Stranger Than Fiction Vol. IX
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What stories are featured in this episode of Stranger Than Fiction Vol. IX?
Hey Prime members, you can binge eight new episodes of the Mr. Ballin podcast one month early and all episodes ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction, and today's podcast features three stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode. The links to the original YouTube videos are in the description. The first story you'll hear is called The Oklahoma Problem, and it's about a woman who discovers something buried in her past. The second story you'll hear is called The Dark Room, and it's about a man who wakes up in total darkness with no memory of where he is, but then realizes his nightmare is only just beginning. And the third and final story you'll hear is called Timothy Dexter, and it's quite possibly the most absurd rags-to-riches story ever.
But before we get into today's stories, if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark, and Mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right podcast because that's all we do and we upload twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday. So if that's of interest to you, please sneak into the Amazon Music Follow Buttons house and lightly toast all of their bread and then put it all back in the bag. Okay, let's get into our first story called The Oklahoma Problem.
In the spring of 2021, 52-year-old Texas resident Karen Davis got married, and then after the ceremony and after the honeymoon, she went through the process of changing her last name from Davis to McBride to match her husband's last name. After the change was done, the last step was to get a new driver's license with the new name on it.
What is 'The Oklahoma Problem' story about?
So Karen emailed the local DMV or Department of Motor Vehicles to set up a time for her to come in and make the change to her license. But after she sent that email, the local DMV immediately emailed Karen back and they told her that they could not help her with this request until she resolved an issue. Now, they didn't specify what this issue was. However, they very cryptically said it had something to do with the state of Oklahoma. And then at the bottom of the email, there was just a phone number they told her she needed to call in order to resolve this issue. And so Karen's thinking, okay, that's pretty weird, but I did used to live in Oklahoma, so that probably has something to do with it.
And so not thinking much of it, she punched this number the DMV had given her into her phone, and then she let it ring. A few moments later, much to Karen's shock, a woman from the Norman, Oklahoma district attorney's office picked up the phone and said, how can I help you? Karen immediately assumed that the DMV must have made a mistake, that maybe they were trying to give Karen some other number in Oklahoma, because this was an Oklahoma problem, and they had mistakenly given her the number to the DA's office. But since she had this woman on the phone, Karen told her, you know, hey, I was just trying to get a new license in Texas. They told me there was some sort of issue. It had to do with me potentially living in Oklahoma. I don't know what it is, but this is the number they gave me. So I'm sure it's a mistake, but that's why I'm calling. The woman from the DA's office had no idea who Karen was, but after taking down Karen's information and looking on her computer, she discovered Karen's so-called Oklahoma problem.
And after she explained to Karen what this enormous problem was, Karen literally couldn't believe it. But after this woman went over the details a few more times and really showed Karen that this Oklahoma problem was very, very real, suddenly everything in Karen's life made sense. For the last 22 years, Karen, who was incredibly smart and friendly and polite and never had a problem with anyone, had an incredibly hard time getting a job. Even jobs that she was extremely qualified for, she would get turned down for for someone who was way less qualified. And then in the rare times that Karen did actually get hired, she would always get fired for no reason.
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