A Labor Day Special: The Work We Do

Life Audio.

On today's episode of Timeless Wisdom.

My friends, this is what I do on a Labor Day. Uh, I talk about labor. Well, what do you do for a living?

I sell hors d'oeuvres.

I'm a mobile locksmith. Uh, I've been in business for myself for 4 years.

Nice to speak with you, Dennis. I'm in the real estate business. I sell real estate.

You're a realtor. Now, what percentage of laypeople will say realtor as opposed to realtor?

I'm actually a humor consultant slash entertainer.

I am a car salesman.

Okay, now, now, a used car or new car?

Ah, both.

Oh yeah, because dealers now do both.

Yes, they do.

That's right. Oh, how can I not take this? Mark, Huntington Beach, California. You're a tobacconist?

Hello.

Are you really a tobacconist or you did that to get on? No, I am really a tobacconist.

I am what's known as a picker.

And what is it you pick?

That's coming up on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.

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Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Hear thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs. And to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to dennisprager.com.

Hey everybody, this is The Dennis Prager Show. I'm Dennis Prager, and this show is coming to you live This is not a statement of boast. It is a statement of simple fact that I am one of the only nationally syndicated talk show hosts— in fact, probably one of the only local talk show hosts, uh, in any city— that broadcasts on national holidays. I try to honor them, and that's the way it is. And so this Labor Day of 2004, here I am with you, so you can call in actually and we can talk. For those of you who have never heard my show, And that happens on holidays because there are new folks who are normally not able to listen to radio or don't choose to or what have you. All right, here's the story for today. We're gonna have fun here, my friends, and interesting because I'm gonna ask you about your work. What do you, my listeners, do for a living? 1-800-PRAGER-776. It's Labor Day. How do you labor? By the way, uh, that's 1-800-PRAGER-776 or 1-877- 243-7776. One of the innovations that I want to bring to the show is a periodic— it's not going to be every other week or— and no, no scheduled, but I, I do want to do it. I want to have people from all professions of life, everything from, from, you know, policemen to, uh, car salesmen, anything. I want them in the studio, 3 or 4 from any given profession, and I want to ask them about their lives. I love that. I love that stuff.

I love—

I much prefer to talk to people in regular life, if you will, than on the air, that is, than often, often off the air, than some celebrity or powerful politician. Uh, that is just— it's just I find them to be more, uh, often more interesting. So anyway, here's the chance now. What do you do for a living? What do you, my listeners, do? You know what I do. What do I do?

I do a radio talk show 5 days a week for 3 hours, which is a lot.

And for most people, it's— that's it.

But I also write a weekly column. I also write books.

I give about—

how many lectures do I give about a year? About 100?

That's a—

I think that's, that's about right, about 100 lectures around the country and sometimes in foreign countries a year.

And I teach the Bible verse by verse from the Hebrew Bible specifically, uh, that I've been doing, and that is on tape. I've been doing that for 12 years.

So that, I think that, does that pretty much cover That's a lot of stuff. Okay, let's see, what do you folks do? What do you do for a living? And let us begin with Rala in Woodland Hills, California. Rala, Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis.

Hi.

This is so exciting. Well, I heard your list. I have a semi-big list too. I'm actually a humor consultant slash entertainer. My company's called The Power of Play, and I teach The Art of a Playful Attitude. How to lighten up and still hit your bottom line when I'm working in corporations. When I work with individuals—

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. This is a totally new profession to me.

It is?

A humor consultant to corporations?

That's what I call myself. A humor consultant slash mentor trainer.

Do you make a living?

Yes, I make a good living.

What do you—

what for—

if, uh, if the Toyota Corporation came to you Yes.

I love that. Toyota, are you listening? If they came to me, yes, and they said they were having problems in their sales department or with customer service, I would say you need the power of play, which is sort of tilting the picture of a problem using improvisational theater. I was in the original Groundlings. Do you know the Groundlings?

No.

It's an improvisational theater company here in Los Angeles. We're about to have our 30th anniversary. I was in the original company. So I took my background in improvisational theater, hooked up with Norman Cousins and Dr. O. Carl Simonton.

Ah, Norman Cousins, for those who don't know, wrote the book about the medicinal benefits of laughter.

Correct. It was called—

Laughter Is the Best Therapy.

Oh, I can't remember the name of the book.

Best Medicine. Laughter Is the Best Medicine.

Yes.

And Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient. And it was about how he healed himself using laughter, watching comedy videos. So it was sort of the Bible of, uh, in our field of humor and healing. And that was my background. This is my 20th year doing this. I spent 9 years with the mentally ill and the homeless in Santa Monica working at Step Up on 2nd.

So you are hired by corporations about how to make them more playful.

Exactly.

How to lighten up and still perform well. Boy, do they need—

boy, you know who need you?

No.

The people who answer the phones for companies.

The people that answer the phones for companies? No, your people are great. Yes, great phone is the first—

Great phone.

Great phone is the first impression that you have.

They don't even laugh when I'm funny.

Well, I love your Friday show. I love your happiness hour.

Well, thank you.

In teaching people how to live from their heart, not their head, and how to lighten up, you really have to address—

You could do both.

You have to live both.

Well, you have to merge both, but you know, it's very important to start to recognize where you don't, you don't realize that a smile, um, you can't be miserable when the lips are turned up. Try it. Try smiling right now.

I am.

Okay, you know what I mean? You can't, you can't, you can't even be angry. I'm still smiling. I mean, you can be angry, but when you turn the lips up, it changes the energy in your body.

You know, you're right. I'm talking while smiling right now.

There you go.

I'm going to do this the rest of the day.

Now put your lips down in a frown.

Okay, and now I'm going to frown.

Do you feel—

now talk to me.

Oh, now you see, look at that. You're right.

It comes to—

Isn't that interesting?

Hey, that's good. Rala, you're the best. Thank you. Good luck. All right, put that down. Alan, we got to keep a running list here about the professions of my listeners. She's a humor consultant for corporations. All righty. Wow, I love it. I love it. Let's see here. Let's go to Philadelphia. Philadelphia, WNTP NewsTalk Philadelphia 990. Eileen, Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis. It's an honor to speak with you.

Thank you so much. You and your husband own a cleaning company.

It's about as little exotic as you can get.

I like your humor. I like it.

Very simple.

Now wait a minute. What now? What is that? You, you don't—

you don't—

you say you clean anything? You don't clean clothing?

No, no, you're absolutely right. We kind of bill ourselves as big and You know, we're a small business, it's only the two of us and my one daughter-in-law, but that's basically how we're staying in business, because we've tried to hire people, and it's very difficult to get people on a regular basis to show up at the proper time, especially for residentials when you have seniors and they have, you know, medical care that they have to get back and forth to. So we keep our business by really catering to the people themselves.

Now, but why— again, I'm not fully understanding. How would I hire— for my house, how would I hire you?

Oh, okay.

Why would I say my house is dirty? That's when you get a cleaning lady. I don't understand.

Well, we consider that job security. So the more kids, the more pets you have, the more we know that you need us.

So really, it's like a deep cleaning, to use a dentist term.

Yes.

Oh yes.

We'll cater to anyone's needs. We have some people that we only do once a month. We have some people that call us periodically, and we have some people that have to have us in every week.

What is your most common— your most common job is a house or a business?

I would say businesses. We're doing a lot of restaurants, dance studios, uh, we did banks at night.

Well, but wait a minute, so you do hire employees, obviously?

Well, no, we, we really do work it ourselves. We've been doing this for 4 years, and we just—

You go on the job? You go— you, your husband, and your daughter-in-law go on the job?

Yep.

And we do it all, and most of our jobs have to be done before 9 o'clock, but I do have to say that since I started listening to you, I look so forward to the 1 o'clock hour here in Philadelphia for the happiness hour. I used to dread Fridays because they went so long and I didn't have anything to listen to.

Oh, that's so sweet.

I have my headsets on and I just—

Oh, so while you're cleaning, you're listening to my show?

Oh yes, I have my headset on all the time.

That's true, that will help, there's no question.

It makes my life fly by.

Now, do you— does your husband go to one job and you to another, or you go to the same job?

Many times when we first start a job, we do them together. Another good reason to have a headset when you're working with your husband all day long.

So wait a minute, that was my last question. Do you feel that working together as well as being in the house together has bonded you further or been an obstacle?

It has been wonderful.

That's what I believe. That's what I believe. That's why I asked it. Yeah. Well, you know, it's the old therapist on all this. Those who clean offices together stay together.

Well, I have one real quick funny thing that happened. One time we were doing 2 offices in the same building, and we both have our headsets on, and he's my little— I call him my partner in grime because he's always vacuuming.

That's cute.

That's cute.

So he took his headset off, and I went to tell him that I was going to another office. So he had— he turned off the vacuum, but his headset was so loud that when he put the headset back on, I stood there and I watched that man vacuum for 20 seconds with the power off of the machine. Finally, he started shaking the handle of the machine, and he looked up at me and he turned beet red.

He goes, how long have I been vacuuming with the power off?

I said, oh, long enough, honey. Long enough.

A great story. Eileen, you take care. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

That is precious. That is precious. I love that stuff.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

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Now, back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.

Uh, go over to, uh, back to Minnesota here, and Art on the Patriot. Hello, Art. Dennis Prager.

Good morning, Dennis.

Hi.

What do you do?

I am a car salesman.

Okay. Now, now, a used car or new car?

Uh, both.

Oh yeah, because dealers now do both.

Yes, they do.

That's right. Uh, all right, stay on. I don't want to— go on.

Dennis, can I take you off the topic for a little bit?

Uh, okay. What would it be on? Because I don't want to go to the news and stuff.

Yeah, your frustration with, uh, liberals.

Uh, hold on, hold on. I don't want to go into politics right now, although tell, tell it to Eva. Maybe, maybe we'll do it. But I really want to— I don't— I want to leave politics for today. It's a holiday. Part of the holiday's meaning is to take a holiday from that stuff. So we got a car salesman on. Boy, do I have questions for him. We'll be back in a moment. What's your labor on Labor Day on The Dennis Prager Show? It's Labor Day. I'm Dennis Prager. This is live, as I do national holidays, unless the only time I take off on national holiday is if, for example, if July 4th, uh, holiday— if July 4th itself falls on a Saturday or Sunday and Monday is off, because Monday is off, I will take off as well because it's really not July 4th, which is what happened, I believe, this year, if I'm not mistaken. It's the only time. So back to now, what is your work? That is the point. Hello, Art, back to you. You're a car salesman in Minneapolis.

I am.

How many years have you been a car salesman?

I went into this kind of for a short-term deal, and it's 18 years later.

Doesn't that happen? I mean, that is so typical of what happens to people in their lives.

I know. I don't think anybody ever grows up to be a car salesman.

Oh, you know, that's a good point. How many—

that's true.

How many, you know, that's it. That, Alan, here's a great question for a show. How many of you are doing what you thought you would do or wanted to do when you were 15? So you mean if somebody had asked you at 15, so, all right, what do you think you'll do when you grow up?

You wouldn't—

didn't say car salesman.

I think my mother would have slapped me upside the head and said, get real, or something.

Now, what is the—

what is the thing?

I have to admit, and I don't— I don't think I'm naive, but what is the thing about car salesmen? Is the stigma only used car salesmen? I mean, it's, you know, it's like almost like lawyer.

Well, as I understand it, the car sales was born with horse and buggy days when you used to barter for horses and buggies and stuff. So that's kind of where car sales got its roots.

And therefore what? It's always been regarded as, you know—

Kind of shady, or there's something going on, or you're trying to sell somebody something they don't want or whatever.

When— Go on.

Car sales is probably the clean— one of the cleaner occupations because you're so regulated.

How— what does that mean? What are you regulated about?

For example, you can't, you can't lie about a product.

Well, you can lie about selling somebody, uh, you know, a television. I don't understand.

Well, you can, you can say this does this and this does that or something, and if it doesn't ring exactly true, well, you know, that's life. Well, with a car, you gotta, you gotta kind of present it as it is, and you gotta be pretty realistic as to what it What it is and what it isn't.

I gotta say, I have never understood the sort of stigma that goes with the profession. I don't understand it. I have bought, I don't know, 12 cars in my life. I have rarely had bad experiences. Sometimes I've had very pleasant ones.

Well, the good experience, unfortunately, like any other occupation, you don't hear about. It's the bad experience that you do hear about. And most typically, when somebody has a bad experience, they kind of brought the bad experience in with them.

All right, let me ask you a question. This does interest me. Number one, uh, I, I more think about the annoying customers. No, I do. I really do. For example, I am ticked off at the, at the guy who will use your time and your cars to test drive what he knows he won't buy with you.

Exactly. The, the husband that comes in looking for a car for his wife when his wife has got a completely different idea of what, what she wants than he does. But you spend a day with the husband for the wife to come in the next day and buy something completely different.

All right, but at least they're buying. What about— now tell me, is this or is this not, uh, uh, common, that somebody will come in and test drive just because they want to test drive a car?

That's the highest percentage, actually.

Is that?

Yeah.

Now, and what will they do then? They'll go and buy it where? Or they won't even buy it at all? They're just— they're out for a test ride?

Exactly. Yeah, they, they kind of think like you owe them your time. I mean, they don't—

Let me tell you, I have written on this, and I want you to know, seriously, it's very serious to me. This is a literal violation of the commandment, thou shalt not steal.

Right.

They are stealing your time, which is identical to holding you up and mugging you.

Uh, pretty close.

It's only nonviolent.

Well, it's not done deliberately.

Yeah, oh, I wonder. Oh, I wonder. I'd like to— Alan, that's a good example. I want people— ask people if they don't perceive that. Oh, it really— no, it ticks me. I have much more annoyance with customers than I do often with the salespeople. Let me ask you another question. Are you on commission?

Yes, I am.

Do you like that?

Yes, I kind of do, because it's kind of a motivational deal. I mean, typically when people are in sales, they're in sales.

So you're in competition with the other guys at the—

Exactly, yeah.

Doesn't that alienate you from each other?

It does to some extent, and it does to a different extent. I guess the alienation in an office worker is if one office worker doesn't do as much work as the other, you still get paid the same. In sales, if you work harder than the other person, you tend to get rewarded.

Better than the other person. Also, how does it work? I walk in, yeah, and 3 of you are not, uh, with a customer. Aren't you all gonna jump me?

Well, different people have different things going on, and you may not want to talk to anybody at that point. So it's always the most aggressive person will always reach you first, most typically.

Uh, are, are you— since you are anonymous and we don't even know your dealership, can you tell us how much you earn a year?

If you work hard, you can make $50,000 to $100,000.

If you just show up for work, probably $20,000 to $30,000.

And there's a vast difference. Most of the commission structure is done on number of units. So the more you sell, the difference between selling—

Is it done on price or units?

Both.

Most of the places you will get a percentage of the profit, plus you will get What they call unit bonuses and so on. And then there's incentives from the factory that you can also get paid on. But the big thing is, if you sell over 15 units, bonuses and stuff, so that there's a dramatic difference between a person that sells 10 to 15 cars and a person that sells 15 to 20. Their income may double.

Oh, that's it, even though it's only 5 cars?

Their income may double. Really?

Oh, because of the bonuses?

Yeah, because of the bonuses and all the incentives that kick in.

I feel for you folks when I go into a car place. No, I really do.

I really do.

Especially if it's a hot or cold day, huh?

No, no, no. I'll tell you what I feel. I feel for you because I really want to give the business to the first guy that I've used.

Good for you. That's a good attitude.

I do. But, you know, obviously there are times when, you know, we've just decided against that car. But I know that, you know, I'm your bread and butter, and I am aware of that. Is the internet hurting car sales at sales places?

You know, I think it's more of an informational deal than it is an actual selling thing.

Yeah, yeah. I always rather just—

I'm sure there are some sold over the internet, but the percentage of vehicles sold on the internet is probably pretty small.

Well, Art, good luck, my friend.

Thank you. Thanks for having me on the show.

Yeah, no, it was a pleasure to have you on. Alrighty, let's continue here. Oh my God, one of my favorite professions. Oh, how can I not take this? Mark, Huntington Beach, California. You're a tobacconist?

Hello.

Are you really a tobacconist, or you did that to get on? No, I am really a tobacconist.

I work at the Tinderbox in Costa Mesa.

Now, so you sell all my favorite things— pipes, pipes, tobacco, and cigars?

Yes, I do.

Now, do you personally smoke?

Yes, I do.

What do you smoke?

I smoke pipe and cigars. Oh, you're a do— you're, uh, you, you go, uh, both ways like I do. Oh, very good, very good. How many pipes do you own personally? Um, about 30. Yeah, that's about right, that's about right. Uh, you prefer Italian or English pipes? I have both and I love both. Oh, you, you know, come on, that is too, uh, too fair.

What can I say?

I'm sorry.

I prefer Italian pipes. They're much sweeter. I find the English pipes are too dry for me, even though you're supposed to want a dry pipe, but I want the taste of the briar. I get it more, I feel, out of an Italian pipe. Anyway, uh, let me ask you, how many years are you working there? Uh, just about 2 years now. Were you a tobacconist prior to that?

No.

Are you now doing what you love? I'm doing what I love. I'm not making the money I would like, but I'm doing what I love. And the reason for that is because of the vast anti-tobacco campaigns have diminished the number of Californians who smoke? That has a lot to do with it. Well, it's made it not a very profitable business because of the high taxes on the cigars. I want you to tell people around the country what— what is his name? I have abolished his name from my brain to stay happy. Who was the producer, who, uh, director?

Reiner.

Rob Reiner. Yeah, yeah, Rob Reiner. How he has affected so many small businesses adversely. What is the tax on a cigar in California, sir?

Uh, I believe it's around 60%.

Is that unbelievable? That is unbelievable. That's why I, even though I can get them cheaper sometimes on the internet, I still patronize my local dealer. I want them to be in business, and I've always enjoyed the guys at the tobacco shops. Well, thank you, Dennis. Well, I hope to meet you one day. The Huntington Beach, California Tinderbox. The original Tinderbox on Earth is in Santa Monica, California. Oh, I could tell you stories about that. Del Mar, California. Doug, Dennis Prager on KCBQ.

Hello.

I write and illustrate comic books.

What? Which ones?

I have one called Creature Tech, and in fact I mentioned you in the credits and the thank-yous.

You did?

As one of my inspirations. Yeah, I think I got a copy of it to you through Jonathan at the synagogue.

Oh, that's right. Well, thank you. That's right.

And I have a new one called Tomysaurus Rex.

And you are the illustrator?

I'm the writer and illustrator.

Oh, writer as well?

Yeah.

Is that the norm to have one do both?

It's not uncommon, but usually, yeah, people do focus on either writing or illustrating, but I only work on my own stories. I never wanted to illustrate someone else's story.

Did you know as a kid that you wanted to do this?

Not specifically comics, but definitely art. I was involved with— I drew, you know, since my earliest memory.

What among the cognoscenti of comic book art is considered the great art?

Oh, the greatest, in my opinion, would be Maus. That's M-A-U-S.

Oh, I know, sure.

By Spiegelman. That one won the Pulitzer for Literature.

That's right. That's the Holocaust one.

Yep, that's the big one. Bone is another one by Jeff Smith. It's a great fantasy comic.

But I'm thinking about, I mean, for example, are any of the Batman or Spider-Man or any of that, is any of that considered great art?

No.

No, it's kind of considered pulp.

I see.

You know, it's its own genre though, and it really doesn't interest me the way that the kind of the standalone independents interest me.

I see. I see. So all of that is pretty much, you know, once you've seen one, you've seen them all.

I mean, they're unique and they're telling unique stories.

No, no, I don't mean by stories.

I'm just talking purely the artistic part.

Oh, the artistic part? You know, it's hard to blanket them because the art is so different. The styles, you know, they really are unique.

They're just, you know, they're kind of market-driven and And if somebody said to you, I'm going to give you a ton of money, I want you to do the next Batman, could you do it? Could you replicate what the guy has done?

Oh no, I couldn't replicate it, but they would probably come to me for my style.

Yeah, of course.

So the question would be, would I do it?

But no, no, I'm not asking a moral question or anything like that, not that there's any morality here, but I'm asking an artistic question. Could you replicate a Batman or a Superman comic?

Probably not. Probably not to the degree that the audience couldn't tell if that's the purpose of replicating it.

Yes, that's very interesting.

Absolutely, I couldn't.

That's interesting.

And the reason?

The reason is, um, our, our styles are like replicating someone else's signature.

I see.

And perhaps if you studied, you know, that signature for You know, years, I guess, or a year or so, you might be able to get the flair. But, uh—

All right, so quickly, what is the next book? What is it, on dinosaurs?

Uh, it's called Tomysaurus Rex, about, about a boy whose dog gets hit by a car and it, it comes back as a fully formed T-Rex, and it still thinks it's the boy's dog.

And where will this be available?

Oh, it's on Amazon right now.

Great. Thank you, Doug.

And I gotta tell you, Dennis, the way that I make my living isn't off the comic books.

Yeah.

I sell the intellectual property rights to movie studios.

Oh.

And that's what makes America so great. And a big part of my comics, the reason why I gave you that, that thank you in the last book, is part of what gets me out of bed is your show starting at 9 o'clock. And so I make sure that I'm at my art table with the radio turned on.

Well, Doug, that is very touching, and I want you to know that's what gets me out of bed. Thank you so much. I'm really touched. God bless you. Appreciate that. Alrighty, back to the program. On Labor Day, I ask, what's your labor? What do you do for a living? And then we try to analyze it. And it doesn't have to be exotic. In fact, the more common it is, the more questions I'll have. So, you know, if you sell tulips to the Air Force, I mean, I'll take it, but it's, you know, it's— I mean, what do I— what am I going to say? All righty, everybody, and let's go to some of the calls here. Alan is keeping a list, I trust, of the professions that we have thus far interviewed. Stephanie. Stephanie in Phoenix on KKNT. Hi, Stephanie, Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis, what an honor to talk to you.

That's so sweet.

I think the worst part of my job as a teacher is that I never get to hear you.

Well, there are 2 things I can think of immediately.

One, you can quit.

Uh, the other—

I was— that was a joke. It was a joke. I didn't hear any chuckle and I got worried that you thought I was serious.

The other is you could play it for your class.

True.

Then they would get a good education. That's a good point. All right, so now, so on a holiday you can hear me?

That's right.

That's why I listened today.

I got you. Now, what, uh, what exactly, uh, whom do you teach?

I, uh, I teach the 7th and 8th grade language arts, which is reading and writing, to, um, an inner-city school.

Well, why do they call it language arts and not reading and writing? Is there something demeaning about reading and writing? Language arts, that is so funny.

I know, because we really don't teach language at all.

What do you teach?

Uh, mostly reading and then how to write, and these kids don't know anything, so it's, it's pretty much basic.

Is this a public school?

Yes, yes.

And, and, uh, why don't the kids know anything?

Well, they're very low.

They don't have any support at home because they're Their parents speak Spanish, and so they don't really get any confirmation of what they're learning in school.

Do you speak Spanish?

Very little.

All right, no, no, no, there's no— I don't think you need to. I mean, I'm just curious. So you really— they are immersed in English in your class?

Oh yes, very much so.

But they are low.

They're like 3rd and 4th grade level.

Well, were they born here, most of them?

Some of them. Most of them, though, have families in Mexico. Or they have about 100 people living in their home.

Now, do they want to learn English?

Um, yes, but they don't— like I said, their parents aren't involved in their education at all.

Well, and how does that matter to you?

Um, it matters that, that I have to do all the work and that I don't get any, um—

Because they won't do any homework?

Right, right, because their parents don't really care, you know.

It's tough.

They're tough kids.

But most kids on earth want to learn the language of the television and the street and of the country they're in.

That's a good point.

Is that true for these kids?

Yes.

I mean, they want to learn. It's just that they don't get the adult support, which is frustrating.

So the parents don't really care if the kids know English?

Yeah.

I mean, they care, but they don't—

That's amazing.

It's not a big deal.

They speak Spanish.

Well, that's all right. That's normal.

That's—

every immigrant group has spoken the language of the country they came from.

Yeah.

That's not a bit— that's not here or there. But the kids— now I'm curious, when the kids go home, this is the $64,000 question, or one of them for me. Do they watch English or Spanish TV?

Probably MTV.

Well, at least they get English. I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's Perverse English, but it's English.

I think everything that they watch on television is more visually stimulating to them than really the language. They just want to watch music.

Yeah, that's true.

MTV is hardly a way to learn English, I suspect. I don't even understand the words of the songs.

Yeah, exactly.

So do you enjoy your work, Stephanie?

You know, it's a second job for me. I was in the business world selling and marketing, and I went back and got my master's in education and started over. Like, and so this is definitely the best thing. I'm making 1/10 the amount of money, and I absolutely can't wait to go to work.

Well, that's worth a lot. That is worth a lot to want to go to work. Stephanie, it's a pleasure to hear from you. Oh, it's a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

All right, bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Let's go to Burbank, California. The Californians are coming in today. Sabrina. Hi, Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis.

How are you?

I'm fine, thank you.

Good.

I am a campus supervisor at an elementary school.

What does that even mean?

Oh, well, I greet the children at the gate in the mornings when they come to school.

Oh, you're the one— oh, you do that? You're a greeter?

Yes. I wear a yellow shirt that says campus supervision.

And what do you say to the kids when they come?

I say good morning, and I address them by their first name every day.

You know all their first names?

I do, Dennis, and it took me 9 months To memorize 450 names.

Yeah, in 9 months the year is over.

Right.

That's pretty funny.

Then I have a new group of kindergartners coming in, then I have to start all over.

Well, wait a minute, that, that's incredible.

It is.

But wait a minute, but why— but, but obviously there are kids whose names you don't know.

No, I really—

Now why don't you just say, good morning, welcome?

It—

sometimes, I have to admit, sometimes it'll take me a second, but I do remember their names. Yeah. It took me 9 months.

Now, if that kid showed up the next year, you wouldn't remember, right? This is like short-term memory.

No, I actually live down the street from the school, so I see these kids almost everywhere I go. All year. Grocery stores—

What's the most common name?

Um, in our school, Maria.

Maria.

For girls. And probably... Um, oh goodness, Michael for boy.

Michael. Michael is a perennial. It is one of the only names that, that every generation continues to be in the top 5.

It's a nice name.

It is a nice name, no, no question about it.

I love my job, Dennis.

You do?

I get to watch the kids at play. I watch them while they eat. I get to watch them when they leave school every day.

But what do you— beyond greeting, what do you do the next 5 hours. What do you do?

Actually, I go home for an hour after they do go into class at 8:30. I go home for about an hour. I come home, and then we have about a 2-hour recess where the various grades come out at various times.

And then—

And you supervise the recess?

That's correct.

Make sure what, they're not beating each other up?

Right, pretty much.

But is your school— has it banned dodgeball?

No, not yet.

Oh, that's nice.

We're actually—

I have to admit, my school is unique in a lot of ways. We, um, we do allow the kids to play probably things that some of the other schools don't. And I—

Can the boys run after and catch the girls?

Well, our playground is relatively small.

Oh, then it's no fun.

Then there's no fun.

I mean, that's the whole point of recess.

I know, I agree, I agree.

That's about— that's the only reason I went to school, was for recess to catch the girls.

I'm sure that some of the boys think that way, too.

Yeah.

No, it's a great job, because the kids are great elements.

It is. Anything with kids, I believe it's invigorating.

It really is.

To work with kids is— I envy you in that way.

Oh, you know what? I love this job. It is the most wonderful job that I could ever have.

Well, thank you. It is a joy to talk to you.

Thank you so much, Dennis.

Take care. Righto. Bye-bye.

Thanks.

You know, that's another thing I should ask people. On a 1 to 10 scale, how much do you love your job? Yeah, because that's big. That's big. Because I don't think anybody yet has called in who is making a lot of money. Alrighty, let's go to Dave in the Twin Cities on the Patriot, back to Minnesota. Hello, Dave.

Hey, Dennis, great to talk to you.

How great, on a scale of 1 to 10?

Yeah, I thought I'd say 8.

Oh, that's pretty high. Thank you.

I thought photographer. I thought for sure I could get through on that.

You were right. It's totally selfish because I'm interested too.

Yeah.

You're a professional photographer?

Yep.

You make a living doing it?

Yep.

What do you photograph?

Families, um, weddings, bar mitzvahs, the whole dealy-bob.

You do any boudoir photography?

No, no.

Oh man.

No, no.

That's the whole point.

No, no, no.

I'm kidding. All right, so you do families, Now, do they come to you or do you go to them?

Both.

Okay. Now, how do you— do you include the dog?

Oh yeah, they got a dog.

Now, how did they get the dog to look good? I can't get over you photographers. You even get the dog to smile.

I tell you, the trick is to get the people not to look at the dog while you're working with the dog. If you can get the people to look at you, you can concentrate on the dog and Oh, I see.

How many shots will you normally shoot to get one good family shot?

Well, it depends on what you call good. I think there's multiple good ones. It just depends on what they pick, but—

Well, all right, how many do you shoot, period?

I'd say about 30, 35 images for a family scene.

Now, and why do you say— Count of 3. What do you— what is your trick? What do you do?

Oh, you know, you have a list of those, uh, those funny sayings you use.

Give me, give me one example.

I don't want to ruin your profession.

Yeah, you can say hippie chickens. Always works.

Wait, say hippie chickens?

Yeah. Hey, there it is.

Say hippie chickens works?

Well, I, I don't have them.

I didn't even— I didn't even move my lips.

That usually makes them smile.

Hippie chickens?

That's a good one.

Which one?

Frog pizza.

Frog pizza? Do you work with special types of families?

Well, hey, whatever works, you know.

That's, uh—

I agree with that.

I tell you that the weird ones work better on the adults than the kids.

No kidding.

Oh yeah.

Oh, did you ever have, you know, scenes of like the kids didn't want to be in the picture?

Oh yeah.

Yeah, so you deal with that.

You just got to be— patience is the key. If you don't have patience—

Now, do you, do you love your work?

I'm sorry, say again?

Do you love your work?

Oh, it's great.

You do?

I've been doing it since, um, right out of high school. I went through college working for a professional.

And are you now digital or film?

This year we went all digital.

What camera do you use?

We use S2s. Fuji S2.

Fuji S2? No kidding!

Yeah.

That's the way! Unbelievable. Send me an email and send me a sample photo. Frog Pizza makes them laugh? I don't get it. We'll be back in a moment. I'm Dennis Prager.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

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Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.

Alrighty, let's go to, uh, more of what you do for a living, you my listeners. And let's go to Santa Monica, California, on KRLA 870. Penelope. Hi, Penelope. Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis.

How are you?

Hi.

Good.

Thanks for taking my call.

Thank you. So, what do you do?

I am what's known as a picker.

And what is it you pick?

I pick stuff, basically.

When people have stuff to sell, and basically it's a way that I can I can do 2 of my favorite things in the world, which is shopping and travel. And, um, I— when people, antique dealers or, um, who have shops, they have to get their inventory from somewhere. So what I do is I maintain relationships with them and also relationships all over the country with, you know, yard sales, auctions, um, flea markets, anywhere where there's stuff.

So I am an antique shop owner, and I will contact you and say to you what? Get me a really good Louis XVI bed? I don't understand. What will I say?

No, let's just say you are an antique dealer that specializes in wicker. Then you say to me, keep your eye out for wicker. And I say, okay, what are your parameters? And they say, well, we only want things that are absolutely in pristine condition. They have to be authentic. So I have to know what to look for. I have to know if something's—

Is your specialty furniture?

Um, no, my specialty actually is pottery.

How on God's earth do people find out about you?

Well, I have a— through word of mouth. I have a lot of people. I mean, I'm established, so I have people that actually know me.

Do you have a company name?

No, it's all freelance, and it's just— I mean, I have a company, and it's me, but no. It's, it's, it's not really a corporation.

Wow.

How many people make a living doing what you do?

I don't know that there are many, but there are a few of us that do this. I also take 2 trips a year by car, and I'll go just travel around. I mean, have cell phone, will travel. My, my connection is cell phone. And then I either ship the stuff I find to the different vendors, or else I'll bring it home, and I have a garage that's filled with stuff that I think might be interesting to somebody at some point. I also have different collections that I look for myself that I might end up selling at some point. I'm not sure.

Do you have a family?

No, I don't.

I'm single.

It's a perfect job for a single woman.

Yeah, that's why I asked that question. Listen, good luck.

Thanks so much.

Thank you very much. That's amazing. Amazing what people do. All righty, let's go to Bellflower, California on 870 KRLA. Randy, Dennis Prager. What do you do, Randy?

Nice to speak with you, Dennis. I'm in the real estate business. I sell real estate.

You're a realtor?

Yes, sir.

Now, what percentage of laypeople will say realtor as opposed to realtor?

Uh, a small percentage of them. Most of them say it correctly.

Oh, most people say realtor?

I think so. I mean, that's my experience.

Oh, my experience, people say realtor.

Well, but though, yeah, people don't refer to me as a realtor. They call me Randy. So I don't hear that too often.

All right, fair. I'll call you Randy too then.

There you go.

How long have you been doing this?

I've been doing it for 25 years now, a little over 25 years.

How old are you?

I'm 49.

You started at 24?

Well, yes, I actually worked for the sheriff's department, and I left that field because it wasn't what I wanted.

And, uh, you wanted to shoot bad guys?

There you go.

I don't blame you. That's what I want to do.

So then I didn't know what to do, and, uh, I started selling, of all things, bottled water. And as a result of selling bottled water, I discovered the real estate industry and I thought I could do that.

Unbelievable, the number of people who go from bottled water to real estate. It's unbelievable. Now, uh, uh, the Phoenix market has to be one of the hottest in America.

Well, you— I'm in Southern California.

Oh, why did I— I'm sorry, the last lady was Phoenix. You're right, I'm sorry.

I'm in Bellflower, California.

That was a test. That was to make sure you really are from Bellflower. Okay, fine, you passed. So, Belf— all right, so is it very hot in Bellflower?

Well, it was up until about 3, 4 months ago. For the last couple of years, we've been experiencing tremendous growth in the real estate market, and now I think things have kind of capped out, you might say, and it's just getting to a point where people can't afford it anymore.

Of course not. It's absurd.

Yeah, that's exactly correct. As a matter of fact, lenders have been creating loan programs. You know, fixed rates are right now about 6%. And that is not even affordable anymore, so they've created loan programs like adjustable loans starting in the 2% range to make the houses affordable at their outrageous prices.

And how long on those rates are they— do they stay at 2%?

Well, they're, uh, probably it's a teaser rate for a year and then it'll bump up a percent. That's just a guesstimate, but there are so many of these programs that are available, you can really get one tailored like a suit.

Yeah, well, look, rates can't go much lower than they've been going.

No, I totally agree. So values definitely, in my opinion, have reached their cap for now.

Yeah.

And now they've kind of peaked out, and now they're starting to change a little bit, starting to go down a bit.

So this hurts you, obviously.

I, you know, I find for me, my own business has been pretty consistent year after year, and this is— this will be the 3rd recession that I've I've been through in my industry.

Uh-huh.

So people, people tell me whom I know who are in real estate that a fair percentage of the folks in real estate are not fully, uh, uh, they're, they're not— they don't do honor to the profession. Is that true?

Well, I would totally agree with that. I, I honestly, Dennis, I would say that people need to be aware of who they're hiring because The requirements to get a license are so minimal that anybody—

And they have nothing to do with character.

No, not at all. It has nothing to do with character. It has to do with the incompetence that exists in our industry, has to do with what it requires to get into the industry, but also once you get your license, the training that most companies give is so inept that people fake it. Until they make it. But unfortunately, they have to, they have to fake it and learn by selling your house or by buying you a house.

You send me, send me an email, because when I— one of the professions I want to start with when I do Meet the Profession is real estate. So let me know who you are, okay?

I will, Dennis.

Alrighty, over to— oh, what happened? Oh no, a Jewish flight attendant. What happened, Stacy? You gone?

No, I'm here.

Oh, somehow the words got lost here. Is this Stacy, the Jewish flight attendant?

Yes, it is.

So you say it's rare to have Jewish flight attendants?

It's not your majority of the flight attendants nor pilots, but there are a few of us everywhere.

Yeah. So, uh, when did you start being a flight attendant?

1976.

1976?

Right, with TWA.

Did you ever think you'd still be a flight attendant in 2004?

Well, actually, we got furloughed last year. American took us over and didn't give us our seniority, so we got the boot after September 11th. So I had 25 years, 27 and a half years when they gave us the boot.

You were with TWA?

Right.

And then that was taken over by American?

Correct.

Where were you based with TWA? Well, because they were based in St. Louis, right?

LA.

And I'd been based in New York before, in St. Louis. Uh, Boston for 4 years. It was great. Flew international.

So you're not flying right now?

No, a year ago they—

You miss it?

Yeah, I do. I miss the freedom of just going and doing and—

Well, you know, everything it is, I gotta believe— I mean, I don't romanticize the actual hours on the flight. I know I fly a tremendous amount, and I know it's a hard job. But it is a great job because you're off a lot.

Right, exactly.

And you can go anywhere on earth for free.

Exactly.

Well, not anywhere. You can go where your airline flies for free, and then you can just at minimal price go on other airlines.

Yes, okay, fine, yeah.

$20 to, you know, to Zambia.

Okay.

My daughter just went to London for, you know, for free, except they had to pay a surcharge for first class.

How much?

Well, it's funny, because going there, they sat first class on a 777, and it was $81.

Oh my God, that's painful.

But coming back, it was $177.

Oh, you're breaking our hearts.

So many taxes.

You're breaking our hearts, Stacey, I gotta tell you. The taxi fare is $170.

I know, I know.

So now, you were— what does it mean, furloughed, as opposed to fired? What is the difference?

Well, furlough is they just lay you off, and you have recall rights.

They cannot hire anyone else until they call us back.

Ah, and you have not been called back.

5 years.

They have 5 years to call us back.

And you have not, obviously.

No.

No.

Now, does your seniority from TWA carry over to American?

No, no, they didn't give us our seniority. That was the problem.

So you're like a brand-new employee.

Exactly. That's why we were furloughed first, because we had—

No seniority.

No seniority. So that's why we got our pay, but we did get our pay for all the years.

Why did TWA fail?

Because of Carl Icahn.

Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say.

And then he just raped us and that was it.

I mean, I don't know enough to say yes or no, but I had a feeling you would say that.

How much did you make in a good year?

With TWA or with American?

Either one, either or both.

The most I ever made was $42,000.

So it's a good job, but it's not the highest paying of jobs.

It's not the highest, but if you're single, you can work and you don't mind working, you love working a lot, then you could make— a girlfriend of mine made $50,000 or $60,000.

Well, that's already serious money.

As a service manager, right.

Well, it's true. And anyway, you could do other things. I mean, you know, a lot of people do, right? I mean, it's not a full-time job.

Right. I mean, I—

when I had my daughter when I was 40, and then it was time for me to start taking serious time off. So we had what was called job sharing, where you could work one month, have one month off.

By the way, are you doing dishes while talking to me?

I'm cutting up tabbouleh as we speak.

That is so funny.

I heard, I heard the sink.

You can't hide it from me.

I'm sorry.

No, no, no, I couldn't care less. It's all right, I'm ribbing you.

I don't, I don't Anyway, but the best part about this job was that I got to— I check out synagogues everywhere I go.

Oh.

And I went to services everywhere.

Oh, wow.

And that was the most interesting thing about it.

Oh, that's a terrific thing you did.

Yes.

The best place I went, most interesting, I went to Djerba, Tunisia.

Oh, I'll bet. Well, listen, I really hope you're back in the air soon.

Thank you. I do too.

Thank you. And if I fly with you, come over and say hi. San Diego, KCBQ, David. Hello, David. What do you do for a living?

Yes, Dennis, it's great to talk to you.

Yes, thank you.

Well, I'll tell you what, I am doing part-time something I developed an interest in after 20 years working in the hospital as a registered nurse, and that interest is in venous access, getting blood out of people. It sounds sort of probably a non-interest, it doesn't sound very interesting, but it is for those that Why would it sound not interesting? Well, I don't know.

It sounds a little ghoulish that you have wanted for 20 years to take people's blood, but it doesn't sound uninteresting.

Well, I developed the interest because in my part of the hospital, in radiology, we worked with people who typically had what medical people call bad veins. And so these poor people have been traumatized severely and repetitiously. There's very little done in the medical profession to teach doctors or nurses how to draw blood.

To draw blood? No kidding. I went in 5 years ago, one of the only times in my life in a hospital, because I had tingling and they wanted to do tests immediately, so they drew blood. I mean, I was fine, as it turned out. It was just some neural thing which just disappeared. neurological thing. Anyway, there was a nurse, I mean, it was really, it was, she tried 3 times.

Oh no.

Yes. And I thought, this is a little silly. This is what you get paid to do. I could botch it 3 times.

Dennis, what happened to you is what happens, and it is, it's unneedful, it is an assault, and it is because the medical profession puts little Actually, no time in ensuring quality control for people. It's a very easy thing to do right, but they do not put time or money into it.

I believe that. I believe that. I want to tell you, it's so funny that you should mention this because I actually have some passion on this subject. I believe in, you know, getting regular checkups and getting blood tests, and there is a doctor that I have chosen Because of the excellence of the woman that takes the blood, and I schedule it with her.

Yes.

Because there is an art to that.

Yes.

No, I'm glad that you're proud of it. Let me ask you a question. You're a registered nurse?

Yes.

But right now, does that matter? Do you have to be an RN to draw blood?

Oh, not at all, not at all. In fact, in fact, I'm so interested in this topic that I actually took a course in phlebotomy, which is well below nursing, big time.

What's phlebotomy?

Phlebotomy is basically accessing the vein, getting in the vein and taking blood out.

Oh, that's its own technical thing.

Yeah, but, but, you know, the thing that I have passion about is the fact that, that there is the need for the medical profession to change. If a healthy male like you gets stuck 3 times, what do you think they're doing to the little elderly people?

Oh, I believe you, and I have obvious veins. Let me ask you a question. What percentage of people you take blood from look while it's being drawn?

Oh, I'd say probably 5%. Not very many.

Not many.

See, that's my goal. That is my goal to prove my manhood to myself, is to look while it's being taken. Oh, I, I, I can, I can do it in the middle, but not at the first Well, Dennis, you know what?

I, I would be happy— and I don't know if this would work— but I would be happy to deal with anyone in your audience by email, etc., to be like a consultant for people who have difficulty. That's very sweet. They could email me the problems and I could give them some hints.

Well, you know what? I love the fact that you are passionate about excellence. That's all that matters in any profession. Thank you, David.

Well, thank you for talking.

Yes, you bet. And I mean that, folks. I want to tell you something. It means the world to me that he is passionate about being excellent in drawing blood. I was a waiter for a number of summers, and I remember I had the deepest passion to be the best waiter at the summer camp that I was a waiter. And that is that it doesn't matter what you do, it matters whether you do it well. And it doesn't matter the profession. I mean, you've heard the doctor, the psychiatrist who comes on periodically onto the Happiness Hour on Fridays, and he, as every single psychiatrist or psychologist I've interviewed, has told me that half, at least half his profession is not competent, of the people in his profession. So it's not what you do, it's whether you do it well. All righty. I don't even understand this next profession of Michael. Hello, Michael in Los Angeles. Yes.

Yes.

Hi, Dennis.

Yes.

Hi, uh, I'm a match mover in Los Angeles.

Well, all right.

I don't understand what a match mover is.

I know a matchmaker.

Oh, most, most people, most people don't. It's actually part of the visual effects industry.

The visual what? The visual effects. Oh, visual effects industry. Yes.

And what it is, is when they shoot the live-action footage, they need the information— the artist who is adding, let's say, a model into the scene, they need to— they don't want to bother with trying to figure out what the camera was OK, I don't understand it, so give me a real-life example. OK, real-life example. If you saw the movie X-Men, there was a scene where someone was passing a bottle and it frosted over. So I had to figure out— I didn't do this scene in particular, but anyway, the camera is moving and the bottle is moving. First step is to figure out what the camera was doing when they shot the footage, because, because you need— the computer camera needs to mimic the movements of the live-action camera exactly when you load the footage.

Oh, oh, so you're creating the effects on a computer, right? So you're— oh, this is a new profession. This was not even around 10 years ago.

No.

And, and so you must be a young guy.

34. Yeah, okay, I get it now.

And then—

well, you're the future of movies.

Well, we'll see.

I know a lot of our jobs are going to India. No kidding.

But yeah.

Because of the tremendous computer literacy there.

Yeah, it's actually frustrating. I just started 2 years ago.

It's—

and you literally— it's a very meticulous job.

Well, have you thought of moving to India?

No.

No, I like living in the United States. I understand that. But anyway, so, and then you've got someone makes a model of the bottle.

I know, I get it.

I know what you do now.

Anyway, on a side note, I know it's a little off subject.

No, go ahead.

But the thing about the visual effects industry, if anyone who still says that there's discrimination and that it's unfair to women, they should just work in the visual— or just take a look at the visual effects industry. I mean, we literally have someone from every part of the world. They don't care about what you look like or what you're born—

Of course not.

They couldn't care less.

Exactly.

But most of the people doing 3D are men. However, most of the people in charge, in terms of the coordinators and the producers, are women.

Huh.

So you work for a woman?

Uh, well, I, uh, currently I don't. My last job, my manager was a woman.

I see.

I take it you're not married?

Actually, I am. Oh, I just, just got married 4 months ago.

Oh, so 4 months ago I would have been right.

Congratulations. Good luck to you.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you very much. There's a guy from what we call the industry. All right, uh, over to Cleveland. WHK, Joan. Hello, Joan, Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis.

I'm an independent radio programmer. What does that mean? I'm in radio and I don't even know what you do.

Exactly. Well, not many in the industry do, although I do have a local station that's interested in me.

I want to put entertainment back on the radio.

I have a show called Supper and the Silver Screen.

We do a—

it's a weekly show.

We're putting it on the weekends. We do a food tip and then we do movie reviews. Um, another show called, uh, What's the Big Idea? Now wait, wait, you produce radio shows?

I produce them, yes.

So you're not a programmer, you're a producer?

Well, I guess you're right.

I'm a producer.

Okay, you produce— that's interesting.

That's true.

After all, people produce TV shows. Why don't they produce, uh, radio shows? That's very interesting. Right, but the industry doesn't do it. That's right. I'm saying it's why it's interesting. It's, it's unique. Send me an email. I'd like to see what you've produced. Alrighty, we will continue. Air cleaners, land speculator. I will get to the fireman here. He's been holding on a while. 1-800-PRAGER-776 on this, the, uh, the special edition. Not special— what does that even mean? It's the special show because it's Labor Day. Back in a moment.

You're listening to—

The David Pakman Show at davidpakman.com. Welcome to The Dennis Prager Show.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

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Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.

Uh, let's go anyway. Let's, uh, see, let's go to, uh, well, let's be, uh, not fully that direction, which is why I'm going there. Seal Beach, California. Larry. Hello, Larry. Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis.

How are you?

Good, thanks.

Um, I'm a fireman for 30 years.

What is the normal, uh, uh, retirement age for a fireman?

Usually anytime after 20 years.

Yeah, so you're in it longer.

That's what I was thinking, that depending on the place of the work, it would be a capped-out retirement at 55, 57.

Some places have no retirement So you can stay on as long as you can do the work?

I could go till 57. I don't think I'd want to.

Why?

I think my body would probably be, uh, telling me to quit by then.

Now, is it typical— you're with the fire department, uh, you sleep at the station some nights? How does it work?

Well, I'm out of doing that. I'm in the office now, more or less up on the, uh, career ladder, so I'm in the office 5 days a week.

Oh, I see.

Normally firemen sleep overnight.

How often?

Um, it depends. Here it's 48 hours on, 72 off, but other places it varies.

How was it to sleep at the station?

Is it okay? Is it—

you just, you know, do you miss home? How is it?

I sleep pretty good wherever I'm at.

Was it—

did every night you get awakened for a fire?

No, sometimes not, and it's usually more medical aids than fires.

Oh, that's right. Now, why is that? Why— how did the fire department ever get the job of treat— going to a guy with a heart attack?

Well, to be honest, uh, I think it was, uh, job protection back in the early 1970s or late '60s. The more, uh, more calls were medical aids, and fire departments thought, well, this is This is the wave of the future. We're getting less fires because of more fire prevention and less fires. So go into the—

So how— I've always wondered about that. You know, it seems to be a total non sequitur. I get a heart attack, I call the fire department.

Well, you'd also get an ambulance and firemen and paramedics, which are more trained. And sometimes you have a fire engine that has firemen and they're all paramedics too.

That's the reason? Because that's the fastest way to get paramedics?

Uh, one of the reasons.

What else? What other reason would I call the fire department if somebody had a heart attack?

Um, that would probably be the fastest way unless you know CPR or have—

Yeah, because you go through red lights and so on, so you can get here fast and you can treat me.

That's true.

So that's fascinating. So there are fewer fires, aren't there?

Yes.

There's more stringent codes as time goes on.

Did you ever have a fire that scared you?

Do they all scare you? How does it work?

Uh, yes. And not at the time, but afterwards.

Wait, which gets the yes? They all scare you, or you had a few in particular?

Oh no, a dumpster fire doesn't scare me, except you never know what's in the dumpster. Um, uh, there have been fires where I've been on a roof and the roof has caved in, and those are scary.

What happened to you?

Well, fortunately the chainsaw didn't start, and I don't know if to ascribe it to providence or something else or just mechanical failure. As soon as we got off the roof, it came in. So if we'd been up there with a chainsaw going, I would have been inside where it was burning. So I trust it to providence.

Have you lost any colleagues?

Um, not on the job, but some soon after they retire from various Various things that either— usually heart problems or cancer.

Is it fumes or fire that does any of the killing, most of the killing?

Mostly the smoke. Most people are dead from the smoke before the flames would ever get them. I think that would be rare to be—

Burned alive.

I would think so. It wouldn't be very pleasant either.

What, the burning or the—

Yeah.

Yeah, no, I would imagine that. Did you ever inhale smoke?

Oh, oh, many times.

Is it painful?

Uh, it hurts. It's, uh, like smoking a very bad cigar and inhaling it.

I wouldn't know.

I mean, I smoke good cigars and don't inhale them, so I don't know. I don't know on either account.

But what's strange is, you know, years ago in the '70s, firemen didn't always put on their breathing apparatus. It was only in the later times was it enforced. And oftentimes after fire and inhaling all that smoke, fire one would strike up a cigarette.

Huh.

Yeah, that makes— I understand that.

But let me— I hate— human curiosity always goes in this direction. I want to understand, when you die of smoke inhalation, what has happened? Your lung has been what? What has the smoke done?

Well, a couple things. Most times it would be carbon monoxide, and carbon monoxide has an affinity for your hemoglobin cells exponentially than oxygen. So the hemoglobin is going to absorb the carbon monoxide to the exclusion of oxygen, and you suffocate on a molecular level.

So you're losing consciousness as it happens.

Quickly.

Well, it's a lot better than being burned.

Oh, indeed. The other way is if a person, for instance, is sleeping and they've had a fire in the room.

That's right.

Heat starts at the top and goes down. Someone wakes up in a fire, the first thing they do is stand up right into the hot air, and they breathe that in, and it burns their lungs.

So what— so if there's a fire, that's why you stay low to the ground?

Yes, it's cooler, and the smoke doesn't always go down that low.

And is it true— does it help to cover your face with a towel or something, or is that nonsense?

That would help if you had it. It's better to put the towel under your door so the smoke doesn't get into the room and wait to call 911, wait for the firefighters to get out, or crawl out the window.

So when you— and finally, when you tell people— by the way, do you say you're a fireman or firefighter?

Well, I go by either one. I guess it's more correct politically now.

I know, but what are you using, fireman? Because you said fireman to me.

That's true. I've been doing this for a long time, so I haven't been politically—

Are there women in your, uh, whatever it would be called?

Oh yes, I have one that works for me now.

And she's a firefighter?

Yes.

And are they as good?

This one is. She has the upper body strength to, uh, do the job.

Where do they sleep, the women?

Well, I have a bunk room and it's cordoned off, uh, more or less cubicles, and I had a separate restroom constructed.

Is it uncommon for firemen and firewomen to fall in love?

You know, that's a good question. Uh, I, I haven't seen that too often.

No, I guess they—

yeah.

Of course, you could ask the same question, do firemen and firemen fall in love in certain cities?

You're a good guy.

That is true. You're a true Californian.

Yes.

Larry, thank you. Good luck to you.

Thank you, sir.

I appreciate it. This is awesome. I love this. Ernest, West Los Angeles, California. Hello, Ernest. Dennis Prager.

Hello, Dennis.

How are you?

How's it going?

Good, thank you. What do you do?

I'm a messenger. I drive around LA in my little car dropping real estate papers and picking up other ones and shuttling them from bank to, uh, real estate house and to the clients occasionally. Well, the client real estate—

So you specif— you're specifically in the real estate industry?

Mm-hmm.

You're a messenger within the real estate industry?

Yes.

All right, now do you like your job?

I like some aspects of it.

Well, on the 1 to 10 Uh, meter. 10, love it, look forward to it every day, it's the best job I can imagine. 1, it's hell on earth. What would you rate your job in love— in love of it?

I'd give it about a 6.

Okay, which is not bad but not great.

No, what can you say?

How much do you make?

Oh, round about, uh, $20,000 in a good year. I could probably do better if I were messaging in the legal industry.

You make $20,000 in a good year?

Mm-hmm.

So are you thinking of entering other work to increase your salary or what?

I've been thinking about that for a while.

Are you married?

Unfortunately not.

Were you ever?

No such luck. I did have one quite serious long-term relationship, but—

So on $20-something thousand a year, you have an apartment, I take it?

Mm-hmm.

So, so you're paying rent?

Yep. Well, I hope I am.

Yeah, no, of course.

My landlord hopes I am.

And how many hours a day do you work?

About 10 hours.

So you're paid by the hour, I guess?

Uh, actually, I'm paid as a percentage of revenue. We're considered to be contractors. You know, that the whole business has gone into contractors because— into a contractor relationship with the drivers.

Are you, uh, will you be voting this year?

Absolutely.

Who are you voting for?

President Bush.

When they say, though, that the haves oppress those of you who have less, you don't buy that?

No, of course not. If there weren't haves, there would— you know, it's the wealthy who make jobs possible. When was the last time you got hired by a poor person?

Ernest, I deeply respect you.

Deeply.

And let's go, uh, let's go to, uh, Jeff. Jeff in Phoenix, Arizona. Jeff, Dennis Prager.

How you doing, Dennis?

Okay, thank you.

I'm a mobile locksmith. I've been in business for myself for 4 years.

Now, how did—

that's very hard to break into. How do people know about you?

Uh, well, mostly advertising. I advertise in the Yellow Pages, and I also have an ad on the internet. But, uh, when I started out, I called all the big companies and I asked them for all their— all the work they didn't want. If they had something that was too far, they had something that was too late at night that nobody else wanted.

Oh, very entrepreneurial of you. That's brilliant. So I see. So you would tell them, hey guys, you get a call at 2 AM and you don't want to cover it, call me, right? Are you licensed?

50/50 with them.

Are you licensed?

Yes.

Okay, now, so you get a locksmith license?

Yes, it's basically— it's a license from the city to do business.

Oh, to do business, but you're not— but not specifically as a locksmith?

No, there are organizations you can join that provide a semblance of a license, but it's not absolutely necessary.

What is it? You must have a lot of strange stories.

Well, I got a few.

Give me the strangest that comes to mind right now.

Oh, goodness gracious me. Mostly it deals with people— the strange stories mostly just dealing with people that are locking somebody out.

That's what I thought.

Although I'll tell you, about once a year in Phoenix, I get a call from somebody who's gone skinny-dipping in the backyard, locked themselves out of the car or out of the house, and all they have is the cell phone on the table.

You're a good man, Jeff. So that's once a year that that happens. That is pretty funny. But a lot of cases are where somebody's deliberately locked out a family member? Or a spouse?

Spouse.

Well, well, well, what will you do then? Why will you open the door then if somebody's—

No, no, no, no, no. What I do is I get a call at 2 o'clock in the morning because somebody just got beat up or the police have just left and the spouse is saying, I got to keep them out. So we changed the locks on the house so that—

Oh, I see. You're helping keep them out. You're not opening it.

Right.

How much do you make a year?

I'll probably clear $60,000, but this is— wow, this is the first year I've made any money.

You're a hard worker, Jeff, and I wish you much success. Alrighty, over to Brian in Phoenix. The West Coast is winning today. Hello, Brian.

Hello.

Hi.

Hi, it's a pleasure to talk to you.

It's not the coast, but people know what I mean, the western part of the country. Go ahead. Hi, Brian.

Thank you.

How you doing today?

What do you do?

I sell hors d'oeuvres.

You sell hors d'oeuvres. Do you sell hors d'oeuvres to caterers?

No, what I—

we do something a little bit different. We are actually a distributor, but in order to compete with the big boys on the block, like the Syscos, we go in and establish relationships with chefs, executive chefs normally, and we design products that they will use specifically at that particular property.

I don't get it though. Don't the chefs make their own hors d'oeuvres?

They used to many years ago, but because of the high cost of labor, there is almost a moratorium on hiring new people to make things like that because they just don't generate the revenue that entrees do, for example. Huh.

So you found a niche in the food And that is supplying hors d'oeuvres to chefs.

Very unique hors d'oeuvres, particularly made for those properties.

How much do you make a year?

Oh, anywhere between $50,000 and $60,000.

So it's, uh, so it's covering expenses.

Sure is.

And do you love doing it?

I do.

That's what matters. Let's go on here. Well, let's go to Botnia in Los Alamitos, California. Botnia, Dennis Prager.

Hi there.

Hi.

Hi.

What do you do? What do you do, Batya?

What I do is I help people who are tired of the choices they have when they have health problems. They go to a doctor and they feel like they're treating the symptom and it's just pills, and they don't feel like they're really getting the best and the newest research. And they go to holistic people and then they get upset because the holistic people, uh, sometimes do and sometimes don't have really good research backgrounds for what they're providing. So what I do is I dig up the newest research and find the best integrative doctors who are medical doctors who combine alternative and conventional treatments based on the newest research and take the time to find out what the newest research is.

That makes it— that makes a lot of sense. People don't know where to go.

Exactly.

And I'm in awe at how many people Now, how do you get paid? I get $36 an hour.

So I come to you and say, you know, I have this wart on my foot.

Right. And I'm tired of taking this cream for it that this doctor's been prescribing, or worse, I'm tired of taking this pill that has worse side effects than the wart was.

Yeah.

And I'll go and check medical journals and research and top doctors in the country in warts, and come back to you and say, okay, this doctor does holistic— he's a medical doctor who does holistic treatment based on this research, and we find that the warts probably came about because of such-and-such imbalance.

So you specialize in holistic?

It's not only holistic though, it's integrative. Like, for example, somebody recently had cancer, and there is a treatment called an IPT treatment which gives you Chemotherapy, but really—

What is the name of your profession?

What?

What is the name of your profession?

I am a healthcare—

a health research specialist.

It's fascinating. We need you. Andrew, Mark, Sean, Matt, Bob, I'm sorry I didn't get to you. I love the show. Thank you, folks.

Tomorrow on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.

The notion of growing up with no sense that I am accountable to something above me, and accountability has to come with fear. There's no such thing as accountability without fear. If I am accountable to the government for how I drive, then I fear the government. I obviously, that's what I'm supposed to do. People fear getting tickets. They should. That's the whole point. They fear getting arrested. That's the whole point. What has happened is we have, again, in the age of stupidity ushered in by the baby boomers, and indeed by those who taught the baby boomers some of these ideas, let's be honest, we have the opposite view. You should be loved by your kids at all time, and the notion that a kid should fear you, or those who say, oh well, it doesn't really say that, it says reverence. Baloney, folks. I know the Hebrew. It's fear.

Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles.

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