And That's Why We Drink - Listener Stories: Vol. 99

Episode Date: January 1, 2025

Happy New Year Boozers and Shakers! We’ve got an awesome collection of stories that Eva gathered for us to kick in the door to 2025 with today, including fate and guardian angel experiences, interactions with a Domovoy (Russian House Spirit), and a few wholesome third man stories. And should we try the whole trench coat thing? …and that’s why we drink! The Pour Decisions Tour is going back on the road this Spring! Like a Lady in White, we’ll be popping up everywhere - from Seattle to Boston. Grab your tickets today at https://www.andthatswhywedrink.com/live !For ways to order our new book: A Haunted Road Atlas: Next Stop visit https://bit.ly/hranextstop ______________________ If you need a new pair of sunnies, Goodr is giving And That’s Why We Drink listeners Free Shipping! You can go to http://goodr.com/DRINK and use code DRINK for free shipping. Goodr offers a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee and 100% Satisfaction. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to http://rocketmoney.com/drink today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonjour, je m'appelle Christine. Oh, oh my. Yes, that's right, I've been learning French on Rosetta Stone. Sorti la poubelle, take out the trash. What the fuck? Folks, this is the best gift ever. I've given this to a few people already, which is a lifetime membership to Rosetta Stone, which is perfect for anyone looking to learn or improve their language skills.

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Visit www.rosettastone.com slash drink. That's 50% off unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your life. Redeem your 50% off at www.rosettastone.com slash drink today for yourself or as a gift that keeps giving. God, I love Eva. I also love Eva. Thank God for ZipRecruiter because it was the matching tool that brought us all together. You know, it's hard to hire for a business. We know that because we figured it out.

But thankfully, we had the easiest lesson ever because our first hire ever was through ZipRecruiter and it was of Eva. When we say it's easy, we're not kidding. Like within 24 hours of thinking we should hire someone, we had Eva. It's the best for people like us who just like do things right away. I can't imagine a world where you get a better ringing endorsement than from us where we literally went on ZipRecruiter and within 24 hours had Eva. Hello, she was there.

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Again that's ZipRecruiter.com slash D-R-I-N-K. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. Happy 2025. We made it, I hope. At least, at least in theory we did because we're recording this a few weeks early, but we made it. If you're hearing this, we made it. We kicked those doors of 2024 off its hinges. We are out of there.

Thank God. Actually, I didn't kick it off the hinges. I closed it very gently and I put 17 locks on it and I said, okay, stay here now. You stay. You good boy. Bye. Well, hopefully 2025 is kind to us and we are starting it off by reading some of your stories as a good luck charm.

So for those of you who maybe have, if this is your first time here, we do listen to your podcast. We do a listeners episode at the first of every month where we read your true crime and paranormal stories instead of reading ones that we found off the Internet. And it's always a mixed bag. We never know what we're going to get because Eva picks them for us. Thank you, Eva.

And I don't know. Is there do you have a reason why you drink at the start of this year? Well, I just discovered a little fruit fly in my coffee. Good morning to me. Are you someone who's gonna keep drinking that now? Let me take a little look at how many legs he's got. That'll determine. Oh my God.

Yeah, that'll determine. I see what you mean. It's just a little crumb. It's fine. I could keep drinking it. I thought it was a bug. Oh, it is not a bug. Okay, thank God.

It is not a bug. It is a crumb. I thought it was a bug. It is not a bug. You know, I was sitting downstairs in my mom's house yesterday and I must have, something must have happened. Three fruit flies were circling me like I was Pigpen from Charlie Brown. Like I just smelled really bad or something.

It's just a cloud. And I was like, why the hell is there somebody fly circling me like I was Pig Pen from Charlie Brown. Like I just smelled really bad or something. It's just a cloud. And I was like, why the hell there's somebody flying circling around me? You told me your cat, the cat that was considered the evil cat at your house passed away. And I feel like your cat is out for vengeance in the afterlife.

It's gotta be something like that. Everything that's happening over there, I keep thinking like things, yesterday we recorded, oh, yesterday you say? Yes, every day for the past week we've recorded. And in the back, behind Em, something like fell off the shelf. And I'm convinced it's this cat coming back to haunt you. But the thing is like that dead cat did not even when he was alive, did not care

enough about me to maybe now he's just testing the water. Maybe he's just like back to, yeah, maybe, you know how they say like when you pass away that you end up kind of like in a time where you were more physically able-bodied and maybe like he went back to his kittenhood and said, I'm ready to do this all over again. Just find enemy number one. I was gonna say, if he went back to his kittenhood,

I hope it's before his villain origin story and now he just wants to be a fun, happy kitten. Maybe that's what's happening. Maybe he's just running around like knocking stuff off. You know, maybe he's in a better place. You can tell Tom I said that. I'm sure he'll know what it means. He'll know what it means.

I'm sure it'll make him feel a lot better about his deceased cat, I'm so sorry. Well, hopefully you're telling the truth. But no, yeah, there was a few fruit flies around me and I'm not someone who can, the second it even touches the plate of food that I have on I won't eat the food I'm like so grossed out by that was a little high maintenance sometimes and that's okay I was kind of the time. Yeah, a hundred percent time. All right, I was gonna give you a little like 90% But I'm saying it's about being high maintenance for sure. Oh my god guys. It's exhausting

Which is weird because half the time I don't care and then the other half the time I really fucking care. Well, and by the way, that gives everybody else a real run for their money because we're like, is this one of the ones? You never know. I never know until it's too late. That's exactly right.

Okay, do you, how about I'll go first? I don't know why, but I'm just gonna do it. This is called a guardian angel and maybe a glitch in the matrix, colon full of little happinesses. That's nice. That's lovely. We got like a good vibe for 2025 already.

I like this. Hi all, April here. I started listening to your podcast a couple months ago. I had binged all of the crime junkie podcasts and a friend suggested this one. I'm now to 125 and listen almost daily on my one hour commute each way. Yikes, good times.

I don't miss that from LA life. Nope. And I love your show. It's great for commutes and road trips. However, if I'm driving late at night down a back road, I have to turn it off or I get all freaked out. Okay, that's fine. Cause we're like fruit flies.

There's a fruit fly in my coffee. Horror story! It is always comforting to me when people say that our show is scary because it doesn't feel scary to me when we record it, but I always like a little spooky podcast. I'm glad we make the cut. An unrelated coincidence is that your combined lucky num-

Shut the fuck up. Your combined lucky numbers make up my dad's birthday. 22249. Aw! So that always makes me feel a little more attached to y'all. I'm like sitting here trying to figure out the date. Okay.

Yeah, like what does it mean? February 2nd, 1949, was he born then? 22nd, but yes. So let's crack into it. My mother went into labor, wow. What a good start. My mother went to labor in the middle of the night. She woke up my father, they dropped my siblings

at my grandmother's house and drove to the hospital. They parked and walked in together to the check-in. My mother gave the nurse her name and the lady looked at her and said, "'Weren't you here delivering yesterday?' What the fuck? Imagine looking down at your stomach like, "'Hmm, I don't think so.

"'I think I'm right here right now. And my mother pointed to her very pregnant stomach and back at the nurse and deadpan said, does it look like I delivered yesterday? Yeah, that is literally the exact response. The nurse shook it off, checked her in and showed her to her room. My mother had a safe and healthy delivery with me

and then went back into her room. She spent the night in the hospital. In the middle of the night, she woke up and was back at home, still nine months pregnant and in labor. What? Wait, what? I'm sorry.

Read it again. This is actually my worst nightmare. I'm actually really afraid now. She spent the night in the hospital. In the middle of the night, she woke up and was back at home, still nine months pregnant and in labor.

So it like groundhog day her. Oh my God. Imagine having to go through labor and then being like groundhog day, like of all days. I'd find that nurse and be like, can you tell me how this goes please? Strangle you actually is what I'm gonna do. What have you done?

In the middle of the night she woke up, was back at home, still nine months pregnant and in labor. She woke up my dad and he drove her to the hospital. She checked in and the nurse didn't say anything this time. Again, the birth was uneventful. Later, she told the story to my dad and he brushed it off. We would find out later when I went to preschool that there was another lady in our town

with the same first and last name, with a husband with a similar name, first initial, same last name as my father that had a daughter with the same name as mine, April, who was born the day before me in the same hospital. Once we were old enough to be in activities, people would mistakenly call the wrong one because the phone numbers were right next to each other

in the phone book and the families had the same first initials and last name. I lived in the town until I was 12 and never met the other girl. My mother was never sure if this was a deja vu, a glitch in the matrix or a weird psychic moment or what, but she always talked about how women in our family were just a little extra sensitive.

Do you wonder if like the mom, like went into the consciousness of the other, like her consciousness went into the one of the other women as she gave birth the day before. Like their brains astral projected into each other's bodies. Freaky Friday or something. It does feel like a freaky Friday moment. Imagine having to freaky Friday

into multiple people giving birth. Like why would you ever, that would take, what a terrible. It's a cruel joke. Yeah, what a terrible time to pick that. But wow, that's pretty crazy. My second story is about me directly. It happened when I was about four or five. I was a very petite child and loved hiding.

Oh, great. Jesus Christ, okay. That's not scary at all. One day my whole family went to the mall, oh God, and I hid in a clothing rack in the Sears. When I came out of hiding, my family was gone and I couldn't find them, classic, classic memories. My mother always had a rule that if we get lost in the mall,

we were supposed to meet at the food court, but I didn't know where that was. Within seconds, I was upset and crying and I left the store in search of my family and the food court. While I was looking around, I saw my dad. He was walking around in his hat and trench coat. Oh my God, what is happening?

I'm sorry. Who's your dad? At this point, I'm kind of hoping you actually projected again and this is not your dad. It's the other April's dad. I just love that, like, what's he doing? Going to the like bath and body works in his trench coat? I don't know. Okay.

I ran to catch up with him, but couldn't catch him. But I followed behind him all the way to the food court. And when I looked up, there was my mother and my brothers. They were all waiting there, but my dad wasn't. He was out searching for me. I asked where my dad was as I had just seen him. She told me he was at the mall security office. About five minutes later, my dad showed up with mall security.

He told the man he could go as I had shown up and yelled at me for hiding. I told him I had seen him and chased him all the way back to the food court and then I noticed he was wearing a windbreaker today. What? He didn't have a hat with him that day. I could have sworn this was my dad but apparently it was just my guardian angel guiding me back to my family. Or it was other April's dad.

It was other April's dad in his trench coat. The one that matches your dad's trench coat. Yeah. Looking back, that's the only thing that it could have been. And I've only seen him twice since. Oh, you've seen him again. I love that the universe is like, here's just like an image of your dad.

Yeah. This is your guardian angel. You know this guy, kind of. You've heard of him. He doesn't know you, but you know him. Yeah, you know this trench coat, it's the whole thing. Looking back, that's the only thing it could have been. I've only seen him twice since

when speeding down the highway right before a hidden cop telling me to slow down. Now that's a useful guardian angel. Thanks for reading my stories, hope they weren't too long. Y'all always do some heavy stuff, so I wanted to send a little lightness along. Love April from Kentucky and her pets Stormy, Cat, and Pancake's dog, hashtag team lemon.

Now what will be really weird is when you like run around with them one day and then there's a whole other slew of animals, but they're in a different trench coat. Just slightly different trench coat. There's three cats in a trench coat and they all ring your doorbell. What if it was your dad? What if that was, what if your dad,

the guardian angel that you thought was your dad was just three cats in a trench coat the whole time? And what if that cat that you think is your cat is actually three of your dads in a trench coat? Now that's crazy. Holy shit. The trench coat bit will never be old for me. I always-

The trench coat bit is always funny. Creatures in a trench coat really get me. Anything. It's perpetually funny. Every time. I think you and I should try the trench coat thing sometime. The thing should be me, you, and Eva at the top. You think that I love that I'm in the middle. I can just like take a nap in there then,

because I'm not walking and I'm not talking. I'm just in the middle. Yeah, you just have to carry the weight. That's fine. I have one of those like German backpacks that carries toddlers. Okay, hey so. I feel like Eva could fit in that. You could you probably put Leona in that with Eve on top of you and it'll counterbalance. Oh actually that's not a bad idea. I'll hold Leona

on this side. I'll put Eve in the backpack. Blaze is monkeyed around you. What are you doing this whole time? I'm just breathing man. I'm just trying to breathe. I'm just trying to survive. I'm just trying to survive. I had a, I actually had a dream last night where, um, well, maybe I shouldn't say it because we still have another half of our tour to go. But, um, without using, without saying too much information for those who have been to our show, we'll know what I'm talking about. Um, I had a dream where we were about to do our very last show. Oh boy. And I forgot our tour suitcases with like all of the candles and all the septic, everything.

And at the end of our show this time, we try to do like a finale at the end of our show this time. And we bring something out on stage with us. And I forgot that. And we were trying to convince Eva to join us on stage to do some version of the finale. Oh my God, actually this feels-

And Eva was not into it by the way. Oh, okay, good. I was like, this feels a little too close to home. This might actually be a thing that happens, so it's making me a little anxious. I got really paranoid. I didn't know that it was a dream, obviously, so in real life, I felt like real life,

and I was like, oh wow, Eva's pissed that we're asking her to do this. Yeah, I, even just know that in a, in a pinch, that's what I apparently how I would have solved. Yeah. We're like, you're playing, you're playing D if anything goes wrong, you're playing. We need you to come on stage and, and do a finale for everybody because I forgot every single item that we try and that's on you, Eva. So we're actually not going to be on stage. It's just you. Put your trench coat on and get out here. Do a little dig.

Do a little jig. Oh, man. Anyway. Entertain the masses. Anyway, that was the dream I woke up from to then record with you right now. And I had to remind myself that, oh no, the tour has ended. We're good now. We're all safe for now.

Yeah. So anyway, sorry to half spoil it for some people and that probably wasn't a fair and safe. I don't think you spoiled anything for anyone. I barely followed the train of thought, so it's okay. Just know that if you do come to our shows in the spring and Eva is on stage at the end. That's not part of it. I did in fact lose the, lose the circumstances.

An emergency has happened and we were crying about it. Yes, and Eva's maybe mad. And Eva's probably quitting today. We are so excited to tell you about one of our newest sponsors, Gooder, who offers stylish sunnies starting at only $25 a pair. Yeah, I say sunnies now, cause I'm, you know, cool and hip. Cause you're of the elite, I suppose. That's right, that's right. Yeah, Gooder sunnies now, because I'm cool and hip. Because you're of the elite, I suppose.

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because I was like, well, you know what? I have enough just boring, plain old glasses, sunnies. I need to get some cute pink, a pop of color for the summer. Oh, that's lovely. I do like that they have the nose slip. There's nothing I hate more than feeling like there's always just something behind your nose that's keeping them from sticking to your face. So I appreciate that they stick to my

face. If you need a new pair of sunnies, Gooder is giving and that's why we drink listeners free shipping. You can go to Gooder.com slash drink and use code drink for free shipping. Gooder offers a 30 day money back guarantee and a hundred percent satisfaction. Again, that's gooder, G-O-O-D-R dot com slash drink and use code drink for free shipping. So, okay, here is a, I don't know why I called it a letter, but I suppose it is a letter. Here's email number two from, this is Alex. Here's a missive from Alex. Here's, here's a-

A letter's from the Corinth, to the Corinthians from Alex. A stationary, a correspondence from Alex And the title is fate and a guardian angel And apparently you requested this listener story back in June sure. Yeah, I remember. Okay, Alex says Hi all. I hope everyone is doing well. My name is Alex. She her. Thank you for normalizing pronouns I have been a listener since 2017 I had my George Lopez fever dream demon listener story read maybe five years ago. Oh my God, I remember.

I actually remember that one. I don't remember many things about my life, but that I remember. George Lopez doesn't get mentioned quite often. No, he's like just mysterious enough that he strikes a chord. And last month, Christine requested fate listener stories. And although not scary in the traditional sense,

I do have a good one. Uh-oh. Nice. My entire life, I have been obsessed with roller coaster tycoon, Imagine X. Oh, fuck yes. Imagine X. And the desire to design theme parks, which is, I had that hyper fixation growing up. I wanted to be a roller coaster designer when I grew up.

And then I realized I had to go to like architecture school for that and I never loved it again. Well, I think also engineering. I don't think it's even architecture. I think it's engineering, right? Because you have to do physics and all that. It was animation and architecture school or animation and engineering school.

There was something like that. Animation had to be one of them, but all of them scared me, so I said, well, I guess this dream is not being fulfilled. Anyway, I hope it was fulfilled for you. I read any and all the books on how to become a Disney Imagineer, another dream of mine, and one of my favorite designers had a degree

in something called Industrial Design. I followed in his footsteps and chose this as my college major to try to get closer to my dream job. During college, I struggled to keep up with the class and got mildly bullied from my theme park interest. I applied to 40 jobs and only received one interview and then landed a job in Atlanta that completely sucked. I stayed at the job for a year and a half before getting completely burned out and quitting to become a nanny. I cannot express at this time how lost I felt and how I had absolutely no clue on how to get myself

any job of any type anymore. I ended up moving to St. Louis with my partner at the time and I was jobless and about a month after moving my partner and I were attempting to carry our dining room table up the steep stairs of our 1890s apartment and seriously struggling. Pivot! Pivot! No, truly. In 1890s, I feel like every inch of that building is so, like, delicate. Yeah. A man on a bike was passing by.

It's not delicate because it's, like, made of, like, crazy crazy old ass wood. It's just so narrow and like, it's gonna ding up all your belongings because it's like, we were here first. You have to conform to our narrow landing. Isn't your house 1890s? 1870s. Yeah. Oh my god. That's wild. I've certainly never tried to carry a... well, actually that's not true. I have absolutely done that. I'm sure you have dinged up that house in very special Let's just say it's dinged to be a funny About a month after moving oath they're moving the table a man on a bike was passing by and stopped and asked if we needed

Help I do not like talking to strangers, especially men, but for some reason I felt the instinct to say yes Okay, no problem. He said and began helping my partner carry it up the stairs. A year later? Wait, what? A month after moving. Oh, okay, you said a month after carrying it. I was like, they're still carrying that table up, or wait, is it a couch or a table?

It's a table. Okay. So they're mid-carrying the table now. Mid-carrying the table. Okay. He began helping my partner carry it up the stairs. I watched his bike for him and when he returned we made small talk. He asked me where I worked and I said I didn't work at the moment and he said oh well what's your background and dream job?

And I hesitated and told him I had an industrial design degree mostly worked on themed graphics but my job my dream job was decorating or creating theme parks. And he looked at me and paused. And at this moment, I felt the most visceral gut reaction I've ever had in my life. I'm not religious, but I do consider myself spiritual in a variety of ways. I'm not sure if this was a guardian angel, but it felt like time slowed. And I heard a quiet voice tell me he was about to tell me he could offer me my dream job. This is literally like the angels like holding your head still and being like, pay attention. Look at this man.

Look, make eye contact. And he said, I have an industrial design background too. I do thematic graphics and I design theme parks with a firm downtown. Shut up. I actually put in my two weeks yesterday and I'm moving to New York City with my family. No.

I was in shock and he proceeded to hand me his boss's business card and within two weeks yesterday and I'm moving to New York City with my family. No. I was in shock and he proceeded to hand me his boss's business card and within two weeks I filled the position that was never posted. No, the fuck way. I have not had anything even remotely close to this happen to me again in my life, but I truly believe this was a fate moment. I am happy to say six years later

that I am now a Walt Disney Imagineer as a designer and illustrator in Orlando, Florida. Holy shit. When you wish upon a star. If you all read this for the June episode. Oh, well. Jan. June 3rd is actually my first day as an Imagineer.

Oh, that makes June 3rd so much more special. So it's your birthday. Although this is not scary or creepy, I hope you enjoyed this story. P.S. if you do an Orlando show, I will happily give you all Disney guest tickets and all the nerdy fun facts. You know what's so wild is,

first of all, as much as I would appreciate the Disney tickets, I just want to walk around with an Imagineer and have all that stuff pointed out at me. I know. Because my dream job for a long time was exactly what you're doing. I think your dream job would be long time was exactly what you're doing. So. I think your dream job would be to just follow around somebody who does that.

And get to just hear all the facts. I just want you to point at everything and fun fact me to death. That's what I want. Yeah. Wow. What a story though. Like to be like, I don't talk to strangers. This man just happens to drive by as I'm holding a heavy object.

Like the way that the universe had to algorithmically, formulaically set that up is just so cool. That's wild. And Alex said at the end, while reading back, I realized that y'all always read these on the first of the month, not the first Monday. So my first day at Walt Disney,

Imagineering is still gin-thored, but I wanted to clarify. Oh, okay. Well, congratulations anyway. Yeah, fuck this. I don't want to read this anymore. Just kidding. We're literally seven months late already. No, but that's, I mean, so cool.

And also I'm glad that somebody was able to actually go do that job without having to do the triple majors I thought that you needed to be able to do that. So congratulations. I'm very happy, but also very jealous of you. Industrial design. Okay. Interesting. Yeah.

I think. Yeah. Wow, that was crazy. Okay, this is from Alaina, she, her, and it's called My Interactions with Domavoie. Oh my God, okay, I don't know what that is. Hi, I'm Christine. I love the, oh my God, oh my God. Sounds bad, I don't know. Hi, I'm Christine.

I'm a newbie binge listening to your amazing podcast. I'm only on episode 54. Ah, these years before COVID and everything that followed. Please note this and that I'm Russian living currently in Uruguay, so I don't use English in my everyday life. And it could be clumsy, yeah, as you're like the most eloquent person I've ever read. Yeah.

English is not my first language, smiley face. So in your first episodes, you were often talking about the things disappearing and then reappearing mysteriously in your houses. You know, I love that. And it was strange for me, not because it's creepy, but because in Russian households, and I guess in any other Slavic households really,

but I don't know and can't speak for other cultures, it's somehow normal. Oh, this is just a thing that you guys, you're like, oh, it's just gone for a few days. Don't worry about it. No. You see, the Orthodox Church is very powerful in Russia. Many, I think most people still hold to our cultural beliefs.

One of the most popular is the existence of domovoy. Domovoy or sometimes domovija, feminine, is a guardian spirit of the house. Typically seen as a tiny old man. Have you heard of a domovoy? You've not heard of a domovoy. Is a guardian spirit of the house typically seen as a tiny old man with a long beard

wearing traditional clothes. That's very cute. It sounds like a little gnome. It sounds like a little Santa. Yeah. Every house has its own doma boy. It's a given though. I don't know how it works in recently built buildings.

Must be some doma boy distribution system, I guess. Like with cats, yeah. So DomaVoy is like an elder member of the family. You must respect him keeping your house clean, uh-oh, and behaving in your house well or hope like I'm upset with you and will cause trouble. Maybe this explains a lot in my home. That's where the disappearing of things comes.

Always, always when I lost something, my mother would say, go ask domovoy nicely. And I would go and say into the air, oh gosh, here we go. Hosein badushka, meaning host father, play, play and return to me my name, insert name of the thing. It works more often than not. and sometimes it works a little creepy. For example, I clearly remember how one evening I was getting ready for the next school day and couldn't find my favorite hairpin. Naturally, I asked Domavoid nicely to play with it

and then return it. But this evening, nothing happened. In the morning, I found it laying in the middle of my very tidy desk, where I for sure would have noticed it the previous evening. My parents just shrugged their shoulders like this is totally normal. The other time my mom couldn't find either her shirt or blouse

and asked Dama Voi again, nicely. After that, she went to do some errands and nobody was home. When she returned, the clothes that she was looking for were laying on her pillow. Is that the most, that's you and your retainer. It literally says just like the retainer from your story. Ew, that's so crazy. I was thinking about that last night actually, weirdly.

And it was your dumb-a-voy saying, do you wanna think about me? It was actually Mr. Chatfield, which is like way worse. I would rather be a dumb-a-voy. I think. Let's see, maybe Mr. Chatfield is my dumb-a-voy. Yeah. So it was perfectly folded on her pillow.

And again, it wasn't a huge shock for her, or frankly anyone, just a funny story to tell our friends. And I assure you, almost every one of my friends from Slavic households have a very similar story, either with them or their relatives. Another thing about Domovoy is that if you're moving somewhere, you should invite him to go with you to your new home.

Oh, that's nice. And you offer, oh, this is really sweet. You offer him a new clean towel as a transport. That's precious. That's really cool. You just go hop on in. Hop on in, guys. I'll wrap you up, keep you warm.

I love this. Bundle you like a little baby. I didn't do it. Uh-oh. Oh, okay. I didn't do it and now nothing vanishes in my house, but at the same time, it feels cold

and unwelcoming somehow, frown face. But I like to think that our Doma voice stayed with my parents and looks after them like a strict but funny and playful guardian spirit. This is so heartwarming. I have other stories about both Slavic folklore and my dead relatives predicting future deaths in the family and my dreams, but that's for another time.

I'm returning to listening to you and hope to catch you in the family in my dreams, but that's for another time. I'm returning to listening to you and hope to catch you in the following cold months. Thank you so much for making my emigration anxiety bearable hugs, Elena. That was just, what a story, Domovoy. I expected it to be scary. It sounds- Some demonic. I mean, it sounds kind of like demon.

Domovoy to me, without knowing what it is, sounded like a name of a some sort of entity. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's precious. I wonder, does a domovoi, do they, I wonder if they last forever. Like we've lived in this house for over 30 years now. I'm wondering like, is the domovoi like just so tired of us

and waiting for a new family or like after 30 years, do you get to tap out and someone else switches in for you? It sounds like they're very like that's their whole thing is they just protect the house. All right. I don't know. I wonder like what about abandoned houses? I know that's also what she was saying with, with, she doesn't know how it works with like an apartment or like new builds.

Like how does that work? You know what I mean? Like are there a distribution system as she said, I wonder if there's rooms that even the dumb avoid doesn't like in his own house that he has to protect. And he has like, I don't want to go in that dirty little basement, you know? Well that's probably why he takes all the stuff and he's like, can you do something about this? Here's your blouse.

I like to think your dumb avoid hunkers down in the basement where nothing is so he can just like covers his ears and eyes and he just doesn't have to think. Yeah, he just rocks back and forth. Just please leave me alone, please. Just please. And I feel like he's probably hidden so many of my things and I haven't even noticed because I'm like, well, I mean, like, look around. I mean, it's just like, I wouldn't even notice. I mean, the number of things I just lose. I remember I lost my AirPods and they appeared on my sink

after the cleaning folks had like, Lysoled it and just some weird shit. I see, I don't think my dumb boy, I think maybe he's hard of hearing because I will actively say out loud, I wasn't saying to the dumb boy, but I was saying, whoever is here and maybe took my stuff, can I please have that back? I really, really need it. It didn't work. I wasn't saying to the Domo boy, but I was saying whoever is here and maybe took my stuff Can I please have that back? I really didn't work doesn't work. It usually works for me, but

Maybe you need to be nicer to your Domo boy I think mine just likes to take naps and I'll always when I lose things It's when he's in the middle of a nap and not working. He's like clock, you know, I see He just like steals your shit and then clocks out. This correspondence, as I said earlier, this is from Brie, who uses she her pronouns. Thank you for normalizing pronouns, Brie. And the title is, which I love, An Embarrassing Third Man Experience. What could that mean? And Brie says, hello, and that's why I drink family and lemon.

I was listening to episode 360 where M talks about third man syndrome and was shocked to learn there was a name for something I'd experienced when I was six years old. I was even more shocked to hear it normally happens to those in danger or life threatening situations because mine definitely was not. And for those who don't remember a third man man syndrome is when usually, like if you're in a car accident, you have, they think it's some sort of hallucination that like someone

helps you out of the car, but then that person never existed. It's almost like you have a companion in the, so for example, it's oftentimes described to people who are doing very dangerous outdoor treks and things like that, where you're in a very solitary space. I think that guy who climbed Everest, he was one of the early writers of Third Man Syndrome, and it's like you feel like there's a presence there with you. Yeah. And then if something happens to you, it's it's almost like a guardian angel experience where Sometimes somehow people will end up outside of their car and they remember someone dragging them out of the car But then when they come to nobody was there and somehow they got out of the car on their own

Sometimes it's just like they're just there as a companion until you're like found. Yeah, it's like talking through it. Yeah. Yeah so anyway Curious what happens here my terrible emergency at age six was getting stuck in my swimsuit no by the way i know how scary that i know that feeling so scary it's so suffocating six-year-old yeah um it was summer which meant no one was inside when i experienced this mortal peril we we were at a lake with a small cove that held several houses in a semicircle and everyone was talking, barbecuing,

or whatever it is adults did when we were off playing. I had been out of the water for a while, but my swimsuit was damp and I had to pee. So getting the one piece off wasn't the problem, but getting it back on was. And I didn't know I could just pull it to the side until I joined my swim team years later. Yeah, yeah, yeah, eventually you learn all the tricks.

I feel like my mom taught me that early on because the last thing she wanted to do was the inconvenience of having to redress me in a wetsuit. She's like, I'm barbecuing or whatever adults do. Now leave me alone. I think I learned the pull it to the side trick the second I could use the bathroom. Yeah, I already taught Leona that

because she literally wears a leotard to dance class and I'm like, I'm not taking your tights off and your fucking ballet slippers and your leotard. I think we, I had a quote, I don't know about lazy mom, but certainly a mom who didn't want to be bothered and I understand it totally now. And I guess you're also one of those moms who doesn't want to be bothered if you don't have to be. Certainly, well, I at least want to be bothered and I understand it totally now and I guess you're also one of those moms who doesn't want to be bothered if you don't

have to be. Certainly well I at least want to teach her the tricks it's not that I don't want to be bothered I just want to teach her the tricks so that these scary things like getting trapped in a bathing suit are less likely to happen because I've been there and it is a scary experience. I just wouldn't want to be bothered so I guess it runs the family. I mean, I know. I was a chunky child. So this made this made the task more difficult. I got it got stuck halfway on and then it's like damp and it's like, oh, it can't like when you have wet jeans and you can't pull. It got stuck halfway on and didn't move no matter how hard I tugged or pulled and it hurt. No one could hear

me crying. So I looked in the bathroom window that overlooked the neighbor's driveway to see if anyone was there and no luck. I continued to cry and tried to fix the swimsuit. And just when I was about to give up, I looked out the window again and there was a woman with curly red hair

and a white dress standing there looking right at me, which, yikes. The universe was like, okay, who do we send? Who do we send? Oh, do we really have to send Martha? Send the intern, bring her down. She's so scary. Yeah.

I didn't recognize her, but the neighbor rented their house out, so that wasn't strange for me. Okay. She smiled at me, and I remember an overwhelming feeling of safety, knowing that she was going to come and help me. I heard the screen door open and shut a moment later.

And then there she was. She was she never said anything, but her hands were gentle and she never stopped smiling. As soon as she was done, she left. That's really nice. When I found my mom later, she was with our neighbor. And I asked her the pretty lady with the red hair was. And she didn't know who I was talking about. She wasn't renting at the time either

since she and her family were currently there. I have goose cam, just like the pretty lady, like that's so sweet. No one knew who this strange woman was and when I told my mom what happened, she said it must've been my guardian angel. That's really nice because I, if I hadn't been there and I heard my kids say a random lady came in

and like played with my bathing suit. While I was naked. I would have been like, who the fuck is this woman? Yeah, especially nowadays. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I like to think your mom just had out like a glass of wine in her hand. She's like, oh, she helped you?

All right, then. Yeah, this is the Linda move. Like, ah, this is just an angel, don't worry about it. Every now and then I think of the kind lady who helped me in my dire time of need. I've never really spoken about it, though I did tell my paranormal skeptic husband about it once, and what I've never told anyone

is that I think the lady was me. I was about to say that! Okay, wow, I was literally thinking, I'm gonna try to guess who it is, and I was like, hey, I was gonna ask at the end of the story, do you think it could be your higher self? Maybe, yeah. I've always believed that your guardian angels

are just future yous. Oh, interesting. So it would be interesting if you just needed help and they just decided to show themselves instead of just kind of invisibly walk you through it. I had an instinctual feeling this was you this time, because I don't think all guardian angels, at least I don't think are like yourself, but.

I've always had curly hair and started dying it red so long ago that no one remembers when it was blonde. I can't explain how it happened if that's the case, but Em did mention once how our brains can't make up faces we don't know, and who would I trust more than myself? That's a great point. I'm so smart.

Thought you were about to say who would, first of all, I said that. Second of all, I like the idea that, that, wait. So, I say that sentence again. I'm so smart? No.

No, thank you though. The one that you read. I can't explain how it happened if that's the case, but Em mentioned how our brains can't make up faces we don't know and who would I trust more than myself? I thought it was about to say, who would I trust more than Em? And I was like, good question, nobody, certainly not. I hope it's not a haunting of Hill House scenario

where I'm appealing to myself after I die because she didn't look that old and I've never seen her since. I'd love to hear your take on it. And if you've ever read this on the show. I know exactly. I mean, I don't know exactly, but I have a very very strong gut intuition that you're going to have either an astral projection or some sort of dream and you're going to relive this out in the other perspective. That would be crazy. I really believe it because I've heard stories

like that where you don't realize for decades and then later you have a dream and you see your childhood self and it like clicks where you're like oh oh my God, it's the other side of that. So I would be so curious. I mean, maybe you won't even remember the dream, but I would be so curious if you, if you happen to remember. I mean, I'm always craving that experience. I'm always craving that, uh, that Reddit story of the guy who ended up seeing his younger self. Yeah, that was, that was a Jim Harrold original, I think where where he said, like, oh, he was making a sandwich and a little kid ran past. And he was like, that was weird.

And then years later, I'm sorry, he was a little kid, he ran past the door and saw a man in a hoodie making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, got scared, ran away. Then like years later was home, visiting home and was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and goes, is there a kid out in the hallway? And was like, wait a minute, that's me. I love that story. It's so crazy. I see it on, uh, when I used to go on Reddit, it would pop up on Reddit all the time. So in my mind, it's a Reddit original, but I don't know where it came. I don't know who

started it, but it's definitely something I aspire to have in my life. And so if you, if you're going to have this, I think your idea of like having a dream and now seeing the other perspective is so cool. So if you get to have the sandwich story, I'm going to be very jealous of you. I'm going to be very happy for you. But yes, we hope you update us if that happens. Anyway, thanks for the story. That's very creepy and in a good way. The start of a new year is the perfect time to get organized, set goals, and prioritize what matters most.

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Go to rocket money comm slash drink today. That's rocketmoney.com slash drink. Rocketmoney.com slash drink. This is from Abby, she, her, and it's called my wholesome third man story. Hi, AT, uh oh, we got an ATTWD. I'll judge, that's fine. Hello, I listened to Em cover the third man phenomenon and was so comforted and surprised to find out that thousands of people have experienced the same thing I did. So I thought I would tell you my story. I was driving to my hometown from college to hang out with

my best friend for her birthday weekend. Long story short, it was storming very heavily and a semi jackknifed across the freeway, which I barely avoided as I pulled off to the shoulder. Unfortunately, I got rear as I pulled off to the shoulder. Unfortunately, I got rear-ended really hard by somebody who wasn't looking at the road. Four different cars were involved in the accident and my car was totaled. I remember feeling terrified and profoundly alone,

especially since my parents were traveling out of the country and I knew they weren't there to help me. I got out of my car and as I saw the damage, I started to panic. Then a kind looking man approached me and said, are you all right? To which I responded, I don't know, and continued to cry and panic. He came closer and said, can I give you a hug?

I agreed and the man hugged me and quietly said, I got you, you're gonna be okay. I distinctly remember how soft his flannel was and how warm and dry he was. This was odd because it was pouring rain outside and I was soaking wet and shivering from the cold after stepping out of the car for only one minute. how soft his flannel was and how warm and dry he was. This was odd because it was pouring rain outside and I was soaking wet and shivering from the cold after stepping out of the car for only one minute.

Wow. This hug felt extremely comforting and was exactly what I needed in that moment. He then said, you need to get back in your car and call 911, okay? I began to do as he said, and when I turned around to thank him for his help, he was gone.

Oh! I looked around to see if he was helping the people in the other cars, but he was nowhere to be seen. Reflecting on this moment now, I believe this was either a guardian angel slash third man, or it was my grandpa's spirit in some form. My grandpa always wore the same type of cozy, soft flannels that the man was wearing.

I like to imagine that this was a guardian angel, and before he came down to help me, my grandpa stopped him and handed him one of his flannels to wear on his journey. Oh, that's precious. Now I'm going to cry. Oh my God. I thought he was going to stop and say, let me do this. He's like, just take this flannel with you.

She'll know what it means. My grandpa stopped him and handed him one of his flannels to wear on his journey. And I like that your grandpa somewhere is like giving you that little wink, like a nod. Yeah. He was like, I'm busy playing bridge, but you can have a final if you want plans, but I didn't like want to totally dismiss you. Right. Um, one of his flannels to wear on his journey,

since he knew that would comfort his terrified granddaughter. I've been a long time listener and absolutely love your podcast and saw you in Anaheim for your last tour You guys are the best. Love you. That makes me just like teary-eyed If something happens to you right now, do you know who would come down and appear before you probably probably no one? Just kidding. Probably. Um My Dom have always busy rocking himself to sleep in the basement So I don't know.

So just rocking himself until we finally let him fill out his application to the institution. To move somewhere else. Oh yeah. I don't know. Do you know who? No, I always think it'll be my grandpa, but the last time he showed up was like so long ago. None of mine ever show up.

I think he's tired of me. Yeah, none of mine ever show up. I don't know what they're... I think they're busy. I had a long period of time where I thought my grandpa was just always next to me, and maybe he is now, but he's definitely faded. And I'm kind of wondering if he's just bored of me,

or if it's like his time is up. I don't know what the deal is. But now I don't know who would appear and said... I imagine it would be one of my grandparents. Yeah, I would like to think so, but they didn't like me very much in lifetime. So I don't know. If there's, if there's like a chance that it would be somebody I don't recognize, I think it would be my grandmother's aunt named Tilly, Aunt Tilly. Because I have some weird connection with her that I can't explain. I've obviously never met her, but there's something about her that really gets me cooking.

We talked about it. You brought photos and I was like, this is a character you got here in your family. I think she was gay. I think that helps. So maybe she'd show up, but also I've obviously never been in that intensive danger for her to show up or anyone for that fact. I mean you had your like heart restarted in an ambulance. Yeah, I saw no one.

So maybe they're just like- You saw Brad, maybe he was your guardian angel. Thanks EMT Brad. I like to think that my grandpa was like, Brad's got it, I don't wanna deal with this. Yeah, he's like, I don't want Brad to borrow my flannel, he's gonna get blood all over it. And you would think my grandparents would show up

because they're responsible for this heart shit that I got. Like they gave it to me. So you think they'd at least be in the corner going, I'm so sorry. Hey, it's not their fault, they were giving it to. Yeah, but I'm gonna blame them because I only know what they look like. But anyway, yeah, no one has appeared yet.

So I guess they probably just watched from above and went, oh, this is formative. Well, I hope they have a good time alone with it. Let's see, I think this is my last one. This is, is this my last one? Yes. This is, I think our last one. Yeah, I think it's the last one. Okay. This is from Megan who uses she, her pronouns. Thank you for normalizing pronouns. And your subject line is the third man saved my mom's life. Oh, cool.

Everyone's got a third man but me. So the story says... Let's take a moment to count our blessings that we don't have many opportunities to meet a third man. This, well, what if I got stuck in my swimsuit too? Well, you don't seem quite as traumatized about it as maybe this person was.

Megan says, hello, and that's why we drink team. My name is Megan and I just finished listening to M's telling of third man syndrome. This is something that has always fascinated me because the way I see it, there are two likely scenarios which are equally rad to think about. Either ghosts slash guardian angels exist, or our brains can create intentional beneficial hallucinations as a form of internal meta communication. Yeah that's that's fascinating that's like that's what I think is so cool it's like even if it's not supernatural that's incredible that our brains can create like a hallucination that can

save you your own life. Yeah can talk to ourselves yeah. Yeah that's amazing. I am 95% of a clinical psychologist. I am finishing my doctorate degree and graduating later. Fuck yeah, when was this sent? Maybe they already got it. They probably did, since they just finished listening to my episode from a long time ago. Oh yeah, congrats.

I mean, I'm sure you nailed it, Megan. Congrats, Dr. Megan. And even though I do believe in ghosts, I must say the hallucination explanation of Thurman syndrome is the one I am backing. Especially since it hit very close to me in 2021. In April of that year, I found out that my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She ended up getting a double mastectomy followed by chemo and radiation therapy. And the doctor's consensus was that if she waited a moment longer to see a doctor, the cancer would have metastasized. Three years later, she's cancer-free, but it will always stick with me, the story of how she first realized something was wrong. She was just having a normal day, felt totally normal, and was doing housework, mundane life stuff. Then out of nowhere, she hears a voice around her say, go to a doctor, you have breast cancer.

Oh my God. Oh my God. What a terrifying voice to hear. I'd be like, that's my OCD. Wow. That's my intrusive thought. Yeah, it's like you almost hope someone will say that because you almost have that, I would have thought like, I at least have a moment of hope

because if I heard a voice warning me, that means like, it's not too late. My brain didn't even go there, but that's a really good point. Like it's at least a hopeful thing. Like, oh, if they voice warning me, that means like it's not too late. My brain didn't even go there, but that's a really good point. Like it's at least a hopeful thing. Like, oh, if they're warning me, there's maybe something we can do about it. There's a chance.

Like you're not gonna, hopefully my guardian angel wouldn't tell me after it's too late. Ha ha. I, yeah, whoops. Ha ha sucker, you're joining me soon. What? Yeah, exactly.

Go to the doctor you have breast cancer and her hand of its own accord flies up to her breast and touches the exact spot she would later find out where the tumor is. Oh my God. It's your intuition. It's your intuition. She hadn't been for her annual in three years,

AKA get checked, please everybody. I don't think I've ever gotten checked for that. I think we're supposed to at 40. Okay, I was gonna say, I think I'm- But maybe the numbers dropped since. I think we're supposed to at 40. Okay, I was gonna say, I think I'm getting there. But maybe the numbers dropped since. But they said she knew in that moment, she said in that moment she knew she had to go in. Two weeks later, she's calling me with the official diagnosis

and she's been expedited for surgery. My mom is an adamant atheist and has never had a supernatural or paranormal experience in her life. She says she genuinely has no idea what this voice was or how it knew she was sick, but if it hadn't told her and shown her, she most likely would have gone to the doctor once it was too late. Unfortunately, the research on these experiences possibly being strategic hallucinations by the brain as a survival mechanism is essentially non-existent, but the possibility is right in line with how insanely complex and unfathomable

the human brain is. And two, it means that we all have a little guardian angel 24-7 built in, which that's very precious. So cool. It's like your higher self almost, even if it is like just psychological, it sort of is your higher self.

Your intuition is like, something's wrong and I need you to know even though it's just you. Especially on a random day to just have that thought, like the fact that your something is working and overdrive and you're not even aware of it. And is like breaking through the monotony of the day, like knock, knock, I have something, oh, it's so cool. The second part makes me feel a bit nicer.

The second part that we have a guardian angel built in. Makes me feel a bit nicer towards my brain who is otherwise mentally ill and requires medication to function. Because at least when the cards are down, maybe it can save my life one day. Thank you for taking the time to read all this and keep doing what you're doing

because we got this brethrens in anxiety. Brethrens in anxiety? Hell yeah, that's relatable. Anyway, thank you. Thank you, Megan, for that story. Wow, I'm glad your mom's doing okay. What a scary, because then you wonder like, well then why do some people get saved

and why do some people nod and why do some people hear a voice and some don't? It's just all very confusing and overwhelming to me. But I just, I love to hear these like anecdotes where things ended well. So I do appreciate Eva for putting good vibes into this series of stories. Yeah, we never got an epilogue on your mom,

but hopefully she's doing okay now. Yeah. So, man, those are some, I love a third man story. I know me too. Those are great. And I love that we got like the span of like psychological, like they believe it was psychological versus like an actual guardian angel. Yeah. Wearing grandpa's flannel. You know, like what a cool. I mean, it would also make sense if it is your brain that it would bring in comfort like like the flannel. Yeah, yeah, something familiar. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Boy. Well, I don't know, man. Those are all great. Well, we just broke our way into 2025, kicked the door off the hinges and said, gently close 2024 and let's get into 25 and kick ass. Hopefully everyone's guardian angels and or third men and or brains are on high alert and we're all looking out for each other. Let's be on high alert but also rest. I'm going to be on high alert.

You be on rest and then we'll switch off next year. Thank you. Happy January. Happy 2025. Good luck out there. We'll see you when. Thank you. Happy January, happy 2025. Good luck out there. We'll see you when we see you. You can go to and that's what we drink.com for any information you might need.

We're on tour right now starting next month. So go check out our tickets and that's what we drink.com slash live. You can follow us on Patreon, ATWWD podcast, which is also our socials. You can find Em at The Em Shultz and me at XTeen Shiver. And that's why we drink.