Latest / The Kevin Stone Podcast / Episode #14 ASP-Bargains Galore

Transcript

Episode #14 ASP-Bargains Galore · The Kevin Stone Podcast

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  Speaker 1: The content of this program is for entertainment purposes only,
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  Speaker 1: mainly the entertainment of the program creator. If at anytime
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  Speaker 1: you find any of this program to be offensive, you
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  Speaker 1: should immediately rewind the program to the beginning and listen
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  Speaker 1: to it again. It stark, as'm presented by the content
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  Speaker 1: creator is so accurate it is illegal. In fourteen STIs you.
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  Speaker 2: Were listening to the Kevin Stone podcast, broadcasting to you
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  Speaker 2: from an unknown location.
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  Speaker 1: Customized listening.
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  Speaker 2: Let's begin by cleaning those ears. Who am I? I'm
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  Speaker 2: a nobody. I just happened to have a camera and
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  Speaker 2: a microphone and an Internet connection, which makes me a superstar.
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  Speaker 2: There's vulnerable, there's vulnerable, there's vulnerable. There's a bolt bitter
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  Speaker 2: split it out. I have beef anchelottas in the oven?
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  Speaker 2: What yes? And you made them? Or are they frozen?
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  Speaker 2: But they won't be frozen in about thirty five minutes?
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  Speaker 2: All right, Charlie, pull up a chair. Actually that's right,
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  Speaker 2: you're imaginary. You don't need chair. We got ourselves in
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  Speaker 2: Arkansas story today and this one bothers me for reasons
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  Speaker 2: that go considerably beyond one traffic accident. According to reporting
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  Speaker 2: from five News, Arkansas State Police Corporal John M. Parker
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  Speaker 2: was involved in a single vehicle crash near Monticello while
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  Speaker 2: he was on duty and driving a State Police vehicle.
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  Speaker 2: State Police say field sobriety test indicated impairment. He was
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  Speaker 2: arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated drugs, and careless
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  Speaker 2: and prohibited driving, and then two days later he resigned
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  Speaker 2: from the Arkansas State Police. Now I'm going to put
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  Speaker 2: the brakes on right here before somebody sends Charlie a
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  Speaker 2: strongly worded email. Charges are allegations. This man is presumed
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  Speaker 2: innocent unless and until he's proven guilty in a court
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  Speaker 2: of law. I'm not the judge. I'm not the jury.
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  Speaker 2: I'm a guy with a microphone and an imaginary chief
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  Speaker 2: of staff. Frankly, that's probably enough power for me. But
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  Speaker 2: I am allowed to tell you how something looks to me,
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  Speaker 2: and resigning two days after you're arrested doesn't prove you're guilty.
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  Speaker 2: But to Kevin Stone, an ordinary citizen looking at this
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  Speaker 2: from the outside, it makes me a little suspicious because
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  Speaker 2: my first question is why resign When I say I
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  Speaker 2: didn't do this. I'll cooperate with the investigation. Clear my
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  Speaker 2: name and return to my job. Again. There may be
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  Speaker 2: a perfectly legitimate explanation. We don't know, but that's exactly
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  Speaker 2: my point. When you hold a position of public trust,
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  Speaker 2: appearance matters, and when you're a police officer, it matters
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  Speaker 2: even more because think about what makes this situation different.
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  Speaker 2: A state trooper isn't just another driver on Highway two
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  Speaker 2: seventy eight. This is somebody whose profession includes stopping you.
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  Speaker 2: If he suspects suspects you are impaired, he can turn
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  Speaker 2: on those blue lights, he can order you out of
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  Speaker 2: your vehicle, he can conduct field sobriety tests, and he
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  Speaker 2: can put handcuffs on you. Ultimately, you can lose your license,
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  Speaker 2: your money, your freedom, and possibly even your job because
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  Speaker 2: the decisions made during that encounter. That's an enormous amount
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  Speaker 2: of authority. And that's why I believe the standard for
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  Speaker 2: the person wearing the badge has to be higher, not lower.
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  Speaker 2: And that's really what I want to talk about, because
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  Speaker 2: this isn't an anti police rant. There are thousands upon
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  Speaker 2: thousands of law enforcement officers who go to work, do
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  Speaker 2: their job professionally, treat people fairly, and go home, and
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  Speaker 2: we need them. But there's something that can happen to
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  Speaker 2: human beings when they're given authority. Not just police officer,
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  Speaker 2: but bosses, politicians, government officials, teachers, judges, managers, sometimes even
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  Speaker 2: the assistant manager at a fast food restaurant who gets
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  Speaker 2: one key to the building and suddenly he thinks he's commanding.
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  Speaker 2: NATO give some people a little authority and something changes.
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  Speaker 2: They stop thinking I've been given responsibility and they start
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  Speaker 2: thinking I've been given importance. Those are two very different things.
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  Speaker 2: Responsibility is being careful because people trust you, and ego
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  Speaker 2: says people have to listen to me. Therefore I must
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  Speaker 2: be special, and that's where the trouble starts. The rules
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  Speaker 2: are for other people. Mentality. I think one of the
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  Speaker 2: most dangerous things authority can do is slowly convince somebody
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  Speaker 2: that the rules they're enforcing don't quite apply to them.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe it doesn't happen overnight, Maybe it starts small. You
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  Speaker 2: get special treatment, people don't question you, your coworkers cover
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  Speaker 2: minor mistakes, people become no nervous about challenging you. Eventually
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  Speaker 2: somebody can start thinking I'm one of the good guys.
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  Speaker 2: And once you've permanently classified yourself as one of the
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  Speaker 2: good guys. There's a dangerous little mental shortcut available. Good
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  Speaker 2: guys don't need to be questioned. That's nonsense. Good people
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  Speaker 2: need accountability too. I need accountability. You need accountability. Police
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  Speaker 2: officers need accountability. Politicians definitely need accountability. Charlie needs accountability.
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  Speaker 2: That's why I've limited his company credit card to twelve
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  Speaker 2: imaginary dollars. Hey, Kevin, we're over budget. Of course we are.
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  Speaker 2: Power needs resistance. Here's something I've come to believe. If
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  Speaker 2: everybody around you is afraid to tell you you're wrong, you're
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  Speaker 2: eventually going to be wrong a lot. That's true in government,
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  Speaker 2: it's true in law enforcement, and it's true at your job.
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  Speaker 2: Healthy authority has resistance built into it. Someone can question you,
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  Speaker 2: someone can investigate you, someone can tell you no, someone
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  Speaker 2: can report you without destroying their own career. It's not
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  Speaker 2: disrespect as protection. It protects the people underneath the authority.
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  Speaker 2: But it also protects the person who has the author
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  Speaker 2: authority from becoming something they never intended to become, or
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  Speaker 2: hopefully they never intended to become. Because human beings are
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  Speaker 2: incredibly good at justifying their own behavior. Give us enough
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  Speaker 2: time and we can explain anything well technical glee. Anytime
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  Speaker 2: somebody begins a sentence with technical glee, Charlie should probably
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  Speaker 2: start recording. So how do we protect ourselves? What happens
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  Speaker 2: when we're in an environment where somebody has developed that
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  Speaker 2: I'm above everybody mentality. First, know the actual rules. Don't
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  Speaker 2: depend entirely on the person exercising authority to tell you
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  Speaker 2: what their authority is. That applies when you're dealing with
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  Speaker 2: the government, law enforcement, your employer, homeowner's association, anybody. Learn
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  Speaker 2: what the policies actually say. Learn what your rights actually are. Second,
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  Speaker 2: document important interactions, dates, times, emails, policies, what was said,
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  Speaker 2: who witnessed it, Not because every disagreement needs to become
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  Speaker 2: World War Iie. It doesn't, but memory gets remarkably fuzzy
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  Speaker 2: when accountability shows up. Third, use legitimate channels of accountability, supervisors,
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  Speaker 2: human resources, internal affairs, professional standards, attorneys when necessary, courts
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  Speaker 2: when necessary. The answer to abusive authority isn't becoming abusive yourself.
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  Speaker 2: It's making authority answer to something higher than itself. And finally,
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  Speaker 2: don't allow someone's title to convince you that they're automatically right.
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  Speaker 2: Respect legitimate authority absolutely, but respect isn't worshiped. A uniform
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  Speaker 2: doesn't eliminate human weakness. A government title doesn't create wisdom,
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  Speaker 2: and management position doesn't manufacture character. Winning an election certainly
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  Speaker 2: doesn't turn anybody into Moses coming down from Mount Sinai.
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  Speaker 2: There's still people, and people need accountability, and that's ultimately
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  Speaker 2: why this Arkansas State Police story caught my attention. We
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  Speaker 2: don't know yet how the criminal case will ultimately turn out.
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  Speaker 2: Investigations are continuing, and John Parker is entitled to the
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  Speaker 2: same presumption of innocence that every American should receive. But
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  Speaker 2: the principle is bigger than one man. The people who
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  Speaker 2: enforce our laws must also live underneath them. The people
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  Speaker 2: entrusted with authority must be accountable for how they use it.
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  Speaker 2: And maybe the best people to put imposition of authority
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  Speaker 2: aren't the people who desperately want everybody to know they're
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  Speaker 2: in charge. Maybe they're the people who understand that authority
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  Speaker 2: isn't a prize, it's a responsibility. Because the moment somebody
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  Speaker 2: starts believing they're above the rules, that's probably the moment
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  Speaker 2: we desperately need those rules. I'm Kevin Stone. Charlie is
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  Speaker 2: still imaginary, and apparently that's the only member of this
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  Speaker 2: staff I can guarantee will never get pulled over for
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  Speaker 2: a DWI. Although with Charlie, I'm not ruling anything out.
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  Speaker 2: Legal department says you should stop talking now. That's probably
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  Speaker 2: excellent advice. We'll be right back. Did you know that
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  Speaker 2: if you become a paid subscriber to this podcast, you'll
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  Speaker 2: get a commercial free experience and exclusive content that nobody
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  Speaker 2: else gets. All right, welcome back. For the first half
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  Speaker 2: of the show, we talked about authority, accountability, and an
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  Speaker 2: Arkansas State trooper. So naturally, for the second half, we're
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  Speaker 2: going to go groad selling. It's called range. Ladies and gentlemen. Charlie,
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  Speaker 2: queue up the banjo music. Legal Department recommends against the
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  Speaker 2: banjo music. Kevin okay fine. Every year here in Arkansas
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  Speaker 2: we have something called Bargains Galore on sixty four, and
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  Speaker 2: on paper it sounds wonderful. About one hundred and sixty
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  Speaker 2: miles of yard sales running along Highway sixty four from
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  Speaker 2: Fort Smith all the way to bb People come from
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  Speaker 2: all across Arkansas and even out of the state. You've
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  Speaker 2: got antiques, collectibles, furniture, tools, clothes, household goods. Basically everything
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  Speaker 2: American civilization has accumulated since approximately nineteen seventy three is
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  Speaker 2: suddenly sitting six feet from Highway sixty four with price
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  Speaker 2: stickers on it. And apparently people love this thing. Thousands
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  Speaker 2: of shoppers come out. It brings visitors into our little towns.
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  Speaker 2: It helps local businesses, people make some money, people find bargains.
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  Speaker 2: Everybody has a wonderful time. Everybody except me because I
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  Speaker 2: actually have to drive on Highway sixty four and for
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  Speaker 2: three days, Highway sixty four ceases to function as a highway.
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  Speaker 2: It becomes the world's longest parking lot with occasional forward movement.
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  Speaker 2: You're driving along at fifty five miles an hour when
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  Speaker 2: suddenly the Chevy Tahoe in front of you slams on
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  Speaker 2: the brakes. Why did a deer run out in the highway?
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  Speaker 2: Was it an ambulance, a wreck, a tornado, a natior note?
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  Speaker 2: They saw a lamp, Harold stop. I think it's a tiffany, ma'am,
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  Speaker 2: that came from Walmart in two thousand and six. Keep
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  Speaker 2: the vehicle moving. Everybody becomes an antiques expert. And here's
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  Speaker 2: my favorite part of bargains glory. For approximately three days,
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  Speaker 2: every August, thousands of ordinary are Kans and suddenly become
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  Speaker 2: professional appraisers. On Wednesday, Guy says, Kevin, I've had this
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  Speaker 2: old chair sitting in my shed for fifteen years. I
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  Speaker 2: really need to throw that thing away. On Thursday morning,
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  Speaker 2: he says, two hundred and seventy five dollars firm, two
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  Speaker 2: hundred and seventy five dollars. Yesterday you were going to
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  Speaker 2: set it on fire. It's vintage, vintage. It's a lawn
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  Speaker 2: chair with one shorter leg than the other three. I
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  Speaker 2: know what I got there. It is the official motto
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  Speaker 2: of the American online marketplace, and apparently Bargains Galore, don't
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  Speaker 2: lowball me. I know what I got, sir. You're selling
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  Speaker 2: a VCR. That's a Panasonic. I can see that they
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  Speaker 2: don't make them anymore. There's a reason for that. Seventy
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  Speaker 2: five dollars. I'll give you five. Don't lowball me. And
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  Speaker 2: there's something fascinating that happens psychologically during this event. For
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  Speaker 2: three hundred and sixty two days a year, you're just Gary.
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  Speaker 2: Gary works at the feed store, Gary watches football. Gary
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  Speaker 2: mows his yard on Saturday, but Bargains Galore weekend arise
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  Speaker 2: Gary puts six folding tables beside Highway sixty four, and
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  Speaker 2: suddenly Gary is on antiques road show. Gary has expertise,
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  Speaker 2: Gary has inventory, Gary has market analysis. This here belonged
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  Speaker 2: to my grandmother. Okay, she bought it in sometime around
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  Speaker 2: nineteen eighty seven. Gary, that's a George Foreman grill, vintage
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  Speaker 2: George Foreman, one hundred and twenty five dollars. Meanwhile, the
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  Speaker 2: highway itself becomes an adventure because people aren't just driving.
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  Speaker 2: They're bargain hunting while driving. They're looking left, are looking right,
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  Speaker 2: reading signs, trying to see the process, trying to determine
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  Speaker 2: whether the object two hundred yards away is an antique
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  Speaker 2: dresser or somebody's trash can. And they're doing all of
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  Speaker 2: this while supposedly operating a motor vehicle. Suddenly somebody spots
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  Speaker 2: something break squill turn signal. Absolutely not, we don't have
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  Speaker 2: time for that. There's a used craftsman's socket set over there.
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  Speaker 2: This is an emergency. And then somebody is trying to
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  Speaker 2: back out onto Highway sixty four. Somebody else is walking
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  Speaker 2: across Highway sixty four. There's a pickup halfway in the ditch.
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  Speaker 2: Three cars are parked on somebody's grass. There's a man
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  Speaker 2: carrying a bookshelf as a woman negotiating over a crop lot.
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  Speaker 2: And somewhere in the middle of all of it, I'm
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  Speaker 2: just trying to get to the dollar Gentril. And incomes Sunday,
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  Speaker 2: and this is where bargain's glory becomes beautiful to me,
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  Speaker 2: because during the cell everything is valuable, everything is a collectible,
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  Speaker 2: everything has history, everything is price firm. You couldn't possibly
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  Speaker 2: understand the value of this magnificent object. Saturday afternoon, it's
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  Speaker 2: thirty dollars, final offer. Sunday morning. There's a cardboard sign
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  Speaker 2: leaning against it free and sometimes underneath that please please
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  Speaker 2: take it. Wait a minute. Yesterday this was an irreplaceable
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  Speaker 2: piece of Americana. You told me you couldn't take less
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  Speaker 2: than eighty five dollars. Twenty four hours later, please somebody
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  Speaker 2: get this off my yard. That's the life cycle of
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  Speaker 2: bargains glore. Thursday, it's an antique. Friday, it's a collectible. Saturday,
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  Speaker 2: it's negotiable. Sunday it's free Monday. If nobody takes this,
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  Speaker 2: we're burning it. That's economics right there. Somebody call Harvard.
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  Speaker 2: But I'll give the event this now, despite everything I've
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  Speaker 2: just said, there actually is something pretty cool about bargains glore.
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  Speaker 2: It gets people outside, people talk to each other, Neighbors
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  Speaker 2: meet neighbors, people travel through little Arkansas towns they might
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  Speaker 2: otherwise never visit. Local restaurants and stores get customers, people
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  Speaker 2: recycle things instead of immediately throwing them away, And somebody
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  Speaker 2: out there genuinely find something they've been searching for. That's
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  Speaker 2: actually pretty neat. I wish we could just accomplish all
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  Speaker 2: of that without somebody doing fourteen miles an hour in
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  Speaker 2: front of me because they're scanning somebody's front yard for
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  Speaker 2: depression glass. So if you love bargains galore, go have fun,
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  Speaker 2: find that hidden treasure, negotiate, make memories or some local
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  Speaker 2: businesses while you're here, just to remember something. Highway sixty
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  Speaker 2: four is still a highway. Some of us are attempting
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  Speaker 2: to use it for its original purpose. If somebody wants
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  Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty dollars for a rusty bicycle because
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  Speaker 2: they know what they got, don't argue with them. Just
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  Speaker 2: come back Sunday. It'll be beside the rod with a
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  Speaker 2: sign saying free. Just haul it off. I'm Kevin Stone.
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  Speaker 2: This is the Kevin Stone Podcast. And Charlie, how much
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  Speaker 2: do you think we could get for this microphone? Don't
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  Speaker 2: love about me? Kevin, I know what I got, son
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  Speaker 2: of We'll see you next time. This concludes a broadcast day,
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  Speaker 2: good night, and God bless America.