Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Anonymous. I'm Dan Shepard and I'm joined by Monica Padman.
Hi.
Your favorite prompt.
I love this prompt. It's a very sweet prompt.
This one was extra sweet. It has one, and I had to immediately tell my children at the dinner table.
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Chapter 2: How do Dax and Monica introduce the concept of a meet cute?
Yeah. Yeah, there's a very sweet one.
We're not going to spoil it, but you guys, you can listen to this one.
You can listen to it and prepare to have a lot of sweetness. Yeah, these are sweet, and they're life-affirming and positive. Hellenic Studies. Please enjoy Meet Cute.
All times come and go Good times take them slow
Hi. Hello.
Hi. How's it going?
Wonderful. Where are you?
I'm in Philadelphia.
Ah, the great city of Philadelphia.
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Chapter 3: What personal experiences do the guests share about their meet cute stories?
Over the years, they were kind of like a staple in Philadelphia. They would perform at school assemblies and camps and my Girl Scout troop. And they were this really good-natured, family-friendly, rotating cast of jugglers. And they put on this vaudevillian classic. circus show.
They had this calliope they would crank and that would play music and they'd bring kids up on stage and juggle around them. So they just had this timeless, magical quality that was really fascinating to me. And so at the festival, I was excited to watch them and like relive my childhood.
So I parked myself in the audience, kind of up this hill in the back of the audience, and they're performing down at the bottom of the hill. The show starts and this man comes out on stage who I didn't recognize. He had long hair. And he starts to do this routine with his hat. And it's just to music. There's no words. And he's flipping his hat and doing hat tricks.
And then he throws his hat to someone in the audience and he mimes to them to throw the hat back like a Frisbee and try and get it on his head.
Okay.
Love it. That's the point of the routine. So he throws it to them. They throw it back. It doesn't work. It goes off to the side. It lands on the ground. It's comical. He hams it up. He throws it to the next person. Again, they don't know how to throw a Frisbee. It goes somewhere else. And the more he tries, the more comical it gets. The tension is building. Everybody keeps missing and missing.
So finally, he works his way down the crowd and he locks eyes with me.
Oh, you're the perfect gal for this mission.
Oh, yeah. And so he launches this hat up and over the crowd and I see it sailing towards me. And I don't know what came over me or what gave me this confidence, but I stood up and I caught the hat on my head.
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Chapter 4: How did a spontaneous decision lead to a memorable connection?
If you're good, no one's good at that. When you get it going, you get in the flow, it feels really good. We started talking and before we know it, two hours had gone by and it was time for him to do the next show. So we part and I go home and I immediately stalk him online and come back the next day.
I had totally abandoned my friend who had brought me to this festival in the first place and I just hang out with him the whole day. We hang out every single day until I have to go to this job in Massachusetts for three months. One of those days we are getting lunch and he asks if I would consider being his juggling partner when I got back and doing the show with him.
Oh, yes. You've been dying to join the circus.
Yes. I had never considered it as a career, but I had all the skills and I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. So I thought that sounds like a much better idea than getting a regular job. So let's give it a try. When I got back from Massachusetts, I started performing with him and dating at the same time.
And we slowly took over the troupe and we've been performing together full time for 14 years.
Oh, my God. And you're married?
And we're married and we have two kids. Oh.
Oh, what a great story.
Is this activity taking you overseas? I could see you guys going to Europe with this routine.
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Chapter 5: What challenges did the guests face while navigating their relationships?
And, I mean, you know, Commedia dell'arte, right?
No.
It's improv clowns.
Is this what Marcel Marcel was or whatever the famous clown's name?
Maybe. Comedia is a improv troupe and there's set characters that have tropes. Like this is the messy one or whatever. And then you go to Comedia shows and it was like the first time I saw improv. I didn't audition because I was scared.
Well, someone was telling us about this. A guest of ours was talking about Comedia.
Yeah, it's cool.
Are the seven dwarves, do they represent the archetypes in chlamydia?
No. Be respectful.
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Chapter 6: How do the guests reflect on their relationship journey and its impact on their lives?
Oh. You guys are the best. She actually just tried to call me a second ago, so I think her ears were burning. But she will be a little upset that she wasn't here to listen to it. But I'm in a lovely tent of my own making at Walt Disney World right now. So she's not anywhere nearby to say hello. You're clearly handy. It's structurally sound.
What's her name?
Candice. Candice, shout out.
I'm happy for both of you guys. Me too. This is a beautiful story.
Way to put yourself out there, both of you. Well, I appreciate it. Is it okay if I give a couple quick shout outs? Yes, please. Our little friend group we're going to Mexico with. We had four of us last year. We've grown to three couples this year, so six of us going down. It's our little ohana, as we call it, but also call ourselves the cool kids.
Okay.
All of the cool kids will be listening together at the same time. And then shout out to Candice and my sweet girls, Emerson and Henley, obviously, and my best boss for letting me come to Disney World for a few days during our busy season. So shout out to Amy as well.
Incredible.
God, you're surrounded by great gals.
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Chapter 7: What insights do the guests share about parenting and their family dynamics?
It's like the day you might have every day in class. About six months before, my best friend came to me and she said, I don't want to go.
I don't want to. Not even I can't.
I talked to her today and she was like, I don't think I saved any money.
Oh. Uh-oh.
She wasn't a saving mouse. She didn't keep up her end of the deal. She wasn't a ferret. I am devastated. I'm like, what am I going to do? It felt too overwhelming to go by myself and ride the rails.
You make it sound like a hobo returning home from the war. Ride the rails.
I love it. Around that same time, my dad came across this brochure that it was a tour company and it was 18 to 35 year olds camping in Europe. And I'm like, this is perfect. I have some structure. This is what I'm going to do. I did not know it at the time, but this bus is affectionately called the fuck bus.
Oh, wow. Wow. Really quick, are you not Mormon? This seems like a trip that wouldn't normally happen.
So I grew up Mormon, but I was friends with all non-Mormon people. And so I kind of prided myself on being like, I can hang. This is fun. But I did not know it was called the fuck bus.
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Chapter 8: How do the guests conclude their heartwarming stories of love and connection?
I want to show them I am not a wet blanket. So I think that put them a little bit at ease, unclear. I'm sure I was not very subtle. So we keep going. We're touring Europe. We go down to Monaco. It's the south of France, and it's near the beach. So our campsite is right near the beach. And so I am like, this is my time to shine. So I'm like, guys, we are young. It's summer.
We're in the south of France. Let's go skinny dipping. And we're at the bar and everyone at the beginning of the night is like, yes, that sounds like a great plan. But as you know, enthusiasm starts to wane. You know, people are like, It's cold outside. I don't want to walk far. But I have like kind of painted myself into a corner.
You are the cheerleader of this mission.
Oh my God. I am the cheerleader. So I say, I'm going skinny dipping. Anyone want to come? And only two people. And there are two dudes. I am like, oh, no, I thought this would be like a group activity. I did not mean for this like to be a date. There is a South African guy. And then there is my tall, broad. Oh, good. He's on board. OK. He's on board. They kind of look at each other.
And then one of them backs down. The South African backs down. Oh, perfect. Suddenly, it's just me and this cute guy. New Zealand man. And I am half excited and scared. No man has ever seen me naked, much less a man that I think is cute. Oh, you really? Wow.
You wrote a check your ass can't cash is what happened. Yeah.
Which sometimes works out.
Yes, it does.
Exactly right. So I'm like, well, too late now. We have to keep going. So we start making our way to the beach. On the way there, there is this carnival with a Ferris wheel lit up. And this man is just like laying on the charm. I didn't realize it at the time, but he is also slightly intoxicated. So he's like telling me he's David Hasselhoff's stunt double. And I am just eating it up.
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