Money
TELL S2E3 - Money - Episode Transcript
Drae Campbell: From the corporate infrastructure [strum] [laughter] [TELL THEME SONG]
[MUSIC BED] DC: Hi, I’m Drae Campbell and this is TELL -- a podcast where queer people tell queer stories. For the past 8 years I’ve been hosting and curating a night of live storytelling at BGSQD -- a queer bookstore in Manhattan. And now I’m sharing those stories with the world… again! Season 2.
DC: Just so you know these stories were recorded at all different times and places and throughout the quarantine, pre-vax, post-vax, and everything in between.
DC: So, if you need a dose of queer community, or just wanna hear great stories told by the people who lived them, you’ve come to the right place. So flash us your vax and tie up your shoes, ‘cause TELL is queering the narrative and telling our stories, on our terms.
[FADE OUT MUSIC]
[MUSIC BED: Upbeat rock] DC: Each episode of TELL features three stories that center around a theme and the theme of this episode is… [echo] MONEY [cash register] [echo] MONEY!
DC: This first story is by me, Drae Campbell, it’s about what I did with a little bit of money after a bad breakup. Everybody does things their own little way. What do you do with a little cash in your hand? Here’s what I did, and it might not be what you’d expect. It was recorded in September 2020…
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[DRAE CAMPBELL]
DC: So I went through a breakup many years ago -- I mean, I've been through a lot of break ups, but I was going through a tough time in addition to a breakup. It was like 10 years ago, I think, and my mom was in a nursing home and she was starting to get dementia and it was like, really stressful. I was being kicked out of my apartment by my roommate, and I had a breakup. So I was having like a lot of stress in a short amount of time, and my response, I was responding mostly to the breakup with what I'm about to tell you. Any time I had cash in my hand, I would write my name on it. And I started to do it obsessively. And I wrote, just "Drae". And I wrote little Aquarius symbols. And I would just, like with big markers, write "DRAE", like, across… And my thinking was, you know I was getting cash from like dog walking, and at that time it was like, it wasn't the apps and stuff. So it was like a lot of cash coming into my hands. So I was writing it on everything all the time. Like $20 bills. I would go to the bank and they would be like, "Uh, you have your name...?" I was like, "I just, I don't want to talk about it alright. Just take the money." I would hand it to my friends to be like, "Here's my share for the cab ride." And they would be like, "Why is your --" "Nah, I don't, can't..." It was like a response to trauma, or I don't know if it's trauma, but like sadness, I guess, or whatever.
DC: And the logic behind it was that the person that I broke up with, or who broke up with me, was a waitress, and I was hoping that she would be counting out her money one night and she would come across my name and she would be so sorry. I was like, "I'll show her!" Like, not going to contact her, not gonna have any kind of revenge other than, "she's gonna see my name on a dollar, and then she'll be sorry!" Why? Why? Money! And I was like, "She knows it's me because it'll have the little Aquarius symbol. Because, side note, when we met, she had told me, "Oh my god, I can't believe we've met. I have been manifesting the perfect Aquarius girlfriend. And you walked into this place where I work this restaurant and here you are, the perfect Aquarius girlfriend." And then like eight or nine months later, it was a disaster. And so I started writing my name on money with the Aquarius symbol. I mean, that's [laughter] one plus one equals two! Like, who doesn't do that? The normal response. I don't know. Twenties, fifties! There are a couple of hundred dollar bills I was like "I'm gonna show her when she gets..." Why? Well, it was my shit, and the only person really suffering in that scenario was me.
DC: I did this for maybe like a year or so. I did it a long time. So you may, maybe it'll pop up? But the weird, crazy ending to this story is that my best friend, my closest oldest friend, called me one night and was like, "I just got one of your $20 bills out of an ATM on Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn." And I was like, "What?!" Like her and her girlfriend went and fucking were just withdrawing their money out of Citibank and bitch, my name popped out at them! And I was like, "Of all the people in this world to get that!" I felt like that was the person that needed to get it. Like, that's a person who is like one of my oldest, longest, most special relationships. I felt like she was like my safety net in life, like, "OK, I caught your crazy." [laughter] [FADE UP MUSIC BED: Upbeat piano] And that's my little like physical money story. And I don't know why I thought, like -- maybe it was like my weird little art thing.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
DC: Next up, TL Thompson is a veteran storyteller and a wonderful actor. They put together, in my opinion, a perfect story -- perfectly told, perfectly written, everything about it is wonderful, so much so that I think that this story should be made into a film. It was recorded in September 2020…
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[TL THOMPSON]
TL Thompson: Oh my goodness, money, you know, money makes my palms, sweat, money, money makes me hot. Money! [laughter] I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. I guess we were sort of like lower-middle class. My grandparents owned businesses and all of the family would sort of work at the business. One business was a group home and one was a casket company. So I spent a few of my early years having naps under caskets. Not weird at all. But um [laughter] so, you know, growing up in KC, MO, you know, we were just sort of like a normal kind of fam. So like I said, I had sort of like a weird maybe relationship with money. I wasn't making it. It was around me. It was nearby. You know, it didn't really involve me.
TLT: Fast forward, I moved to New York City when I'm 18 years old. Well, at this point, I'm like 24 doing odd jobs, random things. I hadn't yet joined the Painter’s Union, so I was bartending and waiting tables. And when I'm 24 years old, my papa, my grandpa, passes away and I find out that when I turn 25, I'm going to get $20,000 and it's like, I'm 24 and a little bit. So I'm like, “Oh, that's sweet. And I just, you know, Gray's papaya for a few more months, and [laughs] I'm good to go!” So, you know, I'm just waiting. I'm calling and checking in and seeing like what you know, because I'm not making a lot of money, and New York City is really friggin’ expensive. So, you know, the money gets there, I believe, on a Tuesday. And I don't have a bank account, so I have to go to a check cashing place. So it was 20,000 dollars and now it's like 19-something because, you know, they take a little bit off the top. So I'm like, "Fine, that's still great."
TLT: Next day, I'm like, "OK, I'm getting my girls together. We finna go out!". And so I get my best six girlfriends and we get together and my other really good girlfriend, Larissa works at this like fancy-ass restaurant on like, just off Washington Square Park. Doesn't even have a sign, that's how fucking fancy it is. So we go in and we are all, it's like three course, it's like, it's like all the things. I'm like, "Yeah!" Of course we, you know, we took tip our girl, you know, we give her some bills, you know! She hooked us up with like one bottle, at least, right? You know, and we're also celebrating because I'm about to go to Portland, Oregon, to be with my boo at the time. She lives over there and I'm like, "All right, I got this. I'll move up over to over to Portland, Oregon. OK!" So we're celebrating. OK, so that bill is at least to 2, 2 grand on that bill. So where we are now? That's like 16, 8-17. So I'm like, "OK, that's cool. I'm gon-finna to go to Portland."
TLT: Whole year that I'm in Portland, I don't have a job, my boo don't have a job. I'm paying the rent. I'm flying us to L.A. because she's got a friend in L.A. and I'm like, "All right, let's go see your friend." So, L.A., you know, that's three people's tickets. I got three people's tickets, so we're at like 16-something. And then, you know, we're on Rodeo Drive… I got to get leather pants! That's a good, [laughs] that's a little bit! And then, you know, I was drinkin’ like hard at that time. So like every place that we walked into, I'm getting at least around for the bar. This one particular bar, there was a bull [laughs]. Bitch was riding the bull [laughs]. Makin' it rain! OK, I'm down to maybe 14 when I leave L.A.? And it's been about, not quite a year, so I'm saying it's almost about 8 months. Somehow, I've managed to get down to about five thousand in eight months out of twenty thousand dollars. And I'm like, "OK, maybe I should get a job?" And then I'm like, "OK, do I really want to stay in Portland, Oregon?" And I was like, "OK."
TLT: So boo and I break up, and I move back to New York, I'm living with my good friend at the time and their girlfriend, and we're having, you know, booze and drug-filled evenings. And occasionally they're asking me for money. It's my, my best friend. And you know, it's like, you know, we live together, we're sharing things, "sure, a little bit of money." I'm paying the rent. They go out of town for some reason, and I feel like it's absolutely Thanksgiving. Absolutely Thanksgiving, I've got at this point, probably about like two thousand of it left. And I'm like, "OK, well, Thanksgiving by myself." Go to Boston Market. Get me one of them rotisserie chickens. And blockbuster's still around, so I get a DVD, not a VHS from Blockbuster. And I'm like, "OK, this is my night. This is my night. I'm going home. DVD, roasted chicken." Get to the door. There's a fucking eviction notice on the door of the apartment. They hadn't locked us out, but it became clear to me once I got my chicken and my DVD in, that my roommates had maybe not been paying the rent that I had been givin’ them. So [laughter] so, movie by the way is "Requiem for a Dream." Yes, bitch! Requiem for a Dream! Eating the rotisserie chicken, and thinking to myself, "Man, if I ever get this much money again, that is not how I should do it." The end.
[FADE UP MUSIC BED: Drums, jazzy]
DC: I actually kind of think that is how you should do it. You fucking traveled. You did your party on your terms.
TLT: We did.
DC: You ended up with a rotisserie chicken in your hand.
TLT: Drae, I could have had a house! Bitch coulda had a brownstone! [laughter]
DC: You coulda had a house... [crosstalk] Actually, what I would like to see is like a zine or a graphic novel that shows the amount and you call it "twenty thousand" and you you go like how much each panel costs of your adventure until it gets down at the end, and you're just standing there next to an eviction notice with Requiem for a Dream and a chicken. This could even be a movie, I would love to play the rotisserie chicken...
TLT: Fuck yes [laughter]
DC: Woo, honey. This is getting made.
DC: You can find TL Thompson at T L Thompson actor dot com.
DC: Our last story, Nina Ki is a queerean -- queer and Korean -- American playwright who likes her dogs more than most people. This story from Nina Ki has everything you could want from a story: religious hypocrisy, bullying, cursing, class… everything! It was recorded in September 2020. Take it away Nina Ki!
[NINA KI]
Nina Ki: Hello. My story about money has to do with Korean Church School, which, if you don't know, is a lot of Korean people send their children to Korean school. It happens on the weekends, and a lot of times it'll take place at church. And you would think that it being like a church environment and everything that, I don't know, it would be less like the real world, I guess. But in order to be popular in Korean church school, you have to have a little bit of money. That really helps. Especially if you're donating that money to the church. That's a big thing. And also like your proximity to like the pastor or whoever that also makes you somewhat popular. But my parents didn't even really go to church that often. So they were just like, my daughter needs to learn Korean to combat all the American [laughs] that's happening in her life, and we're going to ship her off to this school every weekend. So I went to Korean Church School. I was not very popular, again, because I did not go to church often. We did not have much money at that time. We were like, OK, you know. But we certainly weren't donating because we weren't going. But there was a group of really popular Korean girls. Like if you could imagine a Korean Regina George, that would be Julie Kim. Right? That's like the, the ringleader. She was the niece of the pastor. So, she kind of was like, “I am the shit,” you know? And then her best friend there was this girl named Eileen, who was, like, clearly very wealthy because she was always wearing like lots of designer stuff. They were the popular group in my class, and there was a bit of like, everyone was kind of afraid of them a little bit. Until I got there and then I was like… I mean, I feel like I'm charming maybe? I don't know. [laughter] But I was like, you know, making friends, and I was like, "Yeah, who cares about popularity? Let's just do this!” And I started making friends there. My really good friend there was this guy named Sandra who really, really wanted to be one of the popular girls. She'd be like, "Oh, I wish I could really hang out with them. They're so cool. Like, don't you wish you could hang out with them?" And I'm like, "We're cool by ourselves. Yeah. Woo!"
NK: It kind of came to the point where it was kind of like a -- I mean, I've never seen this movie, but from the title I'm gathering -- a Revenge of the Nerds situation where like the popularity lines are kind of like dissolving, you know, which made Julie Kim mad [laughter]. She was really mad about it. And I think she started to realize that she was losing her Regina George grip on the class. And so she, very cleverly, like adolescent girls, are just so fucking smart, you know? But she started to, like, kind of be like, "Hey, like, come over here, you know, like let’s talk.” So one time she was like, "Oh, Nina, come here, come here. Like, let’s talk like this, you know? Oh, hang out with us coming out with this." And so I would like, like, spent lunch with them and I spent that day with them. But they were like, "Yeah, like about your friend, Sandra? Like, Don't you think she's weird? Yeah, she is weird, right? Don't you think she's weird?" And I was like, "I mean, no, she's my friend. I, I think she's fine. Yeah. Like, I like her!" And then the next day, the next time I went to Korean Church School, I like, didn't hang out with them. You know, I was like, "OK, that was cool, that was a fun time. Gonna go back to my friend Sandra, we're going to do this, I'm living my best life." And, you know, that was that.
NK: But then the next time, right? Julie Kent, she was like, "This isn't working out. Nina's not getting with it." So she started to befriend Sandra. And, as I mentioned before, Sandra really wanted to be friends with them. So she ended up ditching me and she became friends with Julie Kim. Yeah, and I mean. And they were there just hanging out all the time. And, you know, of course, I'm like, "Oh my god. Sandra, you were my friend. Like, I drew your pictures of dogs, like we're friends, you know?" And at one point I was like, I like kind of cornered her and I was like, "Sandra, you know, you shouldn't be hanging out with Julie Kim and Eileen because, you know, they said, you were weird, and that's bad. You don't want to hang out with people who think you're weird. That's really mean." And she was like, "Oh, I don't know. I don't know." And then she kind of left.
NK: And then the next time, Julie Kim came and then, you know, Sandra was kind of like hanging out in the back, you know? Eileen was like closer to Julie, but like, not as close. Like, clearly, Julie is in charge of the situation. And she was like, "Nina, I heard that you've been saying that I said that Sandra was weird and that's a lie. You are lying to everybody. You're lying to Sandra. You're a liar." And I was like, "Oh! [laughter] Like, I mean, you said it, you know, I'm not saying anything that you didn't say." I was like, "You --" And Sandra's there like looking at me, like making like sad puppy eyes at me. Like, "How could you lie?" And I'm like, "I didn't lie I swear! [laughter] She's the liar. Don't put this one me!" But then after that, Sandra and Eileen, and Julie, they're like the posse. And they made a coup, if you will, of the 12 to 13-year-old Korean school group. And they got everyone to not hang out with me anymore. They, like, told everyone that I was weird, that I was lying. And I was like that sad kid with a book like just at recess and lunch like just reading. And then it got to the point where I remember the teacher having this really weird talk where like, right before we all went out to lunch, she was like, "Yeah, you know, Jesus, like, love thy neighbor. And I think that we should do this as well, kids". And nobody really knew who she was talking there like, "is that is it me? Like, should I am I supposed to be the nicer kid? Like what? What is happening here?" And I like, look back on that now and as an adult, and I'm like, "Oh yeah, that was definitely that was definitely about me."
NK: So, I'm just like out there living my life reading books by myself [laughter] every lunch period. And it got to the point where we are in the cafeteria and Julie walks by me and she like, shoves me, you know, like with her shoulder and she, like, runs into me and I like, stumble. It's like strong enough that I like stumble backward. And I'm like, "Oh my god," [laughter] I'm getting bullied! I thought I was so charming! I thought I was really cool! I was friends with all of you for like, you know, and now..." What a turn of events. But, I neglected to mention this before, but I do have a brother. OK. His name is Tom. My brother, how would I describe my brother? He, he started cursing in the fifth grade. And he is the type to like drop F-bombs, every other word. So he saw Julie Kim, like, check me with their shoulder and he's like, you know, I'm just going to it's going to be a lot of curse words, OK, but I just want to replicate exactly how my brother did this cause it was like "You fucking bitch, Julie? What the fuck? You're being mean to my sister. You fucking bitch. I'll fucking kill you!".
NK: And I was like, "Oh my God," [laughter] I didn't even realize, like, you know, at that point too, my brother and I were much closer later on, but at that point, I didn't even realize, like, you know, we're still squabbling and stuff. So I was like, "Oh my God!" I'm like taken aback, like, "I didn't even know he cared that much," you know? And then Julie is like deer in the heads, like, like, "Oh no, no, I didn't. I didn't do that to Nina. I didn't, I don't know what you saw, but I didn't --" And he's just like "you're calling me fucking dumb, you're calling me stupid, bitch? You're fucking dumb." I was like, Oh my God. And it got to the point where there was a small crowd gathering and then he just kept going, you know, expletives, every other word, you know, "Fuck you." this, "Fuck you. Don't you ever be mean to my sister again," you know, "Blah blah blah blah blah,” whatever. And then at one point, Julie realizes that she's not going to win this battle. You know, it's not, she's not going to get a word in. He doesn't believe her. You know, and there's nothing that she can say that's going to fix this. So she just kind of like creeps backward like, "I think I'm just going to leave" and to leaves. And then one of the bystanders is like, she was like an older grade student, she's like, "I'm going to have to get the pastor on this, like I'm going to have to..." So she leaves to go get the pastor. And there's no Julie anymore to yell at. So he turns to me and he's like, "And you, don't ever let people do that to you, don't ever!" And, you know, like, it's one thing to fight with your peers, but like my brother, like I fight, I've been fighting him since I was, you know, whatever. So I was like, "Don't yell at me" [laughter] "I'm the person who was bullied? Not you, like, don't yell at me. I'm the wronged party!”
NK: And so we're like going back and forth, back and forth. And then at a certain point, he's like, "No, but Nina, like, you can't ever let them do that to you." Because at the regular school that we were going to, he was getting bullied pretty frequently. And he kind of developed a reputation as kind of like the aggro kid who would like fight a lot of people. And like, I can see that, you know, because he was being bullied so much. But I remember like, somebody administratively came. He saw that it was my being me and my brother arguing, and he was just like, "Well, it's a sibling thing. So I'm just going to back off" and then he was like, “Just, just work it out like your brother and sister. You should love each other. Jesus. Bye." And then he left and, and then, you know, my brother and I talked it out, but.
NK: When I was thinking about and I was like, what… how can I… what story do I tell? I was like, you know what? What is the moral of the story, right? Because I used to be an elementary school teacher. What is the moral of my story is must have a moral right, and my moral of the story is that being, I don't know, in close proximity to Jesus or the pastor, you know, and having lots of money doesn't mean that you can't be nice. You know? You're wealthy, a businessman, whatever does not mean that you can be mean, to put it lightly. And that's all I'll say. [laughter] That's the end of my story. Thank you so much for listening.
[FADE UP MUSIC BED]
DC: Yay! [applause]
DC: Being in close proximity to money, money adjacent, who is money adjacent? Does anybody have [laughs] friends with money? Yay, give it up for Nina Ki [applause]. Wow, that really brought a lot of things to mind. It had God. It had money. It had fighting, bullying. Just wow. And you told it with like a big, happy smile. It was like a cool-ass story. It was like, "and then they ostracized me, and my brother was being bullied, and he..." [laughter] there was like religious, like hypocrisy. Oh, good old Christianity. Oh, they should just change the name of Christianity to religious hypocrisy. I mean, really. Helloooo.
DC: you can find Nina at ni_eu_ki on Instagram.
DC: [sigh] Thank you so much for tuning in… and queer folks, remember – If you don't tell your story, someone else will, so get out there and…
Audience: TELL! QUEER! STORIES!
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[FADE UP TELL THEME]
DC: TELL is created, hosted and produced by me, Drae Campbell. The stories are recorded live, on zoom or on location at the Bureau of General Services Queer Division -- a pop and pop book shop and event space in the LGBTQ Center in Manhattan. Go say hi to Greg and Donny, who run BGSQD, and tell them we sent you, or follow them at B G S Q D.
DC: The TELL Podcast is produced by Emily Boghossian, recorded at BRIC House in Downtown Brooklyn by Zak Sherzad, Eric Haugesag, and Onel Mulet, and edited by Lauren Klein. Our theme songs were written and recorded by Drae Campbell and Peter Lettre. Charlie Hoxie and Kuye Youngblood are the wind beneath our wings.
DC: Remember to follow us on Spotify, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, google us on google play, and slide into our DMs @tellqueerz or @draebiz on Instagram. That’s queers and biz with a “z”, obviously. And you know what if you like me specifically, check me out on DraeCampbell.com.
TELL is part of the BRIC family. For more information on this and all BRIC Radio podcasts, visit bric arts media dot org.
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