Transcript
Dan Kennedy (0:00)
As we approach the end of the year, I'm thinking about the next. Next year is the year I finally make my Spanish better than my 9 year old's. Rosetta Stone is the most trusted language learning program available on desktop or as an app, and it truly immerses you in the language that you want to learn. I can't wait to use Rosetta Stone and finally speak better than my 9 year old who's been learning Spanish in his own way. Rosetta Stone is the trusted expert for 30 years. With millions of users and 25 languages offered. Spanish, French, Ital, Korean. I could go on fast language acquisition. Rosetta Stone immerses you in many ways. There are no English translations, so you can really learn to speak, listen and think in that language. Start the new year off with a resolution you can reach today. The Moth listeners can take advantage of this Rosetta Stones lifetime membership for 50% off, visit rosettastone.com moth that's 50% off. Unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your Life. Redeem your 50% off@Rosetta Stone.com Moth Today.
Kevin Carlin (1:09)
Welcome to the Moth Podcast. I'm Dan Kennedy. Before we get started, we wanted to share with you a project we're very excited about. The Moth is partnering with the Help, a movie in which a group of women risk everything to tell their stories. In the spirit of the film's bold characters, the HELP Social Action campaign wants you to share your stories. To participate, visit takepart.com thehelp this week we bring you two slam stories. And for those of you who don't know, our story Slams are our open mic storytelling competitions. The first story you're about to hear by Kevin Carlin was recorded live at the Moth Story Slam here in New York City in March, and the theme of the night was Rescue.
Julia Rossi (1:58)
South of Buffalo, New York. There is a ravine that's called Zoar Valley, and if you park and hike a mile up the Creek, there's a 20 foot waterfall that you can jump off of. It is amazing and as you can imagine, a lot of people find that jumping off a waterfall is a little too boring and mundane, unless they involve alcohol. And so not surprisingly, each summer there are an unfortunate number of injuries, including the occasional death. And the last time I was there with my friend Justin, we had jumped the falls. We were walking back to the car and around the first bend we came across a drunk college kid who had tried to climb up the ravine and it's just loose shale, so of course he fell and like Hit the back of his head. And by the grace of God, Justin and I were the second people to come across this kid. Had we been the first people to find him, we almost certainly would have just helplessly watched him expire because we don't know what we're doing. But by some miracle, the first guy to find this kid was an army field medic. So he knew exactly what he was doing. So he was in his element. And he had the kid, he had him lying on his back on the rocks with a towel over him. And as we came up, he was telling him like, look, you got a scratch on the back of your head. We got to keep you stabilized, we got to keep you warm. You're going to be fine. We're going to get your help. And so we walk up and the guy's like, we got to keep this kid warm. So we took my towel and we got it under him to insulate him from the rocks beneath him. And then Justin Salloway rolled up, put behind his head. And then the medic takes me aside and he goes, this kid has a gigantic gash on the back of his head. And he goes, I gotta look at it. What I need you to do is I need you to keep him focused and keep him talking, because the instant he closes his eyes, he's going to die. Never did I think that I would be in a crisis situation where the life or death task I would be given would be to make small talk with a drunk college kid. Didn't think it would happen. I was not prepared for that. I am an absolute introvert. Small talk is not my forte. This kid lives. But you should all of you nevertheless, pray that your life never depends on my ability to have a skin deep conversation. There are long odds. And so I dug deep. I made the only kind of small talk I ever knew how to make, which is very awkward. It was to ask him the sort of questions I would ask a girl I was interested in getting to know better. And I haven't even had to do that in a long time because I'm married. So I was. I had to dig deep. It was awkward. I was like, so you in school? Where'd he go to school? And he's like, you be. And I was like, oh, you be. That's great, man. Majoring. What are you studying? And he's like. He's like, history. I'm so cold, man. I'm really cold. And I'm like, all I could think to do was just ignore that. So I was like, oh, history. That's interesting. What do you think you want to do when you graduate? You want to teach? You want to be a teacher? She's like, I'm just really cold, man. She's like, oh, we should get together, have a history study session sometime. And he's literally starting to do the eyes half clown. And I was just, like, in an absolute panic. So it started to deteriorate for me, and I started to just, like, get mad, and I was just. It was like a police interrogation. Just like, I asked you a question, son. Trying anything. And then in the meantime, while this was going on, Justin had been given the task of finding a cell phone Signal and calling 911. And I was more than a little envious of that job. I happen to be very good at that. You need a. You need a cell phone signal in a ravine, I'm your guy. A cell phone signal in a ravine finding fool. In fact, my ego was a little bruised that I wasn't selected for that. But he got ahold of him, and so they dispatched a helicopter to airlift the kid out. And in the meantime, while the helicopter was en route, two park rangers hiked up to us with medical supplies, and they kind of took over, and they told us. This is kind of a side note, but they told us when the helicopter lands, it's going to kick up a lot of debris. So you guys have to huddle in a circle and look down. You can't look at it because you might get hit in the eye. So to summarize, helicopter landing in a ravine, don't look at it. Not happening, because, like, they didn't even come straight down like I thought they would because I didn't know exactly where we were. So by the time we saw the helicopter, they were a few feet above the water, flying up the ravine. I will take a twig in the eye to watch that. That's amazing. It's one of the coolest things I've ever seen in. So the helicopter lands, and they. They load the kid onto it with my towel still under him, and I. I came close to having, like, a George Costanza, Larry David moment. Being like, before you guys take off, if I could just grab that back from you real quick. My wife is never gonna believe how I lost the towel. I swear to God. There was a scare day to save his life. My towel. But I let it go. It's just a towel. But so they took off. They got him out of there, and actually, I followed the story on the local news. He was in critical condition for Almost two weeks. But in the end, he did end up pulling through and he was okay. And my role in the whole thing was far from glamorous. But these days, anytime somebody accuses me of being awkward or antisocial, I just smile to myself because I know that my small talk saves lives. Thanks, Kevin.