Armchair Anonymous: Kind Gesture from a Stranger

Summary

Episode Summary: Armchair Anonymous – "Kind Gesture from a Stranger"

Release Date: May 23, 2025

In this heartfelt episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, titled "Armchair Anonymous: Kind Gesture from a Stranger," host Dax Shepard and co-host Monica Padman delve into inspiring stories where strangers extend unexpected kindness, profoundly impacting lives. Through a series of guest narratives, the episode highlights the transformative power of generosity and human connection.

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1. Joanna's Unexpected Ally in Jacksonville ([03:00] – [07:56])

Joanna, a local musician from Jacksonville, Florida, shares her encounter with Richard, a defense attorney who becomes an unforeseen benefactor. Initially approaching Joanna to support her music career by providing a $300 microphone with "no strings attached," Richard's generosity extends further when he assists Joanna in a legal battle against her unscrupulous landlord.

Joanna ([06:00]): "He pulls out his wallet, puts $300 on the table, and he says it's yours, no strings attached. Go buy a microphone."

As Joanna secures a summary judgment against her landlord with Richard's legal prowess, she celebrates the victory, only to discover that Richard has vanished, leaving behind a legacy of kindness without expectation of return.

Joanna ([07:56]): "I just looked him up, and apparently, he is now back in Jacksonville. But I looked back for him for about 10 years after that, and I never really found that he was back."

Monica ([08:09]) reflects on Richard's disappearance, pondering whether his actions were driven by personal struggles or other motives, ultimately acknowledging the good he did.

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2. Chelsea's High-Stakes Photo Shoot Rescue ([14:00] – [25:57])

Chelsea recounts a tumultuous experience during a surprise proposal photo shoot in Kentucky. Tasked with capturing the moment, Chelsea and her colleague Jane encounter unforeseen chaos when Jane suffers a severe bout of diarrhea midway through the shoot, threatening to derail the couple's once-in-a-lifetime moment.

Chelsea ([18:49]): "She's halfway taking down her denim shorts and starts shitting her pants everywhere. Her face is red. She’s in a lot of pain."

With the proposal countdown ticking, Chelsea grapples with the dilemma of how to assist Jane without compromising the event. Their predicament catches the attention of a jogger, Georganne, who selflessly provides hand sanitizer and old beach towels to help clean up, ensuring the proposal proceeds smoothly.

Chelsea ([23:17]): "She is so embarrassed, like, can barely look me in the eyes. I'm trying to be like, it's okay, it's okay."

Jane successfully captures the proposal despite the earlier chaos, showcasing resilience and the unforeseen support of a kind stranger.

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3. Janae's Miracle Realtor ([27:00] – [31:58])

Janae shares a poignant story of her family's struggle to find a multigenerational home during the COVID-19 pandemic. With her parents battling cancer and the need for proximity to treatment centers, Janae and her husband stretch their budget to secure a suitable house. Despite initial setbacks, their realtor makes a life-changing decision to pay an additional $70,000 above their offer to ensure they secure the perfect home.

Janae ([30:59]): "Our realtor had decided to pay the $70,000 difference."

This act of profound generosity not only provided stability for her family during a challenging time but also inspired Janae to "pay it forward," emphasizing the ripple effect of kindness.

Janae ([31:16]): "We call it our miracle house. And now my twin girls are four years old. They're just a joy."

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4. Georganne's Childhood Heroic Call ([33:00] – [38:31])

Georganne reflects on a defining moment from her childhood during the Challenger disaster. At nine years old, witnessing the tragic loss alongside her teacher, Ms. Laughlaine, Georganne reaches out to NASA, only to receive compassionate assistance from a NASA operator who connects her to her teacher, providing solace during a devastating time.

Georganne ([37:10]): "She took the time to connect me to Cape Canaveral, to find someone there who went to track down my teacher and connect that call to a private place."

This experience underscores the profound impact that even small acts of kindness can have, especially during moments of collective grief.

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Insights and Reflections

Throughout the episode, Dax Shepard and Monica Padman engage in thoughtful discussions about the significance of these acts of kindness. They explore themes of trust, the unpredictability of human behavior, and the lasting impressions left by strangers who choose to help without seeking anything in return.

Dax Shepard ([26:16]): "I was not expecting a poop your pants story in the middle of gestures from a stranger. So. What a blessing."

The hosts emphasize the importance of community and the positive domino effect that one person's kindness can generate, inspiring others to act compassionately in their own lives.

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Conclusion

"Kind Gesture from a Stranger" serves as a powerful reminder of the inherent goodness that can emerge in unexpected situations. By sharing these personal stories, Armchair Expert celebrates the unsung heroes who, through their generosity and empathy, make the world a better place. Listeners are left inspired to both recognize and participate in acts of kindness, fostering a more compassionate and interconnected community.

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Notable Quotes:

• Joanna ([06:00]): "He pulls out his wallet, puts $300 on the table, and he says it's yours, no strings attached. Go buy a microphone."

• Chelsea ([18:49]): "She's halfway taking down her denim shorts and starts shitting her pants everywhere. Her face is red. She’s in a lot of pain."

• Janae ([30:59]): "Our realtor had decided to pay the $70,000 difference."

• Georganne ([37:10]): "She took the time to connect me to Cape Canaveral, to find someone there who went to track down my teacher and connect that call to a private place."

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For more inspiring stories and expert insights, follow Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard on the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Join Wondery+ for early access and ad-free listening.

Transcript

[Dax Shepard]

Wondry plus subscribers can listen to Armchair Expert early and ad free right now. Join Wondri in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts or you can listen for free wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome welcome welcome to Armchair Anonymous. I'm Dan Shepard and I'm joined in absentia by Monica Padman. Today's Armchair Anonymous is Kind Gestures from Strangers and and if that sounds too PG rated, I will assure you that there is a gift within these kind gestures in the form of an unauthorized evacuation, so it's going to deliver on all fronts. Please enjoy Kind Gestures from Strangers. We are supported by Ring. With Ring you can be there from anywhere with doorbells and cameras that help you see more to exciting features that help you know more to the app that lets you connect more see more at the front door, up high and down low with battery doorbells head to toe video capture it all all day and all night with 24. 7 recording and get smarter alerts that know the difference between a person and a package right in the Ring app. Now I relied on these Ring photos.

[Monica Padman]

Quite a bit for our unfortunate violation.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, it was so good to have all that.

[Monica Padman]

It's also it just brings peace of mind to know you can check it anytime.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, with Ring you can check in and be there from anywhere. Some features require a subscription and are available only on select Ring devices. Exclusions apply. Learn [e-mail] at 24 I lost my.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Narrative, or rather it was stolen from me, and the Monica Lewinsky that my friends and family knew was usurped by false narratives, callous jokes, and politics. I would define reclaiming as to take back what was yours. Something you possess is lost or stolen and ultimately you triumph in finding it again. So I think listeners can expect me to be chatting with folks both recognizable and unrecognizable names about the way that people have navigated roads to triumph. My hope is that people will finish an episode of Reclaiming and feel like they filled their tank up. They connected with the people that I'm talking to and leave with maybe some nuggets that help them feel a little more hopeful. Follow Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Reclaiming early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Dax Shepard]

Hard times come and go good times take em slow My life I had em both Remember one thing you gotta know I'm gonna keep on shining Is this Joanna?

[Joanna]

It is Joanna. Hi.

[Dax Shepard]

Are you under a bunk bed?

[Joanna]

I don't have a real closet I can sit in in my house. I am under my daughter's loft bed that I've kind of makeshifted.

[Dax Shepard]

You're at, like, a desk situation?

[Joanna]

Yeah, it's a little coffee table. I made it. Homey, underfilled.

[Dax Shepard]

How old is she?

[Joanna]

She is four and a half, going on 15.

[Monica Padman]

Cute.

[Dax Shepard]

What part of the country are you in?

[Joanna]

I am in North Carolina, right outside of Asheville, actually. Really rural out here, but we love it.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, please tell us about your kind gesture from a stranger.

[Joanna]

This story takes place in Jacksonville, Florida, back in 2011, and I was about 19. I was a local musician at the time, and I was gigging at a restaurant downtown that I also waited tables at with my brother. And this guy comes up after the show and was like, hey, you guys were really awesome. I would love to come see you again. Can I have your schedule? Here's my business card. He's really nice and kind of just left. And we were like, oh, cool. We'd love a fan. So a few weeks later, we're playing the show again. He comes up and he says, really liked your set. Can I take you to lunch? And we were like, maybe. Why?

[Dax Shepard]

How old is the gentleman?

[Joanna]

He's probably 48. He's much older than me, but my brother's with me, and he's a pretty big dude. And so I was like, I guess we could go to lunch. So we schedule it and we go sit down at lunch. We get our drinks, and he says point blank, I want to be able to help you with your music career. What can I do for you? And he says, I'm a defense attorney here in Jacksonville, and I represent some really shitty people that do some really shitty stuff. I have a lot of money, and I want to be able to help the community. I figured I liked your stuff, so I'd start with you.

[Dax Shepard]

Wow. Yeah. And Joanna, just quick backstory. So for me, it would just be red flag galore. I would have so hard of a time accepting that this could be true. Monica, would you be skeptical or where would you be at?

[Monica Padman]

I'd be skeptical, but I would progress.

[Joanna]

That's kind of where I was at. I didn't get any weird vibes from him. And so my brother piped up, and he was like, we could really use a recording microphone. And he was like, all right, great. How much do they cost? And he was like, about 300 bucks. So he pulls out his wallet, puts $300 on the table, and he Says it's yours, no strings attached. Go buy a microphone.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, my goodness.

[Joanna]

We get to talking and just kind of getting to know him. And he's like, I bought this really crazy camera that I have no idea how to use. Do you want to try to, like, film some music videos, some content again? I know, it sounds so creepy.

[Monica Padman]

He's like, come to my basement. We'll make a music video.

[Joanna]

He was never just me. He always had my brother come along. It was never weird. So we hung out for a little bit. And then I was talking to him saying like, oh, I don't really have a lot of gigs lined up lately, and the restaurant is kind of slowing down. And he's like, well, I've got some work for you at my office if you want to come work. So he sets me up with this job that I sent flyers out to people who had gotten arrested the night before.

[Dax Shepard]

Really quick. How do you get that list of who's been arrested the night before?

[Joanna]

You just go on public webpage for Duval county and get the whole arrest list. They have an address. You just put a little stamp on it and send them a fly.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wow, wow, wow.

[Joanna]

And that was going pretty well. I was working for him for a few weeks and I was talking to him about this landlord situation that I was in. I was suing my old landlord because he was an asshole and he stole a bunch of money from me. And when I sued him, he was like, you're out of your league. And he really didn't think that I had a leg to stand on. So I was telling Richard, the lawyer about this, and he was like, do you want me to help you with this case? And I was like, I mean, it's small claims court. I probably don't need a lawyer. He said, no, no, no, let me help you. So this asshole that I had to track down with a private investigator, I had to go to judge's chamber. Cause he tried to tell the judge that the process server didn't serve him. He didn't know there was a court date, so he skipped the first one. And I had a summary judgment. And so now he was trying to appeal that. So I walk into the judge's chambers with a high powered defense attorney behind me. My landlord about shittabric. The judge and my lawyer play golf together. They're friends. It's just great. Landlord's just deciding that he's gonna really ride this ship home and say that the signature on the process server's pages is not his signature. Lied to the judge's face. And so Richard got up there and it was like a movie scene. He pulls out a piece of paper that has his signature on it. And he's like, do you not agree that this is the same signature as this one? I mean, pinned him down.

[Dax Shepard]

Perjury.

[Joanna]

Yes. He actually says the word, you, Honor. I rest my case.

[Monica Padman]

How hot is he?

[Joanna]

He was like, dad, hot.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, sure.

[Joanna]

After that whole ordeal, the judge looked at my landlord and just read him to filth of. You've wasted her time. You've wasted my time, You've wasted the court's time. Do not ever come back into my courtroom again. So I got to walk out really victorious, and I got to look at him and go, who's league am I in now? Oh, it was really exciting. And so after that, I worked at his office for a few more weeks. And then he told me that he was going on an extended trip to Colorado to see his daughter. And I never saw him again. He just disappeared off the face of the earth.

[Monica Padman]

Richard did.

[Dax Shepard]

He never returned to his practice.

[Joanna]

I just looked him up, and apparently he is now back in Jacksonville. But I looked back for him for about 10 years after that, and I never really found that he was back. He just disappeared. And I've reached out to him a few times and never heard anything from him.

[Monica Padman]

Is he okay?

[Joanna]

He's in Jacksonville now, so I'm hoping that he's okay now.

[Dax Shepard]

But your mind went to a great place, Monica, which is. Is he okay? And my mind went to. Oh, he had to run from something. This is Jacksonville, Florida. So maybe he was representing some kind of a drug cartel situation and he had to make himself scarce.

[Monica Padman]

Maybe he's a witness protection now.

[Joanna]

Could be.

[Dax Shepard]

And then it expired and he moved back to Jackson. Yeah, really quick. When he disappeared, how did you know to stop coming to work?

[Joanna]

He said he was gonna be on a trip in Colorado for a while, so we are just gonna stop that for the time being. And he said, I'll let you know when I'm back. And then he just never came back.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't know why. That reminds me of. I worked at a fabrication place in high school. When I was 15, my boss called me into his office and he said, hey, it's your birthday Friday, right? And I said, yeah. And he said, it's your birthday. Don't come in. And I go, oh, okay, great. And then he goes, yeah, and just call Monday and we'll see if we have any work. I was like, wait a minute.

[Monica Padman]

He's like letting you go.

[Dax Shepard]

He fired me under the guise of, you can have your birthday. Are you still playing music?

[Joanna]

Just for a hobby. I've got two kids now, so it's not really conducive to gig life. But I play music with my husband. I met him at the Middle School of the Arts in Jacksonville, and we got married and had babies. But my daughter is a musical prodigy. I know every parent says that, but she truly is.

[Dax Shepard]

I believe it's exciting. Well, Joanna, so nice to meet you. And that's a really great story. And it's positive. And it never turned dark.

[Monica Padman]

I hate that I'm now this person.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, you're putting on the Dax hat a little.

[Monica Padman]

I'm like, maybe he was on drugs and manic or something. He used his mania for good. Gets a little on a tear.

[Dax Shepard]

It's inconsistent for you.

[Joanna]

I think he was just kind of lonely, looking for a buddy.

[Dax Shepard]

But you do paint a good picture. Let's just say everything went sideways. I fucked up everything, and I was divorced. I was loaded. I think I would hate myself. And if I could help a stranger, it might buy me little periods of feeling okay about myself.

[Monica Padman]

Well, and then that's okay. That, to me, is fine. But if he was bipolar or something, and then it was in his mania also, that's fine. If he did, I came out ahead. It was still a very kind gesture. Regardless.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm just delighted he never got pervy.

[Monica Padman]

Me, too.

[Dax Shepard]

That's all we care about, really.

[Joanna]

Me, too. Dax, I do have to tell you, my husband will kill me if I don't. We watch Employee of the Month at least once a quarter around here. It's one of our very favorites.

[Monica Padman]

Q1, Q2, once a quarter.

[Dax Shepard]

That makes me so happy. I never talk about that movie, but I really do think that's the most fun I've ever had playing a character. That's the only time I got to play just a straight prick. And it was so funny. No, this was more fun.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Joanna]

It makes us laugh. And I also have to say, I used to live out in an even more rural part of North Carolina where I didn't even have service to drive home. And so I would download your episodes and listen to you in my very windy drive. And so I think I've spent multiple thousands of hours of listening. And I love being a part of this community. I'm so thrilled.

[Monica Padman]

Thank you. That's a kind gesture.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, it's lovely meeting you.

[Joanna]

Thank you so much. Have a great day.

[Monica Padman]

I'm kind of nervous about Him.

[Dax Shepard]

Pretty exciting.

[Monica Padman]

Well, I just am sad he dropped off the map.

[Dax Shepard]

It is interesting.

[Monica Padman]

Do you think the kid had a disease?

[Chelsea]

No.

[Monica Padman]

God, I'm just. Something happened here.

[Dax Shepard]

I just took a lover. Well, how about this? He went to visit her, and as he already said, he's loaded. He's gonna spend two weeks with her. And then he was like, I have the option to just be around my daughter, and maybe she had a family. And he just decided, I'm going to be present. And there's a grandkid in there. What am I going home to? More money?

[Monica Padman]

How do you know there's a grandkid?

[Dax Shepard]

Because he's visiting his daughter and the daughter has a baby.

[Monica Padman]

How do you know?

[Dax Shepard]

I don't. I'm just saying that's a good scenario.

[Monica Padman]

Well, he was only, like, 48.

[Dax Shepard]

He had a kid at 20. His daughter had a kid at 25. The child's 3 years old.

[Monica Padman]

Wow. All right. Maybe that is what happened. I hope so.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I'm glad he was dad hot. Rob, do you think you're dad hot? You're way beyond dad hot.

[Monica Padman]

I don't even know what it means.

[Dax Shepard]

I do. It means you're fine looking, but you're a dad, so you're trustworthy, and you've, like, got some brownie points.

[Monica Padman]

I think it actually means, like, you were hot and you're aging nicely, but you're older.

[Dax Shepard]

I think it means you were a pass in high school, but now you've demonstrated that you're very responsible and competent, so that ups your attraction.

[Monica Padman]

People can weigh in on what they.

[Dax Shepard]

Think is in the comments, try to.

[Monica Padman]

Define dad hot for us, and then mom hot.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And then baby hot. And then tell us what happy toddler hot is.

[Dax Shepard]

Hot Toddler hot.

[Monica Padman]

Toddy Hot toddy. Do you think that's what it stands for? Oh, my God.

[Georganne]

That's disgusting. Hi.

[Chelsea]

How are you?

[Dax Shepard]

We are wonderful. What a glorious recording instrument you have.

[Chelsea]

Yeah, my husband is very musical, so we have lots of musical equipment around our house. So when he heard I was coming on the podcast, he was like, I've got you. We've got a blanket screwed onto the wall in our closet. We really workshopped it yesterday.

[Dax Shepard]

And, Chelsea, would it be fair to assume all this gear has driven you nuts over the years, but now it finally has come to benefit you?

[Chelsea]

Yeah, it's finally come to pass that it's actually useful.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so where are you, Chelsea?

[Chelsea]

I am in Kentucky.

[Dax Shepard]

Are you watching Chase for the Crown? It's about the Triple Crown. It's on Netflix. It just came out. It's about horse racing.

[Chelsea]

I haven't, but I'm actually in Louisville and it's Derby week.

[Dax Shepard]

That's why I bring it up, because it makes want to go to Louisville so bad, because it's so freaking green and hilly and beautiful.

[Monica Padman]

Do you have a hat picked out?

[Chelsea]

I'm actually not going to the track this year. I've gone the last two years.

[Dax Shepard]

Should I go? Is it a great time?

[Chelsea]

Yeah, you totally should come. We're such a good food city. It's like gorgeous scenery. And going down to the track for derby is a blast.

[Dax Shepard]

I should have built a house there instead of Nashville.

[Monica Padman]

I feel like you've made a lot of mistakes in your life.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you have any lakes?

[Chelsea]

We've got some smaller lakes. We don't have as many lakes as Nashville or as Tennessee.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. I feel less bad now.

[Chelsea]

We do have a river.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, no, that'll work.

[Monica Padman]

Flesh eating bacteria.

[Dax Shepard]

No, no, no, no, no. Okay, so you were the recipient of a act of kindness.

[Chelsea]

I was. It's the summer of 2018, and I've just graduated college and I'm waiting on my first real big girl job to start. And so I'd picked up a couple gigs as a second shooter for some local photographers. And if you're not familiar with second shooting, the photographer basically hires you to be an extra body with a camera. You're getting some of the background shots, some of the wide, but you're not really in charge of anything. And a lot of times second shooters aren't professional photographers themselves, myself included.

[Dax Shepard]

What was your degree in?

[Chelsea]

My degree was in economics.

[Dax Shepard]

What if you said photography? And she goes, I'm not really good at it.

[Chelsea]

I'm actually not a professional. I'm not that good at it. Although I'm now getting my PhD in English. So I did like a hard pivot. But yeah, so I'd picked up a few gigs and I'd worked one wedding with a photographer, we'll call her Jane. And this wedding that Jane and I had worked together went really well. We got along. And so she texted me about a week after the wedding and said, hey, I am shooting a surprise proposal next week at a park. Would you come along to get some of the wide angle shots for me so I can get the detail stuff? And I was like, yeah, sure, why not? So it's summer in Kentucky, which is miserably hot outside. Okay, 95 degrees, 100% humidity. You walk out your door, you're like sweating your ass off, and the proposal's gonna take place at a park, and it's gonna be scheduled for the middle of the afternoon, so, like, hottest part of the day. So the day of the event comes around, and Jane is pretty insistent that we drive together because the park we're going to is about 30, 40 minutes away from where we both live. She's like, we can save on gas money. Let's go together. I'm a little skeptical because I don't know Jane very well. Like, we got along fine enough, but I'm like, this is gonna be a lot of small talk. Like, I'd rather listen to a podcast in the car or something on my way. But she's pretty insistent. I'm like, sure, why not? So we drive. It's fine. We make our way to the park and park in the parking lot, and she's sort of giving me the lowdown on how this is gonna go. The proposal's gonn at this big overlook at the top of a giant hill. It's gorgeous. You can see for miles. Perfect place to get engaged. But to get to the overlook from the parking lot, you have to walk up this really long, winding path to get to the top. It's like a wide, concrete path, and you can think about it kind of like a giant switchback. It's kind of like in a U shape, and to get to the top, it takes, like, 30 minutes.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, Jesus.

[Monica Padman]

It's a full hike.

[Chelsea]

Yeah. So the plan for the couple is for them to park and take this nice, leisurely stroll through the park, and then he'll propose at the top. So Jane and I get out of the car, and she's like, you know, I really feel like we could save some time if we find an alternate path up to the top of this overlook.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. She's going rogue.

[Chelsea]

She's like, I'm looking at the map, and I see that if we avoid the long, winding path, we can cut straight up the side of this hill through the woods. Like, this is not what I signed up for today, but okay. So we make our way up this hill. I really am shocked we didn't get poison ivy. We're, like, pushing branches out of the way, climbing over logs. It's really intense. We've got camera bags on our shoulders, and it's so miserably hot outside. So I'm like, oh, my gosh. We're both panting. We're most of the way up to the top. And Jane's like, I really need to find a bathroom. When we get up to the Top Jane's become unhinged. It's a public park. I'm sure there's a bathroom up at the top. We're a little closer and we can now see the path.

[Dax Shepard]

Can I pause you for one second?

[Monica Padman]

I know what happened. Do you?

[Dax Shepard]

No. I was gonna suggest she has to poop.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. She was like, I'm not gonna make this 30 minute walk, so we have to get there for.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, that's your theory on why she was high tailing it? Mine was more like if you got a squirt in the woods, you would just squirt in the woods. She's not gonna take a shit in the woods next to her.

[Chelsea]

Although it is incredibly steep, so I do think it would have taken quite a lot of balancing to find a spot to appropriately go to the bathroom. But anyway, we're making our way up to the top and she's like, no, I like really need to find a bathroom. I then hear the loudest stomach grumble I've ever heard in my life. She starts screaming, pushes her way out of the woods, runs across the wide concrete path into this little grassy clearing where there's woods behind her. But she's not under any cover. She's out in the open. She starts halfway taking down her denim shorts and starts shitting her pants everywhere.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, no.

[Chelsea]

And she's just standing there, pants halfway off, just screaming like, oh, my gosh. Like, I'm so embarrassed. Don't look, don't look. I'm so embarrassed. Her face is red. You can tell she's in a lot of pain. And when I say shitting her pants, I mean it's like liquid and spraying. Like, I've never seen diarrhea like this.

[Dax Shepard]

And she chose a clearing.

[Chelsea]

Yeah. It's like she couldn't control herself. She just had to get them off and start going. And the poor thing couldn't stop. It was coming in waves. So she would like have one around. She thought it was done. And then it kept coming, kept coming. So I'm just standing there in the middle of this wide concrete walking path. I don't know because I don't really know this person. So I'm like, do I need to walk away and give her privacy or do I need to offer her help? I just don't know what to do. She's clearly embarrassed.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Chelsea]

She's like, you have to go find something to help us clean this up. And I'm like, okay. Cause we have nothing on us.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Meaning her person.

[Chelsea]

Her person. It's gotten all over the place. Like, it's running down the back of her legs. It's, like, in her shorts. It's a real mess. And I'm like, okay, there's probably a public bathroom at this park. I can go. She's like, well, before you go, can you check my phone? Because she can't check her phone. Cause there's shit all over the place. So I grab her phone, and I look to see that the future groom has texted Fuck. And said, hey, we parked in the parking lot. We're on our way up the path. Oh, okay. So now imagine this like an action movie where there's, like, a timer in the corner. And we've got maybe 25 minutes to get this all cleaned up and go get in position before the couple is up at the top of the hill, like, ready to. To get engaged.

[Dax Shepard]

And that's assuming she's had her last wave of it.

[Chelsea]

And we also don't know how fast the couple is walking.

[Monica Padman]

And is the couple gonna pass you?

[Chelsea]

Yes. So we are still about 2 or 300 yards away from the overlook, probably. But, I mean, she's standing right off this path. So the couple will walk right past the spot. So I take off sprinting further down the hill to try to find a bathroom. And I finally find one. And I'm like, okay, perfect. Try to get in. Everything's locked. I'm, like, climbing on things, trying to push through the window at the top. Can't get into this building. And I have to then make a calculated decision. I can keep running further down the hill, but I don't know if there's a bathroom there. And I also risk running into the couple and not being able to stop them in time until they come across Jane standing there covered in her own shit. And so I'm like, I just have to go back up to where Jane is. So I go back up the hill. Poor thing is, like, sticky, covered in her own poop. She is using leaves and branches to try to clean herself up. And it's 95 degrees and humid. So the smell that's wafting up into.

[Monica Padman]

The air, this is a nightmare.

[Dax Shepard]

It's a horror movie.

[Chelsea]

And so we're just kind of standing there at a loss. We have a timer ticking down, and we have no way of cleaning this up. Cause we're wearing, like, shorts and a tank top. Like, we don't even have extra clothes on us. And Jane is certain that she doesn't have anything in her car that can help us. Cause she just cleaned it out. And Jane Also can't just go hide in the woods and let me do it because the couple knows her personally. And so if the groom shows up to the engagement and Jane isn't there, he's gonna be like, red flags are going off and it could risk ruining the whole proposal. Then out of nowhere, we hadn't seen a single soul at the park yet that day. We look toward the direction of the overlook and this lovely middle aged woman is jogging in our direction. She's very fit, very in shape. And I'm like, this poor woman doesn't know what's coming. So I flag her over. I'm like, ma' am, excuse me. She gets close to us, she looks horrif. Like it stinks. There's poop everywhere. She's like, what did I just run across? I'm like, ma' am, we are clearly in a situation. We're photographers. We're here shooting an engagement. The couple is on their way. We have no way of cleaning up this poop. Like, do you have anything? She's looking very skeptical, but for some reason is nice enough to agree. You know, I think I have some like, old beach towels or something in my car. I can run down to my car and look. And I'm like, okay, but here's the catch, ma' am. You can't go down the normal path because you're gonn to run out of time. So I ask this poor woman to please cut down the very steep hill back down to the parking lot. And she by some miracle says, okay, sure.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, what a good Christian woman.

[Chelsea]

Seriously, like, that's Southern hospitality. She runs down the hill. Jane and I are standing there. She is so embarrassed, like, can barely look me in the eyes. I'm trying to be like, it's okay, it's okay. You know, it feels like a lifetime that we're standing up there, but it was probably 10 minutes, 15 minutes. The woman comes running back up, she has a bottle of hand sanitize and these old musty beach towels. And she's like, yeah, you guys can obviously keep these. We don't get her name, we don't get her phone number, her address. I have no idea who she is. But we just say, thank you so much. And she takes off finishing her jog back down the path and we never see her again. And so anyway, Jane uses the hand sanitizer and the towels to wipe up as best as she can.

[Joanna]

Sure, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

There's only so much you can do without a shower.

[Chelsea]

She pulls her denim shorts, fastens them, turns around. And there is just like a huge shit stain on the back of these denim shorts. And I'm like, okay, well, we gotta go. They're five minutes away. So we make our way to the overlook. And she's like, here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna do the shoot. You're gonna take my camera, I'll get the wide angle shots and just stay far away. So I'm like, nervous cause I'm not a real photographer. But anyway, we go hide in the bushes. The couple comes up, they get engaged. It's lovely. They're so happy. The girl is crying. I get some nice detail shots. Jane is waving at them and like, strategically maneuvering to like, keep her backside away from them the whole time. And then they say, thank you so much. They take off hand in hand, back down the hill.

[Dax Shepard]

They had no idea.

[Chelsea]

No idea. And Jane had to stay far away because she smelled like shit. Anyway, we cut back down through the woods, back to the car. And Jane had insisted on us driving together. So she had to sit on these dirty beach towels the whole way home. And it smelled like a porta potty for 40 minutes.

[Dax Shepard]

Did you guys discuss. Did she go like, yeah, I fucking ate some shrimp tacos.

[Chelsea]

That's what we were trying to figure out. I was like, did you get food poisoning or something? Cause you seemed fine. After that. She dropped me back off at home and made me swear that I was never gonna tell a soul. Sure. So I was like, you know what? I'm not gonna tell anybody. I promise. So I get back to my apartment and my roommates are like, how'd the photo shoot go? And I'm just like, it was great. No, I sat on this story for like a year. And then I ended up running into Jane at an event. And she was laughing about it and was like, I don't care. You can tell people. It's so funny. So then I was able to unburden myself.

[Dax Shepard]

I gotta commend her on her work ethic. She didn't fucking bail.

[Monica Padman]

But this is like a movie. It's so high stakes a proposal.

[Chelsea]

If this woman hadn't been on her little jog, this couple's engagement story would be so radically different. And she really saved the day.

[Dax Shepard]

I wonder if the couple, though, on their stroll up, when they passed that little clearing, they were like, did you fart? That could have also unhinged the engagement if she was like, God, Brad, always.

[Monica Padman]

We'Re doing this nice thing and you can't even not fart.

[Dax Shepard]

Or he's like, oh, no, she smells. Should I do this?

[Chelsea]

Yeah. Truly the wildest thing I think I've ever experienced.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I love that. I was not expecting a poop your pants story in the middle of gestures from a stranger. So. What a blessing.

[Chelsea]

Yeah. I listened to the crazy proposal story episode. I was like, I should have written this story in. And I saw the kind gesture and I was like, oh, yeah, this woman, she's a hero.

[Monica Padman]

I'm trying to think. I would say, yeah, I have stuff in the car.

[Dax Shepard]

You can come grab it.

[Monica Padman]

No, no, I would help, but I wouldn't go the steep way. Cause I'd be like, I might fall and die.

[Dax Shepard]

I would have been like, like, no. Cuz then she would have thought that was a scam. I was going to say, I would say, what's your car? Give me your keys. I'm going to run down, grab them out of the trunk and then I'll run back up. But then she probably would have been like, oh, this whole thing's a scam to steal my car.

[Monica Padman]

Right?

[Chelsea]

That's probably fake duty, an elaborate plot.

[Georganne]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Super sophisticated ploy to steal a car. And you've left someone behind as a witness too.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, what a story.

[Dax Shepard]

Chelsea, that was great.

[Monica Padman]

That was fun.

[Chelsea]

Thanks for letting me share it. Can I have two friends come say hi? They happened to have the day off work and they are the biggest arm cherries that I know. And Dax, you are my friend Rebecca's biggest celebrity crush.

[Janae]

Hi, how are you?

[Chelsea]

And this is Brian.

[Monica Padman]

Good.

[Joanna]

Longtime listener, first time caller.

[Dax Shepard]

This looks like everyone's sharing a coffin, basically. And are you a Kentucky native?

[Janae]

Yes.

[Joanna]

All Kentucky natives.

[Monica Padman]

Yep.

[Dax Shepard]

The bluegrass. Well, it's lovely meeting all of you.

[Chelsea]

You too.

[Joanna]

Yes, lovely to meet y' all too.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, bye, guys.

[Monica Padman]

By Bye.

[Chelsea]

Thank you, guys.

[Janae]

Hello.

[Dax Shepard]

Hello. Is it Janae?

[Janae]

Yes, it is.

[Dax Shepard]

And where are you at, Janae?

[Janae]

I'm in Abington, Massachusetts.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so you received a kind gesture from a stranger.

[Janae]

Yes, I did. During the height of the COVID pandemic. So about May, my husband and I had just found out we were pregnant with twin girls. And so that was a bit of a shock, but at the same time, we also had horrible news that both of my parents had been diagnosed with cancer. Cancer.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, my God.

[Janae]

One right after the other. So my dad, with a rare skin cancer, and my mom, lymphoma. So they had lived in New York at the time, and so when they found that out, they decided that they needed to move close to Boston to be able to go to Dana farber. It's like the best cancer center you can go to. So we needed them just as much as they needed us for support. So. So we were at a point where we were ready to look at buying a house. And so we decided why not look into like a multi generational house with an in law suite during COVID was like finding a needle in a haystack. So my parents were still in new York. They hadn't quite come out yet because we didn't really have a place to live yet. So it was my husband and I really looking at all these places. So I was super pregnant. I was probably six months. Our realtor was like, oh, gosh, I gotta find them a house. So he knew the ramifications of it wasn't just us, but it was my parents that needed a home too. We finally found a house that had everything we needed. It was a complete separate apartment that my parents could live in on the lower level. And we were the upper level, had everything we needed. It felt like it was perfect, but it was $100,000 over our budget, which was just too much over at that time for us to be able to make it work. Needless to say, we were heartbroken. But we still decided to put in an offer. And it was below ask, obviously hoping that the sellers would come down a little bit. And they did. They countered our offer, but only by 30,000. It helped, but it was still not enough. So we kind of let it go and we thought, all right, this isn't going to happen. We're just going to keep looking. But a couple days later, we got a call and the sellers had accepted our offer, a difference of $70,000. And we were stunned. I was like, did the realtor tell them a sob story about us, Pull the cancer card? But he didn't mention any of that. We felt so lucky. We cried tears of joy. We were so ecstatic. My parents moved in, they started their treatments, and we were getting ready to welcome our twins. So we never really heard anything from the other realtors at that point. It just was done and all was taken care of. But a year later, we found out the truth. Our realtor had come to us. He was so kind, and he said, I couldn't let this go, and I couldn't see you guys without this perfect home. So he had decided to pay the $70,000 difference.

[Monica Padman]

What realtor did, what?

[Janae]

He debated even telling us. He didn't want to make it about himself.

[Dax Shepard]

Did you know him prior to working with him? Were you guys friends?

[Janae]

I had heard of him as a realtor before, but no, we didn't know him.

[Dax Shepard]

Wow, that's extraordinary.

[Janae]

It was amazing. And to this day, I don't really have the right words to express to him how thankful we are and he didn't want anything in return. We invite him over and we have barbecues in the backyard and things like that, but we call it our miracle house. And now my twin girls are four years old. They're just a joy. And my mom's cancer is gone. My dad's cancer is very stable.

[Dax Shepard]

Wow.

[Monica Padman]

Amazing. Oh, my gosh. How wonderful.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, that's spectacular. And you still love the house? You've been there for four years.

[Janae]

We love it.

[Dax Shepard]

That's wonderful. Well, if you sell it, make like a huge profit, we'll definitely have to.

[Janae]

Find a way to pay it forward.

[Monica Padman]

That's a beautiful story.

[Dax Shepard]

Not shocking because one of the greatest gifts of generosity I received was when we were stranded at the airport in Boston and those kind people in Wellesley hosted all of us. That was mass holes going against the stereotype.

[Janae]

Yeah, not everyone is terrible.

[Dax Shepard]

Did you watch the Jerry Springer documentary by chance on Netflix?

[Janae]

No, I haven't.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I gotta tell you, just the funniest a. If you watch it, you'll be like, I can't believe that was on television. And we just accepted that. That's one shocking thing. But then the other funny thing is they had a rule on Jerry Springer. No guests from Boston.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God, really?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, because they had so many guys from Boston. Come on. They were either lying or they had made up their story. They just want to get on TV and raise hell. And so I think that's a real feather in the cap of Boston. All Bostonians banned from Jerry.

[Monica Padman]

Too crazy for Jerry Springer.

[Janae]

Wow. I just have to say, I'm a brand new armchair.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, exciting.

[Janae]

You get a lot of people who have listened from the start, but I have a 30 minute commute to work, home and back. And so I thought I need to find some new podcasts. And I stumbled upon it and I've been listening since.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, welcome. What guest brought you in was just.

[Janae]

One of the anonymous. It was one of the nurse stories. So I started on a good one.

[Dax Shepard]

I was just telling my mother in law, who's a nurse, that there's nothing more dependable than the nurse prompt.

[Monica Padman]

It's a good one.

[Dax Shepard]

One.

[Monica Padman]

Well, thank you so much.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, thanks so much.

[Janae]

Thanks for having me.

[Dax Shepard]

All right, bye. Bye.

[Monica Padman]

Bye. Hi.

[Dax Shepard]

Hello. How are you?

[Georganne]

I'm so excited. I'M great.

[Dax Shepard]

Where are you, Georganne?

[Georganne]

I am in Terrell, Texas, which is about 30 miles east of Dallas. It's hometown. Jamie Foxx.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, nice.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, well, that's a feather in yalls cap.

[Joanna]

Yeah, it's great.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so you were the recipient of some kindness.

[Georganne]

The story takes place in Friendswood, Texas, which kind of down the Houston area, right in the shadow of Johnson Space Center. And when I was nine years old in fourth grade, I could not decide if I wanted to be an astronaut or a teacher. Then the most amazing thing happened. My teacher, Peggy Laughlaine, was named one of the finalists for NASA's Teacher in Space program.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, wow.

[Georganne]

So cool. She had, I'm assuming a sabbatical. I don't know, she didn't like clear it with the 9 year olds what was happening with her release time. But she wasn't there. She would come back and give us on the training that she was doing with the space program. And we had little experiments that we got to design that the teacher in space was gonna take up on the Challenger. So of course we were so sad that she wasn't selected to be the teacher in space.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, as soon as you said this, I'm back in fifth grade watching it live in my classroom and I'm terrified for what's coming.

[Georganne]

Yes. So January 28, 1986. I will never forget Ms. Cheever came in the classroom and told to come to the carpet. We knew of course, that Ms. Laughling hadn't been selected. But we were excited because we were told that our experiment was still going on board the shuttle and that Christa McAuliffe was going to come to our school and share all of the findings from our experiment. I'll never forget sitting on the carpet and watching her chin quiver as she told us what had happened. That the Challenger had been lost.

[Dax Shepard]

You guys weren't watching it live?

[Georganne]

No, because our principal, it was such a big deal for our school and our community that she had this foreboding feeling like if something terrible happened, she didn't want us all watching this collective traumatic experience.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Georganne]

I was devastated, as were so many of our class. Sad for our teacher and for those families. And then for me too. I had been so excited that I don't have to choose between being an astronaut and a teacher. I can do both like Ms. Laughlaine. And a little part of that dream died for me that day. So by the time I got home from school, I was nearly inconsolable. And my mom owned a flower shop and we lived in an apartment above the flower shop. I'm just sobbing by the time I get off the bus. And she says, I want you to go upstairs, just take a breath, get a snack. It's going to be okay. About an hour, hour and a half later, I come bouncing down the stairs and she's like, georganne, you seem so much better. I'm like, I am. I called NASA. And she's like, you did what? I said, yeah. I called NASA and I talked to my teacher and she told me she was okay and that I'm okay and I feel better. I remember very vividly marching up the little stairs. I pulled out the yellow pages from under our counter. So, Monica, other young people. It was this big book of phone numbers.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, I know, a yellow page.

[Georganne]

I looked up the number for Johnson Space center and called. The operator there connected me to Cape Canaveral, where my teacher was to watch the launch in Florida. So when my mom tells the story to this day, I am the hero of the story. Can you believe me? She was nine years old and called NASA.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Georganne]

But really, as I have reflected on that so many times in my life, and I tell the story often in different contexts, is that really the hero of that story was an operator? She was the operator on the worst day. Can you imagine what NASA was like that day? The calls that were coming in, the devastation, the grief, the hurt and the stranger. She didn't know me, but heard this sad, scared little girl. She could have easily said, honey, your teacher's in Florida. She's busy. I can't find them. Bless your heart. But she took the time to connect me to Cape Canaveral, to find someone there who went to track down my teacher and connect that call to a private place. And I really remember Ms. Laughlaine saying, I'm okay and you're okay and it's all going to be okay. There's just a lot of times in my life and in the work that I do that I tell that story with just the reminder. The acts of kindness that we get to perform to people we know and don't know is what is going to make the world world be okay.

[Dax Shepard]

You're right. It can have a real lasting impact.

[Monica Padman]

And a domino effect.

[Chelsea]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Georganne]

What a hero she is an unsung hero. I never was able to track her down and find her, but if she happened to be listening. Thank you. Because you made a difference like all these years later.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, that's pretty radical story. What a day that was. Cuz we watched it live. And every class was watching it all that the teachers started crying. The explosion was one thing that was alarming, but it was seeing all of our teachers, which we didn't think cried, that was really unsettling. I was like, oh, the adults are really, really all scared right now.

[Georganne]

It's like the defining moment of my childhood. One of those, you know, where you were.

[Dax Shepard]

Wow. Well, Georganne, that's a very sweet story.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, thanks for sharing it.

[Georganne]

Thank y' all for giving me the chance to. We have some of the biggest armchairs in our house. Could I get them in?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, let's get them all in.

[Georganne]

My husband, Matt. And then this is our biggest fan here. This is Mitchell. He is our college kiddo. He just finished a final, working on his master.

[Monica Padman]

Congratulations.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Matt]

I'm thinking I want to play this cool, but there's no way I'm going to fail miserably. I have to send a very profound thank you to what you guys do as parents. Raising boys, it can be really scary because we want our boys to be manly men, but we also want them to be sweet and kind. And, Dax, you have created this model for what that can be, that you can like muscle collars in sports, but be an engaged dad. You can work hard, but be a caring and loving husband. You can be tattooed and ripped, but also be curious and empathetic and kind. And, Monica, as a young, beautiful, intelligent woman, you have made that okay. And not just okay, but preferred. I so appreciate the gifts that you guys bring the world, and I hope that is not lost on you.

[Dax Shepard]

The notion you thought you were going to botch this, that was incredible.

[Monica Padman]

Overwhelming.

[Matt]

This guy right here. Mary. A week goes by that he and I don't connect about something that we heard or learned on Armchair Experts. Mitch, did you want to say something?

[Mitchell]

My little brother and I grew up absolute fans of the thorough. You kind of got us into bonding over movies and stuff like that. And then I started listening to the podcast, and both of y' all have seriously just brought me so much knowledge and comfort and happiness and a lot of difficult times, especially going through college and stuff like that. And thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. I'm such a big fan.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, this family. Y' all made our day.

[Georganne]

He just finished a. And he was like, if I have to fail the final. But he didn't fail. He did great.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, well, thank you. You truly, truly made our day.

[Georganne]

Thank you. It was a joy.

[Dax Shepard]

Take care. Oh, man.

[Monica Padman]

Sweet family.

[Dax Shepard]

Delightful.

[Monica Padman]

That was a nice family.

[Dax Shepard]

Hey. Intelligent, beautiful woman.

[Monica Padman]

Listen, I don't want to go to space.

[Dax Shepard]

No, me neither. Well, I used to want to until we interviewed the astronaut and I found out it's not pleasant up there. Headaches, can't sleep, Bursts of gamma rays in your eyes. They're closed. You can't.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. I loved this prompt.

[Dax Shepard]

Me, too.

[Monica Padman]

And it has made me feel like I want to do something very nice for someone.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Today. But I am going to the Beyonce concert.

[Dax Shepard]

That's a good thing to do for Beyonce.

[Monica Padman]

That's something. That's a kind gesture I'm doing for her.

[Dax Shepard]

What if Beyonce was on a podcast about kind strangers and she said, this girl Monica, I didn't even know her and she bought a ticket to come see me perform and she bought my merch and she cut in line.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Yeah, this isn't a good day for me to do it. I'm probably going to receive a kind gesture from.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, you're going to do a little taking today, probably.

[Monica Padman]

No, I'll buy everyone in line a shirt.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wow.

[Monica Padman]

I can't commit.

[Dax Shepard]

All right.

[Chelsea]

Probably a big long.

[Monica Padman]

I know. I just realized that.

[Dax Shepard]

All right, well, I think you're a kind stranger.

[Monica Padman]

I think you are, too. You know what I like to do? This is nothing. But in la because we have a lot of parking meters.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

If I see that one's out.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, you slide your credit card in there.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, that's really nice. You know what I make a habit of doing is if I have to fart and I'm about to get on an elevator, I fart in the foyer before I get in the elevator as an act of my wife doesn't excite. Extend that kindness to strangers. She'll toot right in the elevator because she knows they'll blame me or they'll like it.

[Monica Padman]

You love that, huh?

[Dax Shepard]

That's a funny. You know, Rob's got my numbers. Sometimes like it.

[Monica Padman]

All right, well, I think that's it for kind. That was really lovely.

[Dax Shepard]

All right. Love you.

[Monica Padman]

Love you.

[Chelsea]

Do you want to sing a tune or something? When I'm a theme song.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay, great. We don't have a theme song for this new show, so here I go. Go, go. We're going to ask some random questions and with the help of arm cherries, we'll get some suggestions on the fly rhyme dish. On the fly rhyme dish. Enjoy. Follow Armchair Expert on the Wonry app, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to every episode of Armchair Expert early and ad free right now by joining Wondry plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short [e-mail] survey.