The JTrain Podcast: Ticked Off Tuesday — The Delray Beach Pipe & Recording A TikTok For Someone
Host: Jared Freid
Date: March 31, 2026

Overview

In this vibrant Ticked Off Tuesday episode, Jared Freid broadcasts from Delray Beach, Florida, bringing his signature comedic gripes to the forefront. The episode dives into everything from local infrastructure projects (and the complaints they inspire) to pet peeves with social media sharing, frustrating online ads, airline debacles, and movie theater design flaws. Audience complaints are sourced largely from Patreon contributors, creating a space for listeners to vent about everyday annoyances both big and small.

Main Theme

Collective Catharsis Through Complaining:
Jared champions the power of communal griping, blending comedic empathy with listener rants. He both models and unpacks how to constructively ‘package’ complaints, so unimportant annoyances can be aired and dismissed, rather than breeding negativity.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Delray Beach’s Pipe Project — Local Frustration & Online Outrage

(Starts ~01:09)

• Background: Delray Beach is undergoing a $19.2 million shoreline restoration project. This involves a massive, unsightly pipe running along the beachfront, added for sand replenishment after hurricane erosion.
• Jared’s Take: Though he’s emotionally invested as a Delray homeowner ("I cheer for Delray Beach because I am a resident here. I have purchased a home here. I want Delray Beach to be the best Delray Beach it can be" — 01:22), Jared acknowledges the pipe’s eyesore factor and the local inconvenience but stresses the bigger benefit.
• Complaint Nuance: He recounts seeing a TikTok rant from a tourist whose view at the Grand Opal was "ruined" by the pipe and dubs it a "giant fuck off" complaint (around 05:08).
• Packaging Complaints:

  "If someone wrote in to this podcast with a complaint about the pipe in Delray beach and how it ruined their view for their big beach weekend, I would say, okay, I would find a way to complain with you." (07:24)
  Jared's point: complaining is okay if it’s constructive and packageable, but reflexive online griping – particularly TikTok style — lacks curiosity and context, and just spreads negativity.

• Notable Quote:

  "The real energy goes to the curious. The curious person who looks it up and sees what it's all about and goes, wow, they're doing such a... this is a marvel of technology. And I'm happier to know this information. But I just hate that the people who complain like that and post that video get sustenance. I want them to be starved." (09:44)

2. Listener Complaint: Recording a TikTok for a Friend Who “Doesn’t Do Apps”

(16:13)

• Scenario: A listener shares frustration about a friend in their vet school group chat who refuses to download TikTok and instead asks others to screen-record TikToks "for us old folks" (16:45).
• Jared’s Riff: He likens this move to Uber's evolution from disruptor to the "new boss," explaining how platforms now force sign-ups to keep you inside their walled gardens — splitting social groups and creating new tensions.
• Calling Out Performative Ineptitude:

  "The, I'm better than you because I'm worse than you. You're up on these trends. Look at how cool I am 'cause I'm old folks. I don't know TikTok." (19:42)

• Listener's Direct Response:

  "We are the same age, 27 and most definitely not too old to be on TikTok." (19:53)

• Jared’s Verdict: Kick that friend out of the group chat — it's a form of "elitism for people that don't get into new things... again, it's their problem. They don't want to learn. They are insecure."

3. Perpetual Instagram/Facebook Ads Targeting After Purchase

(24:35)

• Complaint: A listener buys a swimsuit after seeing it hundreds of times on Instagram, but the ads don’t stop–in fact, they intensify.
• Jared’s Response:

  “Once you buy something, it should stop. We're done. We're over here. I don't want the emails from the company I just bought from. Take a break. Have a sig.” (25:07)

• Modern Shopping Anxiety: Jared notes how relentless ads not only annoy, but create buyer’s remorse and FOMO, especially when discounts appear after purchase — a recipe for perpetual dissatisfaction.
• Notable Quote:

  “This is the world Mark Zuckerberg wanted. Zucks wanted a world where we were all as lonely and unhappy as him. And he's got it. You did it, Zucky. You did it.” (26:58)

4. Airline Frustrations: Redemption Points, Gift Cards, and Administrative Runaround

(29:07)

• Scenario: A listener’s complex travel booking using points and a gift card gets upended when a flight leg is canceled by Southwest — with no notification and only a convoluted, uncompensated credit as a remedy.
• Main Riff: Jared recalls how airlines don’t invest in robust customer service or back office support, especially for gift card/points issues, since the business model is built to capitalize on breakage (unused credits).
• Pointed Observations:
  • The gift card’s origins are "fraudulent" — the idea being, “people will just give you money and they end up never using it.”
  • When diligent users actually try to redeem, they’re left in the lurch because systems were never designed for accountability.
• Notable Quote:

  “It seems as though they set up a transaction, the gift card transaction and the points that come with stuff without setting up a back office... all gift card experiences go bad. It started with... ‘you can fuck people out of their money.’" (32:11)

• Advice: Realistically, you could spend a week fighting for justice with little hope — airlines want you to "trust" their fixes without any written proof.

5. Movie Theaters: Recliner Seats, Bad Design, and the Erosion of Experience

(35:09)

• Complaint: A listener at AMC, while viewing "Scream 7," finds their reclining seat position blocked by a wall that cuts off the bottom of the screen.
• Jared’s Take:

  "Especially in a time where... the mantra of the movie theaters — we need to keep up with the home experience... and then you have a movie theater in 2026 with a wall that gets in the way of the screen?" (35:23)

• Broader Problem: Jared expands to say that faceless corporations like AMC lack the hands-on attention of mom-and-pop operations — so design flaws persist and customer experience suffers.
• Actionable Suggestion:

  "I would get a refund. I would, I would bring this to the front guy and say, hey, I need a manager. I take my finger, swoop around, bring in corporate, let's go, go sit. And then if they say, no, come sit with me in the seat and you tell me how this movie experiences." (38:08)

• Societal Note: A sense of grim, low-grade dissatisfaction now infects experiences that used to bring joy, as even small pleasures like a movie or meal out are marred by avoidable irritants.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Learning and Curiosity:

  "The real energy goes to the curious... I'm happier to know this information." (09:44)

• On Social App Elitism:

  “There's a friend of yours who's too old to do everything. They've been a grandma since they've been 18 years old.” (20:51)

• On Tech Advertising:

  "Once you buy something, it should stop. We're done. We're over here. I don't want the emails from the company I just bought from." (25:07)

• On Gift Cards and Airlines:

  “The invention of the gift card is fraudulent... that's why all gift card experiences go bad." (32:30)

• On Corporate Indifference:

  "AMC is fucked. This just seems like a major glitch that no one bothered to fix." (37:54)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 01:09 — Jared welcomes listeners and kicks off his Delray Beach complaint.
• 07:24 — Packaging complaints: how to air gripes constructively.
• 09:44 — Critique of online complaining and the sustenance it brings.
• 16:13 — Listener complaint: recording TikToks for non-app friends.
• 24:35 — Instagram ad nuisance after making a purchase.
• 29:07 — Travel chaos: Southwest booking and the gift card trap.
• 35:09 — Blocked views in AMC’s reclining theater seats.

Takeaways

• Complaining can be bonding and healthy if done with self-awareness and context.
• Social media and big tech often worsen social and personal irritations through bad design and manipulative features.
• The true frustration is not just with companies or infrastructure, but the growing feeling that quality, care, and personal attention are vanishing from everyday experiences.
• Jared's comedic yet empathetic style makes every gripe feel valid, relatable, and, importantly, a little less heavy by the episode’s end.