“I’VE BEEN BANNED”

Summary

THERAPY GECKO – “I’VE BEEN BANNED” (Nov 19, 2025)
Host: Lyle (Therapy Gecko)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Therapy Gecko (Lyle) takes calls and reads emails, offering his blend of tongue-in-cheek lizard wisdom and genuine empathy. The main theme revolves around feeling disconnected, building (or losing) connections online, the challenges of real-world friendship, reactions to online culture, and how we process our own problems in the wide context of the world. The episode particularly focuses on two memorable callers—one dealing with social isolation after being banned from online communities and the other with pent up anger towards changes in food culture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Goldie’s Story: Isolation, Parasocial Relationships, and Mom Life

[01:45 – 23:12]

Background:

Goldie, a long-time Therapy Gecko fan and Twitch viewer, calls in deeply upset—she’s been banned from both Twitch and a smaller streamer’s Twitter community.

Key Exchanges:

• Goldie admits to feeling lonely, having no close friends in real life since becoming a single mom, and over-investing in online communities for connection.
• Goldie is accused by others of being "parasocial," a concept she doesn’t fully understand but learns about from Lyle.

Lyle (04:51): "A parasocial relationship is like a one-sided relationship you form with someone that you don't know."

• Goldie explains her ban was likely due to “talking too much” and making outlandish comments, noting, “Sometimes they call me parasocial... I don't really have any friends in real life, so I kind of use Twitch as a platform where I can connect with people...” [05:07]

Lyle’s Take:

• Lyle shares his thoughts on parasocial bonds—admitting he was initially concerned about them as a streamer, but ultimately sees online friendships between fans (not with the streamer) as legitimate:

Lyle (08:15): “I'm not opposed to using online communities to make friends... I noticed on Discord and in my Twitch chat that people independent of me were making friends with each other. Those were real relationships. I thought that was cool... Ultimately, you'd want to form friendships in real life.”

• He underscores that forming real-life friendships is possible, attributing true connection less to “compatibility” and more to “repeated exposure.” He encourages Goldie not to underestimate her ability to make friends just as she is:

Lyle (10:33): "You can find friends in real life being exactly as you are... real friendship is mostly about repeated exposure more than compatibility."

• Goldie admits she hasn’t tried in years and avoids opportunities, detailing the typical struggles of anxious, introverted, or isolated people.

• Lyle suggests finding online communities based around Goldie’s interests (drawing, painting, word searches), while also nudging her toward real-world connection:

Lyle (15:23): "Anything you'd do, there's a Discord of people who are also doing it."

On Mom Life & Relationship Struggles:

• Goldie describes parenting as "amazing" but hard (dad is not in the picture and past relationship was “controlling and manipulative”).
• Lyle repeatedly validates and uplifts her:

Lyle (19:35): “Goldie, I respect you. You're holding down a lot of shit, dude... give yourself some credit, man... what you're doing is a wild undertaking.”

Memorable Encouragement:

Lyle (20:55): "Have some compassion for yourself... look at yourself in the mirror and be like, I'm fucking killing it right now, I'm doing a pretty good job at this hard thing... you should be walking around with that, not thinking 'Oh, I'm weird and I don't fit into the planet.'"

• Goldie is clearly moved: “Dude, you have no idea how happy you just made me.” [21:45]
• Lyle wraps up by encouraging her to “try to build [herself] up” and to “walk around with the mindset about yourself that, ‘Wait, I’m actually kind of awesome.’” [22:17]

Goldie's parting message:

Goldie (22:55): "Love live. Come on, chat, love on yourself. Keep this stream of love going."

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2. Idol’s Anger: Foodie Culture & Fear of Change

[23:40 – 30:29]

Background:

Idol, a self-admitted angry caller, vents about food reviewers exposing hidden gems—particularly taco joints—in his city, which then become overcrowded.

Highlights:

• Idol's main frustration: “These food reviewers blowing up low key spots... now I gotta wait in line, quality is gonna drop...” [24:04]

• Lyle confronts his gatekeeping:

Lyle (24:43): "Why does that upset you? That's good... don't you want that business to be doing well?"

• Idol retorts he wants businesses to succeed, “but not at the cost of me.” [24:55]

Lyle probes deeper:

• Suggests Idol's issue isn’t really about tacos, but about change, comfort, and reluctance to try new things (“New things scare me” [27:32]).
• Lyle delivers a mini-rant on the uselessness of obsessively curating positive experiences via online reviews, advocating for experiencing things—including disappointment:

Lyle (28:11): "Why do I need the perfect, most amazing thing all the time?... I hate trying to curate your life so you never have any negative experiences... just go into the restaurant, you pay, you eat the shitty food, then you know not to go there any more."

• He ties this mindset into broader “pussification of America” (his words) [29:32]—arguing that being protected from bad experiences infantilizes us.

• Idol acknowledges the call helped get something off his chest, “I do thoroughly enjoy talking to you... appreciated you answering my call.” [30:10]

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3. Solo Therapy Gecko: Emails From the Void

[35:22 – ~remainder of episode]

Lyle transitions to a solo segment reading listener emails (“Geck Mail”), touching on dreams, existential dread, relationships, and self-acceptance.

Notable Segments:

On Dreams and Anxiety ([35:22])

• A listener, Waka, asks if a vivid, distressing dream about losing his parents is a “sign.”
• Lyle dismisses supernatural interpretations, affirming dreams as internal reflections, especially exposing unspoken anxieties.

Lyle (36:48): "Dreams will show you uncomfortable [truths], but that doesn’t mean anything about external events… dreams reflect your internal state."

On Global Suffering, Gratitude, and Having Kids ([38:00])

• Waka is haunted by the contrast of his minor problems and the tragedies in the news, wondering if it’s moral to bring kids into a world with so much suffering.
• Lyle gets philosophical about keeping one’s problems and privileges in perspective, but warns against letting world-sorrow “negate your entire existence.”

Lyle (42:55): “…every problem could totally be solved by being like, ‘well, it could be worse.’... That’s a good thing to keep in perspective. But you can’t just negate your life.”

• On antinatalism (belief it’s immoral to have kids): Lyle admits he’s considered it, but ultimately finds “the opportunity to find your own, I guess, joy and positive perspective” reason enough to keep making the best of life.

Lyle (50:29): "There's never going to be a time where something bad's not happening... or a time where something good's not happening... we've been figuring it out forever, and we'll keep figuring it out."

On Height & Self-Worth ([55:50+])

• Lyle answers how tall he is (5'6.5") and muses about height insecurity, ultimately finding it “stupid to be insecure about your height”:

Lyle (56:10): "It's really stupid to be insecure about your height... it's workable, you can work with this."

On Dating (Danny, 5’ guy’s dating dilemma [62:28+])

• A listener wonders whether he should pursue a second date or if he’s “leading her on” because he doesn’t feel extreme attraction.
• Lyle encourages honesty with oneself, recognizing there’s value in “the slow burn” approach to attraction, but that it’s okay to look for a stronger connection:

Lyle (63:59): "It's not shallow to look for a stronger connection... it's just reflective of your own brain."

Prison Story from Malachi ([68:43])

• Entertaining, dark story about a creepy cellmate in prison; Lyle admits he’d probably try to sleep through the situation and invites Malachi to call in and tell more.

On Growth, Moving On from Podcasts ([72:49])

• Listener Ismail describes going from social anxiety and depression (using podcasts as a lifeline) to thriving and socializing IRL (“Now the Lexapro is working and... I’m sleeping with two people who love biting me”).
• Lyle embraces being a stepping stone, not offended by listeners who grow past the show.

Lyle (74:40): "You gotta remind yourself who you are. It's in there, folks."

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Notable Quotes & Moments

On the effort required in real-life friendship:

“Most friendship is truthfully more about repeated exposure than it is about any form of... compatibility.”
—Lyle (10:33)

On self-appreciation:

“Give yourself some credit, man. What you’re doing is hard... walk around like, ‘I’m actually kind of sick right now! I’m dealing with all this shit, but I’m still holding it down.’”
—Lyle (20:55)

On the value of negative experiences:

"Why does every experience have to be perfect? ...if we go to a place and it’s shitty, we’ll just find out by going there.”
—Lyle (28:11)

On the world’s perpetual challenges:

"There's never going to be a time where something bad's not happening and never... where something good's not happening... we've been figuring it out forever, and we'll keep figuring it out."
—Lyle (50:29)

On self-worth and insecurity:

“It really is stupid to be insecure about your height. It's workable, you can work with this.”
—Lyle (56:10)

On using podcasts as a survival tool:

“Thank you for getting me through the night shift. I've been listening since episode 10 but I have to go now. Sorry and thanks again…”
—Ismail (74:06, via email)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:45] Start of Goldie’s call (loneliness, online bans)
• [05:06] Goldie describes parasocial relationships and social isolation
• [10:33] Lyle breaks down the science of making friends IRL (“repeated exposure”)
• [15:10] Hobbies, struggles as a single mom
• [19:35] Lyle’s major encouragement to Goldie
• [23:40] Idol’s call: food reviewer rage, change aversion, rant on reviews
• [28:11] Lyle’s anti-curation, pro-experience rant
• [35:22] "Geck Mail" solo segment begins (dreams, existential dread)
• [50:29] State of the world, reasons for hope & perspective
• [56:10] Height/email segment; Lyle on insecurity
• [62:28] Danny’s dating app/relationship dilemma
• [68:43] Malachi’s prison tale
• [72:49] Ismail on graduating from needing podcasts

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Tone and Style

As always, Lyle is relaxed, self-deprecating, and genuinely compassionate—balancing silliness with insight, and meta-commentary with real empathy for his callers and correspondents. The episode is peppered with jokes, but is consistently respectful toward vulnerable moments.

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Final Thoughts

Therapy Gecko’s “I’VE BEEN BANNED” episode is a candid, humorous, and at times deeply affecting exploration of loneliness, the search for connection, and the hurdles we all face in an increasingly digital and complicated world. Through unfiltered conversations and his own reflective rants, Lyle invites listeners to find a little more self-compassion—and, of course, to embrace the weird.

Transcript

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[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Is this Lyle?

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Yes, who is this?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Hi, Lyle. My name is Goldie.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Goldie, what's going on, Goldie? How's life?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Oh, man, I'm actually. I'm crying right now, but so not the greatest at the moment.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

You're quiet. Why are you. Why are you crying?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

It's kind of silly, but. So I'm an avid Twitch watcher.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Okay.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

I love to watch Twitch streams and I've actually been watching you for probably like two or three years now.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Cool.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

So I'm a very big fan.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Thank you.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

I love your stream, dude.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Thank you.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

But, yeah, I'm actually crying because another person that I watch on here, he just banned me.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

He banned.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

So, yeah, yeah. From his Twitter community because actually, as it turns out, I'm already banned on Twitch, so I can't actually chat, but I do listen. Right.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Okay.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Yeah, so. But I. I just got banned from his Twitter community and I'm crying about it.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Okay. All right, let's. Well, let's talk this through. Well, first of all, why. Why did you. Why do you think you got banned?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

So I have a lot to say. I'm kind of. I kind of talk too much, I guess, and I kind of say some outlandish things sometimes, and I think that he did not want me kind of speaking over him in his chat.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Okay. Was this as like a small streamer?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Usually about like 600 viewers a stream he has.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Okay.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Yeah.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

All right. I mean, let's reverse engineer this in a few ways because why are you. Why are you spending so much time talking in this guy's chat?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Yeah, I mean, they. Sometimes they call me parasocial.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Okay.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Because. Yeah, I'm not exactly 100 sure what that means, but I think it's like, like I. Where I believe that I'm closer to him than I really am.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Yeah. A parasocial relationship is like a relationship that you form, is like a one sided relationship you form with someone that you don't know.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

Yeah.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Yeah, that's definitely what I'm kind of doing. I don't really have many, actually. I don't have any friends in real life, so I kind of use Twitch as a platform where I can connect with people since I don't really have a way to do that in real life.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Okay. Why do you feel like you don't have any friends?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Well, I'm a single mom, though. I kind of lost most of my friends after becoming a mom, and then I never made any new ones after I lost all my friends.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Mm. Where were your friends from? Like, where were they from? Like, high school?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Yeah, mostly high school. I never really had many friends, but the few of them that I had were from school. Yeah.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Mm. You know, I'm not fully opposed to using online communities to make friends. I'm not fully opposed to it. I think that. Well, like, when I first was Twitch streaming, I was a little worried about parasocial relationships. I was worried that people were like, finding, you know, I mean, I don't think parasocial relationships are. Are they kind of depend on intensity. I mean, I have parasocial relationships with people that I, you know, listen to a lot or watch a lot. You know, I, you know, kind of form ideas of who they are and, you know, they, they. Maybe their work speaks to me in. In ways that make me feel very understood, but I don't, I don't ever. I don't let that go to. To a place where I, like, feel like they're you know, I maybe have a reverence for their work and what they have to say and whatnot, but I don't let that cross into a territory of, like, they are part of my social life in any way, shape, or form. And I was kind of worried about that when I first started streaming. But then I, I noticed on Discord and even, like, in my Twitch chat that people independent of me were, like, making friends with each other. And that became. Those, became like, those weren't parasocial relationships. Those were real, you know, albeit online, but they were. They were real relationships that people formed with each other. And I thought that was cool. And I'm not against that because I've actually seen a lot of situations both, you know, in my gecko universe and in, like, anecdotally in real life where people have relationships like that that turn into, like, real friendships. And I'm not. I'm not opposed to that. I'm opposed to, like. I'm opposed to, like, like making friends with an AI chatbot or trying to feel like a streamer is like your friends. But I, I, the, The space between of like, you know, I chat with this person who lives in Wisconsin and I'm in Florida or whatever. I don't think that that's all that bad. And if that's where your life is and that's where your comfortability is and that's where you need to start, I don't think that that's the worst thing in the world. But. But I guess ultimately you'd want to form a form friendships in real life. And it's. I, I get why it's. I get why it's hard for you as a. As a single mom. You know, it's a lot of responsibility. Is that your kid?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Yeah.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

You, by the way, you sound like you're. You sound like. You sound like you're out in public. Are you out in public somewhere?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

No, I'm actually in my room. I'm pacing back and forth in my room right now, and my little baby just came in here and he wants me now, so I'm like, okay, but. But by. What you were saying is. Yeah, like, the thing about the parasocial relationships is, like, there's no form of, like. What's that word? Reciprocity.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Yes.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Yeah. So there's no. Really. I'm not really getting anything out of these relationships, of course, other than, you know, it's kind of like an imaginary relationship in a way. So I definitely wish that I could find friends in real life. I, I'm Just like, kind of like an awkward person. So I don't know if. I don't really know how to do that.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Well, you can find friends in real life. Even if you're an awkward person. You. I really do. You can find friends in real life being exactly as you are. Because I don't like. I think, like, real friendship is mostly. This is, like, really boring, but most friendship is truthfully more about repeated exposure than it is about any form of. It's repeated exposure with, like, a little bit of compatibility, but I think it's mainly about repeated exposure than it is compatibility. And if you're awkward but you have repeated exposure with, like, the same group of people, you'll be. You'll start to. You'll be less awkward because you get more comfortable with them because of that repeated exposure. So it's like, well, where do you get that? Repeated exposure is the main question. And it's hard for you because you gotta. You got a lot going on. But, yeah, it's possible. And it's possible to do it online, too. Like, when you were in this guy's Twitch community, were you. Were you just, like, sending out messages to the Void or were you talking to other people?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Mostly, like, I would. I would interact with the other chatters once in a while, but I would mainly comment on his stream and what he was doing. Sometimes say, like, jokes here and there. The guy that I was watching, he kind of felt like the things that I would say were me trying to, like, outshine him in a way, I think. And he. I guess he wanted to. Basically have more control over his community and what was being said in his chat and. I don't know, maybe he just got the wrong idea about me. But. Yeah, sorry if it doesn't make any sense.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

No, it makes perfect sense, but I don't think. But it's. I don't think it's the thing to be focused on. Right. Because. Well, I mean, what I. What I want to. What I'd like to see for you is to build up a better, like, social life, whether it's on the Internet with other real people or with real people in real life, but less of this thing of, you know, where it's you and like, a streamer, you know?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

And it's one thing if you like what they have to say and you like having them as background noise, you know, because I have. I have. There's people that. You know. I listen to Stavros's podcast all the time. I listen to a lot of different podcasts that I have on and shit. And, you know, but, like, I don't, you know, but you gotta have, like, a healthy, like, real social life. Have you made any. Have you made any attempts to do that or, like, what would those. And what have those attempts to look like?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Not actually. Not at all recently. Like, I would say probably within the past couple years or so. Like, I haven't really tried to go out of my shell when I. When I'm in public, which is usually like the grocery store, I avoid eye contact with everyone, and I just kind of go in and get out as fast as I can. So I. I don't really leave that open for opportunity.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Well, are there areas in which you would feel more comfortable? Like, what are your. What are your hobbies? What do you like to do?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

I like to draw and I like to paint, and I do word searches every now and then, but I. I don't imagine that the word search community is easy to find.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Sure, we could find the word search community. There's fucking probably plenty. Anything that you would do, there's, like, a discord of people who are also doing it.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Yeah.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

So. I. I think that you should definitely go out in search of, like, online communities that are related to what you like to do. How's being a mom?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

It's amazing because my kids really just, like, bring joy and just love and light to my life, and my whole world revolves around them, which has its pros and cons, but. And they're. My kid's dad is not in the picture, but he definitely tries to be. And our relationship was not the greatest, so it's kind of rough because I have to see him, and he kind of left, like, left me in a dark place, and he's kind of, like, controlling. So it's. It has its pros and cons, but I would say it has mostly pros.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Why. Why is your guys's relationship strained?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Well, he's just. He's always been very controlling and manipulative, and I'm. I don't. I honestly don't even really know how to put it because he just. For a while, he would try to make me feel like I was crazy. And anything. Anytime I try to come forward about anything that he does wrong, he shuts me down completely. So I don't even really know how to describe it. It's. Yeah, it goes pretty deep, which probably I need real therapy for.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

But.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

What. You. What's your. Your kid sounds like he's running around doing a bunch of stuff in the background. What's he up. What's he, what's he doing right now?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

My bed is just covered and.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

I.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Was cleaning my kitchen, so I took everything off the top of the microwave and put it on my bed. And now they're just going through that. All that. I actually have a little baby and, and older. Four year old, so they're just going through everything right now, but it's okay, man.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

So you're juggling with fucking two kids, are you. Do you live. Is it just you and the two kids or you live with your folks?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

No, it's just us. Just me boys and my cat.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Man, you're holding, you're holding that fucking shit down, dude.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Thanks, man. I. I try my best.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

That's hard. That's, that's, that's tough doing that. And do, do you work?

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

I do not at the moment. I am looking for a job. I actually applied at the hospital near me to do like, like, you know, the people that bring you your food at the hospital? Yeah, yeah, I applied to do that and then I got denied, so. Try a different angle.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Goldy, Goldie, Goldie. Damn, you're holding that fucking shit down. Goldie, I respect you. I really do. I respect you. This is. You're holding, you're holding down a lot of shit, dude. I, you know, and I'm not. I really, I don't want to say this as a way of not trying to be like motivational speaker type of type shit, but get, just give yourself some credit, man. I mean, I hope throughout, throughout whatever it is, like, give yourself some credit. I mean, you're, what you're doing is, is a wild undertaking. It's reds. That sounds so hard, you know, dealing with like a fucking, you know, uncooperative, uncooperative father, you know, taking care of two kids on your own, working, you know, dealing with life, I mean, that's tough, man. So, you know, have, have some, have some compassion for yourself as, you know, like do like, like do both things at once. Like, have some compassion for yourself, you know, because what you're doing is hard, but also like, like look at yourself in the mirror and be like, I'm fucking killing it right now. I'm doing, I'm doing pretty good job at this, like, hard thing, like, because you, because you. I don't know, it's from, from what you said about like, oh, I feel awkward if I can't look people in the eye. Like, you didn't say it outright, but I don't know if you're dealing with Any kind of like self confidence issues but like take a second to look at yourself and be like, wait, I'm actually kind of sick right now, you know, like I'm dealing with all this shit but I'm still, I'm holding it down, you know, like walk around like that's what you should be walking around with and not like, oh, I'm weird and I don't, I can't fit into the planet.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Yeah, yeah, you got it down for sure.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

You got it down. You got it down.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Man. Dude, you have no idea how happy you just made me. Cuz like, like I said, like when I first started watching you, like it was like every single stream back when you used to have like call screeners and stuff, I tried to call in but then I got too scared and I hung up. But back then I used to watch literally every single one of your streams. I'd be chatting in it. So it's like so like surreal to be on the phone with you right now.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Goldie, try to, try to, try to build yourself up. You're doing a fucking tough thing and you're doing a pretty good job at it because your kids sound like they're alive, which is, I mean even doing that is hard. So you know, give yourself, give yourself some credit. When you try to make friends and you just go, I don't know, when you're going about the world in general, you want to have that mindset about yourself about like wait, I'm actually kind of awesome. So do with that information as you please.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

All right, man.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

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

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Yeah, just love live. Come on, chat love on yourself. Keep this stream of love going.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Swag.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

Do something nice for yourself. Thank you so much, Ly.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Thank you Goldie. You have a good one. Good luck.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

All right, you too. Bye bye.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Goldie. I want to join the word search discord. No, I actually don't want to do that. I'm not going to lie and say I want to do that, but it's cuz I don't like word searches. If I liked word searches I'd be in the. I'd be the head mod of the word search discord and then I would have sex all the time.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

Hello.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Hey buddy, what's, what's your name?

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

My name is Idol. Idol, Like American? Yeah, like American Idol.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Cool, I like that name. I assume we haven't spoken before because I would remember an idol.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

No. Yeah, we haven't. I've been Watching for a while and I've been trying to call in. I have a very specific reason why I'm calling in.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Okay, well you texted me and you said, I want to talk about my anger.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

Yeah, I have a lot of pent up anger towards a, you know, a specific group online that just like it gets me going, you know. I'm kind of sick. I'm sick and tired of like these food reviewers blowing up, you know, low key spots. Like just the other day, like there's this pop up spot, taco spot, very low key, nobody knows about. I'm scrolling through Instagram and I see a food Reviewer with like 110000 likes at this spot. And I'm like, it's gonna be like 10000 people at this place now I gotta wait in line. Quality is gonna drop because you're trying to serve everybody. It's just like what the.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Why does that upset you? That, that's, that's good. That's what you. That it's. I hate the whole like gatekeeping thing. Don't you want that business to be doing well?

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

I do, but then it inconveniences me because now it's just a line and now, you know, it's people there and it's just too much. Too much going on. Yeah, I want the business to succeed, but not at the cost of me.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

But you don't run the business.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

No, I don't. It's just, how can I say it? I'm just tired of places that I love to go where just low key, nobody knows. I just like to enjoy it. Enjoyed the scenery, you know, but you know people, you got ignorant people and all these types of people coming in because you know all this and it's just too much.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

You do sound very angry. This is not about, I can tell. This is not about tacos. There's something else going on. It's definitely not something else going on in your life.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

No, nothing else going on. It's just I'm sick of the tired of low key spots that I enjoy being blown up by food reviewers.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

But here's what I don't. I. Can I go on a rant to you and I don't get food. I don't get it. Do you know what I mean? You don't know what I mean? I don't, I don't get like, okay, I'm gonna say a bunch of things that sound insane, but you know when people are like, oh, the food at this restaurant is so good, I'm like what? Who cares? There's food everywhere. Like, you can get a taco at a billion different places. It's fine. Yeah, but it's.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

It's just, you know, the quality of the taco. It's not just the quality of the. It's just the food in general. It's just places that were special to me are being taken over. I guess you can say that.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Yeah, but you don't. You don't own.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

I don't own it. No, I don't. I don't own the place. It's just safe spots where I can. Where people who like to just go and just like, all right, yeah, nobody knows about this spot. Let's go here. Being blown up. That's my problem.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Where do you live?

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

I live in Pennsylvania.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

What, like in a big city?

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

Yeah.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

You live in Philly? Yeah, there's a billion restaurants in Philly. Just go to another place that.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

No, that's the thing. I don't want to go to another place.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

But you might discover a new pla. But you might discover another new place that you like.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

That is true. But it's just. Okay, you're right on that. I can discover a new place. It's just. Do I want to open myself up to that new experience?

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

What? I don't understand what you're saying. Why would you not?

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

I don't know. It's just. New things scare me.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Well, let's talk about that. That's more interesting to me. Why do new things scare you? Why does it scare you to go to a new taco place?

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

It's not necessarily taco place. It's just, like, I hate wasting money on bad food. And that's what scares me, that I'm just gonna waste money and just not enjoy it.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Okay, Food is life.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

Food is. Food is life.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Okay, I respect.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

And everybody likes to. Everybody likes to sit there and enjoy a nice meal. And the meal would be ruined if you pay a certain price for. For disgusting food.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Mm. Yeah, but that's what you gotta do. That's the cost of. Like, I. Actually, I. Can I tell you something? I hate reviews. Here's my. Here's one of my hot take. No, no. But I hate. Okay, I hate review. Like, when we're about to. Okay, here's. Here's one of my hot takes. Like, if I'm with someone and I'm like, oh, let's try this restaurant, and they pull out their phone and they start reading the reviews. I hate that because to me, if it's bad, let's Just find out. Who cares? I don't want to. Why does every experience have to be. Why do I need the perfect, most amazing thing all the time? Like, if we go to a place and it's shitty, we'll just find it out by going there. I hate that I have to, like, curate my life. I hate, like, trying to curate your life so that you never have any negative experiences ever. Or any, like, negative food experiences even. It's just stupid. It's like, just go into the restaurant and you pay the money and you eat the shitty food. Then you know not to go there anymore. The reviews. I don't like the system of, like, we have to protect ourselves from. You know, it's a real.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

I think.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

I think it's. Listen, and I'm about to go on a huge. This is the most podcast bro thing I'm gonna say. It's part of the overall pussification of America food reviews. You know what I mean? It's. It's. It's a further pussification of America that we feel the need to protect ourselves from eating a shitty burrito. You can handle the experience of eating a shitty burrito, and then that's what happens to you. You ate a shitty burrito. You know, you get upset, and then you don't go to that place anymore. I'm being facetious, but I also do 100% believe everything I'm saying.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

Yeah, it's just, you know, I'm just tired of it. But I. I do, Geraldine, do thoroughly enjoy talking to you. It was good to get it off my chest. I appreciate it and appreciate you answering my call.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Thanks, man. Is there anything else you want to say to the people? The computer before we go? Idol.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

Subscribe.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Sweet. Thank you, Idol. I was explaining this to someone the other day. This. I don't. I like when people are like, oh, the food in Texas is so, like, the Mexican food in Texas is so great. I'm like, I'm sure it is, but if you live in, like, Rhode island, there's some fucking Mexican restaurant within 50 miles of you. That's probably pretty good. Is it. Is the one in Texas. Is it that much better? I don't know. Food is food. This is how I am. Not like a. Also, you know, I'm like, I think this. Maybe this is because I'm like, I'm a single guy, you know, so I'm not gonna, like, like, whatever. It's when people like. People like, oh, you live in New York. You go. Do you go to all the restaurants? I'M like, no, I'm a single guy. I'm not gonna, like, go out alone to a nice restaurant on a Tuesday night. I don't. I'm not. I just don't care. I eat at, like, ate at the grocery store, the bodegas, the little fast casual, whatever things. I also. I hate. I also like, just on principle. I hate spending money on fancy food with, like, low purport, like, low portions, you know, I like going to a shitty Mexican place where they'll give me a big fucking burrito for not that much money. But if it's like a fancy taqueria, whatever place and they give you a tiny thing of chips and a tiny little whatever and you pay like $30, I hate that shit. And I hate. I. Yeah. And I hate reviews. It's like, just eat. It's okay, you know, go have a. Be. Be in a bad. Go to eat a bad food, you know, It'll be okay. I like good. I like. I like good reviews of things Sometimes. Do I read review. I guess I read reviews of. I read reviews of video games. Yeah. Okay. All right. Maybe it's. Maybe I'm. You know what? I'm actually kind of a bullshitter because I read reviews of video games before I play them or do it. I don't. Do I. I do sometimes. Yeah. You know, because I don't like to waste my time on it. Okay, you know what? I take back everything I said. I think I just. I think I just applied it to this situation because I don't care that much about food, but when I apply it to something I care about. Yeah. Yeah, I think reviews are. Hey, folks, if any of you guys are creators on TikTok, you're gonna want to know about this. TikTok is putting on a celebration spotlighting creators from all over the world called Live Fest 2025. I know a lot of people who listen to this show or call into this show are creators of some kind. You guys do all sorts of stuff. Life coaching, making funny sketches, making music. Whatever it is you do on TikTok. Doing it with TikTok Live is a great way to engage with your community and grow your audience. And this year's Live Fest is a great opportunity to. To show the world whatever it is that you do best. You can take home real trophies and walk down the red carpet at TikTok's annual awards ceremony. So whether you're just starting out on TikTok or already growing your community, check out LiveFest2025 on TikTok to find out how you can be a part of this global celebration, let's elevate live together. Shh.

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[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Hey, everybody. What's up? It's me, Lyle, and I'm gonna do the second half of this episode as a geck mail portion, if that's okay with you. If that's not okay with you, then I don't know what to tell you. It's too late because I'm gonna. I'm gonna do it. I am currently alone in a room talking into a microphone. I feel good. I took a Celsius. I took a bathroom break, and I feel good. I feel ready to talk into a microphone alone and read some emails, and I feel like I'm talking directly to you guys. What's going on in my life? I went to Canada. That was nice. New York in the fall is great. I'm trying to romanticize my own life. Here's what's going on. This is my. This is the portion of the podcast. I'll do my therapy for a second. I find myself constantly thinking about the future. The future. You know, I'm always making plans. I'm always like, oh, wouldn't it be cool to live here one day? Like, I go to fucking Zillow or whatever, and I'm like, what's the. What's the rent in Madison, Wisconsin? What would it be like to be there? You know, I'm on Reddit. I'm. I'm looking at other people's lives on Instagram and. And I'm like, what would it be like to live that life? What would it be like to do this would be like to do that. And I'm realizing I'm like, I'm thinking about versions of myself and versions of different versions of life that are. That I'm not even in and I'm missing my own life. It's crazy. So I'm trying to romanticize my own life so I'm feeling very romantic about this very moment in which I'm sitting here talking into this microphone, talking to you guys. So I'm gonna romanticize the life I'm currently living right now. However good or bad it is. When I'm with someone, I'm trying to. I'm trying to really be with them and look in their eyes. I'm like, even if I hate them, I'm like, oh, this is nice. I get to. I'm like warmed by the disdain I have for this person. I get. I feel alive. I'm like really diving in all of my emotions. I'm like diving into them. I'm like, oh, I get to feel angry. I get to feel getting into a. I'm in a fight with my landlord and I'm like, this is exciting. I get to send an angry email about fixing my fucking heater. Look at me, I'm in. I'm engaging with the universe. I don't know. I'm crazy. All right, let's read some emails. Let's see here. This is from Waka. Hello Geck. My life is not bad. I'm about to graduate college. I have a good lady I'm planning to marry and a job that is giving me good experience with decent pay. Recently, I had a strange dream. In the dream, my parents were flying out to where I live to visit me and their plane suddenly vanishes. What I can remember involves me trying to process this moment. I don't know what happened to the plane, but when I learned that my parents were missing, I. I was devastated. After some time, I began to question why I was even sad to begin with. And I started to reflect on all the problems in that relationship with my parents. I remember feeling angry for even considering that eventually some kind of authority came to me and was about to reveal what happened to my parents plane. But then I woke up my parent. My parents are flying out to the state I live to visit me and my sister for Thanksgiving. So the timing of the stream is alarming. I recently asked Chat GPT to interpret the stream for me because it's been stuck on my mind for a week now. Chat gave me mumbo jumbo about how it is a reflection of my strained relationship with my parents. Blah, blah, blah. What are Your thoughts? Does this sound like a sign that my parents are going to die? Uh, no, I don't think it's a sign that your parents are gonna die. I don't think. Okay. Like there's actually a lot of woo woo shit that I believe is completely logical. That makes a lot of sense to me. I, and what, but, and then there's a lot of woo shit that I think is stupid. And with dreams like, I, I, I, I don't interpret dreams to mean anything about the, about anything external. Like they don't, I don't think they mean shit about the external events of the universe. So like, no, I don't think that this dream means that your parents are gonna die or that something bad will happen. I don't believe in woo woo like that, but I totally believe in dreams being like, reflective of the internal state. So it definitely means you have some anger, some anxiety. It definitely. Also dreams will like show you shit that you don't want to admit to yourself. Like what a perfect example is like if you break up with someone and you believe you're fully over it, your dreams will show you that you're not. You'll be like, you'll be like five months after a breakup or something like that and believe you're totally over it. And then you just have a dream that you're like holding hands with that person and your subconscious is like you're lying to yourself that you're over this right now. You know? So dreams will like show you uncomfortable, but that doesn't mean any, that doesn't mean about the, you know, your ex girlfriend, you know, she's out living her life, has nothing to do with your dream. It just reflects how you feel. So maybe you feel anxious that about your parents. Maybe you feel anxious about your parents dying, which is a legitimate feeling to have. Maybe. Yeah. It's probably reflective of some relationship problems that you have with your parents. It's probably reflective of some anger of some kind. So I agree with the, the chat GPT interpretation of that. But I don't believe in like signs of external things. I believe in signs of internal things. Yeah, I mean, thinking that, to think that your dreams are like signs of the universe of like events that will happen. I mean that, that's, that's, that means that you, you're like God or some shit, you know, I'm saying. Okay, there's more to this email. That is the first of two strange experiences I have had at night recently. The other was last night. I could not fall Asleep after watching six episodes of Bob's Burgers, I turned to YouTube and I decided to watch a documentary about the ongoing civil war in Sudan. The documentary explored the complex landscape of the parties involved in the war. Eventually, the video talks about a specific skirmish over a town in which one of the military forces kills hundreds of civilians and burns everything down. At this point, I had to stop watching the video. I feel like I somewhat keep up with global events. I am aware of horrible things that happen everywhere every day. Human history has an unmeasurable list of tragedies that have occurred. But for some reason, I could not go back to watching Bob's Burgers this time. I feel like I try to typically keep a good outlook on life, but this makes me feel like I am so ungrateful for my problems. I get to be upset at my parents from my childhood and not have to grieve my entire town being slaughtered and burned to the ground by an evil dictator. Geck, am I going crazy? Why am I suddenly burdened with these thoughts? I am grateful for the opportunity to be more appreciative of my place in this world, but how do I not let this haunt me? How am I supposed to bring kids into this evil world one day? Is it not morally wrong to be responsible for sending the next generation into a place where so much bad happens? Anyway, I hope this email reaches you. I enjoy your perspective on things and I hope to hear back from you on this. I have the exact same thoughts. Oh, man. Listen, man, I have the same fucking thoughts all the time. And it's very funny because, like, I don't know, I've been to places where like, I've seen like, object poverty and horrible things, but also like, you know, I mean, I live in. Haven't lived in like, New York and la. Like, you just. You just see that shit outside of your house. And also like, whatever. You hear about it and you see it. Yeah, yeah. You know, if you're looking. If you're. If you look up from your phone or down at your phone. Yeah. You'll find lots of examples of horrible things happening, for sure. And that makes you feel a sense of like, damn, I'm ungrateful for feeling like shit about my problems. And I've heard people talk about this and I've heard people say things like, like, sadness is relative and problems are relative and this and that and the other thing. And it's like, well, you know, like people. People say like, oh, I think it's so annoying when I have a problem and then someone says to me, well, you could be starving in Africa. It could be worse. Like, people, people get, like, annoyed by that. But I disagree. I disagree. I think every problem is, I think every problem can totally be solved by being like, well, at least I'm not, you know, in Sudan getting killed by a dictator. You know, I think that's real. I hate when people say that. That, that isn't. That, that's not real. Like, if you're bra. If you, your girlfriend broke up with you, or you didn't sell enough necklaces on Etsy or whatever, and someone's like, well, it could be worse. You could be, you know, starving to death in the streets, and you're like, fuck you. That's not helpful. I'm like, fuck you. That's really helpful. You could totally. It could totally be worse. I really try to think about that a lot. So, so you're not crazy. You're not crazy for believing that your life is so much better because you don't live in a country where you could be killed by the government. I don't think that makes you crazy. But also, at the end of the day, you got to live your own life. Because I think if you dive too deep into that, and I've dived really deep into that feeling of like, well, let me just negate my entire existence because it could be worse. And that's not helpful either. That's not helpful either. So, you know, I, I, I'm working, I'm pondering this shit with you, and I think it's as, as, as is the answer to a lot of shit. It's a yin yang. Like, hold a good. Make some room in your brain for, like a dedicated. You like, dedicate a real nice, solid part of your brain portfolio. 20, 30, 40%, whatever you want. Delegate a real solid part of your brand portfolio to thank God I'm not living in a country that's deeply impoverished and at war. Really, really. That's worthy brain space to take. So dedicated that, but don't dedicate the whole brain to it or else you're. Or else what? Even are you. You know, you're, you can't you. Because you have to engage with your life, and part of engaging with your life is engaging with your problems and your conflicts, such as your relationship with your parents. So you still got to engage in that. You can't, oh, it could be worse. Your way out of your problems entirely, but having a little bit of it could be worse. I could be living in a bad place and subject to the horrible things of the universe is a good. It's a good thing to keep it in perspective. But you can't just negate your life. So I think it's healthy. Okay, and then the part where you're like, how do I not let this haunt me? Exactly, you don't want to let it haunt you. How am I supposed to bring kids into this evil world one day? That's another problem is you don't want to look at the world as evil. Evil. You don't. And there's a lot And. But you know, there's a lot of people that I've met and talked to who live the. One of the craziest things that I've experienced in my life is like, I feel like I've been so lucky to live the life I live. Not even just like, you know, the stupid, the like gecko stuff, but like just outside of that. Just like living in a. Growing up in like a suburb and like having good parents and all these things. And I feel. I feel these feelings of like, of like lack and of like depression or whatever. And I'll meet people who've grown up with and have so much less than I have and they're way. And they just figure out a fucking way to like be happy and have a really positive outlook on the world. And I'm like, and that. And that blows my mind. So. And I say that to mean that there's probably people whose lives are worse than yours that don't think the world is evil, that there's people with. Who are. Whose lives are worse than yours that have a better outlook on the planet than you do. And I know that because I've met people like that, talked to people like that. And so if they can have a shittier life than you and less stuff than you and worse problems than you and still not believe the world is evil, then I think you can too. So I don't think that. I don't. I'm. I don't think that like, object doom. And being like, oh, the world is an evil, awful, terrible place. Being like, oh, the world is an evil, awful, terrible place is not fucking helpful to anyone. In the same way that being like, dude, everything is fucking great. Like, when you meet a guy like that who's like, everything's amazing, everything's awesome. I just love being alive. And it's like, yeah, because you have whatever the thing is, or maybe, or you. Maybe you don't, maybe you don't. I like a measured thing. I like a measured perspective of the world of like something in between those two things of like, yeah, there's some crazy shit going on. There's a civil war in Sudan. There's horrible poverty and crazy wars and just all this awful stuff going on. And, you know, it's good to be aware that like. But also, like, you know, there's a lot of good stuff happening to people. There's great things happening all over the world. There's a. There's. Right now as I'm. Right now as I'm recording this all over the planet, there's like two, three, maybe four people who are eating something and talking to each other. That's happening. That's happening an unfathomable amount across the planet Earth right now is a group of two to four people eating something and talking to each other. That's kind of amazing. That's kind of beautiful. So you take. There's pros and cons to it, and those four. And those four people who are eating something and talking to each other, they're. They have their own whatever problems going on with their life, but they have also little moments where things are good and you have to believe that the good outweighs the bad enough that life's worth living in. And we want to keep doing this. We want to keep doing this enough that we'll bring a kid here. I've thought about that too, man. I was thinking about that yesterday. I was. I got to. Earlier this year, I was in such a doomer existentialist place that I was. I was on the Wikipedia page for antinatalism. Maybe I talked about this already, but yeah, and I was like, looking through this, like, movement of people who believe that it's, like, morally wrong to have children and, like, bring consciousness into the world. I was thinking about that. I was like, yeah, I was. I was feeling really scared yesterday because I was thinking about, like, if I want to have a kid, and I was like, that's a terrifying idea to me that I, like, bring consciousness into the world and then my kid is unhappy or feels, you know, has exists some bad life. And I would feel weirdly responsible for that. Like, oh, I've brought a new consciousness into this, like, kind of difficult thing, and now I'm responsible for that. Like, that spooks. That spooks me out for sure. But I think it's going to be up to me to believe that this thing that we're experiencing between two Oreo cookies of oblivion is. Is worth it. It's a cool ride, is a good thing, and that I have the Opportunity to, like, install a positive perspective upon. Or do try the best I fucking can. I mean, at the end of the day, you bring a kid into this world and you. You have, of course, a lot of influence. As you have the most influence, you'll be the most influential person to this kid's life. And, you know, I try to do that the best you can, but then after that they, you know, develop their own perception of the world. And that's kind of a beautiful thing too. But, yeah, you have the opportunity to find your own, I guess, joy and positive perspective and like, sh. And like, introduce. You can't make. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it. You can lead a horse to good vibes, but you can't make them take it. You know, I mean, you can introduce your kid to like, oh, hey, this is a way of looking at the world that I think is good. And you can't make him take it, but you can at least be like, I tried to introduce him to it. So is it not morally wrong to be sending the next generation into a place where so much bad happens? But also think about it like this. And I think about it all the time. And I have been feeling. I've been talking about on the show of like, bad shit has been happening forever. I mean, there's. Bad things have been happening forever. And we keep that. We just. We keep doing it.

[Goldie (Caller, Single Mom)]

We keep doing it.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

This is not new. Like, all the stuff that we're think, all the like, doomerism that we're dealing with, it's not like our problem. We're. It's. We have new problems. But like, you know, think about, like, whatever, 1930, whatever, the being like, you know, oh, this Hitler guy is kind of crazy. The world is at war. Should we have a kid? I don't know about how I feel about the world right now. You know, we figure it out. We just keep. We keep figuring it out. And we've been. And I'm pretty confident that we'll keep figuring it out because we just. We keep figuring it out after. Like, I mean, isn't that wild? We people keep. Even in, like, fucking places that have experienced a lot of turmoil, people keep having kids and they keep figuring it out and they keep deciding, either logically or just. Or biologically their bodies. I mean, we're programmed to fucking reproduce. We just keep deciding. We want to keep doing it. So the answer to why we keep deciding that as a species that we want to keep doing it is beyond me. I think it's just innate. I think it's just as a species, we're like sharks. We just want to. We just fucking want to keep going and we're going to do it. If you believe yourself to be part of a 8 billion large collective conscious, we've unanimous, not unanimously, but we've kind of as a whole decided that we're going to keep doing this until we can't. So if you wanna, with whatever individual agency you have, make a new person and try to raise him to be one of the good ones, I think that's a noble thing to do, regardless of what you believe the current state of the world to be. Because there's always gonna be. There's never gonna be a time where something bad's not happening and there's never. And there's never gonna be a time where something good's not happening. I really do believe this bad. There's so like you, I. And that's why I love living in the city. Cuz every day I see like, if you live in like a big American city like every day or I guess a lot of European cities, there's not a lot of like, like, I don't know, I haven't been to a lot of Asian cities. But like, I think in most major places you walk around and you see people living in some form of poverty. But then you also just see like if you, if you're, if you're looking for it, go on a walk outside in a populated area and you just watch like a mom like walking with her, like normal things. Like a mom like walking with her kid and the kid has. Is holding a thing or like two people just. What? Like someone just walking and existing. Like, like, I don't know. There's good stuff about being alive as well as bad stuff. I've been ranting about this for too long, but I hope you understand what I'm kind of trying to say. All right. Okay. This is from Jose. Hey, Lyle, I'm an on and off listener and I want to know how tall you are. I'm five foot six and a half. I was five foot seven and then I started telling the truth. When I go on the da. I. When I go on the dating apps. I'm five foot seven. I can get away with five foot seven. I'm five foot six and a half. I'm somewhere in between five foot six and five foot seven. And you know, I can work with five foot seven. I could work with five foot six. Honestly, whatever. I, I think I've gone through ebbs and flows about my height, where sometimes I get really insecure about it and then other times I'm like, it's so stupid to be insecure about your height. It really is. It really is stupid to be insecure about your height. I sometimes I go to Bush. I think I go to Bushwick sometimes, and that's a strong Mexican community. And I think in general Mexican guys are a little shorter. Walk around Bushwick and I'll see like a 5 foot 3 Mexican guy with a beautiful girlfriend. And I'm like, okay, you know, we like this. It's workable. You can work with this. Hey folks, if any of you guys are creators on TikTok, you're gonna want to know about this. TikTok is putting on a celebration spotlighting creators from all over the world called Live Fest 2025. I know a lot of people who listen to this show or call into this show are creators of some kind. You guys do all sorts of stuff. Life coaching, making funny sketches, making music, whatever it is you do on TikTok. Doing it with TikTok Live is a great way to engage with your community and grow your audience. And this year's Live Fest is a great opportunity to show the world whatever it is that you do best. You can take home real trophies and walk down the red carpet at TikTok's annual awards ceremony. So whether you're just starting out on TikTok or already growing your community, check out LiveFest2025 live on TikTok to find out how you can be a part of this global celebration. Let's elevate Live together.

[Child or Storytelling Voice]

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[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

Okay, wait, there's another height thing. Okay, here we go. Yeah, there we go. All right. This is from Danny. Subject line, five foot guy with women troubles. Dear Geck, first and foremost, you and your podcast are wicked. I've been listening to your show for almost a year now. It's been such a refreshing way to get new perspectives on life and hear experiences I'd never come across otherwise. Having you on in the background during my team calls, Outlook grind and daily work routine has made the 9 to 5 so much more bearable. For context, I'm 25 years old, 5 foot in stature, single, and ready to mingle. I haven't been in a relationship for the past two years. I mentioned my height because it's been a bit of a hurdle on dating apps. Being short isn't exactly society's gold standard for attractiveness, and that can suck sometimes, but it is what it is. I've been using Tinder and Hinge for a couple of years. Met my past girlfriends there. Okay? Fucking. We got some. We got some. We got a track record. And while I do get matches and occasional dates, there are definitely dry spells. Since moving to a new city last year, I've only been on two dates. I feel like I've reached a place where I'm comfortable being alone, but I still want to find someone to experience life with. I'm not trying to rush into a relationship just to check a box. I want it to feel right. So here's what's on my mind. I matched with a girl. Let's call her April, on Hinge. I was attracted to her, and after a few days of texting, we set up a date. By the way, Just like, that's another, like, look, this guy's five feet, and he's able to find me to lady unhinged. And also, here's another cool thing I like about this is this guy's not like, whatever cards you were dealt in on the planet of, like, height or whatever. Whatever it is. It's. It's only over when you. When you spiral. Because you read this guy's email. And this guy. I like this guy. Because this guy. Again, you can't. You. Falling into doom is not a good strategy. As. As is falling into blind optimism. Look at this guy. This guy's like, look, I. Because this guy's like, look, it sucks being short, but it is what it is. Like, that's a perfect mindset. Because if this guy was like, I'm five foot six. It's over. I just. I just have to assume I'm never gonna be happy ever in my life. Then, you know, that's you. He's never gonna be anywhere. But look, he's got a. He's a sensible guy. He has some fucking grip on himself. And so he's able to, you know, meet someone. Okay, I met a girl. We set up a date. We went thrifting and grabbed a late lunch, an early dinner. I paid, did the gentleman thing. Date went well. Conversation flowed. She was receptive. At the end, she asked if I wanted to hang out again. I said yes. Afterwards, she texted me a lot of sweet messages, complimenting me and checking in on my day. I responded with playful, cute replies. But now I'm unsure how I feel about her. It feels like she's more into me than I am into her. Oh my God, look at this. This is not where I thought this email was coming. Don't get me wrong, being chased is nice, but I don't know if we see this turning. I don't know if I see this turning into a long term relationship. We have a second date planned. Movienet at her place. We're young, we have urges. We might not watch the movie, if you catch my drift. Okay. But I worry about leading her on if I go through with it. And that thought keeps lingering. Can I do better? It sounds shallow, but it's there. So I'm asking for your advice. What should I do? You know? Well, the. Here's by the way, the whole idea of like, can I do better? Being shallow. Can I do better? Does. Is not like, when you say, can I do better? It doesn't mean, like, I don't think that's like reflective of the other person that's reflective of you. When you say, can I do better? You're not like, can I do better? In terms of like this person that's standing up. Can I find a better person? You're more like, can I find a person where I feel a better feeling about them? So I don't, I don't think that that's shallow necessarily, because what's the fucking point, right? Because if you're like, not that into this person. I don't know, I mean, everyone's experiences this shit differently. Some people, they can like be not that into some person and then over time they really like grow with them and they feel good with them and they kind of get a. They get, they get like a positive, you know, they. They develop attraction over time and that could be you. But I don't know, maybe you're, maybe you're not that guy. Have you been that guy in the past? Like you said you met your past girlfriends there. Are you a slow build guy or are you I know when I know it guy? If you, if you've been a slow build guy and you kind of feel in your gut, you're like, I could, I could be a slow build guy, I could slowly build attraction, then go for it. But if you're, if you know in your gut that you're not a slow build guy, then I understand wanting to call it and I don't, I don't think it's shallow because I think also, like, you want to fucking be with someone that you want to be with and you want. And so does this fucking lay. This lady wants to be with someone that wants to be with her. So I don't think it's shallow to look for a stronger connection. I don't, I don't even think it's reflective of this lady. I think it's just reflective of like your own brain. That's another thing about like attraction is. It's so. It's a lot more complicated, I think, than people give it credit for. I mean, obviously in general, like, if you're more physically attractive, if you're taller, if you're in better shape and you know, you're get people, more people are going to be attracted to you. But like, there's still a lot of subtleties that make it so that you can't be too black and white with this stuff. So that's, that's what I suggest you should do is decide if you're open to a slow burn or if you're not, then it's okay to, it's okay to withdraw respectfully. Let's see here. Let's do one or two more. Okay. This is from Malachi. Subject line. I got stalked by a creepy in prison. My name is Malakai, AKA Invader Mall, and I wanted to share a story with you. That's funny now, but back then it had me shook. I was locked up in prison and for a minute I had a cell buddy who called himself Mike that smokes crack. I thought it was just a weird nickname, but it turns out he was a full blown creep. Dude was this fat, oversized white guy and at first he told me he got locked up for breaking into a pharmacy in the daytime, high on drugs after his girlfriend left him. Sounded believable until it got weird. One night I'm asleep in my bunk and I wake up to this dude literally sitting at the edge of my bed watching me sleep. I jump up, I go, what the hell? And he hits me with, oh, hey, cell buddy. I was just waiting for you to wake up. Just got off the phone with my pastor, bro. What? So later that day, I told one of my big homies, yes, I'm a gang member. Treetop pirro, a blood set. I let my OG know that Mike was watching me sleep, and he said if he do that again, let me know we're gonna handle it. The funny part, I'm playing spades in the card room later that week, and I run upstairs to grab my coffee. Mike's in the cell and goes, hey, cell buddy. I. I accidentally showed someone my butt. I'm like, what? He explains, he was in the shower, bent over with the curtain wide open, and a Muslim brother saw him. That Muslim brother threatened to stab him for real. I went and asked the Muslim brother myself, and he said, bro was straight bent over in the shower like he was in a music video. I was done. So now I'm thinking something's off. Rumors start going around the unit that he's in for touching boys at a Catholic church. I ask for his paperwork, and he sends me some fake nonsense that said breaking and entering. I dig deeper and find the real charges. Multiple counts of molesting boys in the church. That night, I went to bed with a plan. Wake up and get him the hell out of my cell. I wake up to him again, staring at me. This time sitting on the bunk, reading a book like this was some Lifetime movie. I said, nah, not again. I ran to my OG the whole blood set formed up. We went in that cell, took all his commissary, his food, and kicked him out barefoot. It was like prison house hunters. He got moved to the old man tier, and word is they beat his ass and had him transferred out to another prison. When I got home, I looked him up. Everything was true. Not only did he have those charges, but apparently he used to sleep up in the rafters at church and wait until the service started and play with himself. That man was a real life boogeyman. So, Gekko, what would you have done in that situation? Dude, I don't.

[Idol (Caller, Angry Food Reviewer)]

I don't know, man.

[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

What would I have. What would I have done in that situation? I would have gone to sleep and been like, I'm gonna. I would have just slept as much as I possibly could. Probably. I would have been. I would have attempted to be unconscious as long as humanly possible. I would have read a Book and be like, I would. I don't know. I don't know what I would have done in that situation, man. How are you doing now, Malachi? Call in. I want to talk to you. You seem like an interesting guy. I want to hear more. More stories about what's going on with you. If you're listening, I want to. I want to hear what's going on. You got a good. You got it. Yeah. I like the way you tell stories also. Yeah. I feel like I'm only hearing about Mike, who smokes crack. I want to hear about Malachi. I want to hear what's going on with you. Let's see here. I think that's it. I think. I think I'm done reading email for now. Thank you guys for listening to the podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope it was a good time for you all. I hope I didn't piss anyone off every time. I. I don't. I think I try to be pretty fair about the way I do this, but sometimes I'm like, am I pissing someone off right now? That's. Dude, that's the trade off of talking into a microphone and putting it on the Internet is you can just piss someone off somehow. I hope I don't do that. Okay, maybe I should read one more. Should I read one more? I'll read one more. I'll make the podcast a little bit longer. Okay, Let's see here. Hey, Geck. Call me Ismail. Oh, the subject line is, I stopped listening to podcasts. Hey, Geck. Call me Ismail. Thanks for all the time I spent on your podcast because I was depressed and wouldn't leave my house and had to remember how regular conversations worked. Now the Lexapro is working and in a four month turnaround, I'm sleeping with two people that know about each other and are fine with it and love biting me. He capitalized all those. Anything that I said in that weird voice, he. He had fully capitalized. Big shout out to Lexapro. Glad I'm not dead. I don't have a whole lot of use for podcasts now that I quit night shifts at UPS and got my sleep schedule right, started getting some writing done in a coffee shop and then going up to people that I'd seen around town, which is possible without Lexapro. For those interested, I got back to therapy. Fuck working out meds and sleep is fucking fine. I don't know what that last part means, but I mean, working out is cool. I always forget that I'm great at talking to people When I'm holed up in my room. Thanks for getting me through the night shift. I've been listening since episode 10, but I have to go now. Sorry. And thanks again, Ismail. You know what, Ismail? I. I'm. I'm happy to. Oh, he sent this. He sent this email a long time. He sent this email months ago. So he's not. He's not even gonna hear this, but whatever. He's busy. He's having sex right now with two people that know about each other and are fine with it and love biting him. So that's good. Hmm. Yeah. That happens to me all the time, man. Oh God. That happens to me all the time. I'll be like. I'll be like, really fucking depressed and like, not wanting to talk to anyone and I'll be like, shit. I think I've. There's been so many times. It happens multiple times a week where I'm just like, shit. I don't think I can have a conversation with another human being. I do it for a living. And I'm just like, fuck. I don't. I can't talk to other people. And then I'll just have a day where I'm like, I don't know, the fucking vyvanse hits right or the sun hits right? Or whatever. And I'm just like, damn, I forgot that I'm actually awesome at talking to people. You gotta remind yourself who you are. It's in there, folks. You just gotta remind yourself who you are sometimes. And then you could end up like Ismail and stop listening to this podcast as well. No. Thank you guys for listening. I listen. I don't, I don't, I don't. It's funny, cuz this kind of harkens back to the very first caller we had. But I don't. I don't know. I listen to a lot of podcasts just for like, I guess noise. Not so much for like, social interaction. I fall asleep every night to podcasts about Nintendo games. I love that shit. And you know what? I'm gonna go do that right now. Actually, I'm not. It's the morning time. So. Thank you guys for listening to Therapy Gecko. I'm a gecko. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I hope this was good for you guys. I hope you enjoyed being here. I enjoyed recording it, I know that much. Thank you all. Have a good night. And have a good. What is it? Today's Wednesday. Okay. Have a good weekend everyone. Gek bless. See you around the universe. Therapy Geckos on the line. Taking your phone calls every night. Therapy geckos. Doing it right, teaching you how to live your life. But he's not really an expert. Shh.

[Child or Storytelling Voice]

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[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

For cash and more. Paying for subject to terms and approval. PayPal Inc. And MLS 910457 hey folks, if any of you guys are creators on TikTok, you're going to want to know about this. TikTok is putting on a celebration spotlighting creators from all over the world called Live Fest 2025. I know a lot of people who listen to the show are creators of some kind. And whatever it is you guys do on TikTok, doing it with TikTok Live is a great way to engage with your community and grow your audience. So check out LiveFest2025 on TikTok to find out how you can be a part of this global celebration. Lets elevate live together.

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[Lyle (Therapy Gecko)]

All.

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[Gemma Spake]

This is an iHeart podcast.