the wolf, let's go.
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  I'm a lone wolf or I was a lone wolf.
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  Now I'm looking for my pack because together we can make it happen and together
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  we can. Let's make it happen.
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  If this is the first time, if not, hit the like button. You already know I appreciate
• 3:41
  when people hit the like button.
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  Feel free to reach out. There's people that reach out to my email and all that
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  good stuff. I really appreciate it. Gives me something to do outside of work.
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  But let's get on with the story because the MTA situations are always a little bit crazy.
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  And I want people to close their eyes. If you can't close your eyes,
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  that's fine. If you're driving, that's fine. If you're doing whatever it is, that's fine.
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  See, I get up early in the morning, very early. I take this from my grandfather.
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  When I say early, we're talking about 3.30, 4 o'clock in the morning, I'm up.
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  I saw somebody, one of my sisters-in-arm tends to call me the Puerto Rican rooster.
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  Let's go.
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  And again, I start my day because I, you know, hit that gym. Then I go to work.
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  Or sometimes in between, I do, you know, some of these content provided here
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  that I have the energy. I have the foresight.
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  I'm just feeling good because I just had a productive session in the gym a couple of weeks ago.
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  As I'm in the subway waiting for my train, there was this black gentleman that,
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  you know, there was this black gentleman. For some reason, I heard somebody fuzzing.
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  There was this black gentleman that was kind of like fuzzing a little bit, you know.
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  Oh, man. You know, and they looked a little bit off. And then he had a shout
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  out. I'm a union guy. And he had a Carpenters Union t-shirt.
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  You know, he was doing his construction. He was doing his thing.
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  Now he's looking at the screen here in New York City. Some of these subways,
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  they have a screen where it tells you, you know, the train time,
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  when it's coming, whatever it is.
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  If there's any delays, whatever happened. and I'm looking at the individual.
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  And I said, where are you going? He said, well, I need to hit today's spot,
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  but I want to hit that spot here.
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  And the logic was, and keep in mind this, and this happens, because it's a beautiful story.
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  This gentleman was in another train line where there was delays.
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  And now I want to say is this, and people out there could relate to me,
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  those in New York City, those who live in New York City and take this public
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  transportation, the MTA is a little bit questionable.
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  Our public transportation, especially the subway.
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  You know, sometimes it's a hit, hit, hit, miss, miss, hit, miss, miss, miss, miss.
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  And sometimes the time that we don't want it to miss is the day that we miss it.
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  And when I say miss it, you're talking about delays. You're talking about all kinds of stuff.
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  So this gentleman went from another train line across New York City, took a cab.
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  I don't know how much the cab would be, but, you know, wait, listen.
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  Because even if I say $20 still Just because there was delays in that line Comes,
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  to the line that I'm taking,
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  So then I, you know, was asking him So you want to get there But you want to
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  wait for this train But then there's another train that's going to come before,
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  But he didn't know if that train stopped at that stop And I told him, hey, yes it does,
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  And he looked at me like, thank you sir I appreciate it This is my first day at work,
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  Hear me out, peoples,
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  This is my first day at work And I do not want to be late.
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  Excuse me about that See, I'm not going to edit that Because I'm just thinking
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  here I got a little soaked up Because it kind of reminds It reminded me of so
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  many situations Myself and others,
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  That finally you get this job And it's your first day at work Now the gentleman was,
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  seem a little bit older than me and based on the conversation a bit older than me.
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  So he's, you know, he's finally, you know, from what I gather,
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  he got hurt at work. You know, if you're doing construction, you already know.
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  I guess that's a given for sure.
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  Now he's back and this is his first day at work.
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  So he's taking it serious. He's striding for to make it happen because you know what?
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  He doesn't want to disappoint nobody and doesn't want to make a bad impression on the first day at work.
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  And I say to myself, and I'm telling the end of the radio, I got you,
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  we're going to make it happen.
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  The next train is coming in a few minutes, and you know what?
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  We get there. You're going to get there in the time.
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  And once that train comes in, I see, wait a minute.
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  I already seen my train radar. I already seen this movie before.
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  That train right there is not supposed to be in that track.
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  That ever happened to you? You ever been in a place taking a train,
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  and you said to yourself, why that train is there again?
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  Something's going on As the train is It's coming into the train station,
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  Or the subway station So people might say Well you know What's the difference
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  Well you know We in the subway now We under So it becomes a subway station Let's
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  go Chuck that at 101 What is it.
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  Oh crap I learned something You know And I see that train And it's a little
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  bit empty And I'm like scratching myself Scratching my head I say And I'm looking
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  at And boom We go in there and something just doesn't seem right.
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  And this gentleman's like, okay, yes, you know, yes. He's feeling good.
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  But I'm like, something doesn't seem right.
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  As we both sit down, talking, yapping, let's go, boop, boop, sports, whatever.
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  And then within a minute, the whole mood changes.
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  When you hear the PA, again, amen to those people out there who live in New
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  York City, who knows that when you, the PA person, the conductor goes and says,
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  apologize for the delay, this train, you know, whatever it is,
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  you know, so on and so forth.
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  It's the whole, well, you know, I kind of apologize for the delay type of deal.
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  This train has been held by the whatever it is that's been held.
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  And let me tell you something.
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  I'm across this gentleman, and I kid you not, we both sit in there, Ahem.
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  And, again, I'm not going to apologize because I might crack up a little bit.
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  But I say crack up, you know what I mean?
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  You know, a little tear because I'm looking at this gentleman.
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  It's the first day of work.
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  And he got this news that this train would be delayed. You would have to see this gentleman's face.
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  It's like whatever it is that he was feeling, it just flew out of his body.
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  I mean, his face went from this happy, smiley to like, what the hell is going on?
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  And this is where your boy Deconstructing Topics, a.k.a. David.
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  It's there, and I'm saying, oh, my goodness, this will be a story to tell because
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  I'm looking at this gentleman, and I'm not here trying to make fun of the individual.
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  I'm not trying to put him down, but we've been there.
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  Goddamn, the first day at work, and really, this got to happen?
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  And you start to realize in life, because as we sit in there,
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  time is passing one to two minutes to three minutes to four minutes to five,
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  And as each minute, even each second is passing I'm looking at somebody who
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  was ready to give up And he was just saying, oh my God, you see what happens?
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  It's my first day at work and I don't want to make a bad impression And he wants
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  her to break down And I'm like, David, compose yourself Take a deep breath, you know what I mean?
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  Take a deep breath, David Because somebody's now going to depend on you And
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  I'm not saying that he did it intentionally, that he's depending on me. But the fact is this.
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  Take a deep breath, just like you're listening to this podcast.
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  Whenever you feel down that everything, the cards are going right.
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  And just when you want something right to happen, it doesn't goddamn happen,
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  because it's out of your control.
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  And that's one of the lessons in regards to that situation. I'm looking at this person.
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  And it's like in life, we always tend to this happen. That there's a lot of
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  things that we Have no control of And when we have no control of Those certain
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  things and many things The question is What are you going to do about it?
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  And I started to think, as this person, it's huffing and puffing.
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  And I'm feeling and I'm sensing the frustration and the sadness.
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  And, you know, like he's like looking like he's about to break down and just
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  quit. And just like, I said, my friend, take a deep breath.
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  I looked at him in the eyes. Relax.
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  We're going to move.
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  If not, do we have someone to call? Oh, he said, yeah, I'm still,
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  you know, he looked at his phone because even though despite that we are under
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  the tunnel subway, we are stuck in the train station. So we are getting some type of signal.
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  I mean, I'll be more specific, a cell phone signal.
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  What he does, he calls the person, the manager, whoever he got a report to.
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  Hey, listen, I might be late for one minute or two.
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  I'm here stuck in the train. There's some signal forms, so on and so forth.
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  He felt good. Again, the conductor, the conductor, hey, listen,
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  the PA, whoever it is, they're not doing a good job. They're not helping your board date.
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  But keep saying that it's delayed, delayed, delayed signal prompts.
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  You already know what that means in New York City. If you're taking a subway
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  signal prompt, what does that mean?
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  You either could be stuck for five minutes or you could be stuck for 30.
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  Or sometimes if that happens to me, you could be stuck for an hour.
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  The good thing we're stuck in the subway station with the doors open where we
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  could you know just in and out get some air whatever the case might be once again the young brother,
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  despite being a little bit older than me I like to say you know what.
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  My uh wisdom has been here for decades and I'm looking at him and I'm like once
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  again take a deep breath and he's just huffing and puffing again.
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  It's like, wow, I can't believe it.
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  And so on. And I said, you know what? Once again, relax. You know what?
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  Think about what to do next. And he said, you know what?
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  You're right. So he started taking pictures of the signs, you know,
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  the TV screen that says it's delayed or whatever it is.
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  Boom. He's doing that. Once again, he goes back because again,
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  I could feel his pain and I've been there.
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  I've been there. I've been, you know, it's been a long time that I'm in a different
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  job because I'm here doing my thing for 20 years. Let's go. Let's go.
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  But the fact is this long time ago, you know, when you coming in the job market
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  or whatever the case might be,
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  either your first time or when you start or whatever, something happens.
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  It's like everything's going wrong. Murphy's law, right?
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  But the fact that this gentleman right here is like feeling kind of defeated
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  and it's like, oh my goodness, I just got better.
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  So for this to happen and so on and said, you know what?
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  He took the pictures once again. Your boy, Decon, said, okay,
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  what's your next move? Because I'm over here trying to pep him,
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  like trying to calm him down.
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  And at the same time, trying to clear his mind so he could make the next move. What does he do?
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  He contacts his wife. He's like, yes, let me contact my wife.
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  I hope she's up. She picks up.
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  And in my mind, and I want to say, This is the way I think I had a couple of cash dollars on me,
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  And in my mind, I said to myself, I feel like just, you know,
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  here's something. Take a cab. Hurry up.
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  You can't make it, perhaps.
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  I'm going to lean that, yeah, he can't make it. Now, I'm one,
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  you know, because I do have a podcast.
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  I tend to network and tell people, hey, listen, I got a podcast.
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  But for some reason, I'm like, you know what? Don't even mention anything different.
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  Let it be. Let it play it out. See, you're saving somebody's life.
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  You're trying to help somebody that's just feeling, you know,
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  it's not just feeling, but just kind of talking about, you know,
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  just giving up or whatever the case might be.
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  But then he's talking to his wife and he's like, okay. So now my understanding
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  is that they also got like a little side business going on, but he needs some steady income.
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  And he's like, okay. So, you know, you kind of hear the word that,
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  you know, his wife is going to send him some money or whatever. You know how that goes.
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  And he's like, you know what? I'm going to take a cab.
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  Tardine, you know, all for that, you know, that little $20, you know,
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  take a cab, whatever. Could have been more. Who knows?
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  But just the thought, but just the fact that that was in my mind And just to
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  clear his mind that he's talking to his wife, and his wife is telling him,
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  I got you. I got you, babe.
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  I got you, babe. And he took a cab. Now, keep in mind, it's this.
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  He is 15 minutes away from where the time that he's supposed to be at work.
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  Could he make it you taking a cab? Absolutely. I would take it that the cab would have to speed up.
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  But when the gentleman got up, he looked at me Thank you so much,
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  he thanked me And again, I could have given my card and whatever My phone number,
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  whatever contact information But something just told me,
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  let this story be Now, whether he got there, I don't know I'm trying to,
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  he did tell me where he works at I'm trying to see if I could, you know,
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  get some information there I'll reach out to that union to see if I could find
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  this gentleman with the hope that, you know, he does listen to this beautiful episode.
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  To thank me and shake his hand and like, thank you for everything.
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  And those 15 minutes was just definitely one of the most interesting and reasoned times for me.
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  Because, you know, sometimes in life, people don't know what the hell they are doing.
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  Sometimes in life, people need that guidance. I'm the wolfman. Ow!
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  I'm that person that's supposed to guide you. That's my job.
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  That's why you listen to this podcast.
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  That's why you got to hit subscribe, share this podcast, hit the like button.
• 18:06
  Because this is not just another podcast It's like a guide But just when you think,
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  That it doesn't get any different That life and that's it And that's the bottom
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  line of that story Ladies and gentlemen Welcome to New York City,
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  Where we're with this gentleman And people are going to relate to this story
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  And they're going to relate to this part The fact that the minute that this
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  gentleman I'm not going to say
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  the minute But in two minutes that he left that train and took the cab,
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  the PA says, please stand back and be closing the doors.
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  The train started working.
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  What's crazy about that is that
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  I know and I recall the station that he told me that he needs to be in.
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  He needs to be in there at 5, I think it was 5.15.
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  When that train closed And I got to that station It was 5.17 In other words
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  It would have been only two minutes late to the station.
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  All he had to do is just run and not spend extra money. But hey,
• 19:11
  listen, that's a beautiful story indeed. But you know what's crazy?
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  I kept on telling this individual, trust the process.
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  This train will be moving or it will move.
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  And I'm not trying to imply that he didn't trust me, but it's my intuition that
• 19:29
  it was going to move and he eventually got to his destination.
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  Again, I don't know if he did, but I'm going to take it And I'm going to manifest
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  that he did and he's working and he remembers me.
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  And I'm hoping that will come across somewhere, somehow, someday.
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  Because it is a story of so many things.
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  But it is a story where in life, there's so many things that you're just not going to have control.
• 19:59
  But if you don't have control or you come in a situation where you don't have
• 20:03
  control, the question is, what are you going to do?
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  What are you going to do?
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  Because sometimes when things are out of your hand, as one person will say,
• 20:12
  I'm still in control. And that's where the question comes in.
• 20:16
  What are you going to do? We make it happen. Hopefully you enjoy this.
• 20:20
  Share this with everybody, anybody.
• 20:22
  If you're in New York City, you already know the MTA's got stories.
• 20:26
  If you got stories to tell, feel free to share that. Hit the comment, all that good stuff.
• 20:31
  I'm here saving life. I've been saving life for over two decades And perhaps
• 20:35
  I've been saving life for over three decades And it's not going to stop,
• 20:40
  That's why listening to this podcast Is saving your money And is saving your
• 20:45
  life Amen to that Let's make it happen Because together,
• 20:49
  Let's go We are one With the Wolfpack The Deconstructing Topic Podcast And I'm
• 20:56
  out of here Take care Peace Be safe out there.