#82. The Value of Trusted Friendships

The conversation covers various topics including transitions in life, changes in the workplace, homelessness, friendship, and experiences in school. The hosts discuss their experiences leaving Whole Foods and the changes they observed in the company. They also touch on the issue of homelessness and the challenges faced by those in need. The importance of listening and being there for others is emphasized. The hosts share their personal experiences in school and the impact of certain events and relationships on their lives. In this part of the conversation, George discusses his experiences in high school and military school. Mario talks about his fascination with animals and history, his struggles with standardized tests, and his decision to attend the University of Arizona. George shares his journey in military school, including the challenges and lessons he learned. George reflects on the importance of hard work and the realization that life isn't always fair. George and Mario reflect on their experiences of leaving jobs and the importance of finding a supportive and authentic work environment. They discuss the challenges of change and the need to prioritize personal growth and happiness. They share their gratitude for the people who have supported them along the way and emphasize the importance of being true to oneself and embracing honesty and integrity. They acknowledge that life is a journey and that it's important to focus on personal goals and dreams.

Takeaways

• Transitions in life can be nerve-wracking, but they can also lead to exciting opportunities for growth and learning.
• Changes in the workplace can sometimes result in a loss of creativity and uniqueness, which can impact both employees and customers.
• Homelessness is a complex issue that requires compassion and support, rather than punishment.
• Listening and being there for others can make a significant difference in their lives.
• Having a small group of trusted friends is more valuable than having a large group of acquaintances.
• Experiences in school, both positive and negative, can shape a person's interests and career choices. The importance of pursuing your passions and interests in high school
• The challenges and rewards of participating in a program that allows students to raise animals and sell them for profit
• The impact of standardized tests on college admissions
• The decision to attend military school and the lessons learned about hard work and fairness
• The value of taking responsibility and leadership roles in school Finding a supportive and authentic work environment is crucial for personal growth and happiness.
• Change can be challenging, but it's important to prioritize personal goals and dreams.
• Gratitude for the people who support and mentor us is essential.
• Being true to oneself and embracing honesty and integrity are key to personal fulfillment.
• Life is a journey, and it's important to focus on personal growth and embrace change.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Being a Co-host
• 1:39 Transitions in Life and Leaving Whole Foods
• 9:10 The Challenges of Homelessness and the Need for Compassion
• 13:53 The Power of Listening and Being There for Others
• 20:53 School Experiences and Their Impact on Career Choices
• 30:29 Exploring Passions and Interests in High School
• 38:43 The Decision to Attend Military School
• 52:28 Lessons in Hard Work and Fairness
• 56:39 Taking Responsibility and Leadership Roles in School
• 56:39 Taking Responsibility and Leadership Roles in School
• 1:02:15 Reflecting on Leaving Jobs and the Importance of a Supportive Work Environment
• 1:05:30 Embracing Change and Prioritizing Personal Goals
• 1:08:08 Gratitude for Mentors and Supporters
• 1:11:07 Being True to Oneself and Embracing Honesty and Integrity
• 1:14:23 Life as a Journey: Focusing on Personal Growth

Transcript

George Angel Ramirez (00:03.054)
Yeah, that's got it. Perfect. Yeah, we'll edit all these other things out. Awesome. Let's see, hold the...

George Angel Ramirez (00:15.214)
Mario, thanks for being on again, man. Thanks for having me, George. Great to be back. I know it's always a little process getting everything set up, but it's all good, man. It's all good. So last episode, we kind of officially.

You're the co -host, man. How does that feel? It's a great privilege to be, you know, that. And I hope to contribute in the best way I can and help you out with the podcast. And like I said, I'm very appreciative. I really am, man. Thank you. That's something I, like I've said so many times, even the people have known that I've been looking for someone just to.

You know, just share, just to share this, this beautiful world that we live in and just try to, try to make it a better place in whatever way, you know, sometimes a lot of times we don't know exactly what way that needs to go. Right. And a lot of people get very lost in trying to find their way with life. And, you know, I'm trying to find my way. You're trying to find your way. And this is, I feel like.

our little contribution to the world. You know, yeah. And you know, I look forward to be able to share the bit of that journey and hopefully, you know, give the best advice I can. Yeah. Yeah. So one of the things we're both in this transitionary period of our life, we both left Whole Foods. I know we talked a little bit about that. How does that feel? It's how do I describe it?

Like when with any transition at first, you know, you're nervous. And for me, Cohen into this process that is going back into insurance, I didn't know what to expect. I thought about the call center days and I was working for AFNI and I was at first thinking, am I getting back into what I was finding a lot of trouble with? And thankfully my...

George Angel Ramirez (02:04.302)
first day, you know, even though I was nervous going in and kind of still fresh from all the experiences I've had at Whole Foods, I told myself I got to get into this new, you know, life that is going to be an insurance. And it was exciting that first day, a lot of learning, a lot of, you know, getting back into the groove of picking something new up again and, you know, going through that experience. But I'd say that, yeah, it was a great transition, regardless of the nervousness that I experienced at first.

I think that's one of the

You know, that's one of the biggest things a lot of people feel when they go into something else, especially when you work at a place for such a long time. You develop these relationships with people. Yeah. And it's weird not it's for me. It's like weird not seeing these people every single day or, you know, almost every single, yeah, about five days out of the week. So it's a little, it can be a little strange, but you have to, you have to keep on going forward. I know it's something very easy to say, but that nervousness will always come. You know, I guess.

Part of it too is eagerness trying to make sure that you do your contribution to that specific job and But I feel you man. I definitely feel for me It's a little boring not being able to do anything because I'm still waiting On this on this job, you know, it's still got they have to do their paperwork and whatnot and I have to do a bunch of other small stuff But it is a place I'm gonna miss man. It really is but I know we were talking a little bit about it Before this episode and it really does seem and this is not like I was telling you not to bring any

pettiness out there, but it's changing. I'm sure you've noticed that. I'm sure a lot of people have noticed it as well, too. It's a place that Whole Foods used to be a really good place to work for. And I'm not saying that it's not. It's provided me with many opportunities, but it's not the same place that it used to be, you know, when I went in in 2017. Completely different. What do you feel like are some of your

George Angel Ramirez (04:02.766)
What do you see that's changing? Yeah. So when I started back in 2022, you know, it was a very different environment, you know, very traditional and the approach to, for example, I'm going to, you know, the pizzas, a lot of times they had us kind of make pizzas on the fly, whatever toppings you wanted to integrate into that pizza. You can kind of just have at it and be yourself and unique because that's one of the things that I think whole foods really personified and it's sales approaches. It took a lot of local brands, a lot of, you know, what made that specific part of the community very,

unique into consideration. And I love that going in. But as of course they started to talk about store process and a lot of the new metrics that they're taking into consideration, a lot of that uniqueness started to die out. A lot of the things that we once had liberty to go about, now we had to follow a very strict regimen. And I feel that it took away a lot of the value of, you know, being able to be creative, being able to see the uniqueness and customers loved it, you know, kind of seeing the different pizzas. And now there's just a standardized,

this is what you're getting, this is all you're gonna get. And people, I could see it in the customers, they didn't enjoy that. They brought it up. Yeah, no, you're absolutely right, man. I noticed that too. I remember back in the day when we were able to garnish certain stuff and then it started to catch on. Customers loved it. And then all of a sudden, like you were saying, all these strict kind of regiments started coming in.

And customers, they noticed that, especially in a small store where people continue to come over and over and over for many years. They notice a small little changes. And that was the one thing I noticed before I was, before I got fired was people started coming up to me and they're like, Hey, you know, this stuff doesn't, doesn't look the same. And the thing is they're charging a premium quality. You know, they're charging a premium price for a lot of this stuff. And I'm like, there's no way. See my thing with whole foods, one of the biggest things that I was getting

kind of mad at was with certain stuff they were very strict on and then other stuff they were not. So you would go into an environment where you didn't and this is kind of coming from a meat cutter as well too where it was like they cared about certain stuff and then next thing you know like certain stuff that I feel like is important or you know

George Angel Ramirez (06:23.438)
Yeah, personally, I feel as important. They're like, no, they just kind of brush it off to the side. And I'm like, you know, it makes no, it makes no sense. Like how do you guys are going to prioritize, you know, something silly in my eyes to something that is more important. But that's just how it is. That's just, I don't, I don't know why they're going that route. Right. you know, personally, I see the quality of the, the food kind of going down a little bit too. Yeah. And this isn't, I, I, you know, I, I remember back then,

they would want, you know, if you saw something that didn't look good, they would just say, throw it out. And a lot of the times too, I kind of was in the situation where, you know,

Some stuff I looked at and I'm like, I would not sell that. And then they would be like, hey, actually, no, that stuff is fine. I'm like, are you sure? And then you kind of get almost, I don't know exactly what the word is, but you get almost used to that, right? Desensitized. Yeah, desensitized or I'm trying to find the right word. But yeah, that's the only word I can think of right now. Like you get used to that, that process that has been going on and on and on.

Like I used to have a manager man, and he was very very picky Yeah, you know any little thing that he saw he's like to throw that out and then eventually you know He ended up leaving and then another manager would come in like no you can use that for something else And then you know you start you get used to that so Like in my situation putting an expired product out I It's not that like it looked fine. They look completely fine to me, and that's my thing is I I

one of the things I don't like about Whole Foods as well too is the waste. Yeah. I'm sure I'm sure in prep foods. Yeah. You probably know.

George Angel Ramirez (08:11.022)
There's a lot of waste. It's very painful where at the end of the night, when you're going through, I'd say easily close to a hundred pounds of waste and you know, having to see perfectly made salads, perfectly made food that could be used to potentially feed quite a bit of people. Yeah. And you're just throwing it out the trash, you know, and nothing hurts more than wasting food for me, you know, coming from a household where we didn't have the luxury of being able to choose our meals. We just ate whatever was available and saying, you know, things like proteins, you know, really good things.

that could help people just going in the trash it hurts that same thing with me man that was something that hurt really bad where Seeing good quality stuff being thrown out just because they don't want other people to use it or they don't want team member theft or whatnot Yeah, that was the one thing that really really got to me man, and I was like you know what I'm done being in an environment like this I know There's a lot of wasteful companies out there, but you know that was the one thing I saw here in Colorado as well tools like

We just throw out so much that can be used to feed people and people are okay with it. Like I said, you get used to that. You get used to throwing out all this stuff. But you know what? That's all in the past, man. I know I'm sure in the future we'll talk more about Whole Foods because it is, I know sometimes I talk negatively about it and it's not that I don't mean that. It's just, it's such a different place, man. And it sucks seeing.

When I first started at Whole Foods, honestly, it was a dream job. I was making, I think, like $12 .45 an hour. Great money, yeah. Yeah, 2017, I actually was able to get my first apartment working as a part -timer at Whole Foods, and now...

You can't even do that. Like even full timers, I see a lot of people that are like, I can't even afford rent. So times are changing. I guess we just have to get used to that and kind of upgrade our skills as well too. But 15 an hour, you can't survive off of that. Not in this economy. It's a very different time we live in. I, for example, I worked full time at Whole Foods, but I also had to have another practically full time job on top of that. Working at Home Depot and your work life balance is so vital and not having

George Angel Ramirez (10:20.816)
any time for yourself but just waking up going to work going to sleep that you know drives a lot of people crazy in my case I just put up with it you know I had to tell myself you need to make money you just got to get used to that and it's not something that should be a norm you know yeah it takes time it takes I feel like it takes your life away you know

I worked two jobs when I was working in Colorado and I was working at a Mexican meat shop and a coffee shop and I loved the coffee shop because it wasn't that hard. Yeah. But still, you know, wake waking up and working every single day. You get tired. You get very stressed out as well, too. And in order just to survive, you know, if I had that one specific job, I was need like if I didn't have that coffee shop that part time, I was not going to be able to come here to Tucson. So it was something where I was like, dang, people really

Imagine having a family, imagine having kids, imagine having a car payment, all these other things where it's like...

I can see how rough it is out there. Absolutely. I can only feel for those who are, you know, with in their families trying to kind of form that life, but because of their work, you know, they don't have enough money to provide and they're always struggling, you know, relying on food stamps, government assistance. I can completely, you know, see that and empathize with them. And I really hope that things change for the better overall. Yeah, I hope so too, man. I really do just because we are starting to see

people get very stressed. I mean, that, you know, that's always kind of been a thing, but people are starting to take very drastic measures to survive a lot of the times. Yeah. And it's something that I personally, obviously I wasn't alive during that time, but you hear stories about like the great depression, what people would do to survive and

George Angel Ramirez (12:10.606)
You're starting to see some of that stuff again. You know, you're starting to see those kind of like shanty towns outside cities, people, you know, having tents and whatnot at a mass scale, not just like a small little, you know, one or two tents. You're starting to see a lot of people living in tents. And I'm like, how, how is it? How is it getting like this? You know, right now I, you know, Tucson's changed radically in the last few years. You used to know the faces of the homeless that were out there and now, you know, you don't, you see a new face every day. And in my case, cause I use the public transportation.

you know, I get to see every bus stop, you know, groups of homeless that I wish I could do something for because again, I feel for this situation. You know, I always, whenever I get a chance, I'll try to offer a meal or something to let them know that I care about them in my little way, you know, but it's hard to see that, you know, the city hasn't taken as effective measures, you know, in terms of that. And I hope that something can be worked out and a solution can be looked at. I don't know if you've heard this, but one of the, a small city in Oregon, I believe,

actually made homelessness illegal. Yeah that was something I recently passed. Yeah and you know they went to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court I think ruled six to three in favor of what the city was proposing and that to me

It's just crazy because I don't, how are you going to find people, $295 that can't even afford the basic necessities and you're going to throw them in prison because they can't pay you the fine. And then they come out and then you're going to find them again, you know, and people need the help not, you know, to be persecuted for something that's out of their control. You know, they gotta be rehabilitated, be helped. And it's hard when you see government not backing the people who need the help.

Yeah, no, you're you're absolutely right on that where you know, it's tough, man. It really is. Sometimes your heart just breaks just from seeing stories like that. Yeah. It's like, yeah, exactly. How are you going to find somebody that doesn't even have money? You know, and a lot of people, they're like, well, they should better their situation. And then you start doing some research as well, too, where you start to realize

George Angel Ramirez (14:21.038)
It's not easy, you know, even getting a job as someone that is homeless or displaced.

you start to see like it's they don't live a easy life man and you know but we're in a situation too where it's like there's not much we can even do that's how hard it can become yeah you know there's there's you know as much as I want to help out I'm like that I have I have my own needs as well too exactly it's it's I remember I used to look at the homeless people in a different way I used to look at them as just not even people and then

I started going on this journey. When I worked at the coffee shop, that's really where my perception changed because I started talking to a lot of these people. I remember there was this one guy from Texas. He's living at his car. He went to Colorado to basically try to live the dream.

It just, it didn't work out. You know, that was one thing I noticed in Colorado. A lot of people went out there to, you know, live this kind of Colorado dream. And a lot of them ended up homeless. Like this one guy at the coffee shop, he would come in every day and he would just, you know, he would just.

You know, who just kind of sit there, look very depressed. And one day I went up to him like, Hey man, like, you know, you come here every day, like what's your name? This and that kind of small talk. He's like, yeah, I'm from Texas. I think he moved out to Colorado. Forget the exact reason why he moved out, but he was telling me how he lost his job. He needed money to go back to Texas. He didn't have that money. He's kind of working these small end jobs and he's just going to coffee shop to just kind of kill time. And I got to know him in a very personal basis.

George Angel Ramirez (16:01.774)
And it was kind of sad, man. I was like, this guy's full of energy, full of life. Now he's very depressed because he can't even make it back home. His family can't even help him out. And there's not much I can do. The only thing I can do really is just listen and sit there and be there for him.

But there was a lot of stories like that in Colorado. So many stories. There was one time too, this guy, he was a rapper. It wasn't the best, but he, same thing, moved out to Colorado, tried to make it big with his rapping career. Didn't work out, so he became homeless and...

You know, it sucked hearing those stories, man, because these people are full of life. And a lot of times too, that, you know, imagine having to wake up and worry about your stuff and worry about, you know, if you're going to make it the next day or if you're going to, you know, even have food or, you know, it can be a very tough situation. Exactly. And that's why, you know, I'm very grateful for my situation. Of course we all have our ups and downs, but for me, you know, I'm always grateful that I have a place to wake up to and, you know, a bed.

you know, a room that I can kind of have my, my things, you know, without worrying that somebody might come along and just take it all from me, you know? And so regardless of how difficult of a day I'm going through, or, you know, a stage in my life, I'm always grateful for having the support that I do. And I give thanks to that. And of course, you know, I try to do my little part whenever I see a person in need, I try to give them a meal or something, just to let them know that there's somebody out there that cares about them. And I think that's part of it too, is just listen.

to those people and just being there listening and you know it it sucks man it really does but and it sucks not being able to do anything but I know I say this a lot life goes on there's not much you can do but we're all human we all have to

George Angel Ramirez (18:03.214)
just be there for in whatever way I feel like a lot of times too we know we know when you know someone is you know talking about their problems or

They just want someone to listen to. A lot of times I've noticed a lot of people try to put their input. I used to be like that. You know, you try to, try to fix a situation, but a lot of times you just need to, you just need to hear, you just need to listen to the person, whoever it is. And sometimes they, as they're talking, it's like therapy, right? You talk, you talk, you talk, and you start to realize like, wait, this situation is fixable or the situation might not be as bad or the situation is pretty bad, but.

there's something I can do. So sometimes we just got to listen to our fellow brother or sister, whoever it is.

And you know, just just let them let everything out. Yeah. You know, listening is such an important thing that I think. And this is a great quote that I remember is, you know, a lot of people, they listen to respond. And I think for me, you know, I listen to understand and have comprehension and, you know, get to see the perspective because a lot of people want to be heard. You know, they want to lending you so they can talk out their problem. Then they eventually they kind of think to themselves, why was I worried about? Yeah, exactly. You know, they come to that.

a moment per se. And that's what I try to offer not only to, you know, my friends, but also to again, people that I meet and you know, try to see for have them to kind of figure out on their own, you know, what what's going on and to let them know that, you know, I'm there for them. Yeah, yeah, we all need a friend. Sometimes it's hard, especially as you grow older. Making friends is a lot harder. Yeah, I'm sure you've noticed that growing up. For me, it is, you know, I used to never really have problems making friends. And now really the

George Angel Ramirez (19:49.456)
that I have now is just allowing certain people into my life. I think that's a really, really big thing that I try to tell a lot of people is having the right friends in your life can be, it's a huge difference from having a lot of friends. I don't have, I can say I have a lot of friends, but the people that I can sit there and trust with certain stuff, it's a very...

select few individuals, you know, just because I've built those relationships over time. And I, you know, like two of my really good friends, I grew up with them. You know, I always get really good advice from them. And I'm glad they're in my life. You, you're another person that even though our friendship has been very short, but

It just you feel it sometimes with certain people you're like this person there's something different about this person I can trust this person and I don't have to worry about anything. Yeah And that's kind of how it was actually thinking about that last night. I was like dang like me Mario

Like, yeah, I might not know a lot about him, but you know, he's just a really good dude and you can feel that as well too. And a lot of times I'm sure you can feel that as well when we just meet someone you're like, I want to keep that person at a distance. Right. Yeah. I think that as you get older, you kind of have developed that way of reading people. You know, I don't know how to exactly describe that, but you know, you get to have that impression and first impressions matter a lot, you know, cause that kind of gets the foot in the door understanding that other person. And I'd like to say, you know,

I definitely trust you and I, you know, the short amount of time that I know you, I definitely felt a very good way about you. So I appreciate that. There's a lot of positive perspective on that. And just like you, you know, I know a lot of people, but I would refer to them more as acquaintances. There you go. You know, and what I consider my friends, I can only count on one hand and you'd be one of them. You know, I appreciate that. I, you know, you learn that as you get older, that it's better to be in a group of people that you can trust than to be in a big group of people that you don't even know, you know, cause they show.

George Angel Ramirez (21:52.944)
you a face and there's a great saying in the Hispanic culture but you know faces we see but hearts we don't know and that's one thing that I apply to in my life a lot and you know I'm gonna be respectful to any to everybody you know but of course to my closest friends that's who I'll trust and tell you know things are going on in my life yeah no you're you're absolutely right I some of my friends I've seen some of my

like friends from middle school kind of go a different way and I could have easily gone that way as well too and I'm really glad I didn't. You know, one of my really good friends, Patrick, man, he, I don't really know exactly but he actually died from an overdose and I was like.

Man like I knew this kid as a as in middle school, you know I would go over his house and we would go and play and do the Where was one time we actually went to this? abandoned Factory, yeah with a bunch of my friends and we were too scared to go in so we're about to leave and the cops come and They kind of line us up and they're like, what are you guys doing? We're like, we live right around the corner or whatever We just saw this factory. We're trying to get inside and they're like Why would you do that?

You know, it was just like thinking of all these memories. I mean he died. I think I was still in Colorado. So it was about two years ago, but Yeah, just look at some of my friends direction. A lot of them have gone in great amazing A lot of them are getting married a lot of them are having kids but some of them definitely stuck to I Wouldn't say yeah, some of them probably didn't grow up and it's kind of sad like seeing them You know, you some of them even passed away, you know, it's just it you know it

It's tough. It's tough. That reminds me of when I was growing up, you know, I didn't really have friends because of the difficulties that I was dealing with. And this is actually kindergarten. I made a good friend. You know, his name was Trevor and really near and dear. And he'd hang out with me every time at lunch. Sadly, he passed away around. I think he was five years old. So in that same year to a car accident, he got ran over.

George Angel Ramirez (24:01.294)
And it was the saddest experience. You know, that was my first time going through something so traumatic because again, I lost someone very near and dear at that time. And, you know, they made a memorial for him at Holloway. You know, there's a little there's a tree there and they have his plaque. And, you know, as my first, second, third, I'd always make a point in the day to come visit that and, you know, give respects to him because. Yeah. How was I know we kind of touched on it a little bit, but.

How was your?

experience in middle school, elementary school, high school. Sure. How was how was all that? Yeah. So I'll start with elementary. So, you know, preschool, I can't tell you very much. You know, my memories a little a little faded there, but I'd say kindergarten. So that's really where everything kind of started for me. It feels like a blur. Everything happened so quick that year. You know, learning my ABCs, learning all these different things that were super exciting and going to interact with other kids and, you know,

it was an exciting time in my life in a sense, because I was, you know, finally out of the house more because you know, when you're, you're toddler and you know, you're going to be at home most of the time. So this was my first kind of, you know, interacting with others. But again, I had such a struggle with social anxiety that I couldn't really make friends. And Trevor was an exception, of course. And my first, second, third grade was similar, but you know, I was starting to take in new subjects, math, you know, learning bit by bit, you know, different things and all.

I also got to play on a PC for once at the school. I loved that time we would go to the computer lab and you'd have an hour just to sit there and play Bloons Tower Defense. So I found those little things very memorable as I was growing up in elementary. Because again, I lived pretty solitarily that time. In middle school, this is where definitely I think I branched out a little more. I had a small group of friends we'd play Yu -Gi with. I don't know if you know about the card game. I remember Yu -Gi man. I remember I was telling you I had the, what was it called?

George Angel Ramirez (26:02.448)
the thing you're on your arm. yeah, yeah, I know what you're talking about. Yeah. But darn, I forget the name too. The dual.

I forget that. I know. Yeah, I'm on the I remember that it's from five days. It was a great series. And, you know, I was big into Yu -Gi So I had a group of friends, you know, we had played that every lunch and that was kind of the way one of the ways I connected, you know, is just playing card games, playing Pokemon, doing that kind of stuff. And it helped me out because, again, I was kind of different. I didn't want to really talk. I wasn't with, you know, big on conversations. So being able to play a card game and have conversations through that, it was very meaningful. And I'd say in middle school,

I also started to kind of think about my career, you know, it was one thing that was starting to pop into my mind I was like, well, I don't want to be and you know what I mentioned before was I wanted to be an astronomer, you know I wanted to study space because I was so fascinating on what was out there I was like, I want to see the bigger picture of creation and You know eighth grade comes along and I get to go on that trip that little internship so to speak on that one day to shadow somebody and again it flipped my world of astronomy upside down because again he started off with

saying, well, it's just going to be drinking a cup of coffee and sitting in front of a computer all day. And I said, well, I don't quite envision myself doing that on a daily. You know, I thought it was getting a telescope out and kick peak or something and looking up into space and writing notes about that and making articles about that. And he goes, no, that's more of an amateur kind of thing. And so, you know, it, it transformed that part of me. And I'm like, well, darn, what am I going to do now?

I was working all towards this and you know, I'm a 13 year old just trying to figure things out and I'm like, what do I do? Yeah. It's funny. Cause I had, I had kind of similar. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, going out of middle school, I was kind of a little lost there and high school, you know, I was like, okay, this is where I got to take things a little more seriously. I got to really figure out and go about my career here. And I'm sorry if I'm going on. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm just laughing because.

George Angel Ramirez (28:05.326)
The same thoughts you had, I had the same exact thoughts. Same exact thoughts. And so I get into freshman year and finally, I think this is where I started to open up a little more. So I had the same group that I was with from elementary and middle school. They, you know, people know you, but they don't really talk with you. And this was the one year where I started kind of engage with that group a little more and get a little more comfortable.

I had an amazing world history teacher, like one of the best. He could describe historical events and you kind of feel like you're living those moments, you know, based on his storytelling alone. It was great. It was transformative. And I'm like, man, I love this history stuff.

And so I started, you know, spend time after class, kind of asking him questions. He'd actually had me take a few books home to kind of study up on that. And I was really just digging deep into this, you know, history as a whole. And that's where I started to really love geopolitics and all that. So, you know, I was like, okay, this might be a potential track for me. And sophomore year comes along and, you know, again, start, just start really focusing on that and starting to kind of branch out a little bit more

with my friend group, still playing Yu -Gi like always, you know, sticking to it. But I was getting to talk with a lot of the more popular kids per se. And that was fun. That was more engaging and college started to be a conversation point there.

And junior and senior year was, I'd say the crazier years. Cause that's where adulthood's like right around the corner. And I was getting, I was getting anxious, but my best memory from junior years, I got to be part of this FFA class, which is a future farmers of America. Okay. You know, so this was very different. And you actually get to raise an animal for a year. I didn't get to do it unfortunately, but you know, basically you would be able to raise a steer, raise, you know, see that's cool, man. And it started to cut you off because

George Angel Ramirez (29:59.79)
East Coast, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York. There's nothing like that. Yeah, there's nothing like that. So that's why when I came out to the West and I found out that there's programs like that, because I'm not going to lie to you, man. I always wanted to be a cowboy. I swear to God, I always want to be a cowboy because my grandfather would always watch these Westerns. did he? Yeah, always like he would fall asleep to them. You change a channel and he'd be like, hey, I'm watching that. And I hated them. But I would sit there and watch them. And I'm like, dang, this is kind of cool. Like, you know, this dude, you know,

being a cowboy going out there in his horse and whatnot. Yeah. So that always stuck in my head. And that's why when it came out West, I was like, dang, this is like you guys in high school are able to raise a cow, ride horses. Right. Right. No, none of that is you don't see that on the East coast. No, it was insane, especially in junior because I was like, really? We get to do this again. Tucson, right? yeah. Yeah. And we would actually it was a separate from the campus. We actually school bus would take us right there and we, you know, for one hour. And of course, you know, a lot of the

who had their, you know, steer their sheep, they had to go there for the afternoon and then, you know, feed and do all that process. I personally didn't get to take part in that. That's one of the things I'm like, I wish I did. But, you know, just didn't have money at that time. So that just, you know, that's something you had to pay for that program. You got there was a loan they'd give you. So the way that it work is that they'd give you a loan to cover the feed, cover all the, you know, maintenance costs of the animal. And at the end of the year, they would take everybody to the Pima County Fair. And that's where you would sell that animal to whoever you

came and bought it. And a lot of people made, you know, a lot of kids made a lot of good money because they'd get maybe 2000, like $2 ,500 for their steer. And, you know, the loan was maybe a thousand thousand, a hundred, something like that. So you're walking away with like 1400 that you could put towards university books or a hobby or whatever, you know? And so apart from raising an animal, you're also getting a money at the end. So for it was an exciting program. And again, I was like, wow, I love this stuff and I love animals.

And so I was like, darn, now I'm having an identity crisis. Animals, history. Animals, history. And senior year olds around. And it's like, okay, we're right in there. And I started applying for colleges. I started filling out my scholarships, doing all that stuff. And thankfully I've kept up with my grades. So my grades were looking good. So I was like, okay, I know for sure I'm gonna be able to get into a school.

George Angel Ramirez (32:24.27)
And I take the SAT, which is the required, you know, test. I did really well on that, too. What'd you get? I don't remember off the top of my head. It was probably like 1300, something like that. Because they changed. They changed the scores. Because I remember for me it was, I think it was like a 2400. That was the highest you can get. really? Yeah. I think 1600 was the cap at the time. Yeah, because they changed. I forget what year they changed exactly. But I did really bad on the SAT. I got probably like a, like I said, the max you can get I think was

a twenty four hundred i got like a twelve hundred thirteen hundred all of my scores is that but you know you're the cap for you was what sixteen hundred sixteen hundred yeah that's crazy man like think like talking about that's a t because man the

it's been close. Yeah, actually has been now 10 years since I've taken that test. Really? And it's interesting to hear those words again, because I'm like, I remember exactly when I went to go take the SAT. I didn't study for it. yeah, I didn't. I went there and I was like my my really good friend, Keetau Wu. He was from China. Yeah.

We both go take the test, right? And I remember we had to wake up very early. I think we had to wake up like at six. There was a, cause I went to military school and we both went and everybody's like, yeah, you know, like excited. I'm like, I'm like, shoot, man, I'm going to fail this. I, I, whatever, you know, I'm like, and then so I start taking a test and I'm like, I hadn't.

No idea what I was. So I just started putting random stuff at that point and I get my score and I'm like, yeah, I did really bad. No, sorry. I didn't interrupt you, but I totally understand that. Cause I'm the PSAT, like the test that you take as a precursor to the SAT, I did exactly what you did. All right. You know, so I was like, I walked in there and I, it was a math, you know, reading all the different categories and you just see me putting C across the board on a fricking math section. Cause I was terrible at math. And my score was like 900 and something when it came back.

George Angel Ramirez (34:21.936)
Really bad. Yeah, and I'm all like, okay, I can't tell my parents. Yeah, and so they're like don't worry This was just the precursor. You're gonna have to take the SAT next year and I go I can't clearly be putting season because that's not a good way to go about it I think I kind of did something similar why just like I think I did zigzags Sounds like yeah, I got to the point where I didn't even know what I was doing So I just zigzag the whole entire thing.

Yeah, but sorry. What were you saying before? No, so yeah, I took the PSAT and of course I flunked that completely and you know, I was like, darn, I can't, that can't be what I do for college because the SAT is what they're really going to take into consideration. And so I studied, you know, a little bit. I didn't go too far, but I kind of just touched up on some subjects, walked into that test, still nervous as can be, sat down and went about it. And I felt pretty good about the reading. Like reading has always been a strong suit for me because I

I loved Lord of the Rings, big books basically growing up. So that section was a breeze. Get back in the math section and I go, this is why I got a C in geometry.

And so, you know, I took that and I did really well, you know, I thankfully touched up on some topics. So whenever they were asking me different questions, I was able to put it together and I did pretty well. Nice. And so, you know, I applied for colleges. I applied for Harvard. I was going really crazy. Was that your dream school? My dream school? Yeah. I'd say that going on Ivy League school in general was like the big goal for me. I was like, you know, that could probably be life changing. Definitely. But, you know, I applied to U of A as well. I applied, you know, to reasonable places. I try to be kind of

diversifying my applications. And you know, not even two weeks later, I hear back from the U of A, I get this nice big letter in the mail. And it says, you know, you're a wildcat, you know, congratulations. And I said, Okay, all right. So let me hear back from these other schools. Declined, declined. And I'm like, but then I said, Okay.

George Angel Ramirez (36:21.71)
So let's be reasonable here. At least it'll be close to home. I'm a Tucson native, so I won't be having to go too far. And I graduated. That happens. It was great. I got to go to Project Grad, which was their little night celebration that they have at the school. So I was up till like 4 in the morning there. And my mom picks me up. She's all like, how do you feel being an adult now? And I go, mom, I don't want to think about that right now. I just want to go to Quick Trip and get a quick coffee and just go about my business.

One thing I forgot to touch about in high school was, you know, thinking about going in the Marines. you know, so I was 17 and I was like, still thinking about that career, you know, history, veterinary history. And then there's this middle path, you know, what if those two don't work out? But I got military and there was a recruiter that was, you know, there at the school and I knew a buddy who was looking into getting into the Marines and he was doing all the PT training and everything for it. And, you know, he tells me about it. And so I decided to go meet up the recruiter and I told him, you know,

I've heard about this and you know, it seems pretty interesting to me and he's like yeah, man take the as fat and I take the as map and the mechanical slide just screws me over Yeah, I did not know a thing about pulleys and all the different little I got a 62 so, you know, that's actually well

That's actually pretty good. It was a pretty decent score. So you know, because you need like a 30, 35 to get into the army and all that. Yeah. Yeah. 60s. I mean, that's actually pretty,

That's actually pretty good. I retook it recently though. Okay. Did you really? Yeah, what'd you get? I got a 79. Yeah, see that's cause I forget what the max is but well like I that was my plan when I was a little kid. I'll talk about that, you know, when you're finished, but and and sorry if I'm going on. No, no, no, no, go ahead. But regardless, so I take that and I start to, I attend my first PT training, which is just running push -ups, squats, all these different exercises all at once. They don't give you a break. Yeah. I threw up actually in my first one and more about that later.

George Angel Ramirez (38:23.952)
But anyway, I tell my mom, I said, you know, I really think I'd like to go in the military. And she goes, Mario, you are crazy. I am not sending you to the military. They're going to literally deploy you in Afghanistan or wherever. And, you know, I'd see you in a body bag.

And she says, there is no way I'm signing that document. You were 17. I was 17. Okay. And so, you know, I kind of, I was kind of at that mercy of, you know, whether she'd let me do it or not. I was, you know, still sticking to it, you know, trying to see if she, maybe she would change her mind or something would happen. But of course she didn't. Right. And so, you know, ultimately it came down to kind of start signing the paperwork because I was really into it. Yeah. And she's like, Mario again, I'm not doing this. You know, you're going to university or not, you know, you're not going to military.

And so I had to tell my recruiter I said, you know, this isn't gonna happen. Of course. My friend was very disappointed in me. I'm sure the recruiter was disappointed equally. So my friend says you made me look stupid. Mari, you know, I was telling them all about you and you know, you were doing all this all for you to just quit. And I said, well, look, Nick, I didn't quit. It was, you know, my parents just don't want me to do this. And I got, I can't do anything about that. I'm 17. What can I do? It's not like back in the day we can forge documents and right, right. No, no.

I was not a kid that was willing to do that. I was very respectful of my parents. As you should be. And so I kind of was disappointed with that and just went along through senior year and again graduated. And the U of A, they had recently, or they had this program for a while, I think, my bad. It's called New Start. So you would take a couple college courses through the summer as you were about to attend to kind of get an idea. And these were actually count towards your credits. So it was like, you're getting the idea, getting your feet wet.

but you're also getting credits for it and getting to understand how college is. And that was a great program, man. You know, they were going to have me into a dorm or put me in a dorm. And obviously I, for some reason, this is kind of a funny story. So I go to Safeway just the night before going to new start, which safe for the one by the one, the one by a Campbell and Prince. Okay. Cause that's where I live in that neighborhood. And I see these pop tarts for dirt cheap, like off -brand pop tarts.

George Angel Ramirez (40:44.071)
I didn't read the label and they were laxative pop shit So I love sweets. I was always a sweet tooth and I go home and I eat the whole pack I eat the whole pack. I didn't you know, I was like good, you know six pop tarts. Yeah, you know This is hilarious. -huh that whole night. I'd say it's all three in the morning. I was glued to that toilet

I could not leave the restroom no matter how bad much I want. Like it was bad. Did you get the sweats? Yeah. The sweats. Yeah. I know. I know what you're talking about. It was so bad. I was rolling on the floor by the end of it. I was like, I can not no more. And I had to unfortunately tell the dorm, you know, I wasn't going to be able to move in because I was sick. Yeah. And so I, I, thankfully, you know, I had my home, my house or apartment was literally about 15 minutes away from the U of A. So, you know, even though I didn't get to experience the dorm life, at least kind of, you know, still go and do that.

But I'm like damn I should have just read the label. Yeah, it's funny how things work out though, man You know imagine if you would have gone what would have happened, right? Right No, actually that's kind of a similar situation when I went to military school But I'll talk a little bit about my childhood. So at least you know, I know the listeners already know a little bit but so I

Grew up with my grandparents and really I don't I only remember all the way up from first grade all the way up to you know first grade and up and So that's when I moved in with my grandparents. My mom was always still around She was just really young my mom had me really young 16. I think my mom had me so she was working she was still trying to figure out life and So my grandparents are like, well, we'll take care of him. You know, she lived like five minutes away. I think but so first grade

I remember.

George Angel Ramirez (42:36.334)
I remember my teacher, I remember a lot of people that were in my class, and I remember I went to a different school at first. So I don't remember exactly when in the school year I went, but I ended up moving where the school district, my grandparents were in. I go in on my first day and the teacher, it was around 12 o 'clock when I went in too, it was later in the day. So I go in and the teacher's like, yeah, we're having like free time right now.

You know, it was just, you know, she just like kind of like she showed me around and I was like, all right, well, I don't know what to do. So I'm like looking around because I was, I've always been not as much lately, but I've always been kind of shy. Yeah. So I go into this classroom and I see this girl and then we kind of lock eyes and then she's like,

Cause I'm like looking at everybody else and no one's locking eyes with me. I lock eyes with this girl and she's like, Hey, you can come over here and play. I don't remember exactly what we were doing, but that was my first ever like crush. gosh. I remember her name to this day. Her name was Skylin and I was like in love with this girl for the longest time, but I ended up meeting my best friend as well too. His name was Tucker. I think I told you he was a border, pretty much borderline genius. Yeah. And so that's kind of my very first friend where he ended up,

just being super smart, becoming really close with each other. And I remember I always struggled with school. So first grade, I didn't know how to read. I want to say I don't know for sure. I think my teacher actually helped me with a lot of, I don't know how I passed first grade.

pretty sure my teacher had something to do with that. But you know, it is what it is. Second grade comes and dude, I was struggling even more. I had to learn how to read. Yeah. So, you know, that kind of went on. So all the way to I would say the fifth grade really, no, probably sixth grade was I didn't take school seriously. Not that I was a class clown, but I was just playing with my friends, just talking. That's really what I did. Yeah, no, I agree. Elementary is very much like that. Yeah. Fifth grade rolls around. That's really where things kind of get

George Angel Ramirez (44:46.32)
serious. I think I mentioned it before where that's when I learned out that I found out that I had ADHD and dyslexia. I had a really good teacher. My mom actually still keeps in contact with her to this day. And she was the one that noticed that there was something off. Yeah, you know, couldn't read, right? Didn't really do math, right. And that's when she told my mom and we had this evaluation. So kind of going on forward. I already had a plan, though. I was like, I'm just going to

go to high school, graduate, and then join the Navy. That was my whole entire plan from the second grade all the way up to high school. That was my - Do you have a career in mind in the Navy? Yeah, I wanted to be a corpsman, a corpsman for the Marine Corps. So for a lot of people that don't know the Navy. So you have the Marine Corps, right? Right. It's a special branch. But it's attached to the Navy. Yeah. Yeah, it's attached to the Navy. So

One of the things with the Marine Corps is a lot of the jobs, they rely on the Navy. So the corpsmen, which are medics, they are the ones where you can go either side. So if you become a corpsman, you can be like a regular corpsman or you can go be attached to Marines. And that they had their own specialized training. One of the things that they do is they have like their own kind of mini boot camp of the Marine Corps because they change their uniforms are different. They're wearing what the Marines are wearing in terms

of like their not their dress blues but you know this whole entire you know like their cameos yeah they they wear the what the Marines wear they're out with the Marines most of the times so yeah that's what I wanted to do want to be a corpsman for the Marine it's basically a combat medic yeah yeah that was my whole entire plan so

Seventh seventh grade rolls around and I just I don't care about school and the worst part too is a lot of the classes that I had a lot of my good friends were in my class. I see. So I remember one time man we had this teacher and I'm like throwing I'm throwing like pencils at my friend and he's throwing the back and she catches us.

George Angel Ramirez (46:53.966)
And then she like starts yelling at us and we're like fuck. All right, whatever right and then so it was just a lot of fooling around most of the time I wasn't taking school very seriously and that's when like my grades were horrible. I was getting f's I was getting d's and stuff like that and then

I remember, I don't remember exactly what happened, but I get pulled into like this office. And that's when you had like a, like a council almost. And they're like, Hey, you're doing really bad in school. My mom was there too. And I was like, shit. And it just, you know, it sucked hearing these things because they didn't understand, right? Like dyslexia was a huge and the ADHD was really bad, man. Like I would come home crying because a lot of times I would study for a test.

Probably spend two, three hours studying on a test. Do the test and I'll get like a D or an F. Yeah, that's so. Yeah, it's super discouraging. So they sat me down. They're like, you need to apply more to yourself, this and that. And I was like, I tried. Nothing comes out of it. So that's when they switched me to different classes. I remember I had this English teacher. And she was one of the best English teachers I've ever had in my life.

She actually made me care about school. My grades started to go up. And I remember I was like, okay, you know, I guess really it is the teachers. You know, some of the teachers I had before didn't really care that much. So eighth grade rolls around. I'm actually getting decent grades. That's where everything kind of starts to roll around. And I remember I went to go visit my dad.

And we found this military school in San Diego called Army Navy Academy. And we went to go visit it. And I was like, I want to go there. Right. Yeah. And then I started doing research about different military schools in the United States. One of them came up was Valley Forge Military Academy, where I went. So I told my grandparents, I was like, hey, like, I really want to go to military school. And they're like, why would you want to do that? I'm like, it's just something I want to do. Yeah, exactly. And so I actually was going to go to California.

George Angel Ramirez (49:00.944)
for high school.

And they were like, Hey, you know, just letting you know, like you have, we have some money for the side. My grandparents actually sold their bakery for me to go to school. And they're like, do you want to go to school? And I was like, excited. I was like, yeah, yeah, of course. Yeah. That's your dream. Yeah. So we go do a tour. I'm like in love with the school. And then it comes down where it's like, all right, you know, you're going. So what happened was you had this thing called plebe system, six weeks. You don't talk to your

parents you can only send them letters and I was excited I'm like I'm not gonna I'm not gonna be with my parents usually people would send letters to their family I never those whole entire six weeks I never sent a letter to nobody huh so I get dropped off at the school I see my parents leave and I was like fuck this is for real this is real this is not you know it honestly felt really like it felt like the military you know they really there it was

extremely similar to the military. Yeah, like, you know, you go in, they shave your head off. Wow. You know, you're a young kid, you're kind of scared. I remember like the first two days. So I go to the barracks and they assigned me to a room. They're like, hey, we don't know. We don't have space for you right now. We're just going to keep you in this room and then, you know, we'll see where we leave you off.

Man, that was the loneliest two days of my life because I was just there. Nobody else was there. We had like some people kind of like look at me, but they're like, don't talk to him. So eventually we I had this kid who was in eighth grade and he came in and he was like the person training me and I didn't take him seriously. Dude, this is a little kid. I mean, I was a freshman in high school. Yeah. So I'm like looking at this kid. His name was Williams and he's like yelling at me and shit. And I was like,

George Angel Ramirez (50:51.822)
And then it hit me. I was like, this is for real. Yeah. Yeah. So then, you know, you start having like the upperclassmen. And eventually I got rolled into like Charlie Company. That's where I was in. And that's when it started becoming real. You started doing the marches. I was really horrible. I didn't know how to shine my shoes. You have to like shine your shoes. You have to shine everything. Yeah. Your belt buckle, the buttons, everything. And eventually people were like, dude, this guy sucks. Like he can't do anything right. And I don't know what happened. Everything just clicked.

and I became a really good cadet. Because I took the school very seriously. School, eventually we had to start going to school.

That was really good. We had small classes So that was really nice because now I got to interact with people and at first it was obviously it kind of sucked I didn't enjoy it, but then it started to become I'm like, no, this is this is a lot of fun. I really enjoy this I got to become a really good cadet. You've got to live that cadet lifestyle and It was just awesome. I'm like these opportunities I would never have in my local high school Yeah I got to meet a bunch of people from different parts of the world like one of my good friends was from Mexico

Mexico. One of the kids that went to school there, his dad was the president of France at the time. Really? Yeah. No, that's amazing. So it was really cool, man. And I worked as hard as I could. And military school, because a lot of people ask me, like, what do you learn in military school? And one of the things I really learned was life isn't fair sometimes. You get to really realize that life, no matter how hard you may work at something,

life sometimes will not reward you for your hard efforts. Which I'm okay with now, but I wasn't okay with that at the time. Right, you know, a lot of us expect rewards to be kind of readily available. You do a little bit of effort, here's something. Little efforts, here's something, but real life, you know, you learn that you could put a ton of effort into something and it might not just pan out. And that's kind of how, and it's great that it prepared you early on, you know, to understanding that. Yeah, no, it...

George Angel Ramirez (52:58.542)
You know, one of the reasons I say that is because obviously I learned a lot about military tradition, discipline, you know, the things I learned in school, but you know, I went to school with a lot of rich kids, a lot of kids that had a lot of money. Obviously I didn't come from money. And I started to realize that I worked really hard. One of the things in school is your rank, you get to be promoted after a certain amount of time.

And I remember, so you would either, it's like the college semesters. Not the summertime, but you would have people that come in in the fall, and then you have people come in the wintertime. People that would come in in the wintertime, the people in the fall that were their first year, they were able to train those people. And that was like a very big thing. They were called mid -year plea trainers. Something that, because usually like,

The people that train other people, you know, they've been there two, three, four, five, six plus years. So for someone to come in their first year and train someone new, you know, it was a big deal. Yeah. So I got chosen to be one of those people and I was excited, but a lot of people weren't happy that I was because, you know, at the first month or two, I wasn't a really good cadet, but.

People saw the potential. Yeah, but yeah, a lot of really good people saw that potential. And that's what opened a lot of doors, but worked really hard. I got to train these people for six weeks, took it very seriously. I became really good friends with this kid from China who he worked really hard as well too, the academic and the cadet lifestyle as well too. And I learned a lot from him.

And it was a journey, man. But so towards the end of the year, that's when a lot of people get invited back to this thing called leadership detail. That's, you know, you get a rank up depending on if, you know, like freshmen, they can only get certain, you know, certain ranks and sophomores, same thing. And juniors and seniors, they're more your senior NCOs and your officers and whatnot. So

George Angel Ramirez (55:06.99)
During that time I was, you know, I always had my shoes shined. I always had my room clean. You know, I was a model cadet. I really was. And so I was just like, okay, I'm ready for, you know, actually this isn't to brag or anything, but actually saved the kid from committed suicide. I got this award and like I said, this isn't to brag or anything, but I really like, I took it very seriously. I took the school very seriously, more than other people, just because I'm like, if this doesn't work out.

I don't have a second option. Exactly. Yeah. Nothing else is going to work out. You know, if I get kicked out of the school, because people got kicked out.

I don't have that luxury. If I get kicked out of the school, all that money that went to this school, down the drain. So I need to take this very seriously. Maybe not the school side, the academic side, but the cadet lifestyle. I took that super seriously. So I took my rank very seriously. I would like to say I was a very fair leader. But it was something where people told me, they're like, hey, you're really good at what you do. I got nominated for all these awards and whatnot.

Cool. There's a note that they give you there towards the end of the school year. You're like, hey, you're going to be, you know, you're going to are you going to come back during the summertime? And my roommate, he was really he was a really good cadet. You know, he just he didn't really care as much because he was going to come back. And this is really what kind of switched my mind was he got invited back to leadership detail and I did it. And I was like, really? Yeah.

I was actually extremely sad because I worked so hard and then for them to say, you're not gonna, nothing. All these people, yeah. It was something where I, like I said, I actually didn't go back for a year. That's how... I understand that because you put...

George Angel Ramirez (57:03.342)
And that you've learned this in life, you know, that that's one of the most valuable lessons you learn is that sometimes you can put all your effort into something. And at the end of the day, they will go with somebody else who may not have cared one bit, you know, but perhaps because of, you know, connections or some other circumstance that we don't know of, you know, they land it and you don't. And it's very unfortunate because it shouldn't be that way. Merit should be at the forefront of selecting somebody for

a role, you know, based on their work ethic, their want, their desire to really pursue something. So, you know, I completely can relate with that emotion. I understand where you're coming from with that. It's not a yeah, I got very depressed actually had to go home for about a week. Yeah, because it was something I took. Like I said, it was really hard on me. Yeah.

You know, you're you're taught at an early age that hard work gets you, you know to wherever it is But then I'm over here, you know working hard and nothing ends up happening So but you know what those were lessons that I needed to learn. Yeah So I made the decision not to go back to military school my sophomore year I went to public school and like I think 30 minutes into public school. I was like, I don't want to be here I was like, I don't want to be here one of the reasons too is my

best friend he went to another school okay so I was like dang dude like the one reason I came back one of the you know biggest reasons was my friends mm -hmm he's not even gonna be here so it sucked yeah sucked but

No, I put up with public school. I think it was like, yeah, 30 minutes into it or like a month into it where I was like, I want to go back to military school. So I didn't have the option to go back my, the mid year. So I'm like, I'm going to go back the next fall. So try to get the best grades that I could got in really good shape as well too. And junior year arrives.

George Angel Ramirez (59:02.35)
And I'm a brand new, like private pretty much. I don't have to go do the plebe system, but you know, I'm like brand new. You know, they called them old men just because they were guys who came back without a rank. Yeah. And a lot of times they didn't care. It was just they call them shit bags pretty much. But I they had we had our own platoon.

And I knew a lot of the people that were now in like the cadet leadership and a lot of them, they're like, Hey, like welcome back. You know, we're awesome to have you. And I was like, yeah, yeah. Like I'm happy to be back. So I ended up shining my shoes and I was really good. I got to a point where I was really good at shining my shoes. And so in the barracks, they have a person in charge of the kids essentially. Yeah. And his name was.

John Dell he was in the army. He was actually in the SWAT before to really amazing guy He was in charge of everybody in that building he comes up to me and he looks at my shoes and he's like Dang your shoes are shiny for an old man and I didn't say anything right and He just like every time he would come to me he would look at my shoes because although

you know all the old man they'd never shine their shoes they didn't care about anything there their hair was long and they just didn't care about you know they were there just a kind of let go yeah yeah a lot of them get the they just didn't care at all you know they were just there because i think they were forced to wear their parents yet appearance for some of their their for the school aspect here so much that i ended up getting a rank

And I started working up and got promoted as well too. And this guy really, he saw my potential. He's like, hey, you're a really good cadet. And we developed this great relationship. And he would email my mom saying, hey, he's doing really good, this and that, blah, blah. That's awesome. Then that's really, junior year was, it was nice. I got some responsibility and kind of earned, I earned my spot that year, I would say.

George Angel Ramirez (01:01:03.918)
Senior year rolls around and that's where you have different priorities like school, what college you're gonna go to. Now we also had a thing where what rank are we gonna get? So my thing is I really wanted to be a cadet captain. That was my thing. But there was other people going for it. So.

Now it wasn't, you know, we had this like interview. They were like, Hey, what type of rank do you want? Why do you deserve this rank? This that I put the rank that I wanted to connect captain of Bravo company. And they're like, Hey, have you ever thought about being a first sergeant?

I was like no like that's a rank for the juniors, you know, cuz it's a very you know, Junior rank. it's a lot of responsibility, you know, usually for seniors They have the highest rank and it's kind of like that in the military from what I heard as well to your officers You know, the NCOs really do all the work and the officers they're not commissioned and yeah They're the one that are kind of delegating these things My best friend Yang was a cadet captain and

Everybody knew who he was So I was like I want to be like Yang, you know, he taught me a lot of beautiful things and That's who I want to be like. Yeah So they name off the ranks They say that captain Bravo Company so -and -so and it was my old roommate and I don't mean to be mean about it But he was one of the laziest kids I've ever met in my life

And I really got, they put me back in square one. And not only that, they were like Cadet First Sergeant George Ramirez. And I was like, are you kidding me? Like, you guys gave me a rank for a junior? Like all my peers were juniors at that point. So I was like, I went for a run, I remember. And I was like, what the fuck, man? Like, you know, I'm over here busting my ass again and this happens again. So I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna work, do the best that I can with this rank.

George Angel Ramirez (01:03:13.998)
I did that but you know, it was worth it I would say but It was tough, you know, cuz I had a lot of responsibility on my side But it was worth it. It was worth it. I'd look at that uniform every once in a while and I was like I had some amazing times, but now it's kind of time to You know think about school You know, my thing was I was just gonna enlist but people were like every all my friends were going to colleges and really good colleges too I was like dang. I need a kind of apply myself now

So I really wanted to go to Notre Dame. That was my school of choice. That's a great school. Yeah. That was, till this day, that's my dream school. But I applied to the U of A actually. Did you? Yeah. I got in the U of A, but they didn't have, I think during that time they only had an army ROTC program. So I said no to the U of A applied to Rutgers. I think I got into Rutgers. I don't, I don't remember. I just saw the.

Rejection letter from Notre Dame and I didn't care about school after that Point Loma, which is in San Diego applied there got rejected. I got rejected from Penn State too No, I mean, you know, it is what it is right and have the best, you know SAT scores, but you know, I I Didn't really want to go to school either. I'm kind of Glad I didn't there's part of me that wish

I did, but I'm kind of I learned differently from other people. Yeah. And I actually went to school in my hometown, this community college. I went to one class and I was like 30 minutes into it. I was like, I don't want to be here. So I just left. So I was like, school is not for me. But yeah, no, that was my that was whole my kind of plan. I wanted to be in the military. I wanted to be in the Navy. And then I you start doing research.

You know, it's not like how it was back then. Their mission is a little bit different, regardless of what people want to say. My morals kind of changed as well, too. Yeah. But yeah, no, it's it's growing up is is. Everything that happened puts me in where I'm at now. All the things I learned, I'm glad that I learned, even though they may have sucked during that time. But it was worth it.

George Angel Ramirez (01:05:28.686)
It was definitely worth it.

thank you for sharing that. I think that a lot of times we look back in our past and there's moments we go, I wish I could have changed that. It could have been different about that because you're like, I would have liked to explore this opportunity. What could have happened? But like you said, everything that took place builds up to what you are now. You take what you are now and you can build up for whoever your future self is going to be. And we all have to take steps in life that sometimes we're uncomfortable with because that's life. When you're a kid,

told you can be whatever you dream to be. And I really was into that. I was like, well, then an astronomer it is. Of course, you know, had my dreams crushed at 13, realizing it wasn't what I thought it was. And then, you know, had to change again and again. I think the U of A, I changed majors probably four or five times. You know, it was a journey to figure out where I was going to fit and what I was going to do until I finally realized that helping people was the mission. And, you know, now I'm a licensed producer and insurance and you know, what I do now

now is offer insurance to people and try to protect people's assets and their lives. Be able to not only sell them something, but also reassure them that, hey, in case something like this were to happen to you, I can help take care of you. And it's hard when you call somebody. In my case, now I have to make the calls. They don't call me.

people are like, I don't want to buy from you. I don't have the money for it. And it's about kind of telling them, well, look, it's not just about the money that, you know, you'd be paying into this. It's about the protection you're going to receive against potential scenarios. You can't foresee in the future. And now, you know, being able to have those conversations and help educate people in that it's kind of in a way helping that passion that I have to help in people, because I have a love for people and appreciation. So, you know, that's kind of where this new career path is for me. And of course,

George Angel Ramirez (01:07:21.296)
you know, I'd love to explore other options and you know, go about that as life goes on. But, you know, for now I'd say I'm going to in a good place. That's awesome, man. No, that there really is because a lot of times, like I have a really good friend, he's always on focus on what's next, what's next, what's next. And there's a lot of people like that. Yeah. And it's hard to get out of that mindset sometimes where let's focus on just right now. Let's focus on, you know, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it

Yeah, there's gonna be other opportunities in the future. But let's focus on right now because where, and I say this so many times where what you focus on now is gonna determine what's gonna happen in the future, you know? And one of the biggest things that I really realize in life, and I know this is something so cliche to say, but...

When you are a good person, when you have a good heart and you show that to the world, of course there's gonna be times where people stomp on it and there's gonna be times where people take advantage of it, but you will always put yourself in the right situation. Yes, there's gonna be a lot of lessons in life where they're gonna suck. You wish, you're like, dang, maybe if I was more assertive or maybe if I was more, I don't know, it's hard to think that way.

I thought this is a little different whatever it is, but when you have a pure heart These opportunities will come to you they will and they're starting to come to me now even though at times I'm like I don't deserve them I feel like I don't deserve them, but I start to realize that hey, we all deserve good things in life

I'm with you on that. I'm with you on that. I've always been used to giving. I'm not much of a receiving kind of guy. I'm kind of the same way. And so, you know, when these opportunities came about in my life and the people that have come along in my life and have really helped me substantially and, you know, especially in my early, early twenties, you know, I give thanks to each and every one of them, you know, Javier, for example, he's a big mentor of mine. And anytime I'm going through something, you know, I always give him a phone call and he's, you know, always kind of available for me and he listens to me and he gives me my

George Angel Ramirez (01:09:24.848)
a bit of lesson from his life experience. And I'm so grateful for having those people in my life. And you especially as well, George, that we're able to have these moments where we know there's somebody that's going to be able to help us. And I'm very grateful every step of the way, trust me, because it's a tough, especially your first few years in adulthood where everything is an uncertainty, you're stressed about everything because you see your friends, they haven't made for them in a sense. So a lot of them kind of present

themselves like I already know what I'm going for I got all these connections I got this school and you're like well where am I at you know and that stage is it's always so hard and I remember it being so difficult and now at least you know I have a bit of a okay this is where I'm at and if I want to change this in the future I can but at least I'll have people to help me along the way yeah one of the things too is

We don't know exactly what's happening in other people's life. So I think that's a really big, big thing because a lot of times we look at other people and we're like, they have it made. And then you start to realize the things that they have to go through, the things that the normal person doesn't see but they see or the people very close to them see. So that's why I try not to judge anybody because...

It's something where we all, we all, we all, like I was talking to my aunt the other day and you start to realize that, hey, everybody needs help. Everybody needs a friend. Everybody just needs a little push. Yeah. Everybody does. You know, we're all, we're all going through our things. There's not one single person, even the richest person in the world. They have their own problems.

It's their problems and it's their unique problems, but that doesn't mean they don't have something that they're going through. You know, we each, each and every one of us have something that we're going through.

George Angel Ramirez (01:11:18.222)
And it really is up to us to figure out how exactly we're going to go through these problems. You know, and what can we learn from those problems as well too? Because if we don't learn anything from our problems, then we're going to keep repeating these same things over and over again. It's a part about being accountable. Yeah. You know, and that's one of the hardest lessons that you learn. Because accountability, you know, we always try to look and point at our situations and go, I'm in this situation because of X. I'm in a situation because of Y. You know,

we're always looking at circumstances to kind of fall back on and be like, well, I'm here because of this. But if we look at it as I'm here because of, you know, something I could probably change about myself and you start taking that accountability, you uncover something like, you know, integrity. And you start to develop that and you go, okay, so, you know, this is happening because of this. Let me change that. Let me take control of that. Cause I can control this. And when you start going and moving with integrity,

a lot of things become a lot easier because you start to take account of your own life and start to kind of direct that instead of, you know, coping with something. Now you're taking a direction. And that's one of the things I've been working hard on, you know, these last couple of years, especially as developing that integrity, trying to be as honest as possible in every scenario, you know, just get beat. How do I say this? Authentic. Yes. You know, in everything I do, because that's really what it needs. You know, we live in a world now where people put on this fake face.

And I saw a lot at Whole Foods. I really did I saw it a lot with like the upper management where That's why I really appreciated my old boss because I was like you you you are who you are as a person Yeah, you know and my old boss in Colorado Springs as well to same thing I was like these people are authentic and that's something that's kind of being thrown out nowadays But it's like no just be who you are as a person you know one of the things I try to tell people especially like

Especially like in dating, you know, cuz dating right now is really hard. It's not something that It's extreme. It really is extremely hard. We'll talk about yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we can yeah, but You know being authentic is really just being yourself and a lot of people they're like, well I don't like who I am and well, that's kind of a problem. You have to You know, unfortunately fix yourself, you know you

George Angel Ramirez (01:13:38.702)
really start to learn. One of the things I always tell people is like go and make the mistakes, just go and make mistakes because you'll really learn who you are as a person and that's how you learn who you are authentically. You know through these...

trials and tribulations that we go through. I've learned a lot about myself in the past three years, two years, especially going to therapy because I'm like, I put this fake persona for the longest time and now it's like, I can actually live my life despite if other people may not like it, that's okay. You know, I, I'm not here to please other people, but I'm here to try to be, like you said, honest. I used to be not be very, I used to be very selfish. I used to lie a lot as well too. just because that's kind of, you know, you want to

you want to fit in. You want to fit in everywhere you go and sometimes you realize you don't need to fit in everywhere you go. Sometimes you don't.

Seriously, you know, I relate to that because I, you know, I'd say in my middle high school days, I also kind of try to, when people would ask me, how you doing? I'd be like, I'm good. Yeah. You know, even though I was probably stressed out of my mind, felt, you know, just insecure that that's the word. I felt very insecure about myself, you know, so I would make up narratives and be like, yeah, I'm good. You know, I got a plan. I got this. I got that too. And

It sucks because when you come home, you know, it ain't true. Yeah. You know, and nothing hurts more than selling off a fake reality to somebody else, knowing that you're not and having to keep up this lie and having to build it up. It really demoralizes you. And I think it does way more harm than good in the long run, especially. Yeah. Because eventually people are going to start asking questions. Eventually you're going to be confronted where what you say gets put to the test. And when it's not there and you got to now be like,

George Angel Ramirez (01:15:26.736)
Yeah, so it turns out it's not the way you thought it was. It's terrible. And I said to myself, well, that's not how I'm going to carry myself. You know, I can't be someone I'm not. I can't tell somebody I'm OK when I'm not OK. I got to be honest, because if I'm not honest with them, I'm not honest with me. And if I'm not honest with me, well, I can't be honest with anybody. Exactly. And I took my life more seriously. And so now when people ask me, how you doing, you know, of course, I'm not going to go into all

I'm doing alright.

I gained that relationship, but you're always someone that has seen even though on bad days you see the positive and it's not like that I don't but sometimes we just get so Involved in those bad days. Yeah, and it's it's nothing that's gonna happen You know, it's like like I told you when I got fired I could have sat here and I did for a couple days and been depressed and just sit here all day and then you start to realize like

No, this isn't how I need to live. Like, okay, I got fired, but let me, you know, let me do something, you know, whatever it is. Let me go take photos. Let me, let me make at least a positive, you know, impact in myself or someone this day. So let me tell you a little story. So when I got out of insurance, so I was, you know, I consider myself underemployed because I was only working at home depot, you know, maybe 20 hours a week. So money wasn't much. And, you know, I was going through kind of the same stage as you. I left insurance going, what the?

hell. You know, I left Whole Foods to go into this opportunity and I just leave again. And I was like, well, shit, what do I do? And I go to Goodwill and I literally lasted in that job three days, three days. And on the third day I said, or on the fourth day, my bad, I said, I had enough. This place is just not going to work out for me.

George Angel Ramirez (01:17:44.046)
and having to make that call with that manager and tell them the reasons why I was shaking. You know, I had the phone like this. I was like, you know, as I was venting to her about why I was leaving, I was like, I'm not used to this, you know, having to tell somebody I don't like that here.

and having to be a little confrontational because, you know, she was just pushing it off me and like, you know, no, no, you're what you're saying isn't valid. And I'd go, no, this is what I experienced. This was my experience. This is why I'm leaving. And I, after you know, cutting the call, I was in tears because I wasn't used to this. How was it possible that I quit a job in three days and

where I'm used to staying for years. And I was like, this isn't me, you know, where, where's the Mario who has resilience? Cause I always, when people would ask me, what's your biggest quality? I'd say it's my resilience, my willingness to never give up, to be adaptable, you know, to give it my own, any situation, no matter how difficult it is. And here I am three days in going, I'm out. And it was like an identity crisis for that moment there. And I was depressed, you know, I'd say a good week went by of me.

just sitting there and going, what am I going to do? What did this all amount to? You know, going from Whole Foods to insurance to, you know, thrift shop to nothing. Yeah. You know, except my Home Depot, which thankfully was still there for me in the background. And so I remember that my friend Christian, who works at Whole Foods, his birthday was coming up and

I said, you know what? Hey Mario, just hold that thought. I gotta go pee really bad. Go for it. Sorry, sorry. All right, sorry about that. No worries, OK. All right, we're on again. Probably going to edit all that. No, no, no, no. I'll leave that in, but as well. All right, so as I was saying, I remembered for a moment there. I was like, you know what?

George Angel Ramirez (01:19:40.142)
I'm going to go to his birthday, you know, get to see somebody I haven't seen in some time, you know, just to hang out. And it was wonderful to be able to see a familiar face and got to spend that time again. And, you know, it popped into my head. What if I came back to Whole Foods? Yeah. You know, what if I gave that one more shot?

And I talked with Christian and Tiffany about that. And they were like, yeah, go for it. Text Brittany here. And that Monday, I decided to call. I called Brittany. I didn't expect anything. I was like, maybe a yes, maybe a no, but at least I'm giving it a shot. And that conversation went well. And again, before I knew it, I was back in it.

And I was very excited to at least have something going on again. I was like, OK, you know, something's coming up again. I don't have to worry and sit in this mood that I was because, again, after leaving Goodwill, I was having an identity crisis. I was like, so I put all this effort into all these things and now I'm not doing.

And here I am again, finally going back into that retail space and finding a bit of that purpose. And so it's interesting how life kind of presents these opportunities that we don't think about our opportunities, but they end up being opportunities that help change our lives and in some way, and kind of redefine, you know, where we go. And so I think I'm very grateful for when things like that happen very spontaneously too.

Yeah, no, we kind of it's funny man. Like we kind of have a similar situation as well too where I remember the first time I left Whole Foods I Went to become a an electrician. Mm -hmm lasted three days. I was like I cannot do this I quit without even knowing like without having anything lined up That was the first time really where I quit a job where I was like, I just I knew I didn't belong there Yeah, I you know, I'm sure you know, there's times where there's just certain places You don't want to be there and that was one place where I was like I cannot be here

George Angel Ramirez (01:21:36.88)
This is not who I am as a person and I have to get out Yeah, so I got out and I remember the day before I went to this coffee shop that I would always go to and I saw that they were hiring so I looked up their ad and The night before I just put an application So it came it was Monday Monday came around and I call all the same thing. I was like shaking calling the boss

And I was like, Hey dude, just letting you know, I found something better and he's like, okay, no worries. He's like, yeah, that's, that's completely fine. You know, it's not meant for everybody. And I was like, he was so cool about it too. Really helped out. So I hang up and I'm like, dang it. What am I going to do? Yeah. You know, and then I just kind of laid down and I was like, dude, I really don't know. I told my brother, my brother got me the job. And then he was like, he's like, you quit? And I was like, yeah, man, I just couldn't do it. And he's like, all right, cool.

20 minutes later, the coffee shop calls me for an interview. And I was like, yeah, I remember it was that Tuesday. So got an interview, man. I was nervous. I really was because I'm like, I don't know anything about coffee. I don't know anything about money. I go in, I like dressed up. And really what helped out was the lady, the coffee manager, her dad was a meat cutter.

And then she started talking about her dad and she's like, why do you want to do this? I'm like, you know, I want something new. Got the job, man. And it was, it was amazing. It was like the opportunities that came from there were just awesome. You know, I got to work more on the podcast, got to work more on photography, got to learn about coffee, got to learn the customers really well.

man, do I miss that job? I really do. If I ever moved to Colorado and money's not an issue, I would just have that job just to have it. You know, I relate with that because I had a Boba tea job in between Home Depot and Quick Trip. That was kind of brief. And I'm with you. That environment is just a very unique environment where it, you know, the way it happens and money was the issue too. That's the sad part for me. But I completely can agree with you. If I could just work one job

George Angel Ramirez (01:23:49.2)
and that money again wasn't an issue. That'd be the kind of environment I could see myself working at. I think that's what I would do. Yeah. Just because like you said that environment it's just nice because yes of course there was times where it was busy. Yeah. But one of the things is everybody was really nice to me. I only had one rude customer that whole entire time.

The customers were extremely nice my co -workers. They were all extremely nice I worked with all girls and a lot of people like you can flirt with them like no I didn't go there for that I went there just because I wanted to do a good job Yeah, and I like messed up so many times and they're like, hey, it's okay You know, you're completely there were so many times where I would have to ask them questions You know, I would write down the coffee order and they couldn't read my handwriting. They're like, what is this? They would just laugh My supervisor she was 19 at the time and she I would always tell her shit

She's doing a great job and you know, just the group of people there, I was like, I don't know when I'll ever have this again. I was really sad when I left because I really enjoyed it. It was something where it's like, it's very rare going into a job where everybody is just really nice. They care about you. They're asking you how your day is.

And it was just something I miss, man. I definitely miss that environment. You're almost getting the tears out of me. Yeah. Whole Foods was very much like that. And on my last day, actually this past Saturday, you know.

I walked out of there with some tears because the people there, I'm a fearful I'm never going to find someone, a group like that because going into work and having people that care about you, asking how your day is, throw a joke here and there, you know, that camaraderie that, you know, you develop that's I'm like, is this going to be the one hit wonder?

George Angel Ramirez (01:25:40.238)
You know, because I've been in a lot of environments where no matter how long I'm there, for some reason or another, I'm not able to connect. Sure, we know eventually we just talk, but it's brief conversations about work and only that, you know, and that at Whole Foods, I'm going to miss that dearly. Me too, man. I'm the same way. I feel the exact same way, dude. I remember when I got fired, I walked out of there and I had to hold my tears and it wasn't because I got fired. I was like,

It was like when I left the first time, you know, the first time they gave me a card. A bunch of people signed it, dude. And I almost I really almost cried because. Yeah, is that going to be in terms of and I know, right? We we kind of know it's not going to be the only place where we're going to find that. But it's really going to take a while for us to find a place where you have a group of people.

And the last time I ever found that was a military school, right? That camaraderie. And like the one thing I learned about military school is we all go our different paths. We do. You know, and it's the best you can do is just things like we're going to do tonight, you know, see each other again. But there's also people who, you know, they just go. Yeah. And we don't know where they're going to go and we can just support them the best we can.

That's it, you know, but I know it's not like the words we really want to hear but I know we'll find something like that again Exactly, you know with with life it's all about understanding that it's a journey and there are moments where the people that you know Eventually they move on with their lives because life is pulling them in their own unique direction Everybody has their life goals dreams all that straightened out for their own selves and they got to figure that out Yeah, and sometimes that requires them to move away or do things and as a kid, you know, especially when I had friends

I had to move out of state. I didn't understand. I was like, why? We had it so good over here. Now you're going somewhere I don't even know about. And you learn is that everybody has a journey, a purpose, a mission, and the thing they got to do in their lives that unfortunately is independent of whatever friendship you guys had. And that's just the reality I had to come to accept on the second time where I had to leave is that this is the right choice for me, even though it doesn't seem like it.

George Angel Ramirez (01:28:00.688)
difficult choice. But deep down you feel it. Right. You got to make what is best for you. That choice that is going to define and be the best benefit to yourself. And that's so hard sometimes. But it's important if moving forward, you know, because you're going to encounter that again and again and again. And, you know, my mom tells me all the stories, you know, of her moving from Mexico to here, you know, that changing entirely. You know, so change can be hard. It can. But

That's just one thing I've heard. I don't remember who said is change is constant. And it's true. It really is true. And the best that we can do is just, you know, I actually looked at, I was showing you, you know, actually, I'll actually read it because this is a good.

George Angel Ramirez (01:29:07.95)
Sorry about that. This was given to us on our last day for graduation.

George Angel Ramirez (01:29:20.398)
And it, I almost cry when I read it. It says, hide not thy tears. Kind of put into context a little bit. You know, we had a graduation ceremony and we're all there dressed up and we're all happy, but these words are true. So it says,

I not thy tears on this last day, your sorrow has no shame to march no more midst lines of gray, no longer play the game. Four years have passed in joys, joyful ways, wouldn't stay these old times dear, then cherish now those fleeting days. The few while you are here, the last parade, our hearts sinks low before we survey cadets to be where we are now and soon will come their day. Though distant now, yet not

so far. Their years are but a few. I soon they'll know why Misty are our eyes at last review. The lights are dim the bugle sound. The notes will never forget. And now a group of smilingly lads with part we part with much regret. Goodbyes are said we march ahead success we go to find our forms are gone from Valley Forge our hearts are left behind.

That's a pretty heavy, pretty heavy heat lines there. I completely agree with that. It's a hard journey.

One of the quotes I remember from Starbase, I don't know if you're familiar with that, when you're in elementary, they have this kind of like military, you go to the Davis Monthan for a little bit, that's what I did. And you know, the quote they would say a lot is, you know, dream plus action equals reality, kind of to inspire you, you know, regardless of the circumstances, you know, just.

George Angel Ramirez (01:31:12.654)
focus on your dreams and you put the action towards them to become reality. Yeah. And I try to take that as the more positive route because I agree with you what you just said. It's hard. Change is so hard. But you got to remember what you're doing in your life, your purpose, your goals. And you got to focus on that. You know, put that at the forefront of what you do. Yeah. I think Whole Foods really what it is. It's a lot of it's

How do I describe it? It's a place where it's not meant to be forever. Yeah, right. We have a lot of those jobs where it's not or just things in life, not just job, but it's a place in our life where it's not a forever thing. Yeah. But you go, you meet an amazing group of people that you'll never forget. And then you go your own way, you know, as hard as that sounds, it's really the reality of things. It's true. Yeah. So.

I mean, I guess that's a good place to leave off, man. Yeah. I appreciate you, Mario.

A lot of, I felt like our hearts kinda came out this episode. They did. And again, George, thank you so much for having me on this episode. It's been great and I look forward to many others. Right on. Yeah. We'll definitely see each other tonight as well too. We'll get some food if you want. Yeah. yeah man. Thanks for being on again, guys. Talk to you guys later. All right. Take care. thank you for being the new co -host man. I guess this is obviously our second episode together. It's a privilege man. Thank you. you know, I'm really excited to see where things go in the future for us. So. Likewise man. Yeah. Look forward to it many more.

Cool.