Send Off | Chapter 5

Summary

Unfit for Service: Episode 5 - "Send Off"

Introduction

In Episode 5, titled "Send Off," of the compelling eight-episode series Unfit for Service, host Eric Marcus delves deeper into the harrowing and untold story of Randy Taylor, a dedicated soldier navigating the perilous waters of secrecy, paranoia, and isolation within the United States Army. This episode, released on November 11, 2024, captures pivotal moments as Randy faces both personal and professional challenges amidst a backdrop of national crisis.

Background: Randy’s Secret Relationship

Randy Taylor's commitment to serving America is underscored by his concealed relationship with his boyfriend, Lucas. Serving at Fort Bragg, now known as Fort Liberty, Randy and Lucas employed meticulous tactics to keep their relationship hidden from the prying eyes of their commanding officers and peers. Their secret meetings, coded conversations, and strategic outings exemplify the constant vigilance required to maintain their concealment.

Randy (05:14): "We would each get up and leave separately and then meet back at the car separately, not even walk back to the car together."

Life in the United States Post-Middle East Deployment

Upon returning to the United States after deployments in Egypt and Israel, Randy and Lucas attempt to reintegrate into civilian life. However, their efforts are fraught with challenges as they reside near Fort Liberty, a military hub with strict standards and minimal tolerance for deviations. Simple activities, such as watching a movie, become elaborate operations to avoid detection.

Randy (03:45): "If we wanted to go to a movie... we had to get in a car and drive two hours to a city far enough away that we felt no military would drive that distance and just go to a movie."

The Impact of 9/11: A Turning Point

The tragic events of September 11, 2001, serve as a critical turning point in Randy's military career and personal life. As the nation reels from the attacks, Randy receives deployment orders to Afghanistan, thrusting him into an active war zone. This period heightens the existing tensions in his life, amplifying the risks associated with his concealed relationship.

Lucas (18:19): "September 11, 2001, the southern tip of Manhattan. You're looking at the World Trade Center."

Preparation for Deployment: Emotional and Logistical Strain

Randy's impending deployment forces him and Lucas to confront the precariousness of their situation. They undertake extensive preparations to safeguard their relationship and ensure Lucas's well-being should Randy not return. This includes updating legal documents, securing financial arrangements, and establishing contingency plans, all while maintaining their facade.

Lucas (20:31): "Preparing for it was difficult to talk through, like, the logistics of how life would continue on for Lucas if I didn't come back alive..."

Rising Through the Ranks: Increased Scrutiny and Isolation

As Randy ascends to the rank of lieutenant colonel with hundreds of soldiers under his command, the scrutiny intensifies. His rising position makes maintaining his secrecy more challenging, as increased visibility heightens the risk of exposure. Both he and Lucas become more isolated, lacking a support network to confide in and navigate the complexities of their hidden relationship.

Lucas (10:23): "We develop a lot of procedures, a lot of tactics... We knew that we could never be seen together, because if we were, that would arouse suspicion."

The Conflict: Investigating a Same-Sex Incident

The core conflict of this episode arises when a young soldier under Randy's command is implicated in a same-sex encounter at a local barracks barbershop. Under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) policy, Randy is compelled to investigate and determine whether the incident constitutes homosexual conduct, placing him in a morally and professionally compromising position.

Lucas (30:31): "I couldn't do it. There's no way I could be involved in any disciplinary act or discharge of any other gay service members..."

Internal Struggle and Ethical Dilemma

Randy grapples with the ethical implications of enforcing a policy that directly threatens his own concealed identity. The lack of clear guidelines under DADT adds to his turmoil, as he seeks ways to navigate the investigation without jeopardizing his cover. This dilemma not only tests his loyalty to his duty but also his commitment to protecting his and Lucas's relationship.

Randy (32:27): "There weren't a lot of details... it was like a he said, he said situation."

Climax: The Precarious Balance of Secrecy

As Randy attempts to balance his responsibilities as a leader and his need to preserve his personal life, the episode reaches a tense climax. His role in the investigation forces him to confront the potential consequences of DADT, not just for the accused soldier but for himself and Lucas as well. The episode concludes on a suspenseful note, highlighting the fragile equilibrium Randy must maintain.

Lucas (33:03): "He thought that this was clearly a homosexual act, therefore the service member must be homosexual. And we needed to execute the policy at the time and then to really take a hard stand on him."

Conclusion

"Send Off" masterfully intertwines Randy's personal struggles with the broader socio-political tensions of the time, offering a poignant exploration of identity, duty, and love under duress. Through meticulous storytelling and emotionally charged narratives, the episode underscores the profound personal costs of serving in a discriminatory military policy, setting the stage for further revelations in the Unfit for Service series.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Randy (05:14): "We would each get up and leave separately and then meet back at the car separately, not even walk back to the car together."
• Lucas (18:19): "September 11, 2001, the southern tip of Manhattan. You're looking at the World Trade Center."
• Lucas (30:31): "I couldn't do it. There's no way I could be involved in any disciplinary act or discharge of any other gay service members..."

Final Thoughts

Episode 5 of Unfit for Service deftly captures the intense emotional and psychological landscape Randy and Lucas navigate. As Randy faces unprecedented professional challenges amidst national turmoil, the episode poignantly illustrates the intersection of personal identity and institutional policies, inviting listeners to reflect on the human stories behind military service.

Transcript

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Randy's time in the Middle east has come to an end. No more journeys across the desert minefields to see Lucas and Israel. No more scuba diving trips with his close confidant Kathy. He's also escaped the watchful eye of his commanding officer, the Colonel. While serving in the desert, he lived in constant fear that the Colonel was monitoring his calls to Lucas. In order to keep these phone calls and their relationship secret, Randy and Lucas had to develop a kind of code words with hidden meanings only they understood to help them fly under the Colonel's radar. Thankfully, it seems to have worked. Crisis averted. Randy has taken his military training and used it to keep him and his boyfriend safe. Now Randy and Lucas are back in the US after off road desert crossings, clandestine meetings, and furtive phone calls in Egypt and Israel. Surely being back on American soil will make life simpler, safer. Well, not exactly.

[Randy]

If we wanted to go to a movie. The new Batman movie was coming out. We wanted to go see it together. We couldn't just drive 10 minutes down the road to the local theater. We had to get in a car and drive two hours to a city far enough away that we felt no military would drive that distance and just go to a movie.

[Lucas]

So when we get to the parking lot, one of us would get out of the car at a time. We would not both get out of the car together as a couple.

[Randy]

Randy would go into the movie theater first. He would scan the movie theater.

[Lucas]

I'd give the theater a look and just kind of observe the crowd, scan every aisle and make sure there was nobody in there that I could recognize.

[Randy]

I would not go in until the movie starts because even during the previews the lights are always up a little bit. As soon as the previews are over with, they bring the lights the rest of the way down. I would come in, I would look for Randy, which was always very difficult and tricky, and then I would go and join him. As soon as the movie's over, Randy would stand up and leave. I would sit there through the credits.

[Lucas]

We would each get up and leave separately and then meet back at the car separately, not even walk back to the car together.

[Randy]

That way, if there was someone that we hadn't spotted, we look as if we're not a couple.

[Lucas]

And then when I show up for work Monday morning, I would just hope again that nobody brought it up and said anything and said, hey, did I see you at the movies?

[Eric Marcus]

I'm Eric Marcus and from Waveland and Vespucci. This is Unfit for service. Episode 5 Send off.

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[Randy]

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[Eric Marcus]

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[Randy]

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[Lucas]

This is Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Anytime, any day, any week, any season.

[Eric Marcus]

1999. Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

[Lucas]

Fort Bragg was considered and still is considered now as Fort Liberty, as the center of the universe, the military center of American might. It is training that develops each trooper's confidence in himself and his ability to function with discipline and control in any situation. Our most elite units are stationed there. The most ready units are stationed there, ready to respond to the nation's call. Fearless among fighting units. Its history is long and famous, crowded with great battles and inspiring deeds of valor. But its story is far from over. You will surely hear from it again when a call comes to defend this country's freedom.

[Eric Marcus]

As Randy says, what was Fort Bragg is now Fort Liberty. It was renamed in 2022 to shed the stain of its Confederate namesake, General Braxton Bragg. But while the name may have changed, its role as the Army's biggest base and home to US Special Forces has stayed the same.

[Lucas]

The base had become the biggest army.

[Eric Marcus]

Camp in the nation and North Carolina's third largest city.

[Lucas]

And so it's a place where very high standards are upheld, and it's a very demanding environment. And so there's not a lot of tolerance for not meeting standards or expectations. Not only military standards, but standards of what infantry men think other infantry men should be like.

[Eric Marcus]

Fort Bragg had a reputation for homophobia in 1993, when Don't Ask, Don't Tell was first implemented. Staff Sergeant Jeffrey Cornett, who was stationed at the base, told the New York Times, you'd be an idiot in this division if you came out and announced you were gay. There's no acceptance here on this post.

[Lucas]

It was very dangerous to be gay at Fort Bragg because the army and soldiers were on the hunt for gay service members. It almost felt like it was hunting for sport, outing people just because you could. And you're dealing with a population there that is trained to hunt other humans.

[Eric Marcus]

But Randy is gay at Fort Bragg, and trying to keep Lucas a secret is getting more difficult with each promotion.

[Lucas]

And now me being there in a fairly high position as a major, where I'm getting to know a lot of people and even more people than I know know me where it's easy for people to spot me in town, people that I cannot recognize at this point. Now I'm a major and I'm not married, which is really unusual. I think every other major I served with at the time and in my organization was married with families.

[Eric Marcus]

They're not married, But Randy and Lucas are living together in a house near the base with prying eyes everywhere. They have to be vigilant.

[Lucas]

We develop a lot of procedures, A lot of tactics, A lot of techniques on what to do if we thought we were at risk of being sighted together. See, that's the thing. We lived in the military town. There were just military all around us, on our street, at every store, at every stoplight. And so we knew that we could never be seen together, because if we were seen together, that would arouse suspicion Because Lucas wasn't a military guy. And somebody would say, hey, who's that guy I saw you with? And if we were seen together twice, then it would be like, game over, right? Then people would quickly talk, Especially as I rose up in the ranks. And there are more eyes on you.

[Eric Marcus]

Even simple errands have to be planned and executed, like covert military operations.

[Lucas]

If you're buying furniture for your home, you, don't buy that at a store, Furniture store two hours away. You've got to buy that close to where you live. So even something like that, Lucas and I would drive to the furniture store in separate vehicles, park at different places in the parking lot, Enter the store separately, each be on a cell phone, talking to each other continuously the whole time, Walking around separately in the store, Commenting on what we see, what we like, what we don't like, and then making a decision like that over the phone in the store, and then one of us leaving, the other one staying to close the deal. We wanted to go to a restaurant. We'd have to drive at least two hours away. So it was like something you couldn't do just on a weeknight, you know? So it would be a special, really very special weekend occasion. We'd drive two hours away and have just a dinner like normal people.

[Eric Marcus]

There are some seriously close calls, But Randy and Lucas even have a plan for those.

[Randy]

We were walking on the cape ferry river in wilmington, north carolina. Beautiful, sunny afternoon. You know, the sun is hitting the water. It's kind of shining off of it. We're right on front street, which is up against the water, and Randy spots this person. And one of our plans is, it's going into effect. Randy shouts his name. You know, hey, mark. Mark. Hey, john. Randy walks up to them. I am right beside Randy as we walk up. Except I just walk straight by. I don't make eye contact with anyone. I don't look up at Randy. I am just another face in the crowd that walked straight by. I would just dart into Store kind of wait, bide my time, looking, waiting for Randy to walk by again. And as soon as he walks by, I walk out. But I don't walk up to him. I just walk near him and wait for him to come to me because I know he's not going to come to me until it's safe, at which point we decide to leave that area because you're not going to stay there.

[Eric Marcus]

Even though they've come home to the U.S. randy and Lucas are feeling isolated. Leaving the Middle east has meant leaving their friend Kathy behind. There's no one to confide in, no one to hang out with. It's just the two of them. Making friends as a couple is just too risky. And while Lucas isn't technically serving under don't ask, don't tell, their life together depends upon his secrecy as well.

[Randy]

I accepted. I accepted that I, as a gay man, was going to have to be closeted, not for my protection, but for my partner's protection. To protect us, to protect us as a unit.

[Eric Marcus]

The secrecy, the vigilance, it all comes at a cost. While Randy lives his life and goes to work in the larger world, Lucas is forced to live in the shadows.

[Lucas]

Lucas could almost never be in the front yard. He would have to drive his car into the garage and, you know, wait for the door to come down before he would get out. And his outdoor activities were pretty much restricted to the backyard. We wouldn't want the neighbors to ever see us together in the front yard because it would be too easy for other military to drive down the street and see the two guys out working in the yard. And I like spending time out in the yard, and I enjoy that. And so if he'd have to come out in the front yard to tell me or do me something, I'd pretty much, hey, quickly, you gotta get out of here, you gotta get back inside or you gotta go call me or do something else, but we just can't be out here together.

[Eric Marcus]

When Lucas does run into neighbors on his own, he develops a routine, a role. He becomes an actor playing a part.

[Randy]

I am not a shy person, but I learned that the best way for me to handle interactions with neighbors or anyone is to be shy. Answer questions very direct, simple, short answers, and not to make eye contact, because I realize shy people typically have eyes that wander around. I wanted someone not to think that I'm hiding, but to think that I'm just uncomfortable with this moment. So I kind of embodied that. I went into that mode.

[Eric Marcus]

Randy has been trained to deal with the Stress of war. But the mission he and Lucas are now grappling with creates a level of mental and emotional strain they have to handle together.

[Lucas]

It was. It took an extraordinary amount of energy. And every day we would have to just keep refining our techniques and tactics and kind of review like how things went for the day and say, you know, what vulnerabilities did we encounter today? You know, what risk did we have? What are we going to do next time we come up against that kind of risk? Who knows? And are they in my presence? Because sometimes people may know and it may not be obvious. And so it required some amount of kind of legitimate paranoia. It's like, you know, when I walk into work today, who will know and what will happen and how will I handle it? And so I had to be vigilant in that sense. I couldn't be naive and think every day, well, nobody knows, nobody's figured us out. You know, we didn't encounter anybody or give anybody a reason to know about us, so we're safe. No, it's just the opposite. Every day I had to go with and face my responsibilities within the military with the assumption that somebody or some people know, today's the day I'm going to be outed, and this is what I need to be prepared for.

[Eric Marcus]

But something more urgent than hiding his relationship is about to turn everything upside down for Randy and the rest of the world.

[Lucas]

Lucas called me on the phone and said, you got to see this. And so how was that work? So I went to the television and watched the news play in real time.

[Eric Marcus]

It's 8:52 here in New York.

[Lucas]

I'm Bryant Gumbel.

[Eric Marcus]

September 11, 2001, the southern tip of Manhattan. You're looking at the World Trade Center.

[Randy]

We understand that a plane has crashed.

[Eric Marcus]

Into the World Trade Center.

[Randy]

We don't know anything more than that.

[Lucas]

Of course, nobody knew what was occurring at the time.

[Randy]

Well, quite simply, as we begin our 11 o'clock edition of Eyewitness News, the unthinkable happened today. The World Trade center, both towers gone. And we are all witnesses to it. And to some degrees degree, we are all victims.

[Lucas]

So we went into full lockdown mode at Fort Bragg as we did across all the military installations. Oh my goodness.

[Randy]

Oh my goodness. We're looking at a live picture from.

[Lucas]

Washington and there is smoke pouring out of the Pentagon. It would appear that there has been another major explosion, this one in the nation's capital. And then we all just prepared as if we were going to war.

[Eric Marcus]

A month after 9 11, the threat of war became a reality.

[Randy]

One night he came home, and I had dinner prepared when he got home, and we had dinner. And after dinner, he said, we need to talk. I've gotten deployment orders, and I'm going to deploy in about two weeks.

[Eric Marcus]

Randy's being sent to afghanistan. It's his first combat deployment since he and Lucas got together. They'd managed to find a workaround when randy was on the peacekeeping mission in egypt. But afghanistan is a totally different scenario. Randy's entering an active war war zone.

[Randy]

I'm asking questions of, you know, will you be able to call? And he's, you know, I think so, but I'm not for sure. I don't know how long it's going to be before you get a phone call or how frequent they're going to be.

[Eric Marcus]

They both know what's at stake, how this could end. First, they get all the routine things in order. They update their contact information to include Lucas on all their household bills. They make sure that Lucas can easily access their bank accounts on his own.

[Lucas]

Preparing for it was difficult to talk through, like, the logistics of how life would continue on for Lucas if I didn't come back alive and that he would not receive the same support from the military structure that would be afforded to other family members, of service members. And so I had to go out of my way to make sure that by other means, that he could be all right, that he could survive and carry on without me. Even the home that we owned, it couldn't be in our name together. He wasn't on the deed. He couldn't even be on the mortgage together. All these things are publicly available. Anybody could look that up and see, oh, the homeowners are, you know, this Randy and this and Lucas. And so there was no, like, easy way for me to pass. And then all of this to then go on to Lucas. Even in my life insurance that I had with the military, Military service members have life insurance as part of their compensation. I made sure Lucas was there as 100% sole beneficiary, but not as anything other than a friend. That was a big risk because why would people. Why leave 100% to a friend?

[Eric Marcus]

It's a risk Randy feels he has to take. Lucas, meanwhile, is trying to absorb the reality Of Randy's deployment.

[Randy]

It hits me he could die. No one is coming to knock on my door and tell me that my partner is deceased. They're going to go to his parents door, and they're going to knock on his door. And I realize I'm Going to find out because his family is going to come to this house to clean it out.

[Eric Marcus]

Up until now, Randy and Lucas have been able to convince themselves that they can make the relationship work. They were certain they could meet whatever challenges they had to face. And so far, against all odds, they've succeeded. It's only now, with Randy's deployment looming that the precariousness of their situation is really sinking in. And then it's time.

[Randy]

Randy was getting ready for his deployment, packing everything. The night before, we go to bed like normal. And the difference was is that normally he would get up at around 4 in the morning and be gone by 5. On this morning though, he, he stayed back and we spent the morning together and he got his. He got his stuff together. Yeah. Sometimes it's hard for me not to get choked up. So, so, so that morning he got his stuff together and it was about 9, 9:30 and he had loaded his car with everything, was going to deploy with a Foot Locker that I had to go buy him again, things that spouses do. And he loaded up his car and so he says goodbye to me. It's hard to get through some of this stuff.

[Eric Marcus]

It's painful. Take your time.

[Randy]

So he says goodbye to me and he walks out the door. And he's not actually going and deploying right now. He's going to a. He's going to a send off party. So he's going to a send off party with all of the other soldiers and their families to send them all off. And the rest of the spouses, they have a community and they will watch after each other. I saw him drive away. I was crying. Much like now. I don't have a community layout. I don't have a support network. It was just the two of us and the other half of me was going away. And that hurts.

[Eric Marcus]

Did you watch as he drove away?

[Randy]

Yes, but I watched as he drove away almost every morning. If I was there and he was home or if I was awake when he was going to work, I would almost always go to the window and watch him drive away. That was just something that I did constantly. So yeah, I went to the window and I watched out the, the dining room window until he turned the bin and I couldn't see his vehicle any longer.

[Eric Marcus]

Randy attends his military send off alone.

[Lucas]

Lucas, not being able to experience that, to understand that on just how not only unfortunate but unfair is it was for him and other partners of gay service members because they deserve that support too. They deserve at least the connection with other families and it was hard for me having to accept him being back home alone and isolated and having to figure this out on his own with no updates from the organization, nobody else informing him on what's happening. He could only get the information from me when I was able to contact him and that would be very brief, very business like, and without the context of everything else that was benefiting the other military families.

[Eric Marcus]

Randy watches as his fellow soldiers kiss their partners goodbye. Then he walks across the tarmac and boards the plane. He thinks of Lucas at home alone, and wonders whether he'll ever see him again.

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[Eric Marcus]

See [e-mail] 2004 three years since the US first deployed to Afghanistan. Randy is now a lieutenant colonel. He has hundreds of soldiers under his command. America is at war.

[Narrator]

The Taliban and their supporters have without.

[Eric Marcus]

Question grown more effective and more aggressive.

[Randy]

In recent war weeks. And as the casualty figures clearly demonstrate.

[Lucas]

It has been a tough month in Afghanistan. But it's also been a tough month for the Taliban.

[Eric Marcus]

The President will announce he is sending.

[Randy]

5,000 more combat troops to Afghanistan, a.

[Eric Marcus]

Marine battalion in November and an army combat brigade next January.

[Lucas]

But that is only a fraction of what the commander there says he needs. We're tough, we're determined, we're relentless. We will stay until the mission is done.

[Eric Marcus]

While Randy is working hard to focus on the mission and keep his troops safe, he's suddenly dealing with something that in the context of all these life and death decisions, seems trivial.

[Lucas]

One of the soldiers deployed to the Afghanistan area of operation was basically charged by the military police that he was at a local barbershop there in the camp and there was a massage room in the back and that the service member got a massage with an inappropriate ending with a sexual favor and somehow this was detected and reported.

[Eric Marcus]

Randy gets word that a young soldier under his command has been caught in a compromising situation, in other words getting.

[Lucas]

A hand job, and then turns out that this was a same sex encounter. There's a male soldier and another male performing the massage.

[Eric Marcus]

It might seem like an absurd waste of everyone's time given that there's a literal war raging around them, but under don't ask, don't tell, Randy is required to investigate and decide whether the situation constitutes homosexual conduct.

[Lucas]

I'm thinking that this was the thing that I never wanted to encounter or I would ever have to sit in judgment of another gay service member. I couldn't do it. There's no way I could be involved in any disciplinary act or discharge of any other gay service members, being, you know, closeted gay soldier myself.

[Eric Marcus]

Other members of Randy's team have heard about the incident. They want to know what Randy's going to do about it, however hypocritical it might feel. Randy has to investigate. It's his job and he has to be seen to do it thoroughly.

[Lucas]

It was unusual because, you know, clearly this all indications where this was a straight soldier married with a child on the way. And there was no other indication that this was a gay soldier. And so for this report to come, this was a surprise. This was out of the blue for all of us.

[Eric Marcus]

How to even begin to unpack this? Randy's doing mental gymnastics. He's been abiding by don't ask, don't tell at huge personal cost. He hasn't asked and he hasn't told. But now he's faced with deciding another soldier's fate under a policy that provides few clues about how to investigate or prove what happened in that massage room.

[Lucas]

There weren't a lot of details, so it was basically an allegation. And so. And there really wasn't enough evidence to make sense of it. It was kind of a he said, he said situation.

[Eric Marcus]

The whole thing hinges on hearsay. But that's been more than enough for the US Military in plenty of other cases. Randy knows what it's like to be a young man far from home, away from family and friends, looking for intimacy, looking for sex in all the wrong places.

[Lucas]

My second command, he saw it very differently. He thought that this was clearly a homosexual act, therefore the service member must be homosexual. And we needed to execute the policy at the time and then to really take a hard stand on him.

[Eric Marcus]

Randy wants to find some way to let this young man off the hook. But can he do that without raising suspicion about himself? Does he risk blowing his own cover? Or does he sacrifice another soldier in order to protect himself? Coming up on unfit for service.

[Randy]

Our cover was Randy is the eldest brother of seven and I am the youngest brother.

[Lucas]

How could this happen? Like, how did we become so separated, so disconnected in that way?

[Randy]

I'm not going to be a troubled person in this fantasy.

[Lucas]

Now we're standing in line in the West Wing and Lucas are just sweating bullets.

[Randy]

I know that the Secret Service has investigated every person in that line, and I'm more than a little concerned that the jig's up, that this calculated risk was too great.

[Lucas]

I just thought he was a ticking bomb when it came to blowing the COVID.

[Eric Marcus]

Unfit for Service is a production of Waveland and Vespucci and is hosted by me, Eric Marcus. For Waveland, the executive producer is Jason Hoke. For Vespucci, the executive producers are Daniel Turkin and Johnny Galvin. The series producer is Rachel Byrne. The story editors are Matt Willis and Thomas Curry with additional script editing by some. Thomas Curry is the managing producer. Audio recording by Catherine Cook at CDM Sound Studios. Sound design by Arlie Adlington and Alex Portfelix Audio mix by Alex Portfelix Follow Waveland on Instagram at Waveland Media. If you love the show, please don't forget to leave a review and make sure you tell your friends. Thanks for listening.

[Narrator]

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[Eric Marcus]

Looking for toys that'll get the biggest reactions?

[Randy]

Yes, please.

[Eric Marcus]

Walmart has jaw dropping toys. Like for real, Daisy Yoga Goat awesome Razor Crazy Cart Shuffle, Whoa. Hot wheels, Bluey, 3 in 1, airplane playset, and more. Aren't you going to say cool?

[Randy]

I'm saving it for the holidays.

[Eric Marcus]

Smart. Welcome to your Walmart.