Is it really “racist” to expect people to carry ID? John and Joe push back hard against the condescending view many white liberals have of the black community. They play shocking man-on-the-street interviews and let real people respond. Plus, practical wisdom for young adults navigating college, career, and the trades. John and Joe share lessons from their own lives—including advice every parent should hear before sending a kid to college.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, that’s it. That’s our intro. Yes, we have a little software glitchiness going on today. As you guys all know, a couple of you asked, why am I reading, you know, why am I doing all the commercials myself today? Well, that is why. So if you’ve been listening to us at all, yeah, we’ve had a few glitches software-wise, and those things happen. And no, I’m not an expert in that, so I don’t have the foggiest idea why. Joe, though, what’s going on today, sir?
SPEAKER 09 :
Did you do a question of the day today?
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, you know what? It’s in my notes, and I totally blew past it. I have not, no.
SPEAKER 09 :
Would you like one?
SPEAKER 03 :
Sure, go for it.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right. By land area, which of these three states is the smallest and which is the largest? And your choices are Delaware, Hawaii, and Rhode Island.
SPEAKER 03 :
Which ones are the smallest and which ones are the largest? Hawaii would be the largest. I would say Delaware is the smallest.
SPEAKER 09 :
No, Rhode Island’s the smallest, but you’re right, by the way. The seven Hawaiian islands are larger in land mass than the state of Massachusetts.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. They’re actually fairly, the big islands, you know, as you know, pretty big. You can put all the other islands inside the big islands, so basically it’s two big islands in size.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right, and I believe the spread, the distance from one end to the other is approximately 1,500 miles, which is about the length of California. Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, the whole chain, yeah, that would make sense.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, the length of the chain is 1,500 miles, so that’s the question of the day for today.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, good one.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right. So, John, I want to talk about racism and bigotry. Now, if I said something to you like, hey, John, you know those people from Lithuania? They’re so stupid. They walk around with no IDs, and if they needed to get one, they have no clue where to get one. Wouldn’t you think I was a bigot?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and a pretty racist comment to boot, yes.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, well, we got a bunch of liberals here. Can you play this clip? We have a bunch of liberals are being asked about another group of people about whether or not they have IDs or know where to get IDs. Can we play that? Here we go.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, they’re usually pretty racist and they’re bad.
SPEAKER 12 :
I think voter ID laws are a way to perpetuate racism.
SPEAKER 06 :
Would you go as far as to say those laws are racist? For sure. Do you think it suppresses the African American vote? Definitely.
SPEAKER 01 :
Because they’re less likely to have state IDs.
SPEAKER 02 :
Minority voters are less likely to have the kinds of IDs that have been… described or required.
SPEAKER 01 :
These type of people don’t live in areas with easy access to DMVs or other places where they can get identification.
SPEAKER 06 :
You can always get IDs over the internet. Does that also make it difficult for black people in particular?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, you have to have access to the internet. You have to be able to pay an internet service provider for certain fees. Do you think that’s harder for black people to go online
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, I feel like they don’t have the knowledge of how it works. A lot of people have smartphones, but you might not have data. For most of the communities, they don’t really know what is out there just because they’re not aware or they’re not informed.
SPEAKER 12 :
I also think there’s a repression of black voting with… how if you’re a convicted felon, you’re not allowed to vote and everything. And when you look at swing states like Florida, that’s a huge population of the African-Americans.
SPEAKER 06 :
Now I’m here in East Harlem to ask black people their thoughts on what you just heard. Do you have ID normally? Do you carry ID around? Yes, I have state ID. Do you carry ID? Yes, I do. Do you know anybody, any black person who doesn’t carry ID? No. Everyone that I know has an ID. Why would they think we don’t have ID? That’s a lie. Why would they say that? Do you have ID? Yes.
SPEAKER 05 :
Because I have my ID and my friends have their ID, so we know what we need to carry around. Everybody that I know have ID. Like, that’s one of the things you need to walk around with New York with, an ID.
SPEAKER 06 :
Do you know any black adult who does not have ID? No, I don’t. Is it a weird thing to even say that? Yes, it is.
SPEAKER 05 :
What is this, some type of trick candy camera or something like that? I know, right? That’s the only thing I brought with me.
SPEAKER 06 :
Those are legit IDs. I heard a lot also that black people can’t figure out how to get to the DMV.
SPEAKER 05 :
Maybe. What does that say to you? I know it says 125th Street.
SPEAKER 06 :
Do you know where the DMV is right here?
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s on 125th Street and 3rd Avenue, I believe.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know how to get there? Yeah. Do you have a problem getting there if you have to get there? No. I know these sound like silly questions. You know how to get to the AV? Of course. You know where it is? Yes. You can get there? Uh-huh. No problem. No problem. Just checking. Okay. And I also heard a lot that black people, especially poor black people, have no access to the Internet, can’t figure out how to use the Internet.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s just stupid, honestly. Everybody has access to the Internet. Even a little kid could figure out how to work the Internet.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Joe, I mean, I’ve played clips of that in the past. It’s been a while. But by the way, none of that, I believe, to this day has changed. That sentiment is still out there. There’s a lot of what I feel are very uneducated, in this case, white people that have no idea how the black community even works, but yet they’re going to tell the black community what they can and can’t do.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I mean, that’s the opinion that white liberals have of black people. And how insulting is it? If you think that black people don’t have ID, don’t have internet, it’s incredibly insulting. By the way, you don’t need to have an internet service provider. If you have a cell phone, your cell phone comes with data plan. And you can access the Internet. You don’t have to have an ISP provider.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, and again, I’ve known enough individuals and been around enough individuals and so on that, frankly, I don’t think I’m going to exaggerate when I say this, Joe. The very people they’re talking about can probably use those tools better than those that we’re talking can.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes, and in fact, John, if you’re on Medicaid, which many people in the black community are, You cannot get – have you ever been to a doctor or hospital and tried to get medical service without providing your proof of insurance and an ID to make sure that – No, you’ve got to have all that on the front side. Yeah, you’ve got to have it – you know, I’ve been to hospitals, specialists, and, you know, I can give them my insurance card, but they want to see my ID to make sure that I’m the person.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right, you are who you are. That’s right.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right. Okay, I see your name on this card, but prove to me you’re this person. And, you know, over the past 10 years, John, I’ve probably been to 20 different doctors in two different states – And I’ve never yet been able to get medical service without showing a picture ID.
SPEAKER 03 :
Good point.
SPEAKER 09 :
So to assume that people in black communities don’t carry picture IDs is ludicrous and don’t know how to get them and don’t know how to use the internet.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think that’s incredibly insulting, but that’s how the liberal—not all, but that’s how a great many— No, but I think those that would be—what I’ve always found, Joe, is those that are in opposition to any kind of voter ID requirements will then throw those sorts of arguments that you just heard out there. And I listen to these people and think, first of all, you’re the ultimate racist. You have no idea what you’re talking about or who you’re talking against, and the fact of the matter is the majority of those people know more about it than you do.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yep. And John, I call those people useful idiots. And on the topic of useful idiots, I’ve read more crap in the past week about House Bill 1. You know, they’re saying and they’re spreading this like wildfire. Well, it makes the administration and Trump immune from the courts. They don’t have to comply with any court orders. And then it gives Trump the ability to suspend elections. and that Trump can decide that we won’t have an election in 2028. John, it’s complete nonsense.
SPEAKER 03 :
And that’s unconstitutional. And by the way, Joe, that even comes to our side, where I’ll hear different people, and I have over the years, depending upon what’s going on when it comes to, oh, so-and-so is going to establish martial law. That’ll be Obama. He’ll continue to be president through martial law, and this, that, and the other. I mean, I heard all that nonsense, Joe, over the years from both sides, and it is just that utter nonsense.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right. And the definition of a useful idiot, and this goes back to Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, is somebody who will believe, repeat, and act on a lie they’ve been told by those in power. And these people are truly useful idiots.
SPEAKER 03 :
And unfortunately, Joe, and yes, I know there’s more on one side than the other, but we have our fair share.
SPEAKER 09 :
We do. I mean, I just read somebody said, oh, you know, the court just ruled that overturned Trump’s convictions. And I said, you know, I did a quick search and there’s nothing there. And I said, No, I can’t find any record. And, John, the number of people said, oh, you’re just a moron. You don’t know where to look. It’s all over the Internet. John, it’s not all over. No, it’s not. If Trump’s convictions had been overturned by an appellate court, that would be the big news story of the day. Yet on our side, John, there’s at least a half a dozen idiots who are screaming at me that I’m an idiot because I haven’t. I’m not aware of that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, yeah. No, Joe, I trust me. I have interaction with a lot of those same individuals. And then I just wonder at times, you know, we wonder why we can’t win some of the elections that are put in front of us at times, Joe, on our side of the aisle. And then I then I think to myself, well, I know why.
SPEAKER 09 :
And then you have people like Dave Williams who are cunning. I mean, they’re stupid, but they’re cunning, and that’s the worst kind. A cunning, stupid person is probably the most dangerous one out there.
SPEAKER 03 :
You sent me something really quick, and I didn’t get a chance to talk to you beforehand, but about the high school seniors where they’re in the process of choosing colleges and so on, and you sent me some stats on that. You want to talk about that?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, it’s a list, and it’s not all the bad colleges, but It went down a list, and it ranked these colleges by, you know, how much you pay for tuition, what’s their graduation. And these are colleges nobody ever heard of.
SPEAKER 03 :
Like Colorado College in Colorado that’s $50,000 a year?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. And then, but here’s the real kicker. Then the two things, and then what is the graduation rate from these schools? And then what is your expected earning? You know, because I still get this from my college. You know, what’s your, well, you know. And all these colleges publish their stats, you know, what percentage of their graduating seniors got a job. So let’s take West Virginia State University. $31,000 a year annual tuition. They only graduate 22% of their freshmen. And in a survey of their alumni, six years later, the average alumni was only earning barely $30,000 a year. You can make that much being a barista in Starbucks.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, if you work enough hours at McDonald’s, you can do that too.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, so, and there’s a whole list. I believe there was… 30 or 40 colleges.
SPEAKER 03 :
And really quick, before anybody on the left wants to say that I have no idea, Joe, what I’m talking about, you know, we can do the quick math for people on this, because right now, most McDonald’s, I’ll even go on the low side, are at about 18 bucks an hour. Most are actually higher than that. But let’s say 18 bucks an hour at 40 hours a week is 720 times 52 is $37,000 a year. Yeah, John, before I left Colorado back in 2020, I used to take snapshots of
SPEAKER 09 :
Like down in Castle Rock, I think I probably still have the pictures. Wendy’s back then was offering $17 an hour full-time with benefits.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right.
SPEAKER 09 :
And that was in 2020, John. Yep.
SPEAKER 03 :
And it’s done nothing but go up since then, as you know, Joe.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yep. And so that would be $34,000 a year. You know, high school, you know, high school.
SPEAKER 03 :
So, you know, let’s let’s let’s back up for a moment, Joe, for those that maybe are out there. They’ve got younger kids and so on. How do we start communicating with some of these kids that are, you know, they’re they’re freshmen, they’re sophomore, they’re juniors and they’re seniors. And all through that time frame, those four years are trying to figure out what am I going to do? Where am I going to go to college and so on? How do we start communicating with, you know, not only them, but their parents to say, listen, depending upon where you go and what you’re picking, you may very well be making a very, very bad choice and going into a lot more debt than you need. Here are some alternatives. How do we get that message out to them?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, two things. Number one, the parents who are listening to this show, I think they should sit down with their child and say, let’s do a decision matrix. Let’s look at tuition versus graduation rate versus expected earnings. And all colleges publish you know, what percentage of their graduates, you know, got employed and, you know, what the average starting salary was. So let’s do a, let’s do a matrix and let’s, before we even start doing the matrix, let’s set some criteria, those that would make the cut and those that wouldn’t make the cut. And that’s a very logical, non-biased way to do it. So if you can engage your child in creating the matrix, which is because right now they, well, you know, Sally’s going here. I want to go where Sally’s going. No, that’s not the way you pick a college.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. Right.
SPEAKER 09 :
Um, And then look at the field. But the other thing I think we need to start doing, and we talked about this a week ago or so, if your high school doesn’t offer shop classes, the parents out there with school-age kids, I think you need to go to the next board of ed meeting and say, why doesn’t my high school offer shop classes? Because I think if more kids, I call them kids, if more 16 and 17-year-olds got the chance to experience doing things with their hands, they might say, hey, You know, I like this. I never knew how much fun, you know, sweating copper pipes together, you know, with a torch and making a joint, you know, a leaf. Man, that’s fun. I get a feeling of accomplishment. I think you just find a, you know, or wiring a junction box. I think if kids experience that, they may say, well, you know, that was pretty cool. I like that. So if your high school doesn’t have a shop class, I think parents need to go out there and ask why, because… As we all know, John, the trades, and I think I sent you the article two, three weeks ago, where these kids who are juniors in high school are getting $70,000 job offers firm for a year, you know, because they’re juniors today. The employer knows that it’s going to be a year until they graduate and say, here’s a firm $70,000 job offer if you want it when you graduate next year.
SPEAKER 03 :
I’ll give everybody another idea too, Joe, that depending upon where you’re at and what may be offered around you for shop classes or the lack thereof, Joe, every single trade with maybe the exception of some really, really small shops that may not have this ability, but any type of trade that has any kind of size to the business at all, if you say, listen, I want to learn your trade. I want to come in. I’m 17 years old. I’ll just sweep floors. I’ll do whatever I need to do to be around this end of things so I can learn as much as I possibly can. I want to be a sponge around you. Do you know what the majority of those would say, Joe? Come on board.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yep.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes. I mean, it’s not that hard is my point.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. If you want to offer yourself up as an intern or an apprentice, whatever you want to call it, I can’t, and John, you know I’ve run businesses, branch offices. I would love to have had some high school kids.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I’ll tell you this, Joe. Anybody that ever came along for me, because I had some throughout my career that did exactly that, I did put them to work, absolutely. I was always encouraged by a young person wanting to get into, in my case, the automotive field, because we didn’t have enough of them.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yep. And I used to have a lot of jobs in HVAC. You know, typically… It was a two-man job. You needed a second pair of hands.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 09 :
But the second pair of hands learns by watching the guy with the knowledge.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s right. And in a lot of cases, nothing against the trades or the trade colleges. I mean, nothing against the trade colleges. But, Joe, there is something about what you just said that, frankly, you don’t even learn in a trade college. Because you’re learning, and this is where I’m going with this, everybody, and you guys that are in the trades know exactly what I mean by this. When you learn from that individual, Joe, you’re learning the tricks of the trade, not just the trade itself.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, the tricks and techniques and the way to work smarter, not harder. you know, the sequence of things that you do. You know, you want to bring this piece first and then this piece second.
SPEAKER 03 :
Joe, even as far as things like, you know, if you’re in a trade where you’re mobile and you’re in the plumbing truck, for example, this is where I need to park the truck. This is where the job’s actually going to be. I want to reduce my steps. I know I need to take this many tools in with me for this particular diagnostic and job that we’re going to be doing. I mean, those are things, Joe, that, again, nothing against the schools, but they’re not teaching that.
SPEAKER 09 :
You’re right, and I think, John, you hit a big thing there. Planning, when you start a job, it’s all about planning. There’s a saying about poor planning creates poor results. It’s all about, hey, if I’m going to do this job, I want to make sure I bring in, and particularly if you’re going into a building, and we used to go into commercial buildings and hospitals and whatnot, and it was a long, long walk from the truck to the mechanical room. Okay, you’d stop and think, okay, What are the tools that I know I need and what are the tools that I might need and what are the equipment, hoses, gauges? And you bring it all with you because otherwise you’re going to be running back and forth to the truck six times. Precisely. It’s a long, time-consuming walk. Meanwhile, the job comes to a screeching halt because you’re back and forth. It’s five minutes each way, a 10-minute round trip. Yep. So that’s part of the things you don’t learn in a shop class. is how to plan for what you’re going to need.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and the old saying is, you know, failure to plan is a plan that fails.
SPEAKER 09 :
Fails, exactly. And so, again, parents, help your child start with doing a methodical, okay, what is it you want to study? Well, first of all, even in terms of the career, do some research. What does somebody in that line of work, you know, what is a typical compensation, you know, for whatever the job is?
SPEAKER 03 :
Great point.
SPEAKER 09 :
If you want to be a teacher, what does a teacher make? then look at the schools, you know, and then what’s going to cost you, you know, how much can you pay for, how much can you, how much are you gonna have to borrow? How long is it going to take you back? What’s the graduation rate from that college?
SPEAKER 03 :
Great advice. Great advice. Joe, as always, I appreciate you, sir. We’ll talk again next week.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, take care, John.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, man, we’ll do it. All right, up next, Geno’s Auto Service. Speaking of the trades and vehicle repair and all of what Joe and I were just talking about a moment ago, yes, Geno’s Auto Service can take care of you and your vehicle. They’ve got a great AC special running right now when it comes to things that you may actually need when it comes to this summer and the heat. and so on and i always remind people that your air conditioning on your car is used all winter long even when the or especially when the air conditioning or sorry the air conditioning is running when the defrosters on so when the defrosters on the air conditioning is running so if you’ve got any kind of ac problems at all geno’s auto service can take care of you It’s genosautoservice.com. Don’t forget that. Geno starts with a J. 35 years are accredited with the BBB. They maintain an A-plus average. They’ve got loaner cars available as well. So go online, check them out. You can also call them direct, 303-794-6700, 303-794-6700. Up next, Cup Creek Heating and Air Conditioning. And as we were just talking a moment ago with Joe about the whole HVAC end of things, yes. Hunter and his dad, they can handle all of your HVAC needs. They’ll give you a second opinion if you’ve got a problem with your furnace, if you’ve got a problem with the air conditioning unit, swamp coolers as well. I don’t mention that enough. They can do that type of work as well. And rather than you trying to diagnose something that most likely is above your head, and even if you figure out exactly what it is, you’re probably going to need some help getting things fixed. Avoid all of that. Get it fixed faster. Just call Cub Creek on the front side. Have Hunter come out. And as I said earlier today, If they’re a little bit behind, depending upon what the temperature of that particular day is, they can get really busy on hot days. So if you’re right now with our cooler days, if you know you have a problem, have them out now. Don’t wait and do it when it’s 80 degrees plus. 303-656-5467. Or you can also find them at klzradio.com. Vector Windows and Doors. Dave, who is a good friend, by the way, we’re going to hear from him tomorrow at 3 o’clock, see what exactly he’s got going on. In the meantime, though, he will come out, evaluate what you need when it comes to windows and doors. And Dave prides himself on installing those windows and doors in a much better fashion than all of his competitors. And that’s something we’ll talk with him about tomorrow. He does things that will go far and above whatever the code is, even for your particular area, for your particular home. That’s what he prides himself on. and he has not ever had a problem with you getting a second opinion. He’ll stand behind his work, his prices, and what he can do for you over his competition. klzradio.com is where you find him, or call direct 303-529-0720. Again, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Chris, you are up. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hey, good afternoon.
SPEAKER 03 :
Good afternoon, Chris.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hey, so I heard you talking about the trades. Um, I have my 18-year-old son just graduated from high school. Okay. And he was fortunate enough to be in the Cherry Creek School District where they have the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus. Nice. And early on, he started getting into some classes in high school in CAD drawing and then took an advanced manufacturing classes. at this innovation campus for two years where he learned how to machine metal and wood, CNC machinery. And, you know, fortunately I’m blessed. You know, my parents paid for my college, and I was very willing to pay for his. It’s just one of those things. No interest in college at all. So through this program and the placement program that they have, He had multiple interviews and now is set, starting next month, is set to have a 15-month apprentice program at Coors Tech.
SPEAKER 03 :
Nice.
SPEAKER 07 :
So it’s just, and he couldn’t be, he could not. Be happy.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s awesome. That’s awesome. And as you know, he’s going to work someplace where he definitely has a tremendous future. If he wants to stay there and stick it out, everything from pension to benefits to you name it, he’ll be in great hands, as you know.
SPEAKER 07 :
Correct. And the other thing is, you know, if you can get into an internship and an apprenticeship, these companies are not going to invest the time and money if they don’t plan to have some sort of future for these kids at the end of that time period.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 07 :
You’re correct. Yeah, I mean, there’s… There are a lot of programs around here, and we’re so fortunate, and I’m so happy that there are.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I’m happy, A, that you guys found that, that he found that. Nothing better than going on the track that he’s going to be on. He will be so far ahead of his schoolmates that he’s in school with right now that choose to go to college. He’ll have no debt. He’ll be making more money. He’ll be a lot further ahead, even when it comes to homeownership and so on, than all of his classmates are.
SPEAKER 07 :
Absolutely. I’m a first-time caller. Love your show.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you, Chris. I appreciate you very much. Thanks for calling, and that’s a great story. That coincides with what Joe and I were just talking about a moment ago. There are multiple ways to do this, and what I would encourage a lot of you as parents, just like Chris was calling a moment ago about, A, have that conversation. We were just talking to Joe from Jersey about that. Have that conversation with your student. And by the way, here’s the other advice that I have as a parent. Don’t wait until they’re a senior in high school. Start having these conversations even when they’re in junior high, when they’re in elementary school even. Hey, what is it that you’d like to do when you grow up? What are you really good at? What interests you? And by the way, you guys as parents, you’ll already know what they’re good at. You know them. You’re their parent. You know what they’re good at. In the case of Chris, our caller a moment ago, you have to know that your kid is pretty mechanically sound and understands the whole computer end of things and so on for the CAD process, or you wouldn’t be able to do that. It’s that simple. You can’t machine parts and not have some mechanical ability at all. So again, as parents, be watching for some of those things, some of those signs. And what I mean by that is, and I’ll give you an example. In my world, probably drove my mom especially and my dad too crazy because I was one of those kids that at a very early age, and I mean I’m talking four or five years of age, and again, this is not an exaggeration. If I could find the tool to take something apart, it came apart. Now, at that age, did I get it back together? No. I can tell you I took many things apart as a youngster trying to figure out how things actually went back together. I’m sure I drove my father crazy because it just drove him nuts because I was one of those kids. I was so curious. I wanted to see how things function mechanically that I would just take things apart. And no, they all didn’t go back together again. But as time went by and as I got a little bit older, did I figure out how to put things back together? Yes, I did. And it wasn’t long before, you know, I mean, I grew up in an era, and some of you will recognize this. I was telling this to some of my kids, some of my grandkids the other day because they were looking at me like, what in the world are you talking about? You know, you must be ancient. But, you know, we didn’t have a lot of these electric-powered scooters and go-karts and different things along those lines. In fact, you know, my dad, when I grew up, we lived on a little bit of a hill, actually a pretty considerable hill. And for fun, you know, we would build our own what we called a tug. It was usually a piece of plywood. We’d cut a 4×8 sheet in half, and you put whatever you could use for axles, and I would get creative on that. Sometimes it was wood, sometimes it was steel, whatever, but you’d put some axles underneath it, go find yourself four wheels, put a rope on the front of it, make sure the front of it steered, and you had different ways you could do that. And we would roll up and down the hill, steering that thing back and forth with the rope as the steering wheel. And we’d drag it back up the hill. And we had about an eighth of a mile all the way to the bottom. And we’d walk back up. We’d roll down the hill. We’d walk back up. And that’s some of what we did. Now, my point is I did all of that by myself. My dad didn’t have to help me build those things because, again, from age four or five, I was already taking things apart, trying to figure out how things worked. And then in my world, I just continued to expand upon that mechanical end of things to where, you know, I became an auto technician and owned my own auto shops and on and on we go. And you guys know my history. It’s why I do drive radio every single Saturday and have for, you know, the past, you know, two plus decades. Yeah. My point is, what are your kids good at? Not what do they love, but what are they good at? And then from there, start helping them excel at those things that they’re good at, and it could be with the trades. In some cases, you guys all know me, I am not against college. providing you do the equation that Joe just did where you look at the particular college and what’s the upside going to be when you’re out of that college. What degree are you going to get? How is that going to work when it’s all said and done? And at the end of the day, how are you going to make that work financially speaking and be able to stay ahead when it’s all said and done? If all college… applicants were to do what Joe and I were just talking about and Chris added in as well, if all college applicants were doing that, let’s just say that we would not have the college debt crisis of today that we have because people for quite some time would have been looking at those things a lot differently. And in turn, they would have chose different career paths or they have chosen different colleges or whatever. The problem is a lot of people did exactly what Joe said where they picked a college based upon, well, that’s where my girlfriend’s going or that’s where my buddy’s going or that’s where my boyfriend’s going or I like their sports program or, or, or. And by the way, if that works and you can still make all that work at the end of the day and, you know, functionally speaking, it all works out and you can make that work financially as well, okay, more power to you. But in a lot of cases, that doesn’t work for the majority of families. And then what happens is they get out of college. They’ve got, you know, any more. They’ve got anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 plus in debt. They’re trying to figure out how to get that paid off. They’re not making any more money, as Joe said a moment ago, depending upon what college you come out of. You’re not making any more money than the guy down at the local burger joint is flipping burgers. And nothing against that guy, by the way. Again, that’s another career path. Do you want to be a district manager for McDonald’s? Which, by the way, those guys don’t do too bad at all. Do you want to own your own store someday? You know, everybody knocks working at Walmart. I know some Walmart store managers that make a very good living. A very good living. You know. Six digit plus type figures. Not uncommon at a really well run Walmart where that store manager’s got things humming along, keeps a shrinkage down and so on. That particular store manager can make a couple hundred grand or more a year. And I’m not exaggerating when I say that. If you don’t believe me, go look it up. Go talk to one, by the way. And I’ve known some over the years. That’s how I know what some of these numbers are like. So, again, for those of you that have, you know, younger kids and they’re either in junior high or high school, they’re trying to figure out what should they do next and so on. These are really serious conversations to be having with them like Chris did with his son and figure out exactly what do you want to do when it’s all said and done. And then for some of you that were, you know, hey, money might really be an issue. You may not have the ability to go out and fund that college education. Borrowing money just doesn’t seem quite right. A lot of the tricks that I just gave you a moment ago on how to get into some of the trades are definitely there. You heard an example from Chris with his son verifying what Joe and I from Jersey were talking about. When it comes to how do you get your foot in the door at some of these places? How do you intern in some of these places? How do you maybe even get paid to sweep the floors and clean toilets, but you got your foot in the door and you’re now learning from some of the best that are in the business? There’s ways to do that, folks. Again, I am a living example of that. Never went to college a day in my life. I was doing good to get out of high school. I’m not exaggerating. I was doing good to get out of high school. I hated school. I couldn’t wait to be done. I grew up in an auto shop, you know, auto dealership family. And at that time, the auto dealership was even struggling. So it wasn’t like there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. No, that didn’t exist. So before anybody thinks, well, yeah, John, your family was really rich. They owned a dealership. Yeah, no, in those days, owning an American car dealership in the 80s sucked. Late 70s, early 80s, it sucked. It wasn’t glamorous at all. Trust me. Trust me. But I learned how to fix things, work on things and so on. And to this day, I’ve never been to an automotive school, automotive class even in my life. I’ve been to some refresher courses on different things and so on that a lot of, you know, parts stores and things would put out new products coming out, things like that. But, you know, clinics, I guess you would call them. But I’ve never been to a formalized, you know, automotive mechanical school in my life. Never been. So a lot of you would say, well, then, geez, John, how did you learn all of that? By those old guys that did it for years and years and years. And I was fortunate enough to be able to be around them. And I was also fortunate. The Lord blessed me with the ability to watch something get done once and I can do it the next time. And again, that’s not an exaggeration. It’s just how my brain works. Unfortunately, and my family will admit to this, I don’t train well. Because I expect people to do what I do. I’ll show you once. You figure this out because I’m not doing it twice. So I’m not a good teacher. That’s why I’ve never been in a teaching world and I never will be because I’m not a teacher. Teachers, it’s continual repetition and explaining and showing and so on. And that is not in my wheelhouse. I’m one of those where you show me something once, I’m going to pick it up and I’ll do it from there. And I teach the same way. So my family always jokes that if I teach you anything, have the video camera ready to go. Get your cell phone out because you’re only going to hear it once. And to their credit, a lot of my family does just that. They get the video camera out, I’ll explain something, and they watch and off they go. Because, yeah, I am not a very good teacher. But I learned from those sorts of individuals… how to do all of those things regarding car repair and so on. And then, of course, I had the ability to read and look things up and all of those sorts of things as well. I can also do plumbing and electrical. I’m not a master plumber. I’m not a master electrician. But can I do those things? Yes. And here’s why. Because I’ve been around master plumbers and I’ve been around master technicians or master electricians. One of my dad’s best friends, when I was in my 20s, early 30s even, was a master electrician. And so anytime I needed something done in my own business, Phil was his name. Phil would show up and he and I would do things together and he would teach me different things. And I learned a lot about how you do things properly when it comes to electricity and how to fix things and handle things and do things and add an outlet or fix an outlet or how to diagnose things. And so I learned that when it comes to plumbing, same situation. And I learned a lot about those things, enabling me to now go do Fix It Radio on Saturday mornings at 9 because, yes, I can do a lot of those things around the house because I picked up a lot of those things through those folks that were in the trades. So speaking of trades, Roof Savers of Colorado, Dave Hart. And, again, Dave’s another one of these guys where, hey, if you want to get into roofing and all of that and you want to be an apprentice and so on, does Dave have the ability to help you with those things? Absolutely. Just like a lot of our partners here on Rush to Reason would do the exact same thing for the young generation because they have the same problems every other trade has. So when it comes to your roof, though, if you’ve had any damage at all from any of the storms of late, please give Dave a call first. Don’t call your insurance company. Don’t call the adjuster. Don’t put a claim in. Don’t do anything along those lines. And last but not least, you’re going to have what we call storm chasers and door knockers. I had a text message come in a moment ago that said exactly what I said, that, yes, they are out in full force. And this texter added something to that. They will act like. They’re from your insurance company. That came from a texter. One of you listening. So these storm chasers will show up at your door and they will give you the impression they’re lying, but they will give you the impression that they’re from your insurance company. They are not. They are not. And by the way, if you think they are or if they’re claiming they are, ask for credentials. They’re not going to be, by the way. Insurance companies are not going to send anybody out until you make a phone call. They’re not just going to show up. A big natural disaster of some kind, an entire town is wiped out, you might actually get somebody that would come door to door at that point. But even then, typically they put everybody in a particular area, centralized location in town. All the residents come there. You can talk to those different adjusters and so on, and that’s typically even how that’s set up. So no, in the cases of what we’ve had here in Colorado, your insurance company is not going to knock on your door. These are storm chasers. We call them door knockers. Don’t answer the door. Don’t talk to them. Talk to Dave Hart instead. 303-710-6916. 303-710-6916. Group Insurance Analyst is next, by the way. And at Group Insurance Analyst, they’re going to take care of all of your insurance needs. I say it a lot, but they’re a broker. They shop for you. And the one thing that they do, especially this time of the year, for those of you that have businesses, by the way, and maybe you want to put on a special event, Believe it or not, you probably should have some special event insurance for that particular event that you’re putting on, and GIA can help you with that sort of stuff as well. Not only can they do your business insurance, your car insurance, your health insurance, by the way, on the Medicare end of things. They can do all of that, including when it comes time for the open enrollment end of things. But whatever you need when it comes to insurance, it’s e-gia.com, e-gia.com. And then, of course, safe boxes when it comes to storage of really your valuables, the items that you want to keep safe, things that you would normally keep in a safe deposit box at your bank. Banks are going away. They are not doing as much of the safety deposit boxes as they once were. They’re actually getting out of that business for a lot of different reasons. And at Safebox Deposits, they will take those items, store those things for you, starting at $15 a month. And the other thing that they will do that your bank will never do is if you’ve got a particular heirloom gun, pistol, something along those lines, and you don’t want to store it at home for whatever reason, maybe you’re a snowbird, maybe you go back and forth, whatever the case may be. Maybe you fly to different destinations and you don’t want to go through the hassle of taking your gun with you. You want to store that instead. They can do all of that for you at Safebox Deposits. Go to safeboxdeposits.com or call 303-771-8000. 303-771-8000. Sorry, I’ve got to take a drink of water. I’ve got to have a little break here occasionally to have a drink of water. Some of you are probably thinking, John, why are you doing all these commercials live today? We’ve got a little software glitch today. I talked about that during the first hour and the top of this hour as well. doesn’t stop us from doing this show. I can continue to talk. I know all of our sponsors very, very well, literally like the back of my hand. And so, yeah, we just keep rolling along and it’s not a big issue. But yeah, that is for some of you that are listening. That is why. Also, if you’re texting me, because some of you are, I can see the messages, you know, the message alerts. Given that I have no time to not talk. barely enough to even take a drink of water, I can’t read your messages. I’m sorry. I’m not that good. I can’t talk, read messages, and respond all at the same time. My brain doesn’t work that well. It struggles at times just to have the conversation that we’re having right now in front of the microphone. So at any rate, if you’re texting, I do appreciate it, but I’m not able to read those. I won’t be able to read those until after we’re done with the show tonight. And even then I hop in the car and start driving. And even then I don’t read messages when I’m driving for obvious reasons. So in the meantime. Lines are open. We’ve got one segment left here, 303-477-5600. Some of you might have some comments that you want to add to when it comes to the whole, you know, trade school end of things. And, you know, just how do you get that student, that young person, on the right track? And I’ll give you another one of my philosophies as a parent. And some of you can take this advice or not. I’m a big believer on paying on the front. play on the back or you can play on the front and pay on the back and it’s true with everything in life it’s true with your job it’s true with schooling true with assignments it’s true with the show you name it you can pay up front and play on the back or you play up front and pay on the back for example some people wait to have kids nothing wrong with that if you want to wait to have kids that’s totally up to you that means you’re playing on the front side And I’m sorry to say, but yes, having kids means you’re paying because in a lot of ways you’re paying in more ways than one, but you’re paying on the backside. So you’re playing up front, paying on the backside. A lot of other people decide that they’re going to go ahead and have kids early and they’re done having kids that may be age, I don’t know, 45 or 50. Well, now they’ve got all sorts of time to quote unquote play. They paid on the front and they paid on the back. John, what’s going on?
SPEAKER 08 :
Hey, so I was laughing when Joe was talking about different apprenticeships. They just hired two new apprentices, and the first week they had them do nothing but climbing.
SPEAKER 03 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 08 :
Because, you know, even though we have so much equipment that they don’t have to anymore, every now and then they have to. Interesting. So what they did is they put them up on two poles about 15 feet apart and made them play catch.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, good idea.
SPEAKER 08 :
So they’d get used to it. Yeah. I knew a guy decades ago. He’s gone, unfortunately. He got arrested. He went down to the Excel lineman school, and the first week they had him doing that, and he was like, no, this ain’t for me. And he came back, and he said, no, I’ll go back to my old job. I said, no. You know, it’s not for everybody.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s not for everybody. No, just to everybody straight up, John, that would not be for me. I’m not into heights. I can do some things. You know, some things don’t bother me at all, but that one I would not be able to do. I can’t do that.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, if I was 30, I wouldn’t have a problem. At 63, no. That’s it.
SPEAKER 03 :
And for me, John, the problem I’ve always had with heights is I’m not afraid of heights. I’m afraid of that very hard stop at the bottom is what I’m always afraid of.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, it’s not the fall that kills you. It’s the sudden stop.
SPEAKER 03 :
Correct. Correct. That’s what always bothers me. So I’m not a height guy at all.
SPEAKER 08 :
And I would tell any kid, that if you just graduated high school and maybe you’re in fairly good shape and you don’t want to pay for college, go join the military for three or four years. There’s kids graduating probably last week, this week. I mean, you can learn anything from computers to vehicle maintenance to, I don’t know, just the military has carpenters. They have everything. True. You know, go in with, say, hey, I want to learn how to do this, or I want to learn how to do that. Just don’t follow Andy and be a chaplain’s assistant.
SPEAKER 03 :
Ha! Good one.
SPEAKER 08 :
I bet you, if he’s not listening… No, he’s probably in… You know him, he’s probably in the movies right now. Yeah, oh, yeah, true. It’s Thursday. He’s got reviews tomorrow.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, it is Thursday. But, you know, all the different things that you can learn. I mean, there’s, like… The entry-level job in utilities used to be meter readers. Well, meter reading is, you know, that’s like horse and buggy makers.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. Gone by the wayside. Yep.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right. But one of the new entry-level positions is locators. So you call 8-1-1 and you need your lines located. True. Well, that’s not a super hard skill. to teach someone how to do that, you know, it’s not easy. You know, you can teach someone.
SPEAKER 03 :
And, John, I want to dovetail into that because the other thing I was going to add to what you’re saying, the other thing I would be encouraging young people, I had this conversation last night with a gentleman. We play trivia on Wednesday nights near my house and I was in a conversation with one of the other guys in there. And the one thing that I would be encouraging kids to do right now is what jobs are AI not going to replace? And what you’re talking about is one of them.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right. So you start as a locator. You join the union, and in six months, an opening comes up as an apprentice in one of the departments. Well, you’re already there, so they’ve got to offer, if you’re qualified, they’ve got to offer you it first because you’re already in the union as opposed to somebody coming off the street. So if there’s an entry-level position, whatever it is, take it. Because, you know, I started as a meter reader. Then I went to customer service because I had computer skills. And I never left customer service. I went, you know, I did advanced billing, stuff like that. But that’s also a skill set. If you know how to operate a computer and you know Excel and Word and all the other, and I know you’re not, Microsoft programs that you use in an office and you get good at it, you get paid very well. If you can, you know.
SPEAKER 03 :
I won’t disagree with that. You’re correct.
SPEAKER 08 :
If you can use an Excel spreadsheet and know how to do formulas and pivot tables and things like that, you’re a lot further ahead. And that’s another thing where the schools are lacking on. Yes, they’re not having shop class anymore, but they’re not having computer sciences either. No, they are not. How to use a computer other than to go surf the web. Well, what can this computer do? Well, you know. I’ve started using Copilot because that’s what I have available to me. Oh, gosh. Are you using one of the AIs just for basic stuff?
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, yes. Yes.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, my God. You need an Excel formula, and you don’t want to look it up.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, just do that. Absolutely. Yes, yes, yes.
SPEAKER 08 :
And it gives it to you, and then it lets you copy and paste it, so you just have to make a few modifications. But all these things that are there that don’t require a college degree – are just, you know, at what point do we, you know, we were encouraged. Were you encouraged to go to college when you were growing up? I mean, that was the thing in the 70s, early 80s.
SPEAKER 03 :
I mean, yes, but I had no desire to go.
SPEAKER 08 :
No, neither did I. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t know what I wanted to do in my life, and I wound up, well, it was 1980, and you know the unemployment rate under Jimmy Carter.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right, right, exactly.
SPEAKER 08 :
Not a lot of jobs.
SPEAKER 03 :
Exactly.
SPEAKER 08 :
Not a lot of jobs, but the Army was recruiting, and I spent 11 1⁄2 years there.
SPEAKER 03 :
I hear you.
SPEAKER 08 :
And learned a skill.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yep, that’s right.
SPEAKER 08 :
I was a Bradley M1 mechanic. I mean, I could have came out and done diesel mechanics, but that’s hard work.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 08 :
And I was ready to not do hard work.
SPEAKER 03 :
I don’t blame you. I don’t blame you. John, I’ve got one more call I’m going to squeeze in. Appreciate you, man, very much. Del, I’ve got about a minute or so. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, John. The thing, I went to Denver Automotive and Diesel after I got out of service. And the one thing about trade schools is they’re good. Don’t get me wrong. But when you go to one, you’ve got to go in because the first thing they try to tell you, You’re going to go to that school and get out and set the world on fire. You’ve got to go in and learn the basics with the tools and that they provide with the schools. you’re not going to set the world on fire.
SPEAKER 03 :
You’re right. You’re exactly right. Dale, I appreciate it. That’s great advice. No, you’re 100% correct, and I cannot argue with that at all. Great advice. By the way, all of you, appreciate it all very much. Golden Eagle Financial coming up next. Again, when it comes to your future finances, where are you going? How are you going to get there? Do you know where you’re going? How about sitting down with somebody that can help you analyze all of that and ask the right questions to even get you through that process of much like we’re talking about with young kids getting into their first job. OK, how are you going to get to retirement? And oh, once you’re there, what are you doing? Because you can’t just sit and watch TV all day long. There’s other things you need to be doing in retirement. What are those things going to be? And how do you fund all of those things? That’s where Golden Eagle comes into play. Al Smith, he’ll help you with all of those things. Find him by going to klzradio.com. You can also call him directly at 303-744-1128. Again, 303-744-1128. And again, please tell Al that you heard him here. Great guy, by the way. You hear Al on his own program, by the way, every Wednesday from 2 to 2.30 before our program. So again, anytime you need something financially speaking, give Al a call. Flesh Law. You hear me talk about Flesh a lot, by the way. And as I was talking to a gentleman last night, who happened to be an attorney, by the way, who also, like Kevin, is not afraid to go to court. In fact, said, hey, I love going to court. Kevin is the same way. And he and I both talked about how most attorneys… By and large, even his colleagues, they hate going to court. They do every single thing they possibly can not to go to court. In some cases, leaving money on the table when it comes to settlements and the like because they don’t want to go to court. I had an attorney last night tell me the exact same thing that I’ve heard from Kevin. So it’s not just Kevin that says that. Other good attorneys will say the same thing. Kevin will go to bat for you. He’s not afraid to go to court. He’s trial-tested, trial-ready. He’ll work either side, by the way, whether it’s criminal… or whether it’s civil, you name it, he’s there to represent you, 303-806-8886, 303-806-8886. All right, Dr. Scott is our last commercial for the day. And Scott, by the way, great guy, fills in for me at times when I am gone. He just did last Wednesday, board-certified internal medicine doctor. So, no, he is not somebody that’s just a – you know homeopathic you know kind of a nothing against those people but he’s a full board certified md scott’s been through by the way got that from what john from cheyenne was talking about in the service as well so he’s actually been in the service doing a lot of that as well so Point being, Scott understands a lot of things, even like Dr. Kelly when it comes to trauma and the like. He understands exactly what you need, not that’s going to be directed by your health insurance company or that’s directed by Big Pharma. He’s doing whatever is best for you, and he has a lot of alternative things therapy-wise that you can do. Everything from, of course, stem cell therapy where he uses umbilical-derived stem cells. He’s got the cryo end of things. He’s got a hyperbaric chamber. He’s got red light therapy. he can do all sorts of things regarding nad and helping you lose weight and and and and we can go through all sorts of things that he does and it would take me more than you know one full commercial to actually do that because of the amount of things that scott does so bottom line if you need a doctor that thinks like you and yes he’s a concierge doctor not that expensive And the way that works is you pay him an annual fee, and he’s your doctor, and everything you need done from him is included in that price. He can explain all of it, sit down, have a nice long conversation, and he’ll help you with all of the rest. 303-663-6990. 303-663-6990. That is Dr. Scott’s. And one last thing I should talk about, too, is group insurance analysts. I know I talked about them earlier, but when it comes to them… And anything that you need when it comes to insurance, please give GIA a call. They are a broker. I say it all the time, but they shop what’s best for you. And that includes those of you that are business owners where you may be thinking, gosh, I really need some help on this business insurance end of things. The rates just keep going up and up and up. I need somebody that will really go to bat for me. That is group insurance analysts. Give them a call today. Their number also, it’s e-gia.com or 303-423-0162. All right, tomorrow. Let me get to my notes here on that. Andy will have The Last Rodeo and Karate Kid Legends. I haven’t seen previews for either one of those, so I’ll try to look those up tonight before tomorrow’s program. And then Movie Rental Hour tomorrow, because of the Karate Kid end of things, will be Teachers and Trainers. So movies that have teachers or trainers, and that’s a broad… topics so for those of you that even send in suggestions and so on keep in mind that we never are too particular on you know it doesn’t have to be all about a teacher or a trainer there can just be teachers and trainers in the movie and we’ll let that qualify when it’s all said and done so again text those in if you would like 307-282-22307 282.22. All right, that’s going to do it for today. Thanks for your patience, by the way, with some of our technical glitches we had. We appreciate that very much as well. Have a great night. Be safe. We’ll see you tomorrow. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
