BEST OF HMS PODCASTS - MONDAY - March 10, 2025 - Seeing A 7 Foot Homeless Man - March 2024

Summary

Holmberg's Morning Sickness - Arizona: BEST OF HMS PODCASTS - MONDAY - March 10, 2025

Episode Title: Seeing A 7 Foot Homeless Man
Release Date: March 10, 2025
Host: John Holmberg
Co-Hosts: Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, Dick Toledo
Station: 98 KUPD | Hubbard Radio

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Overview

In this episode of Holmberg's Morning Sickness on 98 KUPD, the hosts delve into a thought-provoking and humorous discussion sparked by an unusual encounter: witnessing a seven-foot-tall homeless man. The conversation traverses societal perceptions of homelessness, the paradox of physical advantages juxtaposed with societal disadvantages, and the stigmas attached to both stature and socio-economic status.

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Encounter with the Seven-Foot Homeless Man

Matty initiates the conversation by recounting his experience at a traffic light near a Circle K location on 52nd Street. He describes observing a man who appeared to be over seven feet tall, struggling with homelessness.

• Matty [00:33]:
  "I watched a man with a homeless guy sign because there's a homeless encampment... This dude was about 6 inches taller than the wall and he's walking down the road, homeless as can be."

This unusual sight leads Matty to question the plausibility of such a tall individual being homeless, suggesting that someone of that stature should theoretically have more opportunities.

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Societal Perceptions and Stereotypes

The hosts explore the stereotypes associated with homelessness, particularly focusing on physical appearance.

• Matty [01:52]:
  "Just a mobile herpe. Bus stop. It's... she's got it."

Matty humorously stereotypes "hot girls" at bus stops as being visibly covered with warts or STDs, implying that attractiveness combined with homelessness signals underlying issues. While his comments are laced with humor, they reflect deeper societal stigmas about the homeless and those who appear physically attractive yet are economically disadvantaged.

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Advantages of Height and Societal Expectations

The conversation shifts to the perceived advantages of being exceptionally tall, especially in fields like sports and entertainment.

• Matty [03:26]:
  "You gotta lift somebody. You can get a Waymo. You can get an Uber. You're not... You're not using City train."

Matty argues that tall individuals have inherent advantages that should prevent them from falling into homelessness. He points out that being seven feet tall should open doors to lucrative opportunities, such as in the NBA or volleyball, yet societal and personal issues like substance abuse can derail these prospects.

• Brady [05:13]:
  "DeAndre takes snow days during the season and still gets the..."

The hosts discuss NBA players who, despite their height and potential, struggle with personal issues, highlighting the fragility of success regardless of physical attributes.

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The Reality of Homelessness Among the Tall

Matty emphasizes the rarity of encountering tall individuals who are homeless, suggesting that it's a sign of significant personal failure.

• Matty [05:55]:
  "She's running a scam here. This is like, hot girl making cash on the corner. Pretty smart."

He contrasts the "hot homeless girl" who appears to have a system in place to garner attention and funds, with genuinely struggling individuals who lack such mechanisms. This distinction underscores the complexity of homelessness, where appearances can be deceiving.

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Health, Substance Abuse, and Longevity

The hosts discuss the impact of substance abuse on physical health and lifespan, especially among exceptionally tall individuals.

• Matty [07:19]:
  "It's bad for you and can become a habit and it's really not good for your body."

He draws parallels between bulimia and the use of substances like methamphetamine, suggesting that excessive use can deteriorate one's health despite initial physical advantages.

• Brady [09:03]:
  "Professor."
  (Presumably referring to tall individuals in academia or professional fields struggling with personal issues.)

Matty shares anecdotes about tall individuals who, despite their physical presence, succumbed to personal demons, leading to early mortality.

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Potential Solutions and Hope

Towards the end of the discussion, Matty fantasizes about rehabilitating a tall homeless individual by leveraging their physical advantages.

• Matty [12:08]:
  "We're gonna get you a tryout, and all you need is a 10 day deal and you'll be back on your feet."

While humorous, this reflects a desire to see societal structures support those who have apparent advantages but fall through the cracks due to personal challenges.

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Concluding Thoughts

The episode wraps up with reflections on the transient nature of homelessness and the importance of taking advantage of one's inherent advantages before circumstances change unfavorably.

• Matty [12:40]:
  "It's brutal. Seven feet tall. It's out of control now."

The hosts underscore the urgency for individuals with inherent advantages, like height, to utilize them effectively to avoid the pitfalls of homelessness and its associated stigmas.

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Key Takeaways

• Perceptions Matter: Physical appearance heavily influences societal perceptions of homelessness, often leading to misplaced judgments.

• Inherent Advantages: Attributes like height can provide significant opportunities, yet personal choices and circumstances play a crucial role in one's socio-economic status.

• Stigma and Stereotypes: Misconceptions about the causes of homelessness persist, highlighting the need for more nuanced understanding and compassionate approaches.

• Health and Longevity: Substance abuse and health issues disproportionately affect even those with physical advantages, underscoring the complexity of personal struggles.

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This episode offers a blend of humor and serious commentary, prompting listeners to reflect on societal attitudes towards homelessness and the often unseen challenges individuals face, regardless of their physical attributes.

Transcript

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[Matty]

Homework's Morning Sickness on Matty AKUPD and then, you know, all this gone. My mind all week and I pulled up to this stop. I had to come down here during the week to this exit off of the 202 onto where the new Circle K is being. No, no, no, the exit is up. That's going on. This is the exit coming off my direction, which is just a little bit north of the Circle K. I don't ever see the Circle K. And I'm sitting at that light. And across the street at that light, I watched a man with a homeless guy sign because there's a homeless encampment. They pushed the zone out there all their 52nd street. This dude was about 6 inches taller than the wall and he's walking down the road, homeless as can be. And I drove by and I'm like, something wrong with that wall. That can't be. That's an optical illusion. So I actually went all the way in. And then when I left here, I stopped and looked at the wall. It's a seven foot wall. Dude had to be seven four and homeless. And if that's the case, you have no one to blame but your self. If you're 74 and didn't make that work to where you're living outside, how you have to screw up. It's like being beautiful.

[Brady]

That's how powerful crack is.

[Matty]

It's like being a beautiful woman and being poor. You've got something wrong with you. Like you've got herpes. I always call it the bus stop. The bus stop? Yeah, the bus stop. My theory about hot girls at bus stops covered in warts, covered in STDs, like so visibly covered and they can't even get a ride to work. Hot girls should never be at a bus stop. I kind of feel the same way about the light rail hot girl getting on. You don't see it too often, but when you do, don't be fooled. She is a walking herpe. Just a mobile herpe. That's all she is. Bus stop. I always call it bus stop. It's. It's. She's got it. She's got that bus stop. P word. Cuz that thing is just caked. It looks like a red velvet cake. The, the. The icing's been kind of scraped off, but there's still a lot of white. It's just, it's worked her way out.

[Brady]

Of getting a ride from anybody.

[Matty]

Cannot get a ride to work, right? No.

[Brady]

Every five volunteers.

[Matty]

Hot girls don't ever go to work. You don't have to. If you're hot enough, you don't go to work. Secondary, if you do, you gotta. You gotta lift somebody. You can get a Waymo. You can get an Uber. You're not. You don't need the bus. You're not using City train. It's in Phoenix, not in New York and stuff. It doesn't count in cities. Actual used buses here. Hot girl. That's the same thing if you're seven four and a man. That dude had to be at least 7 4. His head was higher than the wall and he's just walking down the road. And I'm like, that dude is a giant. And I'm like, well, maybe that's six foot wall. There's no way you can be that tall and homeless. I've never seen it.

[Brady]

Drywall stilts.

[Matty]

That's the only thing it's like, was this a costume? Was he screwing around?

[Brady]

Got laid off?

[Matty]

Oh no. The sign was hanging in his hand and I think it said hungry real big. I couldn't see the little letters and I'm like, hungry. You gotta feed seven feet a body. You have screwed up your life if you're over 7ft tall. Can't get a job at like the Renaissance Fair. They hire you in a heartbeat. Stocking shelves. You're so hireable that just down in the NBA, just stand there. Volleyball, basketball, countless amounts.

[Brady]

You should be dominating.

[Matty]

You should be. Look at Deandre Ayton. The dude doesn't even try. And he made millions just being 7ft tall. Identify as a woman and join the mercury. There you go. Come on. There are options everywhere other than. Well, it's too late for me. You're seven feet plus. I have got to see this guy again. Right over here by the dude who plays the fiddle. Have you seen him? He's a violinist. A homeless violinist that he walks up and down the street here on 52nd street plays the. If you can play the violin, get a job at a French restaurant. Oh, wait, it's the crack cocaine that keeps you from being hireable. How bad do you have to screw up your life to be 7ft tall and homeless? How bad? Like, you've got advantages that no one else has. Me off the rack. Six footer. I'm a blend in. I could be homeless tomorrow. And people are like, well, he blew it. But he didn't have any special skills.

[Brady]

That's what's amazing about that stuff. Like, you had the greatest job ever.

[Matty]

Yeah.

[Brady]

And it makes you no show at work or whatever.

[Matty]

Still, If I was 7ft tall, you could fire me today. I'd be like, okay, I'll figure something out. I'm 7ft tall. People need this. I'm a novelty as a human being. I'll make this work.

[Brady]

DeAndre takes snow days during the season and still gets the.

[Matty]

It's too icy to go to work. And everybody else at work is there. They all made it. But you couldn't. Couldn't get a ride. I'm just not coming. And that's in basketball, where there's multiple people your height and they still can't get rid of them. If you're homeless and over 6 foot 7, I'd say you've blown life. You have all the advantages, all of it. You very rarely see a gigantic. Remember that hot homeless girl that used to stand up on the corner? What happened to her? Last time I saw her, not so hot. Oh, really? But she was in sweatpants that were folded over on top, a little half shirt, had a little sign.

[Brady]

Original game.

[Matty]

She's running a scam here. This is like, hot girl making cash on the corner. Pretty smart. And then the next time I saw her, Larry and I went over there because I was going to get Larry to try to ask her out because this is how it works as a hot homeless girl. Some dude's going to. There was a line. I've never seen that before either. There was a line in the. Is that a QT Circle K? Okay. There were cars waiting to pay her. She had a receiving line. Yeah, she had like three dudes that were. And then one guy's like, I see him waving her over. I'm like, he's going to try to give her a ride somewhere. You don't do that to normal homeless. And then I took Larry. I'm like, you got to see her. And he goes, oh, I've seen the hot homeless girl. And drove and we looked for for a few days. And then when we saw her, it was like two weeks later and she was in rough shape. So I'm like, oh, she's legitimately homeless. Burned every bridge up's morning sickness. Beautiful girls. Super tall. Dudes should never be homeless. I don't understand. Sometimes you'll see a guy with his shirt off who's homeless and he's just jacked. I'm like, there's no way you're hitting the gym. Like, you look great. How are you this homeless? And sometimes I look and think maybe, maybe meth makes you look good. It's like bulimia. At a certain point if you stop, it's perfect.

[Brady]

Like if you were like, like everything John, in moderation.

[Matty]

I've always believed that about bulimia. It's bad for you and can be become a habit and it' really not good for your body. But think of all the things you put in your body. But if you bulimize, I think that's the word, right? To a certain level. Like Paula Abdul did it. She did that one video where she was in the jungle and then she said, oh, I've been bulimic and it's bad. And I'm like, it's worked. You look fantastic. Just knock it off. Now certain areas of that you can get to a certain point where you're like, I I. It's no different than semaglutides or ozempic and stuff. It just makes your body do terrible things to itself. You lose all. You're gonna lose the weight. That's great. Then it's up to you. But yeah, seven feet tall. You pissed me off. Walking down that road. It's the. When you drive back today, when you get to the light of people getting off the freeway heading east, look at that wall. And when you see it, you'll be like, there was a dude taller than that wall walking by it. Yep. Not on a curb, not on anything. 7ft tall threw life away. I look at Brett, I look at Brady, me. If any of us were homeless, wouldn't even give us a second look. Typical run of the mill assholes. Seven footer. All the advantages in the world. Dude didn't make it work. That's tragic. At least we know what happened to Richard Dumas. I mean, you know, everybody's been wondering for years where he went. And he's 6 7. Good Lord. If he was black, I'd be super furious. If he's black and 7ft tall, I'm like, how did you do this to yourself? They'll even allow you to be a drug addict. Lamar Odom played in the NBA for years constantly on drugs. I walked by the and one bus once downtown. All the guys that couldn't play basketball.

[Brady]

Professor.

[Matty]

Oh yeah, I forget a few of those names were great. Half man, half machine or whatever. That was great. The bus was smoking. This is way before weed was legal and all these guys got off and like they have a rule in the NBA about weed. They did not have it in the end. One thing at all and those. You're telling me the NBA for years and years had zero suspensions for marijuana use when it was illegal. That's how much the NBA is like weak. This is not something we need to start doing. We have the rule but just we're not testing for it. If he was black and 7ft now I get a white guy 7ft tall. But still we've golfed with Greg Oster tag and I've met a few.

[Brady]

You're gonna get a, I mean you'll get a free college, you're getting a look scholarship.

[Matty]

Oh there's nothing worse than a seven foot guy who hates no matter what.

[Brady]

You'd be horrible at it.

[Matty]

We'll try to work it down the street on Bradley. It was, it was Sean, remember big country was that guy. Except for this dude was not fat. Luke Longacre with oh, Luke Long, the big seven foot Australian. Yeah. So if you're out there right now and you're 6869 and life's rough. Stop it. Stop it. It's never too late. And plus you don't see old really super tall people either. So you better get on the ball right now because you're not gonna last long. I think most super tall people either start shrinking in their 50s or just die because it's a rarity. You see them sometimes. It's a rarity to see that 7 foot 70 year old. They don't. They're not out there. The body, that body closes up shop early. I had a friend of mine whose grandfather was 610 and he died when we were kids. Thinking back, the guy had to be in his late 50s, early 60s. Those bodies don't last long.

[Brady]

My grands had one guy, Thigh Lake and was his name Daddy Long Legs? Yeah, he was six eight but he made it to 86 eight.

[Matty]

I think you can start six, six, six seven. You get in the seven foot range, you're not living that long. Bill Russell's the only one. You're like how's this guy, and he made it pretty far.

[Brady]

Cream's hanging in there.

[Matty]

Kareem's looking like, all right. And that's just clean living. I think he's. He's recognized that body's gonna shut down. But he's doing commercials for how unhealthy he is. Oh, yeah, he's got drug commercials. Like, I'm not even alive if I don't load up on this stuff. Anyway. It just pissed me off. So if, you know, I'm gonna search for this dude and I'm just gonna play a little one on one. I'm gonna Kevin Bacon this situation. If I find out he's even in his 30s, I'm cleaning him up and we're giving him a tryout. I'm gonna be that Luann Toohey that stole that black kid and tried to make him her own. I'm gonna find me a seven foot homeless. That's a great movie. Just driving by and going, hey, you play a little rumble? I used to before the drugs. All right, you're coming with me. I'm gonna put you up in a place. We're gonna play basketball every single day. I'm gonna work you. I'm gonna work.

[Brady]

You'll be the zone daddy.

[Matty]

That's right. We're gonna get you a tryout, and all you need is a 10 day deal and you'll be back on your feet. It would mean the world to me. How did you do. How did you become homeless? It doesn't make any sense. All the pictures of the zone. I never saw a dude over 7ft tall. You just don't. They just. You just don't. No hot girls, no seven footers. That's just the rule of homelessness. It's a. It's avoidable when you've got those advantages handed to you.

[Brady]

That's a Disney film. Oh, man.

[Matty]

If Brady was homeless, no one would give money because, like, yeah, you're hungry.

[Brady]

I'm not buying it.

[Matty]

Right? I'm not buying it. You're scamming me, Brett. Maybe. I don't know. I still feel me. I look homeless. Normally people would. I probably make more money being homeless because, like, that poor son of a bitch, he's got cancer too. I fit right in. It's brutal. Seven feet tall. It's out of control now. 98.