In this episode, we talk about the ban on greyhound racing (for our furry friends), making human friends at different life stages, and we chat with the bff about being a single mother to white passing kids.

Full Transcript

My article for on greyhounds: “At ‘ground zero’ for dog racing, Florida moves toward change” (Salon)

Notable Quotable

“In the 90s, greyhound racing constituted a multibillion-dollar industry, which was another reason why it was so hard to ban greyhound racing because the state was getting money from that. From the reports that I found, since 1931 this state made at least $4.38 billion from pari-mutuel wagers.” — Tyler

“Cocaine? Did they have cocaine in 1960?” — Gramel

“I actually went on a date to a greyhound track down in St. Petersburg before I graduated from high school, and they were mind boggling.” — Gramel

“I don’t like to gamble. I like to keep my money.” — Tyler

“Greyhounds are not used to walking on a leash, and they don’t know how to walk on tile or up the stairs. So they’ll slip on the tile and they can’t get up the stairs. That broke my heart when I heard that.” — Tyler

“With a with a dog, you should not show any fear. I’m not saying you’re supposed to be stupid and getting their you know, their territory, but you can’t let them know you got it. You know, it’s like anything, you know, they can smell fear, and they say, we’ll have fun with this guy.” — Gramel

“I love dogs, but I don’t want to pet your dog if I don’t know your dog.” — Tyler

On texting: “long story short, I went wild. And my first bill had $76 extra on it, but I loved it. I loved it. So then I called and now I have unlimited talk and text.” — Gramel

“I’m somebody that’s never afraid of being turned down. If I text you, and you don’t text me back, well, that’s fine. I’ll probably forget about it because my forgetter works very well.” — Gramel

“He taught me about vaping.” — Gramel

“If I washed my hands with non-antibacterial soap, like if I just did it with like scented soap, I feel like you would spiral.” — Jessica

“I go outside and I see this black racer come out. And then another minute later, there was another one. And then another minute later, there was another one. And then another one. Like they were just following the same path. There was probably like 25.” — Jessica

“I’m trying to think of a catty response to that. And I have none because honestly, yes, like from day one, we were kind of kindred souls. Like, I love you. And I love everything about you. And we had so much fun.” — Jessica

“My Bible professor was like, Hey, I was like you I was from the hood. And you know, I had to tell this man, like, I live on Indian Rocks. Just because I’m half black and agnostic does not mean you can put me in a pocket.” — Jessica

On telling a former boyfriend she was using a sperm donor to have a kid: “his reaction was your kid is going to be a psychopath. Like, he had a really negative reaction to it. And I was like, you know, do you think that’s gonna change what I’m gonna do moving forward? And he was like, No, and I was like, Well, why would you say something negative like that, you know, so that was pretty much the end of our relationship.” — Jessica

On raising white-passing children: “One of the first times I ever brought out my son was to a bank. And the bank, person was like hey, it’s so nice to meet you. Are you babysitting? Are you a nanny? So she gave me those two options. You know, because my son is so white passing. You know, like I said, he’s blond hair, blue eyes, white skin, like he does not look like me. That was definitely a weird, you know, moment in my life, but that kind of set off like a chain reaction, you know, that was the first time I’ve ever brought him. And after that, you know, it’s just kind of progressively just been the same. — Jessica