“I CUT OFF MY BEST FRIEND”

Summary

Therapy Gecko: "I CUT OFF MY BEST FRIEND" – Episode Summary

Release Date: August 10, 2025

Host: Gecko, an unlicensed lizard psychologist navigating the complexities of human emotions through unconventional conversations.

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Introduction

In the episode titled “I CUT OFF MY BEST FRIEND,” hosted by Gecko on the Therapy Gecko podcast by iHeartPodcasts, listeners are taken on an intimate journey through personal conflicts, emotional turmoil, and paths to self-discovery. The episode features heartfelt conversations with callers Spencer and Rue, each grappling with their unique challenges. Gecko provides a compassionate ear, offering insights and guidance as they navigate their respective emotional landscapes.

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Spencer’s Story: Cutting Ties with a Best Friend

Timestamp: 02:12 – 18:31

Spencer initiates the conversation by revealing a significant breach in his friendship. Two years prior, he made the difficult decision to sever ties with his best friend after persistent derogatory remarks about his fiancée. Despite the support he initially felt from mutual friends, Spencer senses growing resentment as the group continues to maintain a connection with the individual he distanced himself from.

Key Points:

• Conflict Origin: Spencer's friend habitually insulted his fiancée, leading to repeated confrontations.
• Decision to Cut Ties: Frustration peaked when apologies felt insincere, cementing Spencer's choice to end the friendship.
• Group Dynamics: The ongoing interactions between his friend and the rest of the group create a strain, making Spencer feel isolated despite not being the cause of the discord.

Notable Quotes:

• “He started doing it in sort of like a joking manner. But, you know, it's not really something you joke about.” (05:20)
• “I just want to see him kind of change as a person and mature a little bit.” (15:16)

Insights and Conclusions: Spencer grapples with guilt and the desire for reconciliation versus the need for personal boundaries. Gecko encourages Spencer to consider whether the tension is self-imposed and suggests that letting go might alleviate the internal conflict. By the end of their conversation, Spencer feels a sense of clarity, recognizing that continued dwelling on the past may hinder his ability to move forward.

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Rue’s Journey: A Spiritual Encounter Amidst Addiction

Timestamp: 25:14 – 51:24

Rue shares a deeply personal and transformative experience involving his newfound faith and struggles with addiction. He recounts how, after a tumultuous period marked by relapse into old habits, a supernatural encounter compelled him to reconnect with his spirituality and seek help.

Key Points:

• Spiritual Awakening: Rue describes his discovery of God amidst personal crises and the revelation of divine love as a source of healing.
• Struggle with Addiction: His battle with substance abuse is intertwined with his spiritual journey, highlighting the complex relationship between faith and personal demons.
• Supernatural Experience: An intense moment late one night reinforced his commitment to sobriety, feeling the presence of God counteracting dark influences.

Notable Quotes:

• “God loves you, okay? God loves everybody in the world. And he wants the best for you.” (50:22)
• “I feel like I've been coming into the man that God needs me to be.” (25:33)

Insights and Conclusions: Rue’s narrative emphasizes the importance of faith and community support in overcoming personal struggles. While Gecko maintains a skeptical stance, focusing on the psychological aspects of Rue's experiences, the conversation underscores the profound impact of belief systems and mentorship in the journey toward self-improvement and mental well-being.

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Bruno’s Appreciation: Finding Solace Through Connection

Timestamp: 55:07 – 81:02

Bruno expresses his gratitude towards Gecko and the Therapy Gecko podcast for providing companionship during his solitary year in Amsterdam. Migrating from Portugal to the Netherlands, Bruno faced loneliness and cultural adjustments, finding solace and a sense of community through his regular engagement with the podcast.

Key Points:

• Migration Challenges: Bruno discusses the emotional and cultural hurdles of moving alone to Amsterdam, including loneliness and adapting to Dutch directness.
• Podcast as Support: Listening to Therapy Gecko served as a lifeline, offering daily companionship and a sense of belonging.
• Current Life in Amsterdam: Now residing with his girlfriend, Bruno shares his efforts to break free from a monotonous routine by engaging in new hobbies and seeking personal growth.

Notable Quotes:

• “I found your podcast and I heard like the two most recent ones, and then I went all the way back to the bottom and it was like. It was kind of like watching a series.” (58:05)
• “I never studied, like, a hospitality or anything. They just said, oh, you're cool. You can come. And I'm here.” (66:17)

Insights and Conclusions: Bruno’s story highlights the crucial role of media and community in alleviating feelings of isolation. His appreciation for the podcast underscores the positive impact that consistent, relatable content can have on individuals navigating significant life changes. Gecko’s interactions with Bruno further illustrate the podcast’s mission to connect and support listeners through their personal journeys.

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Conclusion

In “I CUT OFF MY BEST FRIEND,” Therapy Gecko delves into the intricate dynamics of friendships, the interplay between personal struggles and spiritual beliefs, and the profound impact of community support. Through Spencer's conflict resolution, Rue's spiritual awakening, and Bruno's expression of gratitude, the episode encapsulates the multifaceted nature of human relationships and the ongoing quest for emotional well-being. Gecko’s role as a compassionate listener and facilitator of these conversations emphasizes the therapeutic potential of open dialogue and shared experiences.

Final Thoughts: The episode serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of setting personal boundaries, seeking support during challenging times, and the enduring value of meaningful connections. Whether grappling with interpersonal conflicts, battling inner demons, or finding one's place in a new environment, the shared stories offer listeners relatable insights and encourage a path toward self-discovery and healing.

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Note: This summary intentionally omits advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections to focus solely on the substantive discussions within the episode.

Transcript

[Gecko]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care.

[Gecko]

Retirement options and free training.

[Ryan Seacrest]

They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime.

[Gecko]

Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.

[Ice Cube]

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[Gecko]

Hey folks, if you listen to this show and you are a musical artist of any kind, then check this out. TikTok Live and iHeartRadio are putting on a big music talent show called NextUp Live Music. All you gotta do is go live on TikTok and post a video performance of your original song with the hashtag NextUpLive Music between July 28 and August 11. The winner gets to perform at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles this fall and a shot at eternal fame and glory. Don't wait. Post now with the hashtag NextUpLiveMusic before August 11th.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Spencer]

Hello?

[Gecko]

Hey, what's up?

[Spencer]

Hey, is this the Geck?

[Gecko]

This is the Geck. Who is this?

[Spencer]

This is Spencer. How's it going?

[Gecko]

It's going all right, man. What's going on with you, Spencer?

[Spencer]

Nothing. I'm technically at work right now. I got about 19 minutes left on my shift.

[Gecko]

You got 19 minutes left on your shift?

[Spencer]

Exactly 19 minutes. 18 minutes now. Actually just turned to 3:42.

[Gecko]

What do you think should we run out the clock?

[Spencer]

I think we should. I think that's a wonderful way to spend my time.

[Gecko]

All right, let's do it. Let's run out the clock. Wait, what's the. What job do you have?

[Spencer]

So, I mean, I guess my job. It's like the title makes my job sound kind of fake, you know? You ever have those kinds of jobs? Sure, yeah. My title is Advancement Assistant. I work at a non profit and I basically help them fundraise and organize volunteer events and do some marketing for them.

[Gecko]

So what are you doing? What are you supposed to be doing for the next 18 minutes?

[Spencer]

Working on email campaigns. But technically I am done with that, so, you know, figured I'd call you and see what you're up to.

[Gecko]

Wait, so why can't you just go home?

[Spencer]

Oh, I am home. I work from home.

[Gecko]

Oh, okay. All right. So you, like, you're fine. So you don't really have to do anything for the next 17 minutes?

[Bruno]

No.

[Spencer]

No.

[Gecko]

All right. Pretty good. Well, Spencer, let me ask you this. Is there anything in particular you called in to want to talk about?

[Spencer]

Yeah, I've been trying to call in for a couple months now. Last year I cut off or two years ago, I completely cut off someone who was my best friend. And I knew all my friends supported me in doing that because I'm in a big like, friend group with him, but. But now I feel like they kind of resent me for it because they still talk to him and like him and we're on like a big group chat still, but it's just me and him that don't like each other, you know? Does that make sense?

[Gecko]

Yeah. Well, I mean, what happened? Why don't you guys like each other?

[Spencer]

Well, it was me that cut him off first because he was talking a bunch of crap about my girlfriend, now fiance. And then, yeah, that it got to be a little too much. So kind of told him I didn't want to talk to him anymore. And you know, he. He tried to apologize to me. I didn't really let him. Let him do it because it was kind of like a recurring thing. He started doing it. I told him to stop because he, he started doing it in sort of like a joking manner. But, you know, it's not really something you joke about. He was like calling her. Her ugly. And, and I'm like, all right, like, like, don't do that. That's not respectful. Like, you know, you shouldn't be doing that. And, and you know, and he. And he kept doing that, and if you can't, I don't want to be friends with someone that I have to tell them, like, something as simple as, like, you know, don't talk about my girlfriend. You know.

[Gecko]

Did your, did your girlfriend ever know that this guy was talking shit about her?

[Spencer]

No, I never told her. She still doesn't know. I, I, like, she know, she's not dumb because, like, I cut off one of my best friends that she knew, and now we're not talking and I'm not telling her why. She can kind of put two and two together and be like, oh, yeah, he definitely said something about me, but I don't really want it because he's talking like about her looks. So I don't want to tell her that and then have her be all like, self conscious and stuff like that. So I guess that's my way of justifying not telling her, even though I know deep down I should tell her.

[Gecko]

I don't know. I don't think you. I don't know if you should tell her. I don't know if, like. Yeah. You ever heard that phrase that other people's opinions of you is none of your business.

[Spencer]

That's true. And this is, this is someone that I wouldn't take advice from. So, you know, why would I?

[Gecko]

Yeah, no, I don't think you need to. I don't think you need to tell her that she. He was talking shit about her. But I, I think it's, it's totally justified to be like, yo, I don't want to hang out with this guy. But your problem is that everybody else is still hanging out with this guy.

[Spencer]

Yeah, they. They still like him and they're still, you know, friends with him. And I'm not like. And I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna blame him for that. Like, they didn't do anything to them. But, But I feel like now that I don't like him and I don't really hang out with him and I don't really want to hang out with him. And they still do. It kind of just puts in. In their perspective. Probably puts like an unnecessary rift in the friend group.

[Gecko]

Let me ask you that. Did you ever. Like, so, and I'm sorry, maybe you said this already, but when he was talking shit about your girlfriend and you did you tell him like, yo, stop doing that? And he just, he just did. Oh, yeah. Did not respond at all. And he just completely, completely.

[Spencer]

I told him. I'm like, I told him, like, nobody thinks that's funny except for you. Because nobody was laughing at it. So I was like, nobody thinks that's funny except for you.

[Rue]

Stop.

[Spencer]

He did it, like, a couple more times after that. And then it was all because of a football game, too, man. Like, his football, like, the. The team that he was a really big fan of lost the game. And then he, like. And I'll. I'll admit I was chirping him a little bit. You know, I was trying to. I was talking a little bit of shit, but nothing too personal. And then he just goes and says another thing about. About my fiance, and that was, like, my breaking point with him. So, like, it was known that he did it and that I wasn't a fan of it and that I told him to stop multiple times. And then after he did it that time, I was like, all right, don't, like, don't even bother apologizing, because I don't. Because, like, you obviously don't mean it, because I've told you to stop this stuff in the past, and you haven't. So, yeah, tough situation.

[Gecko]

How many. How many people are in the group?

[Spencer]

I would say, like, 10 to 12.

[Gecko]

Whoa, bro. Having 12 friends is crazy.

[Spencer]

I know, right? It's pretty fun. And so, I mean, technically 11.

[Gecko]

Well, listen, 12. I mean, 12. So that's a big enough group, right, that you don't have to. First of all, that's a big enough group that it can split off into several different subgroups, and. Oh, Yeah. I mean, 12 is big enough that you don't have to really necessarily interact with or be around this guy if you don't want to.

[Spencer]

Yeah, exactly. And that's how it's. Bentley. He doesn't. We don't even live in the same state because we all met in college and then we all graduated. And I'm living in Indiana, he's off in Illinois, so I haven't seen him in, like. Like, a good year. So, like, whenever we get together as a big group, he's there, and, like, it's fine. And I told him, like, I can be friendly with you. I just don't want to be your friend. It's like, when we're there, there's, like, tension. And then whenever I'm hanging out with the people from the group that still live in Indiana and ever, like, whenever he comes up, I can tell that there's, like. That they don't really want to bring him up, even though, like, I don't care if they bring him up, but, like, I just feel like they kind of resent me for. For you know, holding such a grudge against him for so long.

[Gecko]

Well, where's this tension coming from? Like, what's so, like, tension is when, like, there's something, you know, supposed to happen, but what's supposed to happen? There's no tension. There's really no tension here because it's like, you don't like. And is there any way, shape, or form in which you are feeding into tension? I mean, it's pretty cut and dry. It's like, look, I don't. You know, what is there? Yeah, I don't want to be around this guy.

[Rue]

I haven't.

[Spencer]

I haven't really thought of it that way. I mean, it is kind of just.

[Rue]

I guess.

[Spencer]

I guess I could just be making most of it up in my. In my head. See, this is why I needed it, because I, Like, I've talked to him about it before, and we've come to, like, an understanding, obviously. But, I don't know, I guess that I just kind of feel like there's something left to be said, and I feel like that might be on more on my end than everybody else's end.

[Gecko]

What's the. What is there left to be said? I. You know, I mean, you guys, you said you came to an understanding with this guy. What does that look like?

[Spencer]

Yeah, the. The understanding that. The understanding we came to. Yeah, just that. That we're not friends, but when we're. When we're together with our big group, like, we can. We can be friends or we can be friendly. I guess the thing that's. I'm not gonna lie, the thing that kind of eaten me up inside is that I. I should just, like, punch this guy in the face when he first did it, and then none of this would have happened. We could have kind of moved past it.

[Gecko]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You. You. You believe that if you punt. You believe that if you punched this guy in the face, things would actually be better and you guys could be friends? Now?

[Spencer]

I feel like, you know, I wouldn't. I wouldn't. You know. See, when you put it that way, it really doesn't sound that good.

[Gecko]

No, it doesn't make any sense at all. Unless. If that's what you believe. Unless if you. If you genuinely believe that if this guy let, like, all right, let's say that this guy came to you. I mean, let's say this guy came to you, and he was like, listen, man, I'm sorry. And you can punch me in the face if you want, and then you punch them in the face.

[Spencer]

Yeah.

[Gecko]

Would you. Could you guys be friends now? Or. Or no.

[Spencer]

Maybe. See, here's the. Sorry, my water bottle just fell. But here's the thing. So this guy actually had beef with another guy in the group the. The same year, like, two years ago, and he punched this guy. He punched the guy that I have beef with in the face. And then they didn't talk for, like, a couple months, and then they were all okay after that. I feel like if I had gotten that aggression out when he first did it one, I don't think he would have done it again afterwards, because I think the problem is that he just kept on doing it, you know? And, like, even though I would tell him to stop, I feel like if I just showed that aggression right away, like, you know, don't. Like, don't talk shit about my girlfriend. I'm gonna punch you in the face, then it would have squashed the beef a lot earlier, and it wouldn't have.

[Rue]

Gotten as bad as it did. Mmm.

[Gecko]

Okay.

[Spencer]

Yeah.

[Gecko]

And I. Okay, so how about this? So why don't you go up to him, be like, hey, listen, we gotta fight. It sounds like you want to. It sounds like you want to fight this guy.

[Spencer]

I. I don't want to fight him because he's a lot bigger than me.

[Gecko]

All right, that's the tension. Maybe that's the tension. Maybe.

[Spencer]

Yeah, maybe.

[Gecko]

Maybe. You just gotta let this guy. You just gotta let this guy mog. You.

[Rue]

Yeah.

[Spencer]

Should I just let him. Just let him go after me? I don't know. See, I don't know. It's just like. I don't know. I guess I just kind of feel bad that I brought this tension into the friend group and kind of kept it around myself instead of just squashing it right away because it took me a while to talk to him.

[Gecko]

Well, what would that look. I mean, when is the tension? What would that look like if you squashed the tension, even?

[Bruno]

We would.

[Spencer]

Like, we would be, like. We would be friends again. Like, we used to talk all the time. I haven't talked to him in, like, two years other than, like, we would talk, like. And I guess our group chat would be a little bit more active after all that happened. Our group chat kind of died out, and it's been kind of on. It's been kind of inactive ever since, you know?

[Bruno]

Yeah.

[Gecko]

Well, I mean. Well, okay, so now you. The group chat has to factor. Wait, so you haven't talked to this guy in two years?

[Bruno]

Yeah, I.

[Spencer]

Like, I've talked to him when we have, like, our like, when we all meet back up as a group, but other than that, nah, I, like, okay. I talked to him last year about the issues, and that's why, like, it. I said, like, it took me a long time to talk to him about it, so, like, I. Like, I. So it took me, like, a year to talk to him about it, but I'm like, other than that, I've only talked to him when we're in a group, you know?

[Gecko]

Yeah. I don't know. I guess you could reach back out to him and be like, hey, man, I think we have to. You can either reach back out there and be like, hey, listen, let's. Let's squash this beef. Like, are you ready to, like, apologize to me? Because this is fucking us, you know? I mean, you can't.

[Ice Cube]

You.

[Gecko]

Like, I don't.

[Spencer]

The thing is, he's got, like, the thing that I want to see. Like, the reason I don't want to squash it is because. And this is gonna sound kind of stupid, but I, like, he hasn't really changed as a person, and I knew that if, like, I know that if he had the opportunity to do it again, he would. Like, he's still kind of the same person, and I would love to squash the beef with him. I just want to see him kind of change as a person and mature a little bit. And, like, I. Again, I just haven't. I haven't really seen that yet. Like, he's still on the same bullshit.

[Gecko]

Yeah, I mean, he's. He's. He's probably not going to do that if he hasn't already.

[Spencer]

Yeah. I mean, we're all 24, so our brains haven't fully developed yet, so there's still hope. Like. And when I told him, like, when I was talking to him about it last year, I told him I was like, dude, like, I. Like, I don't want to be your friend. Like, you're kind of just like, I don't want to be your friend right now. You're still just kind of the same person, you know?

[Gecko]

But is. Is this really causing that much of a difficulty in the French? Because why don't you just, like, you.

[Spencer]

Know, after talk, after talking to you and kind of getting it all out there, it does really seem more like I'm making up the tension in my own head. And if I just kind of let that go, then it will go away itself, too. So I'm thankful for that, because I haven't really. Because this is why I've been calling you, because I haven't really talked to a non biased third party about it because everyone else that I talked to you about it, like, knows people in.

[Gecko]

The group, you know, I mean, what does everyone else say?

[Spencer]

Well, they'll, they'll take my side because it's obvious, like, yeah, you shouldn't have been talking shit about your girlfriend.

[Gecko]

Right. But they're not gonna be like, yeah, yeah, but, but so, you know, sides. Here's the thing. Taking sides is about like ego and pride. Yeah. Know, it doesn't do anything. Who won, who's right and who's wrong. This is doing it. This is a logistical issue. This isn't about sides, you know, because listen, you're right, he's wrong. He's right, you're wrong. Who gives a. You know, what matters is logistically how do we move forward in this situation? That's what matters, right?

[Spencer]

Yeah.

[Gecko]

So that's what matters. That's the question to be solved because. Because, oh, you're right. You know, who give. So what, what do you do with that? Where do you, where you cash that those tokens in, you know?

[Spencer]

Yeah.

[Gecko]

The answer is like, well, how do you move forward in the situation? And the answer is, I don't know. It depends on everyone and how your spirit feels and whatnot. But I'm a big fan of the path of least resistance.

[Spencer]

Yeah. I feel like I need. I gotta like, stop dwelling on it and just kind of, just kind of move forward and be like, ah, all right, what happened did happen, and it sucks. But we have come to our understanding and we've just kind of got to move on from there.

[Gecko]

You have three more minutes left to work, right?

[Spencer]

I do have three more minutes left of work.

[Gecko]

Is anyone coming for you has where you go ahead, I'll leave.

[Spencer]

Oh, no, no. I was gonna ask you how your day was going. I feel like. I feel like we've come to a good, good conclusion to my. To my problem. I've found clarity. You've helped me. You've helped me find myself.

[Gecko]

Okay, good, good. I'll take that. I'll take that to the bank.

[Spencer]

Yeah.

[Gecko]

How's my day going? My day's going okay. Yeah. That's it. I don't know if I have anything. I feel like we have. I feel like I want to. I want to. I want to go two more minutes with you because I want. I said I was gonna run out this clock and now I wanted. We got a Philly. We gotta fully do it.

[Spencer]

Yeah, yeah, we really do.

[Gecko]

How do you want to spend these last two minutes?

[Spencer]

I kind of want to get to know you on a bit of a deeper level. I've been listening to your podcast for so long, and. And, like, I feel like I have you. You figured out pretty well, like, you're a social person, you like activities.

[Rue]

But what.

[Spencer]

What else? I've been watching a lot of Dexter recently, so I'm big into finding that. That dark side of people.

[Gecko]

Oh, God. What else? Let's see. What can I tell you about my dark side in the next two minutes?

[Spencer]

Got one minute now.

[Gecko]

Okay. One minute. I don't know. I get depressed sometimes, but everyone knows that.

[Bruno]

Yeah.

[Gecko]

Nothing exciting. Nothing. I'm sorry. I love anything exciting about my life.

[Spencer]

No, no, no, no. That's all good.

[Gecko]

But is Dexter good? Should I watch it?

[Spencer]

I think you'd like it a lot. I'm on the fourth season right now, which is apparently the best season, and so far, so good, man. Very, very good. I'm on, like, the seventh episode. Shit's going down. I feel like you'd like it. Watch. Watch a couple episodes after. After you're done with the stream and. And tell me how you like it.

[Gecko]

What's your name again?

[Spencer]

Spencer.

[Gecko]

Spencer.

[Spencer]

S, P, E, N. S, E, R.

[Gecko]

No, C. What else was it supposed to. Oh, really? Okay. I was gonna. I thought you is like. I was like, what the else are you supposed to spell Spencer with? But there's no. There's an S instead of a C. Yeah.

[Rue]

Yeah.

[Spencer]

How about that? It's from a book or a series of books.

[Gecko]

All right, Spencer, let's end this phone call.

[Rue]

All right.

[Spencer]

You have a wonderful day.

[Gecko]

Geck, is there anything else you want to say to the people, the computer, before we go?

[Spencer]

Acknowledge your tribal chief.

[Gecko]

Acknowledge your tribal chief.

[Rue]

Yes.

[Gecko]

What does that mean?

[Spencer]

It's a WWE reference. That's the only thing I think to say. It was kind of dumb. I'm sorry.

[Gecko]

No, it wasn't dumb. It's just. I don't know what it means. That doesn't. That's not the same.

[Spencer]

It's a lot. A lot to explain.

[Gecko]

Okay. All right. I'll see you later.

[Rue]

Okay.

[Spencer]

See Gecko.

[Bruno]

Bye.

[Gecko]

Bye. All right, we're gonna Google this. We're not. I'm not letting this get away from us. Okay. Acknowledge your tribal chief. This is a WWE thing. The phrase acknowledge your tribal chief is a popular catchphrase used by Roman Reigns, a professional wrestler who identifies as the tribal chief. What does it mean? Okay, I think it's like a Cartman, respect my authority thing. I'm gonna start using that acknowledge my tribal chief. I don't know. It feels like a weird thing for a white guy to say, but I. I don't know. It could be fun to say.

[Bruno]

You.

[Gecko]

Can make a difference in someone's life.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care.

[Gecko]

Retirement options and free training.

[Ryan Seacrest]

They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime.

[Gecko]

Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.

[Ice Cube]

The reviews and ratings are in and Ice Cube's Big Three is the surprise hit of the summer. This Saturday, 4pm Eastern on CBS, with playoff elimination on the line, the stars will be flocking to Los Angeles to witness the most physical, fiercest and competitive basketball in the world. Miami's Michael Beasley and Lance Stevenson must win over Houston to make the playoffs, reeling from last week's savage beating at the hands of Chicago's possessed Montrez Harrow. Last time these teams met, Miami beat Houston, but they are a dangerous team having their manhood at stake. Then breakout star Dwight Howard of the LA Riot will battle Gary Payton's Boston squad in a dark do a die match for both teams. Will LA avenge their previous shocking loss to perennial basketball Boston rivals? To survive, six teams are allowed for four spots and all must win. Don't miss the Big three, the three on three basketball league everyone is talking about. There's no crying in the Big Three and the no hold spot action starts Saturday at 4pm Eastern, 1pm Pacific, followed by two games on Vice starting at 6:30 Eastern. Presented by iHeart.

[Gecko]

Hey folks, if you listen to this show and you're a musical artist of some kind, a singer or a rapper, or you're in a barbershop quartet and you want the chance to perform at the legendary iHeart Theater this fall, then listen up. TikTok Live and iHeartRadio are searching for the next wave of original music artists with their talent show. Next up, live music. And you could be in the running. All you gotta do is go live on TikTok and post a video performance of your original song with the hashtag NextUpLiveMusic between July 28 and August 11. Auditions are open until August 11, so do not wait. The winner gets to perform on Stage at the iHeartradio Theater in Los Angeles this fall. They get their track heard on the radio and it's pretty much eternal fame and glory from there. So go on TikTok right now and make a post using the hashtag NextUpliveMusic before August 11th. Again, that's NextUpliveMusic only on TikTok.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through August 26th, it's back to deals time, where you can enjoy store wide deals and earn four times points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hershey's, Cheez It, Kellogg's, Gatorade, Smart Water, Skinny Pop, Oberto, Zoa and Activia. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Shop in store or online for easy drive up and go. Pickup or delivery subject to availability restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Rue]

Call from Rue.

[Gecko]

Hello?

[Rue]

Hello?

[Gecko]

Hi there.

[Rue]

Hey. What's going on, Geck?

[Gecko]

Not much, man. Are you. Are you the guy who texted me? I recently had a supernatural encounter with God.

[Rue]

Yeah, dude, that's me.

[Gecko]

Roof is your name. That's the name of the kangaroo. That's the name of one of the kangaroos from Winnie the Pooh. But all that, you. You had a supernatural encounter with God? What does that look like, dude?

[Rue]

Yeah, so this year has been absolutely kind of crazy for me, to be totally honest. I feel like I've been coming into the man that God needs me to be. I've personally found God and have been on my walk with him and Jesus. So, yeah, I'm. I'm more than willing to tell you about my experience if you're. If you're willing to listen.

[Gecko]

Yeah, totally. You know what's funny is I've actually been like. I go to the park a lot. I go to the park a lot to record this podcast and there's always somebody who's trying to talk to people about God and I, I like, I'm always like, I'll go up to them a lot, actually, and I'll talk to them about God and stuff. And I.

[Rue]

What do you. Do you like, ask that. Do you ask them questions or do you just like.

[Gecko]

Well, yeah, well, cuz I feel. Well, here's the thing. It's like in New York City, it's like, you know, 99.999% of people who walk past that person, they will not look at them, you know, because nobody wants it. But I'm, you know, I'm weird and I'm like, I. I'm like, I got some time to kill. I would rather. I would rather talk to this preacher for 15 minutes than look at my phone for 15 minutes. That's the main reason I'm doing it.

[Rue]

That's awesome.

[Gecko]

You know, I learned, I learned some stuff.

[Rue]

I feel like a lot of people who represent faith and represent God have kind of tainted his name and I've been a victim of that. My. If it weren't for the encounters that I've had with him this year, I would have been in the same boat. You know, I've totally rejected God as a whole and the idea of him just because of the hypocrisy around the faith and the hypocrisy that people have brought to it. So, like, I totally get why people are super dodgy around it because I've been there myself. But yeah, it's cool that you are open to the idea of whatever it is.

[Gecko]

Well, sort of. Well, okay, so I'll say. And I wanted to. I, I talked too much about myself, but. Because I want to get to your encounters, but. Well, I talked to one dude, I think I want to say it was like they're getting funky. Used to be like, there's, there's Jewish, Christian and Muslim and now it's like, no, we can be, you know, there's a lot of funky mixed religions. And I was talking to some guy, I think he was, he was Jewish. He was Jewish. And we were talking about God.

[Rue]

Well, what do you mean by Jewish? Like, I don't know.

[Gecko]

I can't. He's kind of. I don't know what, exactly what he was, but he wasn't fully Jewish. I don't know what he was. But he liked God and he was like talking about. I, I'm not. There's a few things I'm not sold on. I'm not sold on heaven and hell. I'm not sold on heaven and hell because I feel like, so we're all in God's image theoretically, right? And so if we're all in God's image, I almost, I, I've. Lately I've taken on a bit of a deterministic point of view of the world. And so, like, you know, any, any evil that exists on the planet is almost like of God, you know, if we're all made of God. So it's like those two. The idea that we're all created by God, but that we also can make these sort of decisions as mortals that land us in heaven or hell. It doesn't. It feels a little weird to me. I mean, also it's like a way of completely of like absolving yourself of any. I do think humans probably maybe have choice in things, but a lot of that's deterministic but anyway, anyway, I don't know. I'm getting, I'm too much on myself. What was your encounter with God?

[Rue]

This is, this is, this is the way the conversation is flowing. Let's, let's keep it going.

[Gecko]

Okay.

[Rue]

So I can only, I can, I can only speak on my own experiences. Like I said, I'm new in the faith, so I'm a horrible person to give facts. I can only speak on on my own accord. But as far as I understand it, you say that you, you're not sold on the whole heaven and hell thing. So my idea of it is everything that's wrong with the world is the absence of God. Right. God in and itself is love. God in itself is wholeness. Okay, so hell itself and everything bad in the world is the absence of God in my own head. Okay. There's a lot of, there's a lot of scripture that I can quote that can back it. I actually don't have my notepad with me. I have a lot of that in there.

[Gecko]

Yeah, I get it. I get it again, I always, I get it as like an allegory. Like you don't even like to believe in what you're saying. I don't even think you have to believe in anything beyond the empirical.

[Rue]

Define empirical because I have no idea what the. That means.

[Gecko]

Like, I don't know the whole thing of like you don't have to believe in anything supernatural, I think, to believe in what you're saying because everything you're saying is just allegorical. Like God is just. God is just being nice at that point, you know?

[Rue]

Right, okay, I see what you're saying.

[Gecko]

But yeah, go.

[Rue]

Okay. Yeah, so I guess I'll just kind of open up about my experience. So in the beginning of the year when I actually have had a few encounters with God himself this year, or just like the presence of what is holy. So in the beginning of the year, I, or at the, at the end of last year, I went through a horrible breakup. I went through kind of just like a really horrible time in life. And I felt that God called me to him through kind of just like the people around me kind of opened up my eyes as to who he is through his creation. You know, like I look around at everything that is and ever was, and everything is so perfectly fine tuned that I say to myself, how can there not be a God? You know? And I feel like God opened up himself through that. Kind of opened up my eyes to that fact.

[Gecko]

I'm sorry, I'm sorry to interrupt you But. I'm such an. But is, is everything so perfectly fine tuned?

[Rue]

Well, as far as like the chaos and everything in the world, but like, yeah, it yourself, giggles, your brain, your heart, everything, nature, the bees flying around me.

[Bruno]

Right.

[Rue]

There's literally a bee flying in my face right now. Sorry. You know, just stuff like that, like you go to like a waterfall and everything is running in fine tune and all of that. I, I understand what you're saying. Like the, the bad things in the world, you know, Is that kind of what you're getting at as to, you don't think that things are, are finely tuned?

[Gecko]

Yeah, I mean, I don't think things are perfect and they've never been. But I, I, I'll. Things are good. I think they're, but they're like, for as bad as they are, they're pretty. Like, I'm surprised that the world functions as well as it does currently.

[Rue]

Yeah.

[Gecko]

Even though there's like exactly, you know, war and famine, all that is bad stuff. It's like the fact that, you know, I mean, it's never gonna be 100 perfect, but the fact that it functions as well as it does currently, it's pretty crazy.

[Spencer]

Yeah, it's pretty crazy.

[Gecko]

I agree with that. Yeah, I'll buy that. I'll buy that.

[Rue]

Yeah. I think the idea of consciousness in itself is crazy. Like, I remember being a kid and gaining consciousness. I don't remember when it was, but I remember gaining consciousness and being like, what is this? You know, and looking at myself and being like, like I'm a person and I'm experiencing, I'm experiencing this experience and everything just kind of works, you know?

[Gecko]

Okay, so you were going through some titles, so let's get a little less philosophical, a little bit more personal. So you were going through some stuff and then, you know, what happened? How did you kind of, you seem, you strike me as a peaceful and optimistic gentleman. How did you arrive there?

[Rue]

Yeah, man. Thank you. I still struggle with the peaceful and optimistic part of life, if I'm being totally honest with you. Okay. I will open up about a specific thing that I've been kind of going through. So. I've been real big into the rave scene. Okay. I've been real big into the rave scene the last like three years of my life, which I feel like God right now in the current point of where I'm at is telling me to step back from that. Okay. I'm not really sure how this correlates to what we're speaking of. If I'm being totally Honest.

[Gecko]

Go ahead.

[Rue]

But I just feel like. I just feel like I should say it. Okay. So I've been in this circle for the longest time. Okay. Over the last, like, month or so, two months of my life, I have just felt a really uneasy and just, like, dark presence in those areas. Okay. As far as drugs go, you know, I've been a struggling addict since I've been, like, 16 years old. Pretty much have tried everything in the book. Just people around me have pulled me down to some dark places regarding the rave scene and all of that. But, yeah, I recently. The encounter that I've. I'm speaking of kind of had a lot to do with that and about my struggles with addiction. I was sitting in my. Well, hold on. I had a weekend where I went out. Okay, okay, hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me backpedal. So I came to God in the beginning of the year. Okay. And I cut off a lot of that stuff for a long time, and then I went back to it. I fell back into old habits. I fell back into a lot of drugs, and I fell back into a lot of that kind of stuff and felt myself kind of floating away from God. Now, I had a mentor for the longest time, and he reached out to me and kind of asked me how things were going, and I opened up to him. I was like, yeah, man, I fell. This is where I'm at. And so he set a date a few weeks ago, like, a few Mondays ago. And he was, like, coming to get you. We're gonna talk things out, and I' ma see where you're at. So I told myself, come Monday, this is it. Okay? Come Monday, I'm going in, and I'm looking back to God. Okay? Now, the weekend before that, Monday Gick, was the craziest weekend I've ever had in my life. I went out and almost. It almost felt like I had to get it all out of my system, you know, I went crazy. I did everything. And there's a story in the Bible where the devil takes Jesus Christ around and about, and he tests him.

[Bruno]

He.

[Rue]

He tells him, make these rocks into bread. If you are Jesus Christ himself, Throw yourself off of this ledge, and the angels of God will catch you. For it says, a foot will not strike a rock. Okay? The devil tempted Jesus Christ with all of these things in that moment. And I felt like I was in the exact same situation that weekend. It was the craziest thing.

[Gecko]

Wait a minute. The devil tempted Jesus to jump off a cliff? Yeah, that's more of a dare than a temptation. That's more of like.

[Rue]

It was like.

[Spencer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Rue]

The way I worded it kind of sounds like that, man.

[Gecko]

But so the devil.

[Rue]

The devil, like, it was more like. It was more like prove yourself.

[Gecko]

Yeah, the devil tested him.

[Rue]

Yeah, yeah. It was more like prove yourself. Okay. Anyway, yeah, so I went through something very similar to that the weekend before that. Monday, man. I told myself, I was like, come Monday, this is it. I'm walking back in. Gecko, let me tell you about this weekend, okay? I've never in my life had so many women thrown at me. I've never in my life had so much put in front of my face. I had so many drugs offered to me. I had so many friends offered to me. Like, typically a regular, like, night of me going out and like raving and going crazy. I go to a rave, get up and go home. But this specific night, man, I got like, connected to a lot of people and I've got. I got connected to a lot of, like, people in the scene in my area in Charlotte. And it almost felt like the devil was kind of like showing me what he had to offer, you know, if I like, sure went this way.

[Gecko]

Okay. And so. All right, so let me. I'm gonna. Your story so far is okay. So you were not doing well. You had a mentor sponsor, let's say, almost. And your sponsor was like, okay, on Monday. So you call your sponsor Friday. Monday, he's like, all right, we're gonna come down, we're gonna talk. And then you're like, all right, before I, you know, start getting my. Together with this guy, I'm gonna go out for the weekend. And you go out and the devil starts tempting you with. With. With drugs and women and.

[Spencer]

Yeah, okay.

[Gecko]

And then what happened? Tell what happens. What happens come Monday.

[Rue]

So Monday hadn't even came. Geck. Come Sunday, okay, Sunday, I was coming down off of a lot of. Okay. And I was going a little crazy, man. I was low key, spiraling. And there was a, like, I want to say, like a four hour period Sunday night after just being depressed all day because I went crazy the weekend before where I felt. Genuinely felt like I was going fully manic. And it was honestly really scary. Geck. So I. I'm gonna just give this pretense for absolutely no reason. I meal prep my breakfast in the morning. Okay.

[Gecko]

Okay.

[Rue]

So I was out of groceries at like 10pm I was like, oh, I need to go get groceries to meal prep breakfast in the morning. I go and get Groceries. Get back to my house with said groceries. I'm sitting in my driveway. I shut my truck off. I'm sitting in my driveway and I do not feel well, Geck. I feel horrible. I feel sick. I feel heavy. My soul feels heavy, okay? And there was a solid hour where I felt these presences, okay? I don't wanna. I. I wanna call them demons, Geck, but I don't want to give them a name. But they felt heavy, dude. They felt so heavy, so dark. And I'm sitting in my truck and it felt. Genuinely felt like God himself, Jesus Christ himself was looking down on me and looking at all of this unfold, okay? I have never in my whole life felt a presence like that. And I could. You know what the crazy thing, Geck, is, is that I could differentiate, okay? I could differentiate set presences. Like I said, I felt these presences, these dark beings around me, okay? And I knew that they themselves were dark and evil. But I could also differentiate the presence and the holiness of God, okay, In that moment. And I felt God looking at me and watching all of this unfold and watching me go crazy, okay? These said dark presences genuinely were making me go crazy, Geck. And I don't know how else to explain it other than they were telling me I was going crazy. There was a voice in my head screaming at me to call 91 1. Screaming at me to. To. Screaming at me, telling me that I'm going into psychosis, Full blown psychosis. And I can't help but feel like something left me that night.

[Gecko]

Did you call 911?

[Rue]

No, I did not. I can't help but feel like something genuinely left me that night. I don't know if God called it out of me, if God called it out of my soul, but it feels like God told me to lock in for real, as corny and weird as that sounds. And so like God.

[Gecko]

And so what happened? And so what happens on Monday when you went to go see the. Your. Your person?

[Rue]

Yeah, man. So I was kind of creeping up on that. But like I said, it felt like I was going crazy. When I talked to my mentor, he was like, yeah, man, I have 100 seen this. He told me that he wasn't expecting me to come out of my house. He had this exact same situation happen with like some woman that he was like pulling, trying to help out of the pits of addiction. And it was the same kind of thing where he reached out and he said, I'm coming to get you and we're gonna talk. It out the day that he came and got her, her peers said that she tried to overdose the. The night before. You know, And I can't help but think that I crossed paths with the same kind of entities, I don't want to call them, that were trying to convince me that I was going crazy. And. Because think about it, Gig. Had I called 91 1, had I gave in. Okay, Okay. I wouldn't have went with my mentor. You know, and you're never.

[Gecko]

Hold on. You're not. You're not gonna. You're not gonna. I. I think if you have a voice, I. I'm gonna go ahead and say if you have a voice in your head screaming at you to call 911 should probably do it.

[Rue]

Yeah, that's the thing, man. That's the thing. But this is real, and I want everybody.

[Gecko]

I'll let you. I'll let you. I'll let you finish before we go.

[Rue]

Okay? Okay, okay. Okay. I wanna. I do. Am. I'm very interested in Europe. But I will say to everybody listening, okay? And I would really appreciate if everybody went at this with an open heart, an open mind, because this is scarily real, y'.

[Bruno]

All, okay?

[Rue]

But God loves you, okay? God loves you, and he wants the absolute best for you. And I'm coming from the most genuine place and Rue's heart.

[Gecko]

Okay, well, Rue, let's listen, here's. Here's the. And I'm gonna just. I'm sorry because I've let you run off a lot.

[Rue]

Yeah, man.

[Gecko]

I've been.

[Rue]

I've been rambling. There's a lot to cover, I'm sure.

[Gecko]

I'm sure. And I'm gonna. What do I think? Well, it's hard because I'm deeply agnostic at this point. I don't know what is up and what is down or whatnot, but.

[Spencer]

Hello?

[Gecko]

I think. I mean, actually, no. What I think is probably that if you really want to know what I think, I think you had some kind of psychological issue caused by doing too many drugs.

[Rue]

It very could be.

[Gecko]

That's. That's. That's probably what I believe. But I. I just hope you're okay. I hope you're, like, doing fine, and I hope that you're not doing too many. Just as long as you're safe, you know, as long as you're not doing too many drugs, you're not fucking killing yourself over things, you know, that's good. But I. I appreciate you. You calling and sharing your story, Ru. Is there anything else you want to say to the people of the computer before we go.

[Rue]

Yeah, I'm gonna repeat myself.

[Gecko]

Okay?

[Rue]

God loves you, okay? God loves everybody in the world. And he wants the best for you. He wants to see you succeed. Whatever it is that you're going through. Sobriety, that's what it is for me, okay? But I know I receive calmness. I receive tranquility in my soul, knowing that there is a God out there who wants the best for me. And that's it.

[Gecko]

Well, thank you for calling, Ru. I'll see you around the universe.

[Rue]

Yeah, man. Love you, Geck. I listen to you all the time.

[Gecko]

Thank you.

[Rue]

And I hope I get to speak to you again. Goodbye.

[Gecko]

Thank you, Rue. Have a good night. Ruin.

[Bruno]

Bye.

[Gecko]

I maybe rushed him off the phone, but I don't think I did. We talked. He. We got a good. That was a good 28 minutes of. Of talk. What I think. I don't know. I'm a little irritable right now. I don't know why. I think I just am feeling. I'm coffeeed up. But I mean that, you know, I. I don't. I don't know, man. I mean, I know a little bit, right? I like thinking about God. I like thinking about. Mainly I think about God as an allegory more so than of. Like a genuine spiritual demon. I think a lot of that stuff is hallucinations and whatnot. But again, I. I don't know. I appreciate Ru for sharing and I wish him good luck. You can make a difference in someone's.

[Ice Cube]

Life, including your own, with a job in home care.

[Gecko]

These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care.

[Ice Cube]

Retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com the reviews and ratings are in, and ice Cube's big three is the surprise hit of the summer. This Saturday, 4pm Eastern on CBS. With playoff elimination on the line, the Stars will be flocking to Los Angeles to witness the most physical, fiercest and competitive basketball in the world. Miami's Michael Beasley and Lance Stevenson must win over Houston to make the playoffs, reeling from last week's savage beating at the hands of Shaquille Chicago's possessed Montrez Harold. Last time these teams met, Miami beat Houston, but they are a dangerous team having their manhood at stake. Then breakout star Dwight Howard of the LA Riot will battle Gary Payton's Boston squad in a do or die match for both teams. Will LA avenge their previous shocking loss to perennial Basketball Boston rivals to survive, six teams are allowed for four spots and all must win. Don't miss the big three, the three on three basketball league. Everyone is 20 talking about. There's no crying in the big three. And the no hold spot action starts Saturday at 4pm Eastern, 1pm Pacific, followed by two games on Vice starting at 6:30 Eastern. Presented by iHeart.

[Gecko]

Hey, folks, if you listen to this show and you're a musical artist of some kind, a singer, a rapper, or you're in a barbershop quartet and you want the chance to perform at the legendary iHeart Theater this fall, then listen up. TikTok Live and iHeartRadio are searching for the next wave of original music artists with their talent show. Next up, live music. And you could be in the running. All you gotta do is go live on TikTok and post a video performance of your original song with the hashtag NextUpLiveMusic between July 28 and August 11. Auditions are open until August 11, so do not wait. The winner gets to perform on Stage at the iHeartradio Theater in Los Angeles this fall. They get their track heard on the radio and it's pretty much eternal fame and glory from there. So go on TikTok right now and make a post using the hashtag NextUpliveMusic before August 11th. Again, that's NextUpliveMusic only on TikTok.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through August 26th, it's back to deals time where you can enjoy storewide deals and earn four times points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hershey's, Cheez It, Kellogg's Gatorade, Smart Water, Skinny Pop, Oberto, Zoa and Activia. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Shop in store or online for easy drive up and go. Pickup or delivery subject to availability restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Bruno]

Hello? Geck.

[Gecko]

Hey, what's up, man? What's your name?

[Bruno]

Hello, My name is Bruno.

[Gecko]

Bruno.

[Bruno]

Oh, damn. Yes. Yes, sir.

[Gecko]

What's up? What's up?

[Spencer]

What's up?

[Bruno]

How's it going? I'm. I'm actually working at the moment. I'm at the hotel and I'm calling from the. From the phone of the hotel, which is kind of crazy.

[Gecko]

We're not gonna.

[Bruno]

Because I spend way too much money if I do it from my phone.

[Gecko]

Yeah, we're not gonna get you in trouble, are we?

[Bruno]

No, not at all. Not at All. Not at all. Not at all.

[Gecko]

Yeah. I mean, the way, from what I understand about European customer service, is that it's like if you could go to check in at a hotel in Europe and then if the guy at the front desk is like, I cannot talk right now. I am talking to the gecko, then they just have to eat. They just have to eat shit. Yeah, they have to eat shit. They can't.

[Bruno]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Gecko]

That was a very. I'm not good at. I'm not good at accents. That was kind of like a Russian, I feel.

[Bruno]

Russian. Really? That's funny, because a lot of people. I'm Portuguese, by the way. I'm from Portugal. A lot of people say that. People that don't understand Portuguese. It sounds like drunk Russian, which is a common comment that I have from guests here. Including, yeah, not gonna say the name of the hotel because that is probably gonna get him. Get me in trouble. But I'm gonna try to disclose that as the best I can.

[Gecko]

What kind of hotel is this? Is this a popular hotel or is it. Is it dead enough that you can take this phone call?

[Bruno]

Yeah, it's bad enough that I can take this phone call because it's a long stay hotel. It's like an apartment hotel. A lot of people come in here to do just like temporary work. Like a lot of people that work in servers and data servers come here often to just stay instead of renting a house. Because in Amsterdam it's pretty rough to get a rental apartment. I'm from Portugal, but I'm actually living in Amsterdam, so a little bit more context. Yeah, cool.

[Gecko]

I love Amsterdam, man. Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities in the world.

[Bruno]

Yeah, you were here doing the talk in Vondelpark and I was. I didn't know. And I. Then I went there super fast to see if I could catch you still, but nobody was there, so.

[Gecko]

So, Bruno. Yes, I'm actually.

[Bruno]

I'm a little starstruck. I'm sorry. Because I called. I called a bunch of times and every time the voice memo came up, I thought it was actually you. So I got fooled like three times.

[Gecko]

This is me, brother. This is me. Well, let me ask you this. Bruno is. And it's okay. If not, we can just shoot the shit, but is there anything in particular that you called in to want to talk about?

[Bruno]

I just wanted to personally thank you for all the. All the company that you've been keeping me in here. Because I moved from Portugal to the Netherlands by myself, I had to wait like a year to actually Find a house and be here with my girlfriend. But that year was very lonely. And I found your podcast and I heard like, the two most recent ones, and then I went all the way back to the bottom and it was like. It was kind of like watching a series, you know, listening to a series. Like every day I listen to at least two. So much that I kept. I kept up until now. So now every week I'm waiting for you to drop an episode, and every time I get the opportunity to call, every time I see the story is too late, you're already not on stream or the line is not open anymore. So, yeah, this was my chance. I took it and you picked up and I'm very happy about it. Yeah.

[Gecko]

Fuck yeah. That's awesome. That's. I'm super happy to hear that you've listened to the whole motherfucking catalog. Okay.

[Bruno]

Yes, that was.

[Gecko]

Well, let me ask you this. Let me ask you. I have questions. It's okay. It's okay. I have questions about your life. Bruno. So you moved here.

[Bruno]

Please do. Please do. I waited so long to be in this position. Holy shit. Let me know. Yeah.

[Gecko]

So you. You. You moved to Amsterdam alone, you said?

[Bruno]

Yes.

[Gecko]

And does your girl. And you mentioned you have a girlfriend. Does your girlfriend live with you in Amsterdam now?

[Bruno]

Yes. Right now? Yes.

[Gecko]

Okay. And how long were you living in Amsterdam alone before she came?

[Bruno]

I came here in the summer of 2022, and she came around and I think late May, beginning of June of 2023.

[Gecko]

And what was it like?

[Bruno]

It was not a full year, but it was almost. Yeah.

[Gecko]

What was it like for you when you were just here by yourself?

[Bruno]

It was a little lonely. Dutch people are a little cold and straightforward. So it was. It was kind of hard to make friends at the beginning because that straightforwardness and direct directness, if that makes any sense.

[Gecko]

The Dutch directness. Yeah. That's like their whole thing.

[Bruno]

Yeah. Cuz I got it. I got it wrong because I thought they were just being rude randomly to me. I was like, dude, I can't. I can't deal with this. But time passed and I realized that that's just their personality traits and it's just how they are. So, yeah, that's it. That was the. I think that was the most difficult thing that I had to adapt. And the food culture is very bad also. They don't have decent gastronomy here. I lost a lot of weight. I used to. Wait. Well, I don't know the pounds stuff, but I used to. I used to weight 105 kilos. And now I'm down to 82 and I didn't do any gym or whatnot. So just from the adaptation to the. To the food culture in here. Yeah.

[Gecko]

What do you think about the fee? But what is it? Pebo Fibo? Do you know what I'm talking about?

[Bruno]

Yes, that's my go to. Yeah. If I have to eat Dutch food, I go to Fable Fabo.

[Gecko]

Yeah, that's the. For those who don't know, that's the like fast food fried shit that they got over there. The fried croquettes.

[Bruno]

Yeah. And it's like self service. You pass the car on the machine and the little door opens and you just pick up your food. There's no people involved.

[Gecko]

So how is life for you now?

[Bruno]

Lately has been weird because I feel like I'm kind of stuck in this routine because I work at the hotel, as I mentioned, and I live in the same streets as the hotel. So sometimes it's. I feel like I don't leave my street because the supermarket is also here and I do a bunch of stuff at home also. So I don't know. It's weird. I've been feeling stuck in this routine and I've been trying to find something to kind of break out of it. I contacted a personal trainer to try to make me a workout program so I can start working out or something. I started playing Far Cry 5, which I never did, and I'm doing it now. So I don't know, I'm just trying to change my routine around a little bit because I feel like I never leave the streets. But overall life is going great. Yeah. Me and my girlfriend are saving up for a house. We don't know where yet. Maybe we're gonna buy in Portugal, I don't know. Because here the prices are insane also to purchase houses. Yeah, man, just day by day going.

[Gecko]

So why did you move to Amsterdam? Why didn't you just find a job in Portugal? Is there something better about Amsterdam?

[Bruno]

Yes, mainly the wages. The wages are way bigger. The minimum wages in Portugal is at, if I'm not mistaken, is 850, something like that. And the minimum wage, 1 8K. So it's a thousand. A thousand euros difference. So it's a big difference. I'm 28. I moved here when I was 20. Wait, three. 25.

[Rue]

Yeah.

[Bruno]

Sorry, that was embarrassing. Move here 25. I mean, yeah, just saving up money. I'm gonna try to get a house either here or in Portugal and yeah, maybe a kid in the meantime, who knows?

[Gecko]

That could be cool. That could be cool. What? Do you speak any Dutch? Do you learn any Dutch?

[Bruno]

I've been trying, but it's super complicated. Super, super complicated. I know how to speak Portuguese, Spanish and English. Like, Portuguese is my native language, so I speak it perfectly. But the other two, I speak it almost natively, but Dutch. I've been trying to practice, but it's hard. It's very hard. I know the. How's it called, the conversations of the moment, like saying thank you and you're welcome and goodbye and that type of stuff. I know, but if people try to get in conversations with me, I'm like, sorry, sorry. No, it's very complicated. Especially for people that have like Latino languages as their base. It's very, very different. And yeah, I already know three languages, so it's kind of hard.

[Gecko]

And.

[Bruno]

And classes are very expensive. Yeah.

[Gecko]

What's the deal with your girlfriend? Where is she? Also Portuguese. And what's she doing?

[Bruno]

She is Italian. We met in Lisbon. I was living in Lisbon for a year. Before the pandemic. Before, no, while the pandemic was happening. And pretty much she was doing Erasmus program in there, which is like an abroad student program here in Europe. Yeah, we met in there. Then she had to go back to Italy, I had to go back to my hometown and we were split it for like two years. I was constantly going to Italy, she was constantly coming to Portugal. And with the COVID stuff that happened at the time, it was super hard. I had to do tests pretty much every week to be sure that fly, you know. But yeah, she actually got me this job at this hotel because I had a pretty shitty job in a warehouse in here. And she. She wanted to leave for a five star hotel because this is a three star hotel. So she left and she gave me her job. Yeah. And now I'm chilling.

[Gecko]

Oh, she left her job and then gave it to you?

[Bruno]

Pretty much, yeah.

[Gecko]

Can you just do that?

[Bruno]

No, but I knew because I came here to visit her. Like, as you can tell, I've been speaking to you for some minutes now and nobody came here to ask me anything.

[Gecko]

That's a very good point. That's a very good point. I am very surprised that nobody asked you to do your job in the past, however long we've been talking, because.

[Bruno]

I also live close by, as I mentioned before. So every time she was working and I was home, I would just come here to chill with her. And eventually I got to know the manager. So when I got in a sensitive position when it came to My job. I told the guy, like, hey, Serena is leaving. Could I possibly take over her place? And they gave me, like a. They gave me a mini interview, getting, like, some background checks and stuff. And, yeah, now I'm here being a host in a hotel. I never studied, like, a hospitality or anything. They just said, oh, you're cool. You can come. And I'm here.

[Gecko]

Okay.

[Bruno]

And I've been enjoying, though. It's very nice. I mean, I meet a lot of people from the US Which I find interesting, because a lot of my base knowledge, if you could call it that, like, a lot of stuff that I consume comes from the US So I know a lot of stuff. A lot of, like, I don't know. Ask me a question, a general question of American culture. Like pop culture or something.

[Gecko]

Ask you a general question. I don't even know that much about American pop culture, to be honest with you. Well, what do you. What. What do you think about Americans? Like, what's the perception of Americans over there? Because I have to gather. It's not. I don't know if it's amazing right now is.

[Bruno]

Depends when. Okay, take everything. And I'm gonna say with a pinch of salt, okay. When Americans come with a family to vacation, they're by far the most annoying ones. Definitely. They keep trying to get compensation. Like, hey, the air conditioning was 2 degrees more than I wanted to. I want 50% of the. Of the total price.

[Gecko]

Yeah.

[Bruno]

Like a refund, you know, that's very common in American guests. And. But the majority are very, very. Like, when young people, younger people come, they're very. I don't like to say open. I don't. That's not the right word. But easy to. Easy to talk to. Like, they're always up for a conversation, for a coffee. Like, they ask recommendations. They do like small talk, but when a family comes around, it's. No. It's a bit of a nightmare. So it's 50. 50, to be honest. Final answer. 50, 50. I like Americans, but when they were family, not really.

[Gecko]

Okay, so there. So we got a lot of Karen energy coming in when you see somebody with a family.

[Bruno]

A little. Yeah. Because it always comes from the mom, you know.

[Gecko]

Mm.

[Bruno]

Yeah, that's my. That's my review on American guests. Yeah.

[Gecko]

What's your relationship like with your family?

[Bruno]

Oh, I have an amazing relationship with my family. Yeah. I. I speak to them, like, at least two times a day. To my. When I say my family, I say my parents and my sister. Yeah. All the other family members are a little out of the picture because of some family problems. But, yeah, the relationship with my family is top notch. I don't think a lot of people can say that.

[Gecko]

Yeah, it's becoming a little bit more rarer of a. Of a thing. And do they still live in Portugal or are they somewhere else?

[Bruno]

Yes, sir, they still live in Portugal. Yeah. My sister is also thinking of getting out the country more as a. As an experience sort of thing. You know, she's 23 and she's been living with my parents since forever, so she wants kind of to get out there and experience some real life stuff, if you know what I mean.

[Gecko]

Have you ever been to the States?

[Bruno]

No, but I would love to. I'm planning a trip to. To New York because I met a guest here. His name is. His name is Jason. Shout out Jason if he's listening. I don't know if he's a fan of the therapy gecko, but yeah. Yeah, I've been speaking to him a lot and I'm. I think I'm visiting Washington. Yeah. Soon.

[Gecko]

Wow. Oh, so you met a guest in the hotel and he invited you to, like, come stay with him and.

[Bruno]

Yes, because he was living here in the Netherlands some years ago, and he came to. He came for a trip, just like a nostalgia trip because he's retired already and stuff, but it was super nice. And every time he saw me around, he just stuck here in the. In the front desk talking to me. And I really quick clicked with the guy because he really reminded me of my dad when he was more young and we were just talking every day. He would pass, he would say hi to me, he would stay here, and I will just spend almost the whole shift with a guy just talking to him. And I also told him this, like, everything that I'm a fan of. Pretty much 90% of the times comes from the US and I'm really amazed by everything. By, like, I don't know, the little things like the. The yellow taxis, the fucking school buses, like, just aesthetic in general, you know? And I kept telling him that, and he was like, you have to come to my house. You have to come to my house. Bring your girlfriend, bring your parents if you want to. And I'm like, bet I never went to the U.S. so I guess first stop is gonna be Washington.

[Rue]

Yeah.

[Gecko]

Super cool.

[Bruno]

D.C. and it's different, right? Washington state and Washington D.C. yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Gecko]

Washington D.C. is over on the east coast. Washington State is on the west coast.

[Bruno]

Oh, it's D.C. then. Yeah. Yeah. I can't. I can't. Yeah, I have to keep an eye out for that. Yeah.

[Gecko]

But, yeah, I mean, you could cover a lot of good ground. You got Washington, D.C. there's New York City, there's Philadelphia. You can have a nice trip in just those three cities.

[Bruno]

Yes, yes. That's kind of what I wanted to do, to kind of do, like, the. The east coast from top to bottom. Not really from top to bottom, but visit as many places as I can. Yeah, I'm thinking of going next summer. Fun fact. I never left Europe.

[Gecko]

Really?

[Bruno]

I don't even have a passport. Yeah, really.

[Gecko]

Wait, but do you need a. Wait, so what kind of. You don't have, like, a Portuguese passport. You have a eu? Like, how do you. How do you. Like, you don't need a passport to travel between the European countries, do you.

[Bruno]

Know? We don't. We just need to have our ID from our country. Yeah, we call it Citizen card because it's like, all in one. It's your id. It's your Social Security stuff in some cases. There's also the driver's license in there. It's like a uni document pretty much.

[Gecko]

Where. Where would you want to go if you could go anywhere? Is it the US or is there somewhere. Somewhere higher on your list?

[Bruno]

There's definitely stuff higher on my list. I would love to go to Brazil, though. Brazil is kind of like my main destination. Yeah, go visit, like, the. But like, not Rio de Janeiro, not like Bahia, not the main cities. I want to go to the heart of Brazil, to the jungle, you know.

[Gecko]

Interesting. What's my thing? Yeah, you want to go to the jungle.

[Bruno]

That's. Well, again, take that with a pinch of salt. Not really the jungle, but I would like to explore, like, the. The nature in there, you know, it's very different from what we have in Portugal and in the Netherlands. And I'm a nature guy. I like to be in the middle of the trees. So, yeah.

[Gecko]

Not a lot of. Not a lot of good hike. Not a lot of good Hiking in D.C. and New York City.

[Bruno]

Ah, no, no. It's just for the fact that I never went. I want. I want to see the stuff that I see, you know, through my phone, through my screens, on. In front of me, kind of.

[Gecko]

What's the number one thing that you have seen on your phone that you would want to see in person?

[Bruno]

That's a rough question. Oh, that's tough.

[Rue]

I don't know.

[Bruno]

I don't know. Damn, you just put me on the spot. I don't know.

[Gecko]

That's okay.

[Bruno]

I don't know, I guess just arriving and take it in, I guess. I don't know.

[Gecko]

I feel like a lot of. For. I mean, for me, a lot of China stuff comes up on my Instagram. A lot, like. A lot of like, weird, crazy architecture comes up where it's like, here's a whole really. Yeah, like, stuff where it's like. Here's a whole, like, like, garden and a whole, like, big giant park that's like, on the roof of this crazy building. And usually that stuff is either in.

[Bruno]

Oh, I know what you mean. Yeah.

[Gecko]

Yeah. Usually a lot of stuff when I'm like, well, where the fuck is this crazy thing? It's in China.

[Bruno]

Yeah, it's like layers. You think you're on the ground floor and then you go to the edge of the building and you're actually in, like, the 35th floor or something. I've seen some videos about that. Yeah.

[Gecko]

Do you get a lot of time off in. In Amsterdam at this hotel, or are you working a lot?

[Bruno]

I have the average. I have two days, two days off a week. Sometimes they are not together, which sucks because it doesn't. Doesn't really feel like a weekend. That's fine. As long as I have my two free days during the week. That's. That's okay.

[Gecko]

What are you doing?

[Bruno]

And again, I've been speaking to you for 22 minutes.

[Gecko]

Right.

[Bruno]

And I just gave a person a package and that's it.

[Rue]

That's all.

[Bruno]

Yeah.

[Gecko]

So what do you normally like. Okay, so on your days off and when you're just kind of fucking around and nobody's bothering you, what do you normally do?

[Bruno]

Can you. Can you repeat the question, please? It's kind of cut off a little bit.

[Gecko]

Oh, on your days off, what do you do?

[Bruno]

A bunch of stuff. Like, I told you that I'm trying to change my ways a little bit. I started working out even though I'm waiting for my personal trainer to send me the. The correct training plan. But I started doing some workout stuff. There's some outdoor. Like those outdoor exercise places that are in random parks sometimes. You know, I started working out in those because gyms are a bit expensive in here. I started playing Xbox. I bought an Xbox for like a hundred euros. Like a Series X, I believe. Yeah, like the last generation Xbox with the slim version. Mega cheap. So I just bought it and. Yeah.

[Gecko]

What have you been playing on the Xbox?

[Bruno]

I've been playing Far Cry 5 because it was on discounts and I already played the six and it was amazing. I really liked it. I Never played the five, so I just downloaded it. It was on the game pass for free, so I just did it and I've been playing it. Yeah, I also do some. I've been. I haven't been doing a lot of that now, but I do a lot of photography and video editing. My computer is messed up and I need to save up either to fix it or to buy a new one.

[Gecko]

Well, I'm glad to hear that. Your job is very. I mean, it sounds easy. It sounds. I think if you were able to talk to me for 24 minutes and nobody's bothered you, your job sounds like it's pretty chill. So I'm happy to hear that.

[Bruno]

Yes. I'm also glad that I found this. The other job that I had was hectic. It was like in a warehouse.

[Spencer]

It was cold.

[Bruno]

It was like I worked 12 hours a day sometimes it was a little messed up. This one is way, way chiller. Yeah, I just need to get my computer fixed so I can work on some stuff while I'm here because otherwise I get very, very bored sometimes.

[Gecko]

What kind of videos are you editing?

[Bruno]

Just not. Nothing is in specific. For example, I have a video that I like that somebody did and I downloaded it and I try to train my editing skills on that video and do something that I like with it. You know, it's nothing. It's just for fun, honestly.

[Gecko]

Well, well, listen, Bruno. What? It's like the. You ever seen the movie Bruno?

[Bruno]

Yes, I did. When I was in. In like the fifth grade. I was. When that movie came out, I was pointed at a lot. You know what I mean?

[Gecko]

Yeah. Fucking movie probably ruined your life. Well, Bruno, it's been nice, but it didn't. It's been nice talking to you, man. Is, is. Is there anything else that. Is there anything else that you want out of this conversation that I can provide for you before we go?

[Bruno]

No. What? What you could provide that I wanted. You already did. I just wanted to give you a huge shout out for the company you kept me in that first year.

[Gecko]

Thank you.

[Bruno]

Here in the Netherlands. And you're an amazing person. I hear you constantly through my headphones and I've been looking forward for this moment for a long ass time. So I'm glad I finally got to talk to you. And if you ever come to Amsterdam again, I will definitely go to your show.

[Gecko]

Yeah, okay. Sick man. That's good to know. If I ever do come back.

[Bruno]

Yes, yes. Because last time you were here, I wasn't able to buy the tickets. I was again. I was working that shitty job. I had no time, so I couldn't go. Yeah. But if you come again, front row. I'm there. Trust me.

[Gecko]

Beautiful. Beautiful. Okay, well, hopefully I'll see you there.

[Bruno]

Yes, yes. I hope. I hope. I hope, too. So sorry.

[Gecko]

I'll catch you around the universe. Bruno. Good luck. Good luck with the rest. I hope nobody continues to come into the hotel so you don't have to do anything.

[Bruno]

Well, until now. There's just some people having dinner and that's it. Yeah.

[Gecko]

Take care, Bruno.

[Bruno]

Take care. Bye bye. Bye, bye. People at the computer.

[Gecko]

That was Bruno. What a nice guy. What a nice guy. Hanging out in Amsterdam at a hotel. The Europeans, man, they got a mu. They got a much better work culture than us. I got the, the Japanese and the Americans have shit work cultures. And then you got. You got Europeans who just don't have to fucking do anything. It's pretty cool. Therapy get goes on the line, taking.

[Bruno]

Your phone calls every night.

[Gecko]

Therapy get goes doing it right, Teaching.

[Rue]

You how to live your life.

[Gecko]

But he's not really an expert.

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The Roses.

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Were living the dream.

[Spencer]

To you, my darling.

[Gecko]

No, to you.

[Bruno]

Until it all came crashing down.

[Gecko]

You got fired.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Fired on August 29th.

[Rue]

Stop and see the roses. Rated R. In theaters everywhere.

[Bruno]

August 29th.

[Gecko]

This is an I Heart podcast.