The Parents Who Home-Alone’d Their Kids for the Holidays w/ Kal Penn

Summary

Scam Goddess — "The Parents Who Home-Alone’d Their Kids for the Holidays w/ Kal Penn"

Date: December 23, 2025
Host: Laci Mosley
Guest: Kal Penn

---

Episode Overview

In this lively episode of Scam Goddess, host Laci Mosley welcomes actor, comedian, podcaster, and former White House associate director Kal Penn to the congregation. They dive into hilarious, shocking, and insightful tales of scams—both personal and historic—culminating in the breakdown of a real-life "Home Alone" case where parents left their kids for a nine-day Mexican vacation. True to form, the show blends comedy, sharp commentary, and teachable moments about drawing boundaries and recognizing scams.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Guest Introduction and Show Banter (03:10–05:54)

• Laci hypes Kal's many career highlights, from Harold & Kumar to his new podcast Here We Go Again.
• Kal shares the all-too-real struggles and little fibs actors use to get jobs, like fabricating "special skills" on resumes.

  "Every actor has scammed a casting director. The special skills section of any actor's resume is almost entirely just made up, for sure." — Kal Penn (03:18)

Fun Anecdote:

• Kal's Nike Commercial "Scam": He lied about being able to play basketball to get his SAG card. Due to an audition quirk (talking instead of playing), he was cast, even though he couldn't play—forcing the commercial to be rewritten.

  "They had to change the commercial to make it about three guys who can't play basketball. And I got my side card." — Kal Penn (04:54)

---

2. Personal Scam Stories (06:22–12:03)

Kal’s Brief Scam Stint as a Teen (06:22–11:25)

• Recounts working at a shady telemarketing job at 17, where he was told to pressure elderly people into donating to a fake policeman's benevolent fund.
• Felt awful and quit after a day, noting how both the callers and the call recipients were vulnerable.

"You're basically convincing these old people that they're going to get murdered if you don't donate to the police. It was so insane." — Kal Penn (07:23)

• Laci and Kal discuss the trap of desperate job-seekers becoming unwitting tools for scams.

---

3. Kal’s Acting Scam Experience — Getting Scammed as a Professional (13:41–28:39)

The Bollywood Indie Film Escrow Scam (13:41–28:39)

• Kal recounts the time he was scammed working on an indie film in India.
• Despite a contract promising an escrowed salary, the money never appeared. Excuses piled up ("bank holiday", "it's on its way"), and he eventually received half his payment in cash through a mysterious, panda-shirt-wearing messenger, and the other half the next day.
• Only when he threatened to stop showing up did the producers pay him.

"As soon as I was done cursing at him, I was like, oh, my God, this is a construction gangster in the middle of India. Like, what have I just done?" — Kal Penn (20:32)
"The reason that the money showed up is not... that I yelled at him... The fact that I was not getting in the car to go to work... is what made the money show up." — Kal Penn (36:13)

• Insight: Standing firm on your leverage is key to getting what you’re owed.

Memorable Airport Moment

• Upon declaring his earnings at U.S. Customs, the agent is more shocked at Penn's low movie paycheck than the cash itself.

"Cal Penn only makes $10,000 for a movie?" — Customs Agent (24:14)

---

4. Industry Real Talk: Standing Up On Set (32:07–36:02)

• Laci shares her experience of staged resistance as an actor to demand better working conditions: sitting on the set in plain view instead of her trailer to force producers to fix issues.
• Both discuss the danger of "being labeled difficult"—especially as people of color and/or women in entertainment—but emphasize the importance of leverage and knowing your worth.

"Everybody wants their work delivered on time...But, oh, when it comes to paying you...we got those net 45s, those net 90s." — Laci Mosley (34:21)

---

5. Historic Hoodwinks: The Real-Life Home Alone Parents (Main Scam Story) (37:09–62:46)

THE SCAM: David & Sharon Shue Leave Kids for Vacation (37:09–62:46)

The Case

• In 1992, Chicago couple David and Sharon Shue left their 9- and 4-year-old daughters home alone for nine days while vacationing in Mexico. Inspired (possibly) by the massive popularity of Home Alone.

Discovery & Aftermath

• Firefighters discovered the girls after a neighbor checked on them due to a fire alarm (likely triggered by the children trying to cook).
• The girls only had frozen dinners, cereal, and a strict schedule note; no emergency contact number.

"'What would you do if your kids are all alone on the bedroom floor, 'cuz they're hungry, but you had to go to Mexico?'" — Laci Mosley (43:50)

• Parents stayed in a very cheap, obscure, run-down hotel ("not even TripAdvisor could help you"), didn’t call home, and ignored the media storm brewing back in Chicago.
• Both kids had already experienced abandonment—this was not the first incident.

Background & Motive

• Further investigation revealed David had lost his pharmacy license over a Valium theft. The family had moved and kept a low profile; neighbors found them reclusive and odd (nighttime lawn mowing, no socializing).
• Commentators speculate the vacation story was a cover for something illicit.

Legal Consequences

• The parents were arrested upon their return (media shouting "Scrooge" at them at the airport), avoided jail with a plea deal (probation), and put the girls up for adoption.
• Illinois law was changed as a direct result: children under 14 cannot be left alone for more than 24 hours (previously, the law was vague).

Key Quotes

"They left enough food and a set of written instructions, including a bedtime. People like this usually don't have a bedtime for their kids." — Kal Penn (51:22)
"At O’Hare airport, a crowd of newspaper and television reporters were waiting for them while onlookers shouted ‘Scrooge’ at them." — Laci Mosley (51:54)

Social Commentary

• Laci and Kal riff on both the dark humor and tragedy of the case, the race/class aspects of family abandonment, the influence of media ("Home Alone"), and the inadequacies of the legal response.
• They reflect on the importance of laws, public scrutiny, and what constitutes an "abandonment" in the eyes of the state.

What Became of the Kids?

• Placed in an adoptive home, confirmed "fine" by lawyers—exact details sealed by court order to protect privacy.

  "He said, guys, they're alive and breathing. So… next question." — Laci Mosley (58:41)

---

6. Kal’s Podcast & Projects Plug (63:27–69:53)

• Here We Go Again: Kal’s new show about the cyclical nature of history, recounted in a fun, contextual, and hopeful way.

  "Each podcast is basically the opposite of how icky you feel when you watch the news…" — Kal Penn (64:21)

• Also plugs Earsay with Ed Helms and his memoir You Can’t Be Serious.

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Actor Fibs:

  "The special skills section of any actor's resume is almost entirely just made up, for sure." — Kal Penn (03:18)

• On Working Desperation:

  "That's why we're rife for scams, because that desperation meter is so high..." — Laci Mosley (05:54)

• Industry Leverage:

  "You give people an inch, they'll run a 5K on your ass… you have to kind of come at what they need from you to get what you want from them." — Laci Mosley (35:36)

• Dark Comedy:

  "How you gonna leave your kids for Kwanzaa?" — Kal Penn (42:55)

• Public Shaming in the Age of Social Media:

  "Today's public scrutiny is way, way worse. I think I could take 1993 public scrutiny. As someone who's been on TMZ twice, I think I could do 93." — Laci Mosley (60:32)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Kal’s Career: 03:10–05:54
• Scam Stories (Acting, Telemarketing): 06:22–12:03
• Bollywood Indie Escrow Scam: 13:41–28:39
• Onstanding Up for Yourself Professionally: 32:07–36:02
• Historic Hoodwink: Home Alone Parents: 37:09–62:46
• Discussion on Public Scrutiny: 59:33–62:34
• Podcast Plug & Wrap-Up: 63:27–69:53

---

Tone & Style

The episode is a blend of laugh-out-loud banter, candid industry insights, and sharp social commentary. Laci brings quick wit, empathy, and incisive takes; Kal Penn is affable, funny, and reflective, sharing both industry war stories and thoughts on systemic vulnerabilities that allow scams to flourish.

---

Summary Takeaways

• Always check the legitimacy of a job, contract, or opportunity—don’t be afraid to walk away.
• Desperation creates an environment rife for scams—build leverage and use it wisely.
• Real-world scams often target society’s most vulnerable, but sometimes the system traps both scammer and victim.
• Even the wildest news stories (like the "Home Alone" parents) can push societal change and legal reform.
• Advocating for yourself—professionally or otherwise—is crucial in the face of unfairness or exploitation.
• Know your worth and don’t be afraid to demand what’s rightfully yours.

---

As Laci always says: "Stay scheming… but don’t leave your kids home alone for Christmas!"

Transcript

[Kal Penn]

In shady times, let there be drag.

[RuPaul's Drag Race Announcer]

RuPaul's Drag Race is back on MTV. 14 new queens shine brighter than ever.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

This is OG Drag Race. See what everybody is made of.

[RuPaul's Drag Race Announcer]

Who will be crowned America's brightest drag superstar?

[Kal Penn]

Is this gonna knock me out of this competition?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

This is my moment to shine.

[RuPaul's Drag Race Announcer]

And extra special guest judge Cardi B is bringing the drama that was so fun. RuPaul's Drag Race new season premieres Friday, January 2nd at 8, 7 Central. Watch on MTV.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Let's be real great sex starts with the right toys. Funlove.com has you covered with one of the largest selections of adult products online. From vibrators and bondage to lingerie and lube, they've got everything you need to play your way. Shipping is always 100% discreet. No labels, no awkward packaging. And with unbeatable prices, you can indulge without having to break the bank. Even better, our listeners get a thumbnail 30% off with the code Goddess at checkout funlove.com Low prices, high satisfaction scams. CA robbery and fraud scam. CA robbery and fraud scam. Got it. What's poppin, congregation? It's your girl, Lacey Mosley, AKA Scam Goddess. And y', all, I'm back in the ghetto, AKA the United States of A. This is our first episode on U.S. soil. Okay, y' all, be quiet. I used to snatch it up at all the brown people now, but today I am very. What? Yes. Excited, thrilled, elated, because my guest today is a first timer on the show. We have a new member of the church, y'. All. Yes. Everybody get up and welcome. Welcome them. Welcome them. Yes. Get up, shake your neighbor's hand. Say, hello, neighbor. I know. That's right. Okay. He's an actor, podcaster, comedian, author, and was an associate director of the White House office. But more on that later. Some of you might recognize him as Kumar Patel from the infamous movies. Or not infamous famous movies. I guess. I don't know. Maybe it was infamous for me because as a kid I wasn't allowed to watch these body anyway. Harold and Kumar. Or as Dr. Kutner from the TV show House. Okay, yes. He also has his own podcast out now called Here We Go Again, where he takes today's trends and headlines and asks, why does history keep repeating itself? And did I mention that he was a political appointee in the Obama administration? Okay, Better times or how he landed an audition for the Namesake by writing a heartfelt letter to the director Mira nair. And because 14 year old Zoran Mamdani was A huge fan of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, which weren't we all? Congregation, please welcome Kalpin to the show.

[Kal Penn]

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Thank you for being here. I loved the namesake, and I love that you did a little scam to get up in.

[Kal Penn]

It was less of a scam. It was less of a scam and more of, like. Because it was heartfelt. I've done scams for Every actor has scammed a casting director. Like, the special skills section of any actor's resume is almost entirely just made up, for sure.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

And the funniest part is when you see it in action. I once shot a show called Florida Girls, and we were in Savannah shooting it, and there was a special skills on the thing that was like, must be a strong swimmer. And the actor put that they were a strong swimmer. And the whole point was that we go to this rich house, and we're, like, super poor. And I point out that, like, oh, like, look, they even know how to swim, like, real good or something like that. He gets in this pool, and he is fluent flailing around. It almost looks like he's gonna drown. It completely ruins the joke because he's supposed to be, like, just smooth. Like, he swims every day.

[Kal Penn]

I got my SAG card by lying. I. I love that. I told them on my resume. This is way back when I was, like, 2021. I had said that I play basketball, and the agent called and was like, hey, there's an audition for a Nike commercial. If you book this, you'll get your SAG card. You can play basketball, right? It's a basketball commercial. And I was like, yeah, of course I can play basketball. So they send me on the audition, and I get to the audition, it's on the second floor of a casting office, and they go, hey, the accounting firm downstairs complained about dribbling basketballs. So we're just gonna talk trash for the audition. Pretend you're dribbling. You can play basketball, right? I'm like, yeah, I'm really good. Obviously, the only thing I'm good at is talking trash as an actor. So I booked this audition. I show up to the commercial. It's about three guys who are really good basketball players.

[Chuck Gowdy]

And.

[Kal Penn]

And I start. Obviously, I can't play. And they have to change the commercial to make it about three guys who can't play basketball. And I got my side card.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So, you know, I love that. See, that's divine timing, because also, if you had come in when they were still dribbling before the commercial.

[Kal Penn]

Oh, exactly. Yeah. Forget it. You know, so you came.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

It's divine timing. That's always how it is in the business. Also, I love. It's a Nike commercial. Cow. Like you were gonna massage your way of basketball in a Nike commercial.

[Kal Penn]

I mean, I was just like, let's just see what happens, you know, like, every as. I feel like, as actors, maybe people don't realize this enough. Like, we're very desperate for work. And even when you like, I. I'm always amazed when actors have beef with each other because you just like. The one thing I can relate to is you'll do whatever it takes to get a job. It doesn't matter what that is. You're just gonna do it because you. You want it so badly. Including lying about playing basketball at a Nike commercial.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

That's why we're rife for scams, because that desperation meter is so high that it's like, you know, I've. I've been out in the street taking $800 headshots when I did not have that kind of money because the photographer said he shot Denzel's daughter once. And I was like, that's close enough. That's close enough, right? Yes. But, Kyle, we always ask on this show, and you already kind of got into it, but what's your relationship with scams? Do you love them? Do you hate them? Have you ever been scammed? Have you ever run any scams that are past the statute of limitations? It could. Anything.

[Kal Penn]

I have one of each. Me being a scammer is a much shorter story, but I was briefly a scammer.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Tell me everything.

[Kal Penn]

So in high school, before I went to college, the summer before, I needed. I knew I was going to drama school. I grew up in New Jersey. I was coming out to UCLA in la, and I needed to save up money because you need a car to go on auditions. You can't take the bus or the subway everywhere. It just doesn't go. Like you said, you need money for your headshots. I didn't have any of that. So the first job that I saw in the newspaper, it said it was for telemarketing services.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Oh, Lord.

[Kal Penn]

And I go to this place, and they hire me immediately, of course. And it's very clear that the only thing we're doing is there's an autodialer on a computer. You have a headset on, you have a script, and you have a script, and you're calling old people and asking them to donate money to, like, some policeman's benevolent society, something Something.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Oh, my goodness. You know, we covered this on here.

[Kal Penn]

Did you?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah, there's a whole HBO doc about this.

[Kal Penn]

Okay, then. Then I need to watch that and listen to this.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

No, no, no, keep going. Cause I want to see what happens to you.

[Kal Penn]

So what happened to me was basically, they know that the first person is going to say the first. They're going to say, no first. So then there's the follow up on what you're supposed to say. You're basically guilting these old people into donating they all. And there was a line in the script about this. They're all like, you know, I'm on a fixed income, so I can't give the hundred dollars. And then we're supposed to say something like, well, ma', am, the police do such great work to keep us all Safe. How about $50? And you're basically convincing these old people that they're going to get murdered if you don't donate to the police. It was so insane. So I felt really bad about this the first day, right? I go home, I come back the next day, and I was like, I can't do this. So I showed up early. I showed up a half hour before the shift, and there were like eight other people there also a half hour before the shift who were like, resigning. And they basically. There was no surprise on the faces of the supervisors. They're like, yeah, okay, we'll mail you your check. And I feel like a $7 check came two weeks later kind of thing. But that was messed up. They would. Once you. If you got what they called a sale, if you got somebody to donate, the supervisor who would walk around with like, suspenders and a. And a tie, would throw candy at you like. Like that was your big gift. That was the, like, oh, good job, kiddo. Yeah, you got us some money. And it, you know, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're probably not the police. You're probably not actually the people you say you are in some strip mall in New Jersey. Anyway, I just couldn't stomach it. I ended up. I ended up working at a farm for the rest of the summer, which was great for, like, mind and body. I was basically just like, lifting fruits and vegetables all day. But I walked out of there so quick. That's the me being a scammer story. It lasted one day.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I think that's really sweet, Cal, that you realize, like, first of all, you were scammed because you came in thinking it was just a telemarketing opportunity. And then quickly Realized that you were shaking down society's most vulnerable people, and then you decided that that's not for me, and that's a scam that I don't agree with. There's some scams that I'm like, you're. You're. You're tricking the system that's already tricking us. I'm not mad at that. But when it comes to, like, people on fixed income, I think you did a wonderful thing. I think it's so funny in the script that obviously they already anticipate that. No. And then they start being like, well, it'd be a shame if those insurers you ordered got swiped by a criminal.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah, exactly.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

You know, be ashamed if someone broke into your house and stole your Life alert. What if you hit the Life alert and nobody comes?

[Kal Penn]

Nobody comes. Don't you think they do such great work for the community and. And you're preying on. You know, a lot of older people are like, they're lonely. You know, nobody calls necessarily. They don't have family who live with them. The crazier part, too, I feel like. I mean, I was only 17, but I vividly remember feeling like, you know, some of the other people who were the telemarketers, if you want to even call them that, who had been. Who had been there for a while, who didn't just sign up and then quit the next day, although there were plenty who did. These were people who were, like, in their 40s, their 50s. They also were vulnerable, you know what I mean?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Like, and probably had a criminal record, whatever it was.

[Kal Penn]

I'm like, what led you to take this job where it's so clear that this is a huge fraud? Why would you do this? I didn't stick around to find out.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

But if any other company won't hire them, I mean, from what I've learned from speaking to people who were part of this, I almost wonder if you were in the same place because they were also in New Jersey, but is that. It's a lot of, like, ex convicts with, like, violent criminal records, but people who can't get hired other places. And so out of desperation, they stay there and work there because that's the only place that's gonna hire them. So, yeah, it's. It's complicated. But if you do have the option to work somewhere else, I really think that's dope, Cal, that you're like, this is not for me. I'm not gonna be shaken down. I don't wanna be a phone robber. I don't Wanna be like, put your hand up. If you're getting money, put the other hand up. Now give it to me. No. Like, no.

[Kal Penn]

No. And I will never. That was the one day. Being a scammer.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah. You were scammed into that. That's not your fault. And also, it makes sense. You're 17 and they're throwing Tootsie Roll Burst at you. Probably not even the red ones. I feel like they stingy over there. They were throwing yellows. That's not right.

[Kal Penn]

They were throwing yellows. That's right. Not the ones anybody wants, right?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Scams in shady times.

[Kal Penn]

Let there be drag.

[RuPaul's Drag Race Announcer]

RuPaul's Drag Race is back on MTV. 14 new queens shine brighter than ever.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

This is OG Drag Race. See what everybody else is made of.

[RuPaul's Drag Race Announcer]

Who will be crowned America's brightest drag superstar?

[Kal Penn]

Is this gonna knock me out of this competition?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

This is my moment to shine.

[RuPaul's Drag Race Announcer]

And extra special guest judge Cardi B is bringing the drama that was so fun. RuPaul's Drag Race new season premieres Friday, January 2nd at 8, 7 Central. Watch on MTV.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

What's poppin, congregation? Okay, I'm coming at y' all hot because we need to debunk some things about Plan B. Emergency contraception, right now. Listen, Plan B is not an abortion pill. It's safe, effective backup birth control you take after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy before it starts. And are y' all ready for the inside tea? It works by temporarily delaying ovulation, and it will not impact your future fertility. Because some days, who knows? Someday you might want a little unemployed person in your house. Follow Plan B on insta at plan B, one step. Use as directed. There are some days where you need to look great as ever, but you need to do it in half the time. For those days, there's Batiste, the number one dry shampoo brand in the usa. Like, there's been some days where I wrapped my hair up or it was straight or whatever, and, you know, it's getting a little. A little greasy, honey. Look like I just ate some, you know, French fries and then rubbed all my edges off. So I love Batiste because really, when you put it in your hair, it gives you just that little bit of volume and, like, clean look that you need to go about your day. Because, listen, we're busy, okay? Capitalism is trying to kill us. We have to be everywhere, all the time, all at once. And that's why I love Batiste. You can instantly refresh your hair. It absorbs oil grease, so your hair looks and feels more Clean with added volume and texture. It's great on your hair and easy on your wallet. Okay, look, I have like textured hair. Like it's like a 4A, 4B black girlies, you know what I'm talking about? I never thought dry shampoo could be for us too. Buy Batiste dry shampoo online or in store at your nearest retailer.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah, that was really the. I think the only one after that was when I got scammed and I was probably like 28 or 30 and what happened there, that was so okay, at this point. I'm an actor, right?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yes.

[Kal Penn]

I'm a full actor. I was probably on the show House at the time. And we were on one of our hiatus season hiatus breaks. And I booked this small independent film that was a human rights story that was filming in India. And the way it works with independent films is your agent negotiates a contract. The producers of that film, because it's not a big company, they escrow the money. Sort of like if you're buying a house, there's an escrow account that's set up. Your salary is put into that account. You can't touch it until a certain date, but that shows everybody that they actually have the money. It's a real film and you're gonna get your salary at some point.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah. You own layaway, right?

[Kal Penn]

Yes, exactly. Exactly. So I was living in LA at the time I agreed to do this movie. And then there are some big actors in it. I won't name names, but I was very excited. And the salary, I'm telling you this cause it's relevant to the story. My salary for the entire four week shoot was $10,500 for the whole thing.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Okay. I mean, it's independent.

[Kal Penn]

Independent small film. Yes, I know. People listening are like, shouldn't you add a couple of zeros?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I've done something. I've done one for less with big actors. I was like, oh, yeah, that turned out to be a scam story for another day. But go ahead.

[Kal Penn]

So you know this world, right? So basically I was supposed to leave to fly to India from LA on a Friday, Friday afternoon. And on Thursday night, the agent calls and goes, you're not getting on the plane tomorrow. The money never hit escrow. And I said, if I don't get on the plane on Friday, then I don't get to India by Sunday. Which means I don't have rehearsal with my director on Sunday and we start shooting on Monday. So if I wait till Saturday, then I arrive on Monday and go straight to work. I'M like, they had the money for like an expensive first class ticket on a fancy airline from LA to India to do they have to do it per the contract. But I'm like, the cost of that is more than what I'm making in my salary. And by the way, I will just throw out my obvious son of immigrants energy here. When I saw the price tag on that airline ticket, I said to my agent, can they just give me the cash and I will fly myself in a middle seat in coach and just pocket the rest? And they're like, no, it doesn't work.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Three layovers.

[Kal Penn]

Exactly. I don't care. So. So I'm on this fancy airline. I said, if they have the money for the ticket, they obviously have the money for the salary. I'm going to my agent's like, well, then we can't help you. I land in India and the producer has picked me up from the airport. And that's the first time I realized that he's not a producer full time. He's mostly a construction guy in India. What now, globally, that's code for you're a gangster, Right, Right. I grew up in New Jersey. The construction guys.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Oh, our gangsters, for sure.

[Kal Penn]

Gangsters, right.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

You didn't hear that from me, though. All the construction guys are just laying cement as far as I'm concerned.

[Kal Penn]

This guy picks me up and I say to him, then it's a Sunday. I was like, hey, sir. So I just checked my phone. My agent said that on Friday night, the money for the escrow actually never came. I just wanted to check on that. And he goes, yes, of course it's on its way. I'm like, oh, okay, okay, cool. So I go to rehearsal that day. I start shooting the movie. I check in on Wednesday with my agent, Cal, there's no money. The money has not arrived. And you started shooting this movie. So I'm like, hey, sir. My agent said, you know, it's Wednesday. Money's still not there. Yes, it was a bank holiday. All right, so they start with the excuses. It was a bank holiday.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Okay, first it was on its way. It was around the corner.

[Kal Penn]

Exactly right. But then it was a bank holiday. So actually it didn't go out yet. Okay, we'll do it on Monday. And I'm thinking, well, it's Wednesday, Thursday, but that's fine, we can wait till Monday. So now a week has gone by, all right, and on. And I don't know if you've ever dealt with, like, Indians from India. You know those call center videos and audio clips, right? I'm sure you know these so well. That's basically how business in India is. Like. It's not okay. It's just. It's very aggressive. Everybody has. Nobody's ever going to tell you no for anything. That's like a cultural thing, which is very sweet, but it doesn't mean yes. It's just that nobody's going to tell you no to your face.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

You have to figure out the no.

[Kal Penn]

You got to figure out the no. It's why we have a head wobble. Instead of just a yes or a no. There's a this, too, right? There's the middle ground. And I love it so much. I love the middle ground. You should. The head wobble is genius. And I love it.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Confuse them, distract them.

[Kal Penn]

So Monday comes around, and I say, has the money been sent? Because it's Sunday in la, I can't check. He goes, the money's being sent today. That Wednesday morning, Tuesday night in la, there's still no money. So I go, sir, the escrow has not hit. The following morning, he brings me the escrow document.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Oh, no.

[Kal Penn]

He wants Photoshop of the escrow document. And I was like, okay, cool. So I waited again till the following Monday. Now I've been there two weeks. No, the money's still not there, Cal. So I mentioned to one of the Indian actors, one of the Bollywood actors on this movie, like, hey, isn't that crazy?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

They.

[Kal Penn]

They escrowed it, but it's supposed to happen instantaneously. There's a swift code. These are like global transactions. It's not right. It's just. It's either there. It's not there because, oh, they showed you a bank document, Cal, come on. That's obviously forged. I'm like, what? You're telling me somebody would go through the trouble of Photoshopping and forging a document? We're not talking about millions of dollars here to not pay me 10,500 dol. Okay?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

They spent it on the flight, Cap. They spent it on the flight. They were like, if we show him fanciness, he's not gonna notice that we didn't pay him.

[Kal Penn]

So the Bollywood actors then start saying, cal, man, this is how it works here. You just have to not show up to work one day, and then you're gonna get paid. I'm like, I can't do that. I'm under a SAG union contract. You know, all of this nonsense, it keeps building. Days go by, two days before the movie's supposed to be done. So the Third to last day, I basically tell everybody I'm not coming to until I get paid. I tell all the producers, I tell the construction guy. I'm realizing I've gotten scammed. I'm not. I'm not showing up to work. I can't. Right? Otherwise I gotta pay out of pocket. My agent, my manager, my lawyer, all that, right?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah.

[Kal Penn]

So 7:00am Second to last day, there's a phone call. So your car is downstairs. Well, you can let the driver go for the day. I'm actually not coming in. Five minutes later, the construction guy calls. Mr. Kalpen, I understand we have a problem. And I'm like, no, no, there's no problem, sir. I just haven't been paid and so I'm not coming to work. And he goes, how can you do this if you can't come to work? We can't finish the film.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah.

[Kal Penn]

And I lost it. And I go, yeah, no. Why do you like, my inner New Jersey came out. I was like, I haven't been paid. You shouldn't finish your film. I kind of went off and cursed at him. And as soon as I was done cursing at him, I was like, oh, my God, this is a construction gangster in the middle of India. Like, what have I just done? And he goes, I see. Please remain in your hotel room. In two hours time, my boy will come.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

My boy, right?

[Kal Penn]

I don't know what that means. I don't know what this means.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Immediately go on a jog.

[Kal Penn]

So I was like, I don't know what to do. Okay, I guess I'll just stay here. So I stay in the hotel room. Now, as a brown person, I will just say to you, we, and I'll put, Indians globally are never on time for anything, ever.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I can relate.

[Kal Penn]

Promptly, two hours after this phone call, there was a knock at the door. And I look through the peephole and I see the top of some child's head. And I'm like, oh my God. He literally sent a boy.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

For some reason I thought he said his homeboy. He said, no. A boy.

[Kal Penn]

No, a boy.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Little boy.

[Kal Penn]

I open the door and There is a 4 foot 5 inch tall, 58 year old man.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Oh, okay.

[Kal Penn]

Wearing a T shirt with a panda on it that says I love giraffe. And he's holding. Holding a brown paper bag. And he hands me the brown paper bag and I look inside and it's US Currency bundled up. And he goes, count it. Someone's like, you want to come in? No. So I go in the hotel room, I count it, it is exactly half of the $10,500 that I'm owed. And the phone rings. It's the construction guy. So, all sorted. God is downstairs. I was like, nop, this is half of what you owe me. Yes, I'm aware. The second half you'll receive tomorrow. Okay, So I go downstairs, I go to work. At this point, you know, three hours late for work, nobody's batting an eye. This is just how you do business. Everyone's like, oh, great, thanks for showing up. Everything's fine now. The money's in the safe in the hotel. And I'm confident it's going to be gone when I get back to my room. Get back to my room that night, the money's still there. The following morning, they were much more efficient. The guy knocks on the door, hands me the other half in a brown paper bag. I put it back in the safe, go to work, finish the movie. Then I realize I have 10,500 doll. And I'm like, I'm not letting them drive me to the airport. This is how you get your kidney stolen. This is not happening. So I speak enough Hindi to have woken up early that morning, put the money in a backpack, grabbed my luggage, hailed a rickshaw, took it to the airport like five hours early and just like kicked it at the airport past security. And when I landed at lax, as we're coming down, I'm like, oh, shit, I have more than $10,000, which means you have to declare this money. I mean, you're supposed to. So I did.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I've flown with 20. I say, you better cut that part out.

[Kal Penn]

In this, in this climate, they will find you.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I said 20. I say, 20 of what?

[Kal Penn]

That's true. So I stand in the red channel, okay, in the at customs, there's like a 22 year old very bro y new customs kid who is clearly a big herald and Camargo to White Castle fan. And he's just like, oh, I get why, why do you, why you here? What are you declaring? And I tell him the whole story that I just told you. And his face goes from a giant smile to the look of disappointment. And he just goes, cal Penn only makes $10,000 for a movie. And I was like, you know what? It's a, it's an independent human rights film. I just wanted to do the right thing. I never would have done this if I knew all this was going to happen. And he goes, don't worry about it. I just need to photocopy the bills and then I can give Them to you just declare it on your taxes. I'm like, yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Obviously, he's like, man, my boy Cal fell off.

[Kal Penn]

Seriously, he's had. Obviously, he was so disappointed.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

You need a 20. You need. That's terrible. Like, bro, you working at the airport tsa, I know you ain't get this much money for two weeks away. How you go? Judge me.

[Kal Penn]

It's aspirational. And I appreciated it. But how, like, after telling him the whole humiliating story about I was the idiot who got on the plane, I just wasn't expecting him to be, like, not impressed, like you said. He did give me the you fell off look.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Damn. He was like, never meet your heroes.

[Kal Penn]

Nope. They'll only disappoint you.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

He went home and told his girlfriend. He said, I saw Cal. Yeah, I think he might be on crack now. He's not making money anymore. And I'm gonna go further and say he's on crack. Nah, nah. You're doing amazing. Obviously. I mean, I'm sorry that this happened to you. Obviously, it gave you an amazing story. Clearly, you are smart enough to know that. Yeah, you don't go back with the thugs when they know you got cash on you, because that could be a robbery situation real easily. I mean, I'm glad that they gave you the money, and I'm glad that you stood up and were like, hey, I'm not coming to work unless y' all run me the money. But I also understand ignoring your agent when they sit, stay back. Even though obviously, like, that might have been the best case scenario for them to pay you on time without the hustle. But as an actor, I feel like not going to work. And, I mean, you're way more established in your career than I am. But, like, I, I, I would be terrified of that just because I'm like, reputation, or someone's going to be mad at me, or then people are going to say, I'm not professional or whatever. It's like, if I give you my word that I'm coming, that I'm going to go.

[Kal Penn]

That's how I felt. And I think that the difference that I learned after that was, like, they're the ones who are not honoring the contract, so they're the ones who are being unprofessional, not you. But it was also just silly that there was a buffer of literally one day between all of this. So I decided to take a leap of faith and be like, most people are good people. Let me just assume that they're all good people and be there for my Director. But it's wild.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

And listen, I'm not gonna say that they weren't good people, because they did run you your coin. It just.

[Kal Penn]

They did, Yes.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I don't know if you would have gotten it if you hadn't put your foot down. So I'm glad the Bollywood actors were like, hey, just don't come to work.

[Kal Penn]

I'm glad they did that, too. But also, I have to say that the combination of being the child of immigrants, of growing up in a place like New Jersey in the 80s and 90s, I'm savvy enough that if that construction guy had said to me, hey, bro, I don't want to declare this paycheck on the India side because I'm going to have to pay taxes, which is essentially what it was. That's why he didn't want to wire the money, then I would have been like, cool. Well, I'm still going to declare it, because that's how I work, and I have to pay a team of people on the books. Give it to me in cash. I will declare it to the irs, and then we're both fine. Pay me on day one. I don't understand why it was like, maybe he's never going to ask for it. Don't do me like that. Don't show me that you think I'm stupid.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

It.

[Kal Penn]

Right, because then I'll, like. And in fairness to them, like, I was. I waited till two days before it was done. I almost gave them everything they wanted. But, like, you could have just had a human conversation on day one and been like, here's the deal on why we don't want to wire this money. And we would have worked it out.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

But the thing is, is they can't trust that you wouldn't take that as a red flag. Because a lot of actors, especially, like, you're established, like, you're working. You already have your television show that you're working on right now. It's on hiatus. Like, like, you might have heard that and been like, they going be like, hey, Cal. Hey, hey, hey, fam. All right, listen up. Listen here. So we love you for the film. We love you. We love you. The money thing. The money thing. You know, when it comes to the. The payment situation with the. With the. The payment for services. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How about we not get the government involved? Like, you might have been like, I don't want to do this anymore.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah, that's true. That is true.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Like, that's a risk.

[Kal Penn]

When you describe it, you say you.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Would be reasonable now, but if they called you, like, hey.

[Kal Penn]

You'Re right.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So I got a. I got a homie. A little old homie in a panda shirt that says, I love giraffes 100%.

[Kal Penn]

If they sent a picture of that man holding a brown paper bag being like, this is how you're getting paid. Are you cool with it? Hard. No. Not getting on the plane.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Nope.

[Kal Penn]

Absolutely not. Not worth it. You're right. You're right.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Robbery. This episode of Scam Goddess is brought to you by McDonald's. Listen, it's the holiday season. You know, there is always someone trying to ruin it, trying to step on my McGriddle, which I do not play about. But it turns out the Grinch is taking over McDonald's with a meal full of mischief. Even the fries aren't safe. He hit them with dill pickle. Grinch salt. I know that's right. The collectible side marked property of the Grinch. I will definitely have a pair of those and the Grinch meal box wrapped in pure mischief. Oh, the Grinches a queen. So if you're ready to let the Grinch ruin your season, grab a Grinch meal for yourself before he heads back to Mount Crumpet. Only at McDonald's. At participating McDonald's for a limited time while supplies last. There are some days where you need to look great as ever, but you need to do it in half the time. For those days, there's Batiste, the number one dry shampoo brand in the U.S. like, there's been some days where I wrapped my hair up or it was straight or whatever. You know, it's getting a little. Little greasy, honey. Little look like I just ate some, you know, french fries and then rubbed all my edges off. So I love Batiste because really, when you put it in your hair, it gives you just that little bit of volume and, like, clean look that you need to go about your day. Because, listen, we're busy, okay? Capitalism is trying to kill us. We have to be everywhere, all the time, all at once. And that's why I love Batiste. You can instantly refresh your hair. It absorbs oil grease, so your hair looks and feels more clean with added volume, texture. It's great on your hair and easy on your wallet. Okay, look, I have, like, textured hair. Like, it's like a 4A, 4B black girlies. You know what I'm talking about? I never thought dry shampoo could be for us, too. Buy Batiste dry shampoo online or in store at your nearest retailer. Here's the thing about being a great gift giver, when you finally find something truly perfect for everyone on your list, you almost don't want to give it away. Okay, I won't lie. I have had some things that I was going to get from Quint that I kept for myself because I was like, it does really look good on me and, like, treatment myself. Queen Quint has your whole list covered. Mongolian cashmere sweaters for $50 when you normally pay $200 or more. Italian wool coats. They look designer, feel luxurious. And y' all know I got one in black. And baby, I've been sporting that coat in Ireland and the girls know who I am. Honestly, Quint scammed me because I thought that they were sponsoring the show. In reality, they have caught me up and I can't stop giving them my money because it's so good. I put it in the washer comes out just like how I put it in. Like, please be serious. I'm living. Find gifts so good you'll want to keep them with quince. Go to quince.com goddess for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada, too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com goddess to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com goddess and fraud. I've done jobs where, like, it's at, you know, out of state or out of the country. And it's like, once I said, sometimes I get anxiety stepping on the plane because I'm like, once I get on this plane and I take my body over there, it's not going to be much that I can do.

[Kal Penn]

Exactly.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

And I've had jobs where I had to, like, not, like, threaten to quit, but not, like, one thing that I've always been aware of is, like, one, I'm in a brown body. I'm a woman. But, like, I'll never. Like, it's only happened once, and I'll never tell anybody what program or show or anything that it was. But, like, the conditions were so horrible and they kept lying about fixing them that one day I just sat on the floor of the set and didn't go to hair and makeup, didn't go to wardrobe, just sat there on the set and the people are like, gaffers are gaffing, people are ringing. Everything's happening. And the reason I didn't sit in my trailer was because I was gonna let people paint a narrative of I was some kind of diva who refused to come out of her Trailer, which is absolutely what they would have done to me. So I sat on the floor there, and I was like, you have to look at me like you wanna do me like that. This. Look at me. And so within two hours, everything that we needed was fixed. It was crazy. And I'm like, we've been doing this politely through our reps, through lawyers, through everything for three weeks. But if I threaten your money by.

[Kal Penn]

Sitting on the floor, this is something that I think magically it's fixed. You articulated this so well. I always find it difficult to. There are some. I'm not speaking for actors who are. Who are not kind.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Right.

[Kal Penn]

The type of scenario you just described. I've been in cases where there are actors who I know are wonderful people, treat everybody with respect, but sometimes you have to do this because people don't respect you, and the channels of doing things don't open up. And so the idea of. I don't want to call it staging a tantrum, but I'm having trouble finding the right words and. But getting what you need in their language is sometimes the way to get things fixed. And I hate that that's the case.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yes, but I've.

[Kal Penn]

I've also seen it, and I think your example articulates that really well. You don't want to do that. You want to follow things the right way. And. And I'll. I'll say the. That 99.99% of people are good people in our business. They do things the right way. They are respectful. I've seen things change. I think you're right. But I was trying to be gracious. I was trying to be gracious. I'm gonna go 75.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

2.6.

[Kal Penn]

All right.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

And the 30% got too much power, so. But. Yeah, but. No, I know. I understand exactly what you're saying. And I mean, honestly, if you're listening to this, and it sounds like inside the actor studio, I want to relate this to everybody's life. Like, if you're not getting your needs met, you always have power. It's so funny. Everybody wants their work delivered on time. Everybody wants their services delivered on time. But, oh, when it comes to paying you, that's when we got started getting to them net 40 fives, those net 90s. It's like, I have to show up on time and give you the work. But then you're gonna be like, oh, I'll give you the money later. Like, what? No. And so you really have to, one, use your leverage, like Cal did in his story about these scammers like, he knew that movie wouldn't be finished without him, so he used his leverage. And once you. Once you don't have any leverage anymore, then you probably not gonna see that money. I'm not even gonna play with you. Like, I believe in the good of people. I believe the children are, you know, it's. It's touch and go. So if you have needs that need to be met, I strongly encourage you to sit down and think about what people need from you, like, what leverage you have in that situation to get your needs met. And I don't think it has to be, like, volatile. I don't think it has to be anything like. I mean, you see how Cal handled his situation and how I handled mine. I think that you. There's certain times that people will do what you allow. Like, they'll. They'll go right up into the line. You give people an inch, they'll run a 5K on your ass. So, like, you have to, one, teach people how to treat you, and two, stand up for the things that you need and you value. Because begging, when situations like it rarely works, like, you have to kind of come at what they need from you to get what you want from them.

[Kal Penn]

You also don't have to raise your voice. Like, I obviously lost it for. For 30 seconds with construction guy. But it was fun.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Is fun. I wish I could do it was fun.

[Kal Penn]

The reason that the money showed up is not that. Like, it would have shown up. It was not the cousin. Whether I yelled at him or whether I. Whether I said what I said in a. In a more calm tone. The fact that I was not getting in the car to go to work to give him the last two days is what made the money show up.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Exactly. Imagine the money appeared.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah. Yes.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

People got money for everything but what they supposed to. You know what I mean? Like, people have McDonald's money. You just have to figure out how to get it out of them. And I'm gonna repeat this again. I don't know. I don't think I've said it in a while, but if you're working at a position, I know right now is not a great time to quit your job and look for another one. But if you are working really hard and someone who is an upper management or whatever wants to offer you more responsibility, if they don't offer you more coin, just say, you know what? I'm doing great with what I have. That's why I'm so efficient at it. Don't work harder for no money. Talking about oh, we're gonna, we're gonna remember this when, when. No, no, no, no, no. Remember it now. Remember it now and pay me.

[Kal Penn]

Yep.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Otherwise I'm doing my job and that's it. You know, we've all been scammed so much out of like, oh well, if you work really hard, you'll get to the top. No, they're hoeing you like. Yeah, people will get. People will do as much as you allow. That's all I'm saying. So let's get into my favorite segment here. Historic Hoodwinks. This is where I will regale Cal with a famous crime caper group of criminals. Maybe we love them, maybe we hate them. I neither does he. But today we're going to take it back to 1992. Chicago parents David and Sharon Shoe pulled a real life home alone and left their nine and four year old daughters at home while they went on a nine day vacay in Mexico. Cal's face right now.

[Kal Penn]

In Mexico. I was not expecting that. I thought you're going to be like when they went to the grocery store for four hours.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

No, it's not giving latchkey, like listen, my mom was a single mom for maybe like a couple years before my stepdad came into my life. And there was one day that was like, don't you open that door for nobody. And like she was going to a job interview real quick. Yeah, it was only. It only happened once, but it wasn't like a boost, you know? Yeah, but like leaving your kids for nine days. Obviously you want the nine year old to watch the four year old.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Crazy work. Look at these people.

[Kal Penn]

Oh my God. Like first of all, how did they get found out?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

We're gonna find out. Okay, but I'm looking at the Sharon here. Sharon, what is going on with this haircut? And why did you get it in the dark? Like what, why, why? Sis, I'm sorry, but David looked like he on the list. I don't want to say it, but.

[Kal Penn]

No, David is the one who kidnapped the children to begin with.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Right? They're not even we. They're not even their kids. Cuz. What is going on? David, you just look suspicious. But I will say he does have on at least three garments of clothes. We got a undershirt, a button down, and then a jacket. And there's something about that.

[Kal Penn]

It's Chicago. They needed to escape to Mexico. They wanted some warm weather. But.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

But they didn't want to bring their kids.

[Kal Penn]

They didn't want to bring their kids.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

They got a. They got an adults only resort. Instead, they looked at them kids and were like.

[Kal Penn]

I do like her mullet. The more that I stare at it.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I mean, I would like it if it was tapered a little bit on the sides because the mullet is back, but it's just not given to me. I don't know.

[Kal Penn]

It's 92, right? I mean, this. This looks like. This looks like post vacation. So she's had some chlorine in her hair the last nine days, maybe calm.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

You think this is post vacay? I don't know. It's given their red from the cold, like the wind.

[Kal Penn]

Oh, that's a good point. I mean, he looks. He looks scared. She looks like she's enjoying the attention, but maybe this isn't after. You're right.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah. And this is the ninth. Oh, wait. Okay, zoom in, Jess. Are they being arrested right now? Is there a police officer behind them? What's this black box? Is that on somebody's shoulder? Is that a uniform?

[Kal Penn]

Oh, good eye.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Oh, I'm getting better from TikTok. I'm getting better from TikTok. This is an arrest photo. Ooh, yes. They look very cute for being arrested. They were like, arrest me.

[Kal Penn]

See, all of a sudden, the.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

See, you're right. They weren't. They must be tan because they're getting arrested.

[Kal Penn]

That's their tan. Sorry, I don't mean to judge.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

No, no, no, please, judge way. They. Everybody will see this on the Instagram. We. I'm gonna judge the people who abandoned their kids all I want.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So they're clearly being arrested, but she's serving face while getting arrested. I'm actually. I'm actually not mad, so I want.

[Kal Penn]

I want to fix her collar.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I know, it's bothering me too, but she is getting arrested, so everything can.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah, true.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So a blockbuster idea. The movie Home Alone came out in 1990 and became the highest grossing live action comedy in history. And In December of 1992, the sequel lost in New York was playing in theaters. So David and Sharon, maybe they were inspired by the idea. I mean, it was one of the most popular movies in a time where everybody physically went to the movie.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah. If it wasn't their idea, they certainly were aware of it.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Absolutely. It had to at least have been in the atmosphere because these movies were so extremely popular. So they never admitted that they were inspired by the idea, but the similarities are striking. So on December 21, this is when the girls go over there, right. And the fire alarm's going off and I Have a stinking suspicion it's because the nine year old was trying to cook something for the four year old. Because I know in college, like at my school, like they had a whole session, a presentation mostly for the guys in the dorms where they were like, don't microwave dry ramen. You will set your dorm room on fire.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Stuff that some kids don't know, I grew up learning. I'm sure you knew how to cook at least a few things.

[Kal Penn]

I knew how to cook a few things. I mean, but. But you learn some things the hard way. Like don't put taco shells in a toaster oven.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Okay, I didn't.

[Kal Penn]

They'll catch fire.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I never thought of that. You're an innovator. So you're a pyrotechnic innovator. And I want to go back to your question, Cal, because Jess told us that the couple, our. Our family abandoners, they left on December 20th. So the very next day.

[Kal Penn]

Oh my God.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

And they were gonna leave their kids for Christmas.

[Kal Penn]

This is definitely Home alone. Inspired. They were gonna go for nine days, leaving on the 20th, coming back before New Year's Eve. You're gonna leave your kids on Christmas?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Oh, my gosh, Cowboy.

[Kal Penn]

I'm assuming that. I'm assuming that they celebrate Christmas. They might be Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, something else.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

It doesn't matter. All the festivities are happening during this time.

[Kal Penn]

The holidays. Yes.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

How you gonna leave your kids for Kwanzaa?

[Kal Penn]

That's seriously.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

That's wild. That's a new creative way to get out of giving your kids presents. They were like, look, we can either get them the Easy Bake Oven or we can go to Mexico.

[Kal Penn]

The president. Yeah, the president. His mom and dad came back. That's your present. Congratulations.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

That's creative, I won't lie. So Connie went over there to check things out and called the fire department. There wasn't a fire. But the fireman learned that the girls were at home with no parents, guardians, babysitters, or even a phone number to call if they needed help. Well, shout out to Ms. Diane for. Or Connie, rather. For being across the street and helping out out. So all they had was a stack of frozen dinners, cereal, and a note with instructions on when to eat and when to go to bed.

[Kal Penn]

This is insane.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

What would you do if your kids are assholes crying all alone alone on the bedroom floor cuz they hungry. But you had to go to Mexico.

[Kal Penn]

Oh boy. The time. You know what I'm not going to do if I'm 9 years old and left alone? Is follow those instructions. No, I'm not going to bed when you tell me to. You left me alone for eight days.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Also, don't ration out my food for eight days. Leave us with a bounty of food.

[Kal Penn]

Yes, because I'm not eating it according to your instructions. Right.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

How you gonna tell me? Well, y' all gonna run out if, if you don't. You can only have three meals a day.

[Kal Penn]

Oh my gosh.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So local sheriff's department brought the girls to their grandmother's house. Now if the grandmother existed, why did y' all bring the girls to the grandmother's house? Granny probably didn't want to watch them for nine days.

[Kal Penn]

She obviously, she must have known that they were leaving.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

It feels like they maybe asked Granny and Granny was like, I got bingo night. And then they were like, well, we're going, so we're just gonna leave them. So why don't you just leave them at grandma's house and speed away to Mexico? Like that would be better than leaving them alone.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So at the time, the dad David was a 45 year old engineer and the mom Sharon was 10 years younger and unemployed. They left on December 20th on an Apple Acapulco vacation, telling Nicole and Diana the the two daughters to fend themselves in the family's three level tutor style house. The house had a pool perfect for drowning, swings perfect for injuries, and a child's playhouse in the backyard which wouldn't have been very fun to play in in Chicago in December.

[Kal Penn]

Oh, fair.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So they're like, oh, we don't have to worry about childproofing the pool cuz it's too cold.

[Kal Penn]

Exactly, exactly.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Y' all thought of everything almost right. And David and Sharon didn't even stay in a nice hotel once they got to Acapulco. Here's one of Oprah's field reporters doing some boots on the ground. Reporting here in Chicago is Chuck Gowdy. And Chuck is on the phone down in Acapulco. And I understand you're the only reporter down there right now, Chuck. And what have you, what have you learned about the shoes visit there?

[Chuck Gowdy]

Well, Oprah, it would appear at this point that, that the Shoe had been planning this trip for at least a month, Planning to leave for Acapulco and leave their kids home alone for Christmas. We have determined that they bought cut rate round trip airplane tickets on continental to Mexico.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Continental.

[Chuck Gowdy]

Like why am I in it mid November or so? Of course they've told police that they came here to Acapulco on a vacation. But if that's the case. They certainly avoided the resort's traditional vacation areas. We have learned down here that the shoes checked in without reservations to a motel in the old Acapulco mountainside. A very tough place to find. It's called the hotel Versailles. It's not listed in any hotel guides. Travel agents we spoke with have never even heard of it. According to the manager, we debriefed over a period of a couple of days. It was the shoes first visit. He showed us the hotel records indicating the shoes paid about $30 a night.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Looks like a.

[Chuck Gowdy]

Which is far less than the 100 to $200 per night charged by those beachside tourist hotels that cater to Americans.

[Kal Penn]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. So why did they go?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So they plan this a month ahead.

[Kal Penn]

Except for the reservations.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Except for the reservations. So where they go sleep at night? They get there. They go to the hood.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

And they're stand. The bathroom looks like. Like I've seen prison bathrooms look like.

[Kal Penn]

You saw the broken sink?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

The broken sink. It's like. It looks like a, you know, like a truck stop restroom.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Like this is yalls romantic vacation. These beds, everything.

[Kal Penn]

Two beds.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

They don't have AC Because I see that fan working extra hard. It looks like it's about to fly out the ceiling. Yeah. The bathroom sink is cracked from. I don't even know how you crack a bathroom sink like that. Okay. Now I'm starting to feel like. Are y' all drug deals? Is this.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah, there's. There is something like. Like that.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Is this crime? Because this feels like more than just y' all were going on vacation and decided to home alone. Your kids. Like this feels like something. Something more sinister.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Also, I love that everyone is shading the family for being like they didn't even go on a good vacation. Like they left their kids at home. I could understand if they were going five star, but they over here slumming it. We. We don't even know how they found this. Ain't no trip advisor how they find this motel. What were they doing? I don't know. Something feels a little more nefarious than we just wanted a vacation. Because if you have a three story tutor in Chicago, how. Why would you go stay in this crack sink, double beds that if you put a black light on that room, I'm sure the whole thing is green.

[Kal Penn]

I mean one thing is clear. You. You. They. This is not a place for kids. Because the. The other part of me is like. Like know brown people usually bring their kids on Vacation. Like, the. It was all the white friends whose parents would go away on vacation, and we're like.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

And then they party at my house.

[Kal Penn]

My parents? What do you mean? You're like, I hate my mom. It's like that. It's like the first time you hear your white friends say that. I hate my mom.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah. My parents are in the Maldives, guys. I got the key to the liquor cabinet.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That. We never. I mean, at least I never had that experience. So this. So the thing in my head was like, why didn't you just bring the kids? Why didn't you just bring the kids? Kids could have had fun. The kids would have had a great, great time. Kids would not have had a great time. We now see where they were staying. Yeah, I'm glad they left the kids, I guess, if they were gonna go.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Also, it feels like they were hunting on foot for a place to stay, because this is a dollar thirty a night, like, place. And this is the nineties.

[Kal Penn]

This is. All right, so this is pre rideshare, right? Pre Internet. You're not looking up where it is. You're like, booking the taxi from the airport kind of thing.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Well, this is when travel agents thrive, and I guess they didn't want to give a travel agent a cut. So here we are. So Oprah's reporter found out that the parents never made or received calls in their hotel room, meaning they never even called home to see if their kids were alive. Even on Christmas Day, they didn't call home. And though the story about their daughters was a headline on cnn, while they were gone, there was no TV in their hotel room. So they don't even know. There's probably, like, a manhunt. Their photos are all over. They have no idea because they're in a motel with no TV and half a sink.

[Kal Penn]

Were they renting the house?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I am not sure. And. But just. It has to be something more nefarious than they just.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah, something is very off for a.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Fun vacation because why, if you're not gonna. You're saving money on leaving your kids at home. You're not even paying for childcare. You couldn't use that money towards words. Getting a. Like, a nice hotel room, you know, by the beach or something. You could have cut your trip shorter.

[Kal Penn]

And.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

And. And, you know, what are we doing? Why am I trying to help you? So. So, mom, does Santa Claus have to go through customs? The girls were placed with their maternal grandmother and later in foster care. See, that grandma didn't want them babies because why Are they going to foster care? Yep.

[Kal Penn]

Yep.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

See, Granny said no. They. I definitely feel like they called Granny and she was like, no. I got bingo.

[Kal Penn]

She said no. Or perhaps not. Shockingly given now what we know about the parents so far, the grandmother was maybe not in a condition to care properly for these two kids.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I mean, at least she was alive in there to call the phone.

[Kal Penn]

Also, what's throwing me off is they. They left enough food and a set of written instructions, including a bedtime. People like this usually don't have a bedtime for their kids. You know what I mean?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah. At home alone, they. It was like they accidentally left him. It was like we had so many people that we accidentally left one where it's like, you can't even say that you accidentally left your kids, even though nobody would believe that. But like, you can't even say, like, oh, we took separate cars to the airport and we thought you had them. I thought you had them. But like, you left instructions. You were planning to abandon your kids.

[Kal Penn]

Oh, my God.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So at o' Hare Airport, a crowd of newspaper and television reporters were waiting for them while onlookers shouted it Scrooge. At them.

[Kal Penn]

Wow, what a. What a 1993 Chicago slur. Scrooge.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Scrooge. Also, how festive of a heckling. They're like, let's get specifically boo. Boo is not enough. Boo is for Halloween. Scrooge is for Christmas.

[Kal Penn]

I want to bring this back. I want to bring back a year round Scrooge of people. Scrooge.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So Kevin McAllister's family was going on vacation to Paris, right? Not. Not Mexico. And in this story, there weren't any wet bandits, just bad parents who left their kids on purpose. But wait, this wasn't their first time. Nicole and Diane had also been left unattended while their parents spent four days in Massachusetts the previous summer.

[Kal Penn]

So when they were three and eight.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah, this is like such older sister trauma of like, my parents keep leaving me at home alone with a toddler.

[Kal Penn]

This is crazy busy.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

But you know what? That's probably why they pushed their luck. They left for four years and they came back and they were like, let's double it. House not burnt down. Okay. They looks like they went to bed on the times that we said, okay, let's double it. Wow. So David had gotten a pharmacy degree from the University of Illinois in 1970, but surrendered his license eight years later after admitting to stealing approximately 1900 high potency volume tablets for the drugstore where he worked.

[Kal Penn]

There we are.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Then he Became an engineer for a smoke alarm company. Clearly smoke alarms ain't working that well in your house because your kids ran out and it wasn't on fire. But yeah, the pill theft.

[Kal Penn]

Yep.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

We knew there was something else. And also, David, sir, you didn't face any jail time for what most certainly has to be a felony.

[Kal Penn]

It must be.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

And you went to pharmacy school. You did all this education to just throw it away for 1900 Valium pills. Now I don't know the street value of those, but it probably. We bought that three story house.

[Kal Penn]

I. Yeah, yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

In 90s money.

[Kal Penn]

Well, also, you know, like, if that's what you got caught on, there was tons more that you just didn't catch you on. Right.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

You're right. You're absolutely right. 1900 feels like he got greedy, but he must have stolen more. He was like, they are not noticing at all. He really was Nurse Jackie in that place.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So David and Sharon moved to Chicago neighborhood with their daughters in 1991. Neighbors thought the shoes were reclusive since David waited until well after dark to mow his lawn. And Sharon didn't like to chat with people on the street. How you mowing at night?

[Kal Penn]

It's not that hot in Chicago that you can't mow during the day.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Night mowing. How do you see, I guess the street lights?

[Kal Penn]

I don't know.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah, my grandmother lost the toe to him a lot more. So I just feel like night mowing.

[Kal Penn]

Is very bad idea. Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So after their home alone style scandal, both parents were charged with two felony counts of child abandonment, cruelty to children, and a misdemeanor charge of child endangerment. The couple avoided trial through a misdemeanor plea deal and were sentenced to two years of probation, which seems like not nearly enough. They put their daughters up for adoption in 1993. What?

[Kal Penn]

Oh, no.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I hope that a loving family adopted them.

[Kal Penn]

Yes, of course. That's my next question. Do we know what happened? Are they. Are they great now? Are they. I mean, were they well cared for? They. They would be adults now.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah, they're very much adults now for sure. I mean, Illinois law at the time defined criminal child of man abandonment. And Illinois Department of Children and Family Services only called it abandonment if the parents didn't plan to come back. So it wasn't like abandonment unless you left for real. If you were like brb. If you left a note like, y' all got three square meals a day, go to bed at eight. Not abandonment, but I mean like, isn't this during the time where. Didn't y' all have the, like, weren't there some commercials that were like, it's 10:00pm do you know where your kids are?

[Kal Penn]

Well, they technically knew where they were if they were following the. The right instructions.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

It's 10pm did you abandon your kids or are you gonna come right back?

[Kal Penn]

Eight, eight days. The second time.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So the year after the case, Illinois lawmakers drafted a law that made it clear that when and for how long a child could be left alone. In 1993, they changed the legal definition of child abandonment to intentionally leaving a child younger than 14 alone for 20 longer. So they shorted up because lawyers were definitely finding a loophole with abandonment. They were like, what is abandonment? Yeah, I came back a month later. So I did come back. Wow. So it's actually not very clear how long you have to be left alone legally. And it varies between different states. So Illinois is one of the few states with criminal laws describing a minimum age for leaving the child home alone. And they also have the law, you know, because of the shoes. And in Oregon, the minimum age is 10. So in Chicago is 14. In Oregon it's 10. And in Maryland, a child must at least be 8 to be left in the house or the car.

[Kal Penn]

For how long? Is there a specified period of time?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

No specified period of time here. Just in these states, these are the ages that you can be left alone.

[Kal Penn]

Okay, that's interesting. Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

And other states have looser recommendations, including several where child welfare. Welfare agencies may investigate cases involving. Involving kids as old as 12. So if you're 14, you can be left alone. I find this very fascinating because one, clearly they didn't want these kids. They gave them up quickly.

[Kal Penn]

It seems they gave them another vacation.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Coming up, and they were like, well, I guess we gotta just. We don't want to go to jail.

[Kal Penn]

I mean, no, no, no. Clearly that outcome is better than. Than keeping kids that, you know, that you don't have the capacity to care for. That's not fair to those kids. Wait, do we know more about them?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I want to know, Jess, if you could look up where those kids are today. If we know where the shoe children are. Because I don't know where they are.

[Kal Penn]

That seems like such a weak penalty for them. Do we know where those two are now? Not the kids, but the, the.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

The parents? Yeah, I don't know where the parents are, but I do. I can tell you where the kids are now. A lawyer for the girls confirmed in July of 1993 that they had been placed in an adoptive home and were, in quotes, fine. I don't know what. This is not inspiring hope.

[Kal Penn]

I'm fine.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

That's not inspiring hope for me. Like he say, thriving. He's, like, doing well. He said fine. He said alive. I don't know about that. He said, guys, they're all. They're alive and. And they're breathing. So. Next question. No, we want to know how they are. A gag order was issued by the presiding judge on the case, Richard D. Lson, which prohibited the parties involved from discuss. Discussing details of the case, of the children's lives. Right. Ensuring their privacy, which. I think that's really sweet. It is. I guess we just want to know because we want to, you know, feel like you're okay, but at the same time, you're right. It ain't none of our damn business. As a result, their current whereabouts and lives as adults are not publicly known. And then as far as your question about the shoes, By December of 1993, the couple had split up, and David Shue filed for bankruptcy.

[Kal Penn]

Oh, wow. Wow. Why?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

There was a lot of public scrutiny. They had to hide. You know, they already were pretty much recluse when they moved into that Chicago neighborhood, which makes sense now because he had his, you know, pharmacy license, you know, his certification, like, all of that was stripped away after, you know, the 1900 pills that they caught him with. He was night mowing already before this scandal.

[Kal Penn]

You will forgive me perhaps, for not having empathy for. For analog Public scrutiny. 1993 Public scrutiny. What, did somebody with a film camera stand outside your house? Yeah. Did someone take 24 hours to 7 days to write an article about you? Is that your public scrutiny?

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

You went to the grocery store and at the checkout line, they had one of those papery gossip brands about you.

[Kal Penn]

Exactly. Come on.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah. Now public scrutiny literally comes to your phone immediately to your house. Yeah. Within seconds.

[Kal Penn]

Within seconds.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Within seconds.

[Kal Penn]

Like, you can realize you messed up for something totally innocuous. And if you haven't fixed it in 90 seconds, forget it.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Oh, it's a wrap.

[Kal Penn]

You've. Yeah, you're. Done.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

People are on tik tok doing dances to. They're dressing up and, like, you at the courthouse doing your perp walk, like. And then it goes viral, and everybody's doing it. Yeah. Today's public scrutiny is way, way worse. I. I think I could take 1993 public scrutiny. As someone who's been on TMZ twice, I think I could do 93.

[Kal Penn]

93 is different. Different kind of Scrutiny. Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Right now you got people going as you for Halloween, you guys. No, I don't want to be in sketches. I don't want to be in skits. Yeah, no, you're absolutely right about that. I watched all four episodes of the Diddy documentary, which I. On Netflix, which I will not get into because it's too dark. But I will say that one thing that came from it, because there wasn't much that is humorous about it at all. It's fucking awful. But after Biggie had passed away, and you find out all these nefarious things that Diddy was involved with in that situation, but he did this huge performance, which I remember as a kid, of like, I'll be missing you at an award show. And he was wearing white and watching it again as an adult. Like, it's supposed to be a tribute to this person's death, Right? He comes out and all hallway, and he's just skippity, bop, bop, dancing around.

[Kal Penn]

Oh, my gosh.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Like, he's having the best day of his life. And it's so, like, totally. It does not matter.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah, that stuff is jarring.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Immediately after all four episodes of this doc were out on Netflix, I got on TikTok and I see people like, how did he was after.

[Kal Penn]

Oh, no.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

After Biggie died, I'm like, they're already dancing around like him. And I'm like, see, that's why, like, you don't want. You don't want 20, 25 scrutiny, because they will be. They are quick. They're going in their closets.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah, you're right. You're right.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

You haven't left the courthouse.

[Kal Penn]

They got jokes.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yes, well, unfortunately for these people, it doesn't look like things worked out too well for them for leaving their children behind as it shouldn't. Like, what are you doing? Not everybody needs to have children.

[Kal Penn]

And thank you. Sorry I came in too hot. No, I love it.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

No, there's no such thing as coming in too hot here, Cal. I love it. I love the energy. I love the fever.

[Kal Penn]

The fever, yes.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Oh, but, y', all, that brings us to the end of another very fun episode. Y' all make sure to check out Cal's podcast, Here We Go Again, where he asks, why does history keep repeating itself? A co production of iHeart podcast and SNAFU Media. Yes, get into that. Here we go again. I know. I've been saying that all year long. I. Every day I get up and I'm like, here we go again. Especially if I'm watching the new. The news. I'M like, here we go again. I can't believe the news every day. Truly. Like, this man is crazy.

[Kal Penn]

This is why we wanted to do this podcast is. I think a lot of us are.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

We.

[Kal Penn]

You look at things in the news and you're like, didn't this just happen, or hasn't this happened before? Yes. Why do I feel crazy? And we're like, what if there's a. What if there's a podcast that puts this kind of stuff in context? It's not political. It's more like pop culture and history that makes you at least understand the parameters of things. So, like, our first. Our first episode was with Bill Nye. Everybody loves Bill Nye the Science Guy to talk about the space race. Because back in the day, in the 80s and 90s, it was like, the only reason there was a space race was because the US and the Soviet Union were in this race, right? The Cold War arms race. And so who can go to the moon first? Who can put something in space first? Now it's basically like billionaire versus billionaire. Things have become privatized. So there's this whole space exploration thing that's funded by. By these billionaires and their families, basically.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

So I wanted Mars orbiting the stratosphere.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah, right. But it's easy to look at those and then feel cynical. But I'm like, you know, who can probably explain this to us in the right way is Bill Nye. Like, you love science. We all love exploration. You love the idea of astronomy. I don't want a billionaire to explain this to me. Bill Nye, please explain to me the difference between 1980s space exploration and now. So the whole. Each podcast is basically the opposite of how icky you feel when you watch the news. We wanted to, like, flip the script and be like, what can I actually learn from this? Where do I fit into why things feel deja vui and feel like they're repeating themselves? So check it out if you like it.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah, I love that. I love that. And also, like, I love Bill Nye. I grew up on Bill Nye the Science Guy. He's so entertaining, too. Like, that's who I want to hear from. I won't lie. I was on npr and I did ask, like, a NASA scientist. I was like, did we really go to the moon? I, like, be for real what they say. She's like, yes, we did. We did. I was like, okay, okay. Appreciate yourself. Like, look, I'm not a flat Earther, but I'm just like, I don't know. The Americans like our Government lies to us so much.

[Kal Penn]

We talked about this with Pete Buttigieg, who was the former transportation Secretary. I asked him a bunch of questions because I'm like, you know, like, our trust in public institutions is at an all time low right now for good reason. But there's a difference between shattering that and then really believing nothing. So I had the former transportation secretary on, could have asked him anything. My biggest question for him, I feel like you do this a lot too, because you have your own pod, is I'm like, can you please tell me on the rare occasion when my flight arrives early and you're on the tarmac and they go, ladies and gentlemen, we'll be sitting here for about 35 minutes. There isn't a gate ready for us. They just didn't know that we were coming. So if you can just hang tight, we'll do everything we can. What do you mean they didn't know we were coming? Literally, the way this technology works is they tracked us on a radar the whole time. They knew exactly where we were, and they gave us a clearance to land. They knew where we were. How come there's no gate open? What do you mean they didn't know we were coming? That's like the biggest bullshit I've ever heard, right? Small grievances.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Well, listen, the psychology of that is if you give people any excuse, they'll just accept it and they'll be more calm.

[Kal Penn]

Absolutely not. Is this enrages.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Recently just. It was supposed to go to Miami and it went to Jamaica and they landed in Jamaica and everybody was like, what? Wait a minute. Why.

[Kal Penn]

Why are we in Jamaica? And Pete was like, I mean, it's frustrating. He said, the honest answer is, obviously they knew where you were. I don't. They shouldn't be lying to people like that. But the real answer is there are. The. The way that gates actually work and operate is they're booked in advance. So there. There is if your plane arrives before your slot and all the other gates are full, and let's say there are only five gate operators who know how to operate the jet bridge. And if they can't go to all 20 gates, then they can't use all 20 gates. So you actually have to wait for a gate to open up. So I'm like, okay, so that sounds like we just need to hire more gate people then, because the gates are there. I can see one that's open, you.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Know, that's looking out the window. Like, what about there? What about B12?

[Kal Penn]

Exactly. Find with me. To me, it all boiled down to, like, just don't lie to us. I feel like we get to your point about, like, who can you trust now? Right. So I was happy to clear that up.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

I love that. It's interesting too. If they know there's only a finite amount of gates, like, why pilots are like. So I feel like they're just up there doing their own challenges of how fast they can get places. Cuz I've definitely been on a plane before, and the pilot, he was on the cockpit and he was like, hey, guys, I know we've been on the tarmac for a little while, but don't worry, once we get in the air, I'm gonna fly this thing. Like, we stole it. I was like, what? Like, we all laugh. We're also, like, a little, like, what do you mean by that? No, it's so interesting, like, talking to people. That's really dope. I. I think this is, like, a really nice slice of pie after, like, swallowing, like, just like, the worst prune juice of news every day, you know, I mean, like, something nice. Be informative, and maybe give us a little bit of hope. I'm so into hope Core.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Like, when Mom Donnie won, I was in Ireland and I was crying like, I can't wait to go to New York.

[Kal Penn]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

He's not my mayor, but I'm like, he is.

[Kal Penn]

He is your mayor. He's your mayor. We. We include you in New York.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Thank you. Thank you. I like to be included, but thank you so much. And if you guys want to learn more, which I. I can't, I got to listen to Bill Nye. I'm literally gonna run over there right now because I got to do some chores, and I love to listen to a podcast when I do chores. So here we go again, y'.

[Kal Penn]

All.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Iheart podcast and Snafu Media. Cal, thank you so much for being here today. This was so much fun. I learned so much from you. Thank you.

[Kal Penn]

Thanks for having me. I had a blast.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yes. Is there anywhere else that you want people to follow you? Any social media, any upcoming projects, anything you want to plug?

[Kal Penn]

Thank you for asking. So here we go again is my main podcast. I also have. Have a podcast about books and audiobooks with Ed Helms called Earsay. That's also an iHeart podcast. Ed is hilarious. Yes.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

How are you?

[Kal Penn]

Thank you. And then I wrote a book that came out a couple years ago. I also narrate the audiobook. It's called you can't be Serious. You can grab it wherever you get your Books and audiobooks. And I'm on Instagram. Alpen K A L P E N N yes.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Perfect as always. If y' all want to see the photos today and the videos, Scam got his pod on on Instagram. If you want to follow me and my shenanigans. D I V A L A C I Diva Lacey on all platforms. Going Dutch Season 2, out on Fox January 15th, y' all back in the States. Y' all put the show in your eyeballs, okay? Keep me employed in all of my jobs. My book, Scam Goddess is available anywhere you get your books. I also narrated by audiobook. You can get that anywhere you like to put stuff in your ears. As y' all congregation and I have some live show dates, I'm gonna go on a tiny little mini tour in spring. I will drop those dates for y' all very soon so you can get your tickets. We gonna turn up and have a great time. As always, congregation, I want y' all to get out there and stay. Stay home alone.

[Kal Penn]

You're gonna have people leaving their kids for eight days. Watch.

[Lacey Mosley (Scam Goddess)]

Yeah, leave your kids. No, no, no. Don't leave your kids. Okay. Scam Goddess. Scam Goddess stars and is hosted by me, Lacey Moseley, AKA Scam Goddess. Our producer is Jessica Cisneros and our audio engineer is Rich Garcia. Research for the show is conducted by Kate Doyle. Stay scheming. This episode of Scam Goddess is brought to you by McDonald's. Listen, it's the holiday season. You know, there is always someone trying to ruin it, trying to step on my McGriddle, which I do not play about. But it turns out the Grinch is taking over McDonald's with a meal full of mischief. Even the fries aren't safe. He hit them with dill pickle. Grinch salt. I know that's right. The collectible socks marked property of the Grinch. I will definitely have a pair of those. And the Grinch meal box wrapped in pure mischief. The Grinch Grinches a queen. So if you're ready to let the Grinch ruin your season, grab a Grinch meal for yourself before he heads back to Mount Crumpet. Only at McDonald's at participating McDonald's for a limited time while supplies last. There are some days where you need to look great as ever, but you need to do it in half the time. For those days, there's Batiste, the number one dry shampoo brand in the usa. Like, there's been some days where I wrapped my hair up or it was straight or whatever you know, it's of kind a little. Little greasy, honey. Little look like I just ate some, you know, french fries and then rubbed all my edges off. So I love Batist because really, when you put it in your hair, it gives you just that little bit of volume and, like, clean look that you need to go about your day. Because, listen, we're busy, okay? Capitalism is trying to kill us. We have to be everywhere all the time, all at once. And that's why I love Batiste. You can instantly refresh your hair. It absorbs oil grease, so your hair looks and feels more clean with added volume and texture. It's great on your hair and easy on your wallet. Okay, Look, I have, like, textured hair. Like, it's like a 4A, 4B black girlies. You know what I'm talking about. I never thought dry shampoo could be for us, too. Buy Batiste dry shampoo online or in store at your nearest retailer.