Andrea: Hello, and welcome to Those Who Can't Do. I'm Andrea Forkham, and I am so excited about the guest that we have today. Um, I was first kind of exposed to him on social media, um, and then, uh, you know, Also saw him at a live comedy show, but before we get to that, I have to tell you about the comedy show that I'm going to this weekend.

Very excited. This is, um, when we are recording this. It is a few months earlier than when you were listening to it. And there are big events happening this weekend in the Haute. Uh, and, uh, In particular, the total eclipse of the HOTE, that is how Terre HOTE is, Terre HOTE Indiana is um, kind of branding the fact that we are in line for the full eclipse.

And so there are supposed to be hundreds of thousands of people coming into Terre HOTE and I, uh, because I'm a genius, decided, uh, this is the weekend, I'm going to try and leave town. and go several hours south to a comedy show with bored teachers. Um, I'm going to go and, and watch the show. I'm bringing a bunch of students with me.

I'm very excited about it. Um, some of the guests that we've had on here, uh, Devin Sebald and Andrew Kaspari are going to be performing. So delighted to see that. Uh, but of course it happens to be the weekend before the solar eclipse. So the traffic is going to be a lot, which is kind of a bummer. Um, but I'm still excited about it.

I love going to live comedy shows. Uh, one of the ones that I went to right before I moved out of California was the show I saw with Gaspar and his opener was our guest today, Sam Salem. Sam is a, uh, Well, Sam is currently a substitute teacher and comedian. He is putting in all the work at the different comedy venues in Los Angeles where he lives.

Um, and he was You know, when you see people online and you're like, oh, that's funny, and you know, you like them because they just seem like good, funny people, um, and then you see their stand up and you're like, oh, no, you're like, funny, funny. That is exactly how I felt with Sam. And apparently I also had a sense of familiarity with Sam, um, to the point that when he first met me, uh, there's a picture we're going to show you later in the episode.

Where he looks, he looks alarmed, we will say. Um, so I cannot wait for you guys to hear your take on that first interaction of when I met Sam Salem. So without further ado, let's get to it.

Welcome to Those Who Can't Do. I am very excited to have Sam Salem with me today. Sam, thank you for coming on the podcast.

Sam Salem: It would not be a lie to say honor of a lifetime.

Andrea: Not to be hyperbolic. at all, even though I will remind you that it was not that long ago that I went to your comedy show and you did not know who I was and you acted like I was trying to traffic you when we took pictures together.

Sam Salem: Okay. To be fair, I'm not the most up to date on who the teach talkers are. Okay. That's not, it might be the content that I make. It's not the content that I watch.

Andrea: Got it.

Sam Salem: And so I can't keep track of all the follows coming through. So you walked up to me like you knew who I was.

Andrea: It was your comedy show, Sam.

But no, there's a,

Sam Salem: there's a difference between, oh, I'm a, you walked up to me like you, you, like we were friends. Not like, oh, I know who you are. And, and, and, and just to be clear, I've had some crazy experiences. Where, like, I was on the road with, shout out Joe Dombrowski, we were in Appleton, and this drunk woman tried to break down the door of our green room.

Andrea: What?

Sam Salem: And then after that, there was a late show, so she was at the first show,

Andrea: she

Sam Salem: tries to break down the door of our green room in between shows. We have to barricade the door. Then, the second show starts, The comedy club we're in the downstairs is a restaurant and bar We walked down to the restaurant and bar to use the bathroom and she is there and so she starts Chasing after us and we're like going to the bathroom.

So we go into the bathroom and I'm like, oh my gosh She's gonna she's gonna be waiting for us outside. She's gonna be waiting for us outside the bathroom And she was not waiting for us outside the bathroom because she just walked in the bathroom as I'm at the urinal and is like, you never told me where you're from.

That's not what people from Wisconsin sound like, but that's what she sounded like in my head. So anyway.

Andrea: So that's the energy I was bringing is what you're saying is that I came up and was friendly and you were like, Oh, not again. This woman is going to follow me in the bathroom.

Sam Salem: I'm just a very awkward person.

And I thought like, have we met? Do I know this person? Because I can't tell you the amount of times, like, my wife and I, like, volunteer at church, or, like, I'm on stage, like, saying something, so then people walk up to me, like, like we're friends, and I'm like, have I actually met them, or do they just know who I am?

And so my, my life is in constant fear of me. Misremembering somebody.

Andrea: That literally happened to me this last week. I had a person come to the university to like interview for something. And I came in because they invite like all of the faculty to come in and just sit there and watch basically. And so I come in and I sit down and she goes, there she is.

And she gave me a hug. To be clear, I want it on the record. I did not go in for a hug with Sam. I literally was like, hey man, how's it going? And it was apparently with too much intended friendship. But this woman came in and like fully gave me a hug. And I don't, and I should have known immediately she doesn't know me because I don't, I'm not a hugger.

Like I, when I visit, I now live out of state from the rest of my family and they will get two hugs from me. One when I arrive for a visit and one when I leave from the, like, that's the level of, like, hug comfort I'm at, generally speaking. If

Sam Salem: you have a count limit, if you have a pitch limit on your hug, You're probably not the most physical touch kind of person.

Andrea: Exactly. And she gave me a hug and I was like, oh, hey, like, and my chair is aware of my social media presence. And so she was like, oh, so you know Andrea. And she's like, well, of course. And the woman looks at me and goes like, I don't know if you want to tell her how I know you. And I was like, haha, like, and just kind of like awkwardly laughed.

And I still to this day, I'm not positive that she doesn't know me from real life because she lives in this area and she might have met me somewhere like,

Sam Salem: but where, but where would you have met her? That is like, I don't want to talk about it.

Andrea: Well, I don't know if she was like saying it in like a maybe church or maybe I don't, I have no idea.

And I'm like, Yeah, but you're in

Sam Salem: Indiana.

Andrea: Yeah, that's true. That's true. Everyone else is like, not at my church though. Yeah, it was, it was so strange. But yeah, so I do get that where people come up and there is like a weird sense of, false familiarity and it throws you and I don't think like I've certainly did not mean to throw you and I think that part of it was because I I was friends at that point with Gaspar and had chatted with him quite a bit and so for him like I I had like a level of like familiarity and friendship with him

Sam Salem: right and also it says a lot more about me than it does about you like I am just a very uncomfortable self conscious person and I'm just like Like the whole time I was just panicking.

I'm like, you've met her before and you're being so weird right now. So.

Andrea: And to be, to be so clear, we'll put the picture up in the podcast, uh, in the YouTube episode because I'm standing there next, I think I was standing between you and Gasper and Gasper's like standing casually and smiling and you have your arms like tucked in front of you in like a little bit of a shirt.

Sam Salem: I'm an awkward person. I'm an awkward person. And also, straight, white, male comedians don't have the greatest reputation in the world for being normal. So, you're gonna see me, even if I have arms around people, my fists are gonna be like, up like this. Like, I'm not, when it goes for pictures, I'm keeping hands to myself, is basically it.

I'm doing it

Andrea: totally fair and like, you know, the, the drops of like your wife that you have in your, your show and all of that. But one of the things I've found really interesting, even within like the teacher comedian, because I don't think most comedians that do teacher content I would identify themselves as like, I'm a teacher comedian.

Like, I do, because that's literally all I do. But most of the, like, you and Gaspar, like, you have some of that, but you guys have a lot of other stuff that's just like, fantastic comedy. Um, but even within, like, those types of shows, the way I see women approaching you and Gaspar, and like, all the other male comedians, like, they are, they can be very aggressive.

Like, the woman that was like, going into the bathrooms and all of that, I was kind of blown away by, by some of that. I didn't Yeah. You guys were dealing with that.

Sam Salem: It can be weird. I mean, on, on a large scale, dudes are obviously way more creepy to, to women than vice versa. And it is, it is way tougher being a female in that space navigating, like, who are these, like, random dudes?

I will say, so I just want to make that very clear before I take this, make this next point, because someone's going to take it out of context. All right. Right. I, I will say, yeah, exactly. Because there's always been a power imbalance that way, it does feel like women are just more comfortable, like, give me a hug, oh, I know, and just like, being very, like, weird, and it's just like, I don't know you, please don't.

Like DM me weird things or like this one woman at that San Diego show I remember she was like, hey, I actually came to the show for you. I was like, oh, that's so sweet. Thanks She's like, can we take a picture? I'm like sure and she's like my boyfriend would be so jealous right now and I'm just like

Andrea: Well, he shouldn't

Sam Salem: be, like, I don't know.

Andrea: You're like, you really shouldn't be. This is an entirely platonic picture.

Sam Salem: I just started tapping my wedding ring on my, like, bottle of beer. I'm just like, oh, okay, cool.

Andrea: Right? Well, and it's, it's really funny because I, I feel like it's also a numbers game. It's like, most women probably would not be as aggressive as that.

But if you're in a crowd of, like, a lot, and those, you know, those shows that I've been to, it's been a majority, I would say, female audience. And so the two or three that are going to be bold enough, those are the ones that are going to be probably the most memorable too. Because I'm sure for every like one or two, there's 10 that are normal humans.

Sam Salem: Yeah, of course. I mean, that's, that's like the thing with you. We tell crazy stories in the classroom and like random commenters or whoever like, oh my gosh, how do you deal with kids? Kids are so crazy, da, da, da, da, da. It's like, have you met adults? Have you read

Andrea: Facebook comments?

Sam Salem: Yeah, and if you put, like, at a public high school where there's 2, 000 kids, 1, 000 kids, if you just got a group of 2, 000 30 to 32 year olds and all put them in a social setting, they're gonna do a lot of weird, dumb things too.

It's just the only setting where it's just like, hey, be around all of your peers, and it's not work, and it's not quite, you know, hanging out, but it's just weird mixture of it. It's like, yeah, a lot of go to, go to a full time MBA college program and see the dumb stuff that the former tech bro 28 year olds are doing.

And so to your point, it's, it's like, there's always going to be weird people.

Andrea: Yeah, it's like, have they been to the DMV? Like, just go be in the DMV for an hour and then tell me that, like, everyone's totally normal most of the time. Like, no. There's, there's a reason that that's kind of like the pit of despair.

Um, completely coming back to, uh, the whole teaching thing. Now you, you are currently doing substitute teaching. Was there a time that you were also a full time teacher at a school?

Sam Salem: Yes. So I. Yeah, I was a full time teacher. I mean, I guess the whole, the whole background story is I played college basketball, thought I really wanted to coach college basketball, and I was an education major.

So grad school, instead of like paying me to be the assistant coach at this college, they just gave me like a free tuition and an apartment and like a meal stipend. So I got my master's of education and then was coaching college basketball after that. And then my got a job in LA. My, or yeah, my roommate from college was Worked out of high school.

His dad was the principal and athletic director. So I was just like, Oh, this is just an easy, I already have a background in education. I can still coach. It'll be at the high school level. So I was coaching 12th grade, or I was teaching 12th grade econ and gov.

Andrea: And

Sam Salem: then it was a private school, so it was K 12, so there was one year where I was also doing 6th and 7th grade history.

And then, because of stand up comedy and social media, I was at a point where I was able to leave teaching full time, and then when, like, I'm not on the road or not doing social media stuff, I will still substitute teacher in L. A.

Andrea: Gotcha. Now, was there ever a teacher in your, like, own educational background that kind of made you want to become a teacher yourself?

Nope.

Sam Salem: Yeah, there's like a few like, you know, shout out Mr. Bennett. There's like a few just cool teachers who like walk that line of like, okay, don't be buddy buddy with us. Like don't be our friend, but also treat us like we're just human beings. Not like, you know what I mean? Like it wasn't like I am teacher, you are student.

And so I feel like the, I'll be the first one to tell you when it comes to like content area. I'm not the, I'm not the best at knowing my content area, but what I do love about teaching is like building. building community and like the way that you're able to build community internally at a school and externally through sports or extracurriculars.

So I think the teachers that did that is kind of a big reason why I got into teaching.

Andrea: How long were you in the classroom before you transitioned to doing subbing and comedy?

Sam Salem: Um, just three years. So not, you know, not super long. So I've been, I, I full time for three years and then I, I've been subbing for three years as well.

And then I guess in grad school, since I was full time grad school, I guess that was also like a year of You know, a lot of student teaching and being in the classroom as well.

Andrea: Do you have any stories from those early years of either subbing? Because honestly, I feel like subbing is such an unhinged job that, like, it's so, like, unpredictable where you end up with, who you end up with in the classroom, how they're going to react to you when you roll in there.

Do you have any stories of things that just really went awry while you were attempting to keep the peace?

Sam Salem: Yeah, I mean, subbing, How I explain subbing, at least where I've subbed in Los Angeles, it's like stepping onto a set of a Comedy Central roast, and then finding out that the roast is of you, and you did not know that.

And so, I think in Gen Z, Gen Alpha are, for great, for way better and for way worse, like, they don't respect decorum or authority just because that's the way it's been done, which is really great because that helps them dismantle systems that shouldn't be in place, but sometimes it makes it so like someone's standing on a desk and you're like, Hey, you can't do that.

And then they start cussing people out, standing on a desk and I get a little more harsh with them. I'm like, all right, I've had enough of, I've had enough of that. Like, I don't know who you think you are. Get down. And so I had a kid be like, like basically say like, I'm going to get my dad to come to school and beat you up.

And so he's like, would you be like, what would happen if I brought my, if I brought my dad to school and it took everything in me, I would obviously never actually say this, but I really wanted to like, well, then you're going to have to see your dad, get the slapped out of him. Okay, like, I see the genetics that you have, your dad doesn't seem like he's gonna be that big.

Okay, so get your dad up here. And then you're gonna realize how human your dad really is. Okay. So a lot of those. A lot of those stories. Also, you just realize how dysfunctional some schools are. Like,

Andrea: yeah,

Sam Salem: it's like, Oh, I've been subbing here for the same class for two weeks. Oh, I'm just the long term sub now.

And you guys never told me and you never gave me any lesson plans. And great. Okay, cool.

Andrea: Like that's happened where you've been consistently subbing for two weeks for the same teacher. And they just,

Sam Salem: Oh, no, there is a school that the teacher quit in the middle of the school year. And they never told my subbing agency that it was like a long term position.

They just kept like, they would just put me in the same classroom for a week. And then every once in a while for like one day, they'd put me in a different classroom while another sub went in there. And these kids just did not have a teacher for the semester. And finally, they told me like, Oh, yeah, there's just stuff on Google Classroom.

They should be just doing on their own. And then I talked to one of the students. And they were like, yeah, this is how two of my classes are right now. And, and then, and I was like trying to like, I kept trying to be like, hey, this is not

Andrea: like,

Sam Salem: looking back, I should have told my subbing agency. Like I kept trying to talk to people at the school about it.

Andrea: Yeah.

Sam Salem: And I wish I would have told the subbing agency. And then, so of course, the kids don't have a real teacher. I don't have access to what they're supposed to be doing. So like,

Andrea: they

Sam Salem: just don't really do it. And then one day at the end of the, near the end of the school year, the principal walks in. And all the kids, and mind you, these are hour and 40 minute long blocks.

Can you imagine the stuff that's like, it's just me trying to like, I was so stressed every single day because kids just, okay, for the first half hour they're chill, and then all of a sudden

Andrea: It just gets unhinged.

Sam Salem: Yes! And so the teacher walks in, or the principal walks in, and is mad at me that nobody's doing what they're supposed to.

And then, that same day, all the kids just decided to leave class four minutes early. But they, there's 40, there's 35 kids in this class, they all just get up and leave. I'm not gonna barricade the door, I'm not gonna physically restrain a student. Right. So she called my subbing agency and was like, your sub's not like, doing anything, and he's letting kids leave early, and like, he's no longer welcome back at this school.

I'm like, this is a problem you created.

Andrea: Right. And also, no problem. Won't be back. Yeah,

Sam Salem: I was just like, okay, yeah, bummer. Bummer, I can't be at this functional school of all time.

Andrea: Right. There's a sub shortage if you haven't been paying attention. Like, that's fine. I will not be hurting for jobs. So, how long were you there?

Like, two weeks?

Sam Salem: No, three months. Three months? Oh my

Andrea: god, that's so

Speaker: bad.

Sam Salem: And there's going to be someone listening who's like, See, the school systems are bad. No, most schools that I go into are great. But there are, every once in a while, there's one that's just like, what's going on here?

Andrea: Yeah, that's particular.

Was it like, within your subjects matter? Like, what kind of a class was it? Was it history?

Sam Salem: Math. Yeah, it was math.

Andrea: So it wasn't even, like, what you were trained to teach. Did, were you, did they give you anything to teach? Like, were you up there, like, teaching algebra?

Sam Salem: No, they literally said, like, I don't know if it was, like, a Khan Academy.

They literally said, like, there is just, like, an online thing that the kids just should know to do. But, like, I, but if you don't give me any tools to, like, monitor if they're doing it, or what am I supposed to do?

Andrea: Yeah, because they're going to say, I'm done already. I finished it immediately. Oh my gosh, that's And then

Sam Salem: the kids found out I had a social media following, so then like half of them are just trying to be like, Come on, put us in a TikTok.

Andrea: They really do think that you're just gonna pull out your phone and like put a bunch of minors out there. I mean, some teachers do. Some teachers are comfortable with that. I was never comfortable with videoing any of the students or any of that, but Yeah. The comparisons that the students have made to you and various actors or characters You have, you've talked a lot about that on your social media.

Is there one that stands out to you as like maybe the most accurate of the descriptions?

Sam Salem: Oh, of who I look like?

Andrea: Yeah.

Sam Salem: I get logic a lot, especially when I wear a hat. One that I get all the time on social media that I do not agree with, but I guess it's true because everybody says it. So, well, first, this one I'm cool with.

First day of teaching ever. A kid raises their hand and is like, you seen red Oui? And I'm like, yeah. And like, well, you look like the chef . And I'm like, okay. I do have like red curly hair. Like, or you don't,

Andrea: Sam, you don't see it though, like at all? No, I see that

Sam Salem: one. This one I'm cool with. Okay. That one I'm cool with.

Andrea: Okay,

Sam Salem: so Shelan Shei is his name. Put some respect on the name. Yes, that's right. I'm cool with, I'm cool with that. The one that I get from Ratatouille is everyone says I look like Anton Ego on the internet, which that's the food review, the food critic guy who's like balding, and he has the darkest bags under his eyes, and he has the longest face ever.

You

Andrea (3): do not look like

Sam Salem: him. And people, but then the other, yesterday I was on a podcast and she's like, yeah, I see. And then she started going into detail of why I looked like him. So that's that's the one and as I'm starting my hair starting to thin out I'm like damn it up my hair is about to look like him.

I don't know I think I also I'm just one of those people I get it all the time. Hey, you look like this Oh, you look like if this famous celebrity was had a gluten allergy It's never like it's also like a lot of it's also like a lot of things like that where it's like Oh, you can't just tell me that like Like someone said I looked like if James Franco was poorly drawn

Speaker: But I can

Andrea: kind of see it That's

Sam Salem: what I think.

I'm just like the most average person of all time So I just fit into a lot of different a lot of different boxes.

Andrea: That's such a funny and specific burn That's got to be one of the things I miss the most about being in a high school classroom is like the creativity of the burns And they're not always mean like middle school.

I've, I've been spending a lot of time in middle schools, watching my field experience teachers do their thing. And middle schoolers have burns that are just like really debilitatingly cruel and mean, but like break down their spirit. High school, it's, it's not always as mean, but it's so much more specific and creative that you have to kind of respect it when they come for you like that.

Sam Salem: Yeah. I literally am made a video today that I'm going to probably post after we're off this break. Podcast that it's just like things that students have said to me that live rent free and like this one kid was like When I moved to Southern California, he was like, and it's not even like mean, it's just so randomly specific.

It's like, just moved to Southern California. He's like, Oh, where are you from? And I was like, I'm Minnesota. And he goes, I don't know anything about Minnesota, but yeah, you're definitely from there. I'm just like, what, what are you talking? What does that mean? And why is that so hurtful? It's not even, that doesn't even mean anything.

Andrea: Like it would, it, it would make more sense to me if it was Ohio. Cause there's just like rampant Ohio slander all the time. But like. Other Midwest states generally don't get as specific of descriptions as people from Ohio, which Ohio is, is Ohio considered Midwest? It is, right?

Sam Salem: Yeah, there's a lot of argument over that, but I, it's firmly Midwest to me.

What else would it be? I guess, you know?

Andrea: Yeah, yeah, definitely. So, uh, now in your time in the classroom, either subbing or when you were full time, was there ever any moments that you were like, wow, that was like the most embarrassing thing that I've ever done in front of a group of people?

Sam Salem: Um, Yeah, well, the most embarrassing thing is that you don't realize you're being embarrassed.

So I, this was, again, my first year teaching, and I was wearing a button up shirt. Okay, well, first off, there's two prongs to this story, sorry I'm so long winded, but I coached basketball. And so this is also going on the video today. I coached basketball. So to a game, I was wearing dress pants and a tucked in polo.

And after the game, some of my students were there and they're talking to me. And one of the boys went, damn, Mr. Salem, you caked up. And then everybody started laughing. So never again, were my shirt tucked into school. Free my head. Never again, never again. So, not tucking my shirt in anymore, so I'm just wearing, I'm just wearing a dress shirt and chinos.

But, it was laundry day, so I wasn't wearing any like, dress, or uh, undershirt underneath my dress shirt. And I was sitting leaned back in my chair with my hands on my head just like thinking about something while students were working. Come to find out my shirt had like folded up just enough where my, my belly button was showing and I didn't realize it.

And so they took a picture of it on Snapchat and then on Snapchat you can like highlight something and turn it into a sticker. And then so they, they turned my belly button into a sticker on Snapchat and they would just add it to their pictures that they sent around to everybody. And it's horrifying.

Sometimes I'm about to fall asleep and then I'm just like, Oh, the belly button.

Andrea: So, cause you know they're still doing it. Like it's probably been a while and they're still using your belly button. in that way. Also, belly buttons out of context are particularly horrifying to just see like, just like an out of context, disembodied belly button sticker.

Did one of them just come up and tell you? Or did you see it? Like, how did you find out?

Sam Salem: They're like all laughing and then they're like, Hey, by the way, we've been laughing at you this whole time because of this.

Andrea: That's so mean. I don't think I could ever recover after that. I, Yeah, and

Sam Salem: it's like the, it was this, I was 25 at this point, which is like a big age gap, but they, since like it was a lot of 18 year olds.

They like, they viewed me as like, Oh, you're like our friend's older brother age. You're like, Oh, you like, you're basically one of us. So then they treat you a little bit more like we're really like gonna do inside jokes or they try to tell you like, dude, last week at this party, I'm like, no, no, no, no, do not tell me any of that.

And if you do tell me, I'm gonna go report it to the principal. So

Andrea: yeah. Yeah, they do at that age. A hundred percent. And they, cause I started teaching my first year teaching. I was like 27, I think was my first year teaching. So I wasn't like 22. And that helped a little bit, but when you're in your twenties in general, they really can't tell and you don't like publicize your age to them if you could help it.

So they didn't know exactly how old I was. They just knew I was like younger than the 55 year old teachers that were in my hallway. And they would always do that stuff where they're just like telling you all sorts of details and you're like, please stop. Please.

Sam Salem: Yeah.

Andrea: Never say those things.

Sam Salem: It's really bad.

Andrea: It is the absolute worst. Um, and we are going to dive into some of those horrifying stories that we've heard as teachers as soon as we come back from our break.

Welcome back to Those Who Can't Do, and as promised, some of the more horrifying things that we hear as teachers, and there's like, it's kind of a spectrum, I feel like, because there are things that are horrifying that you have to report, right, and those ones like, suck and are depressing and all that. And then there's the spectrum of things that are just so wild.

And they might be a conversation later where you're checking up on the mental health of this child, but not necessarily something you have to report to authorities. Um, that is kind of the line that a lot of my content kind of walks is the stuff that like, people hope that I have followed up on it. And I, I get a lot of those questions on, On my videos where people are like, what did you do about this?

Like, have you checked in on this child's mental health? And I'm like, Yeah, but do you know what it's, how much it's going to kill the comedy for me to be like, and then we had a conversation about his father who passed away, like. That's

Sam Salem: my least favorite. It's like, I make a joke and they're like, well, you should really this, this, this, this, this.

And I was like, yeah, obviously if the student had an IEP, I wouldn't be making a joke about them being unaware of like somebody having a crush on them. They're like, you're probably making fun of someone who has autism. And it's like, no, I'm their teacher. I, I know, I know that they don't.

Andrea (3): And

Sam Salem: also, sorry, I'm gonna you're really gonna have to rein me in.

I the reels and tick tock people just feel that they can diagnose anybody or themselves with anything.

Andrea: Yeah,

Sam Salem: I made I put this on my social media. I made a story just of like if I had to choose on a would you rather? I saw

Andrea: that.

Sam Salem: Yes. I said, would you rather? Eat food that has great texture but bland taste or great taste and weird texture.

And I said, if it came down to it, I would choose the texture. I'm not saying in all situations, just if I had to.

Speaker: Yeah. The

Sam Salem: amount of people that responded, sensory issues, you have autism. Oh, you're autistic. You have autism. And it's like, no, like it just, it's fine if I am, but it's just like, you can't just take one little tiny detail, And diagnose somebody off of that.

Like, it just means I'm white and from the Midwest. I don't season my food. Like, that's what it means. Like, you can't, don't just go diagnosing people with autism off of one little comment on the internet. Another time, I was like holding my phone for a selfie, and I was like kind of gripping it hard, so my nails looked like a little more like, you know, purple y.

And so, I don't even know what it was, but this woman got in my head because she's like, When your nails are that color, it means that your blood doesn't have enough oxygen in it, and you really should check your oxygen because you might need to go to the hospital.

Andrea (3): Oh my gosh.

Sam Salem: And I was on a plane when I read the comment too, so I was just like on this plane like, am I gonna die?

And I get, and my wife picks me up and I'm like, I think it was, it was COVID, so she had an oxygen tester for her parents or whatever, and I test my oxygen, it was at 99 or whatever it was supposed to be. It's like, don't diagnose people. Anyways, so you were trying to tell horrifying stories.

Andrea: That's okay.

But it, I mean, it is true, though. Like, we get diagnosed with stuff all the time. I Talked about the fact that I fainted a couple of times and the amount of Oh yeah, are you

okay?

I'm okay, I'm alright. So it turns out I just have super low blood pressure. I have to drink, uh, it's called Element, but it's, it looks like L M N T.

It's like a very, very high sodium thing to raise my blood pressure because my blood pressure is so incredibly low. I faint when I stand up too quickly, unless I'm Element. Element.

Sam Salem: Sponsor the pod. Sponsor the pod. Sponsor

Andrea: me. You're saving my life because I fainted twice and I had also just started doing like workout CrossFit and all of that.

So I was dehydrated. And so that, yeah, it was just that and I'm fine. But the amount of people that were like telling me I have cancer, telling me that was the first symptom of like lupus and like, I was diagnosed with so many things. And then there was like maybe 10 percent of the messages being like, yeah, that happens to me.

I have really low blood pressure. Like eat some salt. That ended up being the correct one.

Sam Salem: And nobody being like, Hey, hope you're okay. Sorry. Thinking of you.

Andrea: I know. They're just like, this is an entertaining show. Let's diagnose her.

Sam Salem: Yes. Like if that happened to your friend, of course you might say that later, but your first would be like, Hey, that's so scary.

Wow. You must have a lot of feelings about this. Like, can I, are you okay?

Andrea: Yeah. Like you passed out on the floor twice. Are you well? Like, no, it was a lot of like, here's what it probably is according to my five seconds of Googling. But yeah, that does. That definitely does happen quite a bit. Um, so one of the things that I told in like the last run of videos that the, um, moments that left me speechless as a high school teacher, which you collabed on one of those with me, which was super fun.

Thank you. Appreciate it.

Sam Salem: That was very fun.

Andrea: And, uh, one of the first ones I told that started getting a lot of traction was this student. He was one of my kids who would just, I had him like two years in a row and then he was, you know, out of my class, but was always hovering. He was like one of those guys.

It was there early in the morning, would come in and lunch and just hang out and kick it. And, um, his father had killed himself via suicide in eighth grade. Horrible, right? Just absolutely horrifying. I actually had a group of students. There was like three of them who had all lost a parents to parent to suicides in middle school.

And, um, They all hung out in my classroom. I had like this little collection. And so because of this collection of kids who had this like shared trauma and shared grief, they would make the Darkest jokes,

Andrea (3): right?

Andrea: Because they were coping, right? And like, you and I, you and I know that, that that's like how a lot of kids are just processing through what they went through.

And so like, that was a lot of times some of the horrifying stories I would hear is they would be like making a joke about like, they'd be like, Oh, do you have any more snacks? I'm like, no, they're all gone. And some would be like, just like my dad. Right. And I'm like, why? Like, why are we going straight to

Sam Salem: that?

Yeah. You got to make the, you got to make the jokes about it. It's just how you process, like, that's, I just lost my mom four months ago to brain cancer and it is like a decent chunk of, There's like a decent chunk of my stand up routine that is about that and the people who I found it, you know, 99 percent of the time goes well.

The people who don't like it are usually the people who have never gone through something like that.

Andrea: Yeah. And

Sam Salem: they're just getting like, but what if, and the people who do like it is like this woman coming up to me after the show, like, Hey, I lost my mom to something similar. Like I really felt seen during that, you know?

And it's like, wow, that's like the, That's like the greatest compliment I've ever gotten doing stand up is like yeah We laughed about something horrific and we felt like we were in community with one another which is that's what you're you're giving the space For those kids to like yeah, if someone made this joke to us probably a little hurtful But like from within the group like

Andrea: yeah,

Sam Salem: that's that's fun.

That's like

Andrea: exactly

Sam Salem: bonding

Andrea: Yeah, and I feel like it also it It helps them feel less alone and all of that. And that was also part of like when I shared that video, I mean, I tried to respond, but you know how it is when, if a video goes off and it gets outside of like your audience into like a broader audience who doesn't know, don't know you don't know your platform or any of that kind of stuff.

Then people start coming in with all of these like real heavy opinions. And like, I got a lot of people attacking me for saying like, yeah, like this kid is making dark humor to cope. Obviously I'm like, yeah, Yeah, I, that's why I'm sharing, like, if, like, like, obviously, like, If he was making

Sam Salem: comments that, like, because he was going to self harm, you wouldn't be making a video about it on social media.

Andrea: Exactly. Exactly. And I think that that gets misunderstood all too often by people online, where they're just like thinking that you don't understand the content that you are putting out. And it's like, that's, or someone's like, oh no, these kids are actually really funny. And I'm like, Yeah, like that's, that's why I'm talking.

How do

Sam Salem: you not under, how do you not understand this? Yeah, I had a video pop off on Instagram that was like, students call me said I seem like the kind of guy who say says let's skedaddle when I'm ready to leave a restaurant and then it was like And then they started calling me the skedaddler and then they started making like the little Flintstones scooby doo Like every time I walked around the room, they started playing the sound effect for it and so I ended it with like I think I'm gonna go skedaddle off to therapy and I was kind of like playing like I was like, I'm so like over like I'm gonna go to therapy and people were like,

Andrea: yeah,

Sam Salem: you should really embrace this Oh, they probably like I'm like, duh Storytelling have you ever heard of?

Have you ever heard of trying to engage with an audience before? Like,

Andrea (3): I'm,

Sam Salem: I'm, you would not be commenting on this if I was just like, yeah, they call me the skedaddler sometimes. Isn't that cute? Like, okay, that's a hundred likes versus a million likes. Okay. If you tell the story the right way.

Andrea: Exactly.

Well, and that's, that always cracks me up too when I'm telling stories on my videos and you know, timing is a big part of comedy and a big part of storytelling and all of that. And it, You're never going to please everyone. And I, there's never a day that goes by that I don't have someone talk about my breathy pauses when I'm telling stories.

Or there was one guy today that said, like, I aged five years waiting for you to get to the end of your story. And I was like, bro, just, but he follows me. And I'm like, why, why do you follow me if you hate the way I talk?

Sam Salem: And, and you made it to the end of the story, which must mean the way I'm telling it.

Is engaging.

Andrea: Yeah, like that tension. You're

Sam Salem: like, sorry, I'm on my IRA glass shit. Arian, right, .

Andrea: Well, and that's the thing is I'm like, yeah, like that's, and also these freaking ding-dongs. I'm like, you realize that in order to monetize it has to be over a minute. Some of these stories would be shorter, I promise you.

Right? If, if it didn't monetize for over a minute on TikTok, but like, that's the world we're in. So I gotta make sure I, I tease you at the beginning and you have that tension and you wanna find out and you gotta wait until after it's a minute.

Sam Salem: Exactly. Also, if you're in a middle school classroom and you said, I have to tease you in the beginning and leave that tension, it would be, it'd be over with.

It'd be done.

Andrea: So I can't teach middle school. Cause I, there were so many times that I would be teaching high school and I would hear something that I said and I'm like, Oh, that sounded so dirty. And I would realize that only like one kid heard it the way I heard it. So I had to just like, keep, keep going.

Like, don't acknowledge it because no one else. Like, caught it. But my mind, because I'm so used to, like, teaching high school and dealing with, like, all of the dirty jokes all the time. My mind would go there quicker than the kids sometimes, and I would have to be like, no, you're the adult. Like, you can't make the dirty joke here.

Sam Salem: Right. But you're, you're so used to getting called out when, at the beginning of the career, when you weren't aware of it, now that you're just overly aware, now you've become too aware, where it's like, you don't even, like. Yeah, it's

Andrea: honestly the absolute worst, because that has happened to me more times than I can count, where I'm just like, oh wait, like I, there was one time I remember I was, The kids were having me draw Spongebob, like they had me draw Squidward, not Spongebob, Squidward on the board.

And like I

Sam Salem: already know where this is going.

Andrea: Right. Because those of you who are listening who have not seen anyone draw Squidward, the first thing you do is essentially draw a penis on the board and then you add in details that make it Squidward. But they, I think they started with the shaftle portion, so I was less That was

Sam Salem: horrifying.

I think I'm out of time, actually. I gotta go. I gotta run. I gotta get

Andrea: out of here. You're like, I'm done. And I was, I was very, uh, I, I did not realize that I was drawing until it was too late. And then I was like, no, we're not doing this. We're not doing this. They're like, no, no, no, it's, it's, and then they, they like finished the drawing for me.

They're like, see, it's Squidward. And then, you know, always there's little Squidwards on everybody's, uh, papers that they turn in and all of that.

Sam Salem: Of course.

Andrea: Honestly, I think one of the things that we lost from the pandemic is the fact that so much is turned in digitally now, and there's just not the same opportunity to draw penises on things that there used to be.

Sam Salem: Are you sad about this?

Andrea: I always, you know, there is a certain level of creativity. And I think it says a lot about the kids that would do it, how they did it. It's like that, that's even super bad. I've never

Sam Salem: understood it. I've never, you weren't the kid

Andrea: doing

Sam Salem: that? I never got work that most of it was turned in digitally, but I've never, I've never, I've never gotten any weird drawings or seen any weird drawings.

Maybe I just wasn't looking, but I, I like I'd see kids doodle, but it was always just like nonsensical doodles.

Andrea: That is so interesting. I, my first job, there were so many when I like, and it wasn't my classroom even yet. But there were so many that, like, they had turned them into little caterpillars, and, like, turned them into butterflies, because they were, like, graffitied onto the desks, and we're like, well, that's just, you know, happy mistakes, happy mistakes.

Sam Salem: Yeah, that's hilarious. No, none of, none of that. I mean, bathroom stuff happened, of course. Yeah. The, since it was a small private school, they, um, all the girls in athletics, There was just a bathroom that they would all put their backpacks in at the beginning of the day, like their sports backpack. And it was just since it was a small school, they just left their backpacks unattended in this bathroom.

And, uh, one girl opened up her makeup bag, her tiny little makeup bag. And there was one single turd inside the makeup bag, which so many questions. Like, did the person like squat over it and have the accuracy? Was it premeditated? Did they do it like at home and bring it in a Ziploc baggie? Did they just wrap their hand in toilet paper and like catch it and then place it?

But it's, it's also one of those things where like people make the stereotypical, that's what I've also learned teaching people always like, boys are the gross ones. I'm like, no girls are also gross too.

Andrea: Girls are pretty gross. Yeah.

Sam Salem: Like there's equally grossness on both sides.

Andrea: I just have so many questions about how that occurred.

Cause I'm just trying to imagine the scenario in which you, like, if you like tuck it up or you, I just have so many questions on how someone accomplishes that.

Sam Salem: But I think it's a, it's in the makeup bag. That's expensive. That's makeup accumulated over years that you've really now all of it's

Andrea: done. Even

Sam Salem: if something was at the bottom of the makeup bag, anything that has been in a bag and a makeup bag with

Andrea: A piece of

Sam Salem: fecal matter for the scientific people.

Andrea: Right, like immediately you have pink eye if you use any of that again. And you're an

Sam Salem: expert in pink eye.

Andrea: Oh my god, Sam, when I tell you I'm still on antibiotics and I'm afraid to wear my contacts, so I'm just walking around blind right now because my glasses were giving me a headache. It's so bad because I, three times, three times I got pink eye.

Sam Salem: Incredible. But I heard it's going around right now like because there's part of like, Isn't there a thing with like COVID that it's like there's a new strand of it that's giving people pink eye?

Andrea: Because my wife,

Sam Salem: my wife had pink eye like a couple, like a month or two ago.

Andrea: Yeah, I had COVID and then I got pink eye the first time and then got it two more times and apparently it's just hard because like I haven't had pink eye in like, I don't even know, a decade, a decade and a half, like a very long time.

And that was another part of all of the, uh, medical advice givers on Instagram and TikTok of people being like, it usually comes from fecal matter and you should wash your hands. And I'm like, What do you think I've been, like, what do you think I'm doing? Like, I, like, for the first time in my, like, adult life, probably, I have pink eye.

You think I'm just suddenly now not washing my hands. God, it's so bad. And like, I'm just

Sam Salem: gone scuba diving in swamps lately. That's what I'm doing now. Like just people are so silly

Andrea: for, for a little razzle dazzle. But yeah, as soon as I got pink eye the first time, people also told me like, this is a symptom of COVID that has been coming out this, like this, one of the strains apparently is causing pink eye, which is so weird.

Like that that would be. a part of it. But yeah, I got COVID and then promptly got pink eye and I've heard from a few people like it could be related to just like it just destroys your immune system so thoroughly that it makes you super susceptible. But I don't know, probably something else. So one of the things that we do on the podcast is I take questions from listeners and then you get to take a shot at answering with all of your all of your teacherly wisdom.

Sam Salem: Yeah, I have so much of it. Good.

Andrea: Yes, exactly. Um, oh, okay. So this question is she recently registered to substitute, mostly elementary, since that matches schedules with her youngest two kids. What is she in for? I know some kids tend to push boundaries when things aren't normal or routine while others are cautious.

with unfamiliar adults and it feels like some schools these days are just okay to have a warm adult aged body in the room. Any tips on being a substitute that every student loves and every teacher wants to book?

Sam Salem: Ooh, good question. Um, don't threaten to fight kids dads. No, um, uh, here's the thing with elementary.

I've done, I subbed fifth grade once and they, I think the easy thing about elementary is they are still at the age where it's like whoever the adult in the room is is So, you know, just work on your little teacher glare, work on your class, you know, to get them quiet. Uh, but I think the biggest thing, and this sounds so corny, the biggest thing subbing is, yeah, just advocate for yourself because like there are so many schools that just assume, okay, well you're a sub, so you know what to do.

And it's like, Hey, you didn't give me a bathroom key. Like you didn't give me, like, tell me where the lounge was. Like you've not given me any information. So I think, uh, you might feel like. I'm a very people pleaser type person and I'm worried about being a bother or worried about that. I I've met someone that I That is acting familiar with me and I'm like, where did I meet them from?

So I think it's like it's okay Like if they just just advocate for yourself in the sense of like, okay in this situation What do I do and ask all those questions when they're giving you the assignment because otherwise? It will be an hour into the day and a kid was like, no, our school always lets us do this weirdly specific thing and some schools are weird and they do let them do that specific thing and other times it's just a kid trying to get away.

Andrea: Yeah.

Sam Salem: And then I don't know, leave a nice note for the teacher, I guess. Don't like sometimes when I sub like there's a sub the day before and I'm studying the next day and this teacher a person Writes the most unhinged note and it's like what's the teacher supposed to do about it,

Andrea (3): right?

Sam Salem: Sure, if there's bad behavior that needs to be corrected like be like this kid tried to leave class early and you know It was actually getting in the way of other students But then also leave a nice note about the kids who are doing something Right because otherwise the teacher is just gonna think like well Okay, like you're just complaining.

Andrea: Yeah, I agree. I think maybe

Sam Salem: you can talk more about subs because my small private school, if I ever needed a sub, it was like, we just had this all sub for each other. We didn't ever get like subs from outside. So I'm sure you can talk to more what teachers want in a sub.

Andrea: Yeah, I think that the biggest thing is if you've left Very intentional sub plans and you're saying like, like give the kids X, Y, and Z and you've done that and then you come back and find out the sub did not even attempt to do the things, you know, like just showed up, sat down and then like didn't hand out the paper that was like sitting in front of the computer with everything labeled and all of that.

That I think is probably one of the, well I don't want that sub again situations or if the sub was so intent on having complete control in the classroom that it just ended up being nothing but fights the entire day. Like I don't, I don't want that guy either, you know, or that woman either. Like it's, it's gotta be a balance of like picking your battles.

Sam Salem: Yeah. Don't expect to get the same respect that the, their normal teacher gets because you're not there. You're an adult. They've never met before. Of course there might be some kids who are like going to test you. That's the other thing. I've embarrassed myself where the teacher does leave really thorough plans, but they have.

like a table at the front of the room and they have a desk in the back of the room and I don't check both of those things. And I'm like, there's no sub plans. And then it's six periods in the day and I'm in third period. And I all of a sudden realized like, Oh damn, they had this stuff that they wanted to be handed out.

So I'm like, Oh, first and second period didn't get to it. So be thorough in checking the classroom for the lesson plans.

Andrea: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I, the, I feel like teachers know their kids to, to a point where like, If I'm like, well, there was one class last year that I would, I had so much anxiety when I left because I had a really good relationship with some really challenging students.

And when I was there with them, I knew that we, we could, we could do okay, but they were also the kind of kids. If you came at them sideways, they were coming right back at you. And so it was such a difficult balance to try and find a sub that was going to be firm enough to make sure that the kids who would work are going to work, but not so firm that they were going to pick the battles with those kids that like, They don't really do much when even I'm there.

I just have to kind of encourage them and get them to do something. And it, that was always really, really hard when like finding it for that group of kids. So if I had a sub and I came back and you know, it said like the note said like, well, they didn't really do anything in third period. I'm like, Oh, same, you know, like they don't generally do anything when I'm in third period either.

So I can't really blame you for that one.

Sam Salem: Right. Right. That makes a lot of sense.

Andrea: Yeah,

Sam Salem: don't pick battles. Exactly. He deserves it.

Andrea: Yeah, right and then fight their dad.

Sam Salem: Yeah I wish I

Andrea: Wish they would pull up. Yeah, cuz you are you are pretty time you played college basketball So you're like what's I'm gonna guess I I think you're 6'5 cuz my brother's 6'5.

Are you 6'5?

Sam Salem: That is so kind I'm 6'2. Oh, I will say a lot of people lie on their height I'm like a true 6'2 shoes off, so I guess with shoes on I'm like in the 6'3

Andrea: ish range.

Sam Salem: But yeah, the amount of times boys are like, You're not 6'2 because I'm 6'2, and I'm like, Buddy, you're 5'10. Um, this is not. So, yeah, that's the other thing.

I've realized people are taller in the Midwest.

Andrea: The corn.

Sam Salem: I, it's, yeah, because I, 6'2 is like, sure, it's, it's tall, but it's like normal tall. Like, 6'5 is like, oh, I'm gonna comment on your height in my experience.

Andrea: Yeah, my brother gets comments all the time.

Sam Salem: Yeah, these middle schools in, in LA, like, the amount of times, like, how tall are you?

And I'm just like, I've. I've never gotten this in my life. But it's like, okay, I guess all your parents are like 5'9 so I guess 6'2 does seem kind of tall.

Andrea: Yeah, my brother is like It almost at a certain point, like, I feel like once you go over 6'4 it almost becomes a, like, debilitating thing, where you, like, going in planes is miserable, and, like, you have to, like, really Oh, yeah,

Sam Salem: my knees barely fit in some, like, Southwest flight, so I cannot imagine people taller than me.

Andrea: Yeah, I mean, it's gotta be wildly uncomfortable. There's probably some cars that, like, he probably has a really hard time driving and stuff, so, you know. Most guys are not going to complain about being too tall because that tends to be like very desirable but you know. I

Sam Salem: guess. My wife has the opposite where she's like five feet nothing so like in planes sometimes her feet don't like hit the ground and then her legs are falling asleep so I have to like put my feet under her so she can like have it to rest on something.

That's the

Andrea: most adorable thing I've ever heard and your wife is gorgeous by the way. You made that part of your your bit right is the fact that your your wife is an absolute 10. And, like, you talk about that. Yeah, that was

Sam Salem: one of my first, like, like, viral, viral videos, like, when I first started making it.

It was, like, a kid, yeah, a kid saw it back on my phone.

Andrea: That's right. That's

Sam Salem: How did you get your, like, how did you get her? And I'm just like, I don't know. I don't ask questions, honestly. I don't, I don't want to, I don't want her reconsidering, so we just, we just keep it pushing.

Andrea: That's right. That's right.

Well, before I let you go, can you give us a couple places where people can find you? Any big events or anything you've got coming up where people can come and check you out?

Sam Salem: Uh, yeah, you can find me at Samuel Sleeves, or just search my name, Sam Salem, that's TikTok, Instagram. I should probably start posting on YouTube and Facebook as well, so follow me on those.

Yeah, the biggest thing, the link in my bio on those sites, you can join my email list. I will literally only ever email you if I'm coming to your town to perform. But yeah, come see me live. I think this is a kind of a douchey and cocky thing to say, but I think I'm funnier in person than I am, uh, on the internet.

And Some people have maybe seen like influencers who then try to do stand up comedy and it's but I'm like, I promise you I'm a stand up who just happens to teach and I'm at the the comedy store in the improv and the random Comedy clubs in LA like working on this every night. So I promise I promise I've been working so hard on it.

Come to my show. Yeah, he's kind of begging too much.

Andrea: They're like, oh, no, I can confirm that. Because I when I went to the show with you and Gaspar, like Gaspar is the one who, like I said, I had chatted with and all that. And so I like went, had seen you online and everything. And when you go to a show and you only know the headliners, stand up bits and stuff, you never really know what you're going to get for whoever is like doing like the first, the first, what is it called?

The

Sam Salem: feature,

Andrea: the, yeah, like you don't really know what you're gonna get. And it was really, really funny. Sam is fantastic standup comedian, so that's very kind. So I, I paid her

Sam Salem: a hundred thousand dollars to say that ,

Andrea: I can, I can vouch for his standup, but if you do go to a meet and greet, make it really clear you only know him from the internet

Sam Salem: and you can pretend to be, I'm your friend, actually, sorry, I know we gotta get out of here.

But speaking of not knowing, if you know somebody I was, Gasper was in San Diego again performing. And he had me open for him. So I'm driving down from LA to San Diego and I'm just, it's a long stretch of land by ocean side. Like you're just in a state of flow just driving and there's like nothing going on.

And all of a sudden I realized this car has been like speeding up to me, then slowing down to me. And like, I'm just like, what the heck is this car's problem? And I look over and this woman is going nuts, like, and then her like, Partner, boyfriend, fiance, whoever, husband, was like in the seat also waving, and I'm just like, oh my gosh, hi!

Like, pretending like it was just somebody that I knew, and then I realized, like, I got a DM of, like, and the woman sent me the video. She just happened to be someone who follows me. And saw me and I just assumed that it was like somebody I know and I was just like, uh, And she was like, wow, you're a really focused driver and like the videos like the videos of me of like 10 and 2 Just like looking forward.

I'm like, are you one of my high schoolers roasting me right now? Like, sorry Sorry, my eyes are on the road. Anyway, let's do an hour more. Let's do an hour more. Let's just keep rolling.

Andrea: That is wild. I have thankfully not had anybody, uh, chase me down on the roads as of yet. So, you know, maybe it

Sam Salem: was a little dangerous, but I appreciated it at the end of the day.

Andrea: Oh, my. Well, thank you so much for coming on, Sam. This was super fun.

Sam Salem: Educate Andrea. I'm your number one fan.

Andrea: Thanks. All right, guys, we'll be right back.

Welcome back to those who can't do. I hope that you really enjoyed my conversation with Sam. It is so much fun getting to chat with him and give him a little bit of crap about acting like I was trying to traffic him at the show I went to. And I will say like even he's not even here now. And I will tell you, uh, he is very, very funny.

His standup is hilarious. It was one he and Gasper together to are such a good pair because they're both. So funny and You know, they obviously touch on the teacher stuff at the comedy, but that's not just what it is. Um, so if he does a tour in your area, I know he, a lot of times tours with Joe Dombrowski and a couple of other really hilarious comedians, um, definitely check him out and, uh, go see his, uh, his standup cause it's really good stuff.

Um, I had also. I'm like low key so embarrassed by the way about the fact that I acted so familiar with him like that is my greatest fear because people do that to me all the time where they come up and act like they like know me know me and like I that's kind of the point of social media is to make sure that people feel like you're relatable and like you want people to feel that way.

But it, it is a little bit disorienting when you're not sure what context they know you from. And so the thought that I, like, literally made him panic that I was, like, either, like, a crazy super fan that's gonna follow him into the bathroom or that I, you know, actually knew him from somewhere else, it just I'm more than a little bit mortified about that.

Um, but the great news is to bring me back to joy and peace. I have the stories of what you guys said your students were doing in class this week, and both of them are pretty foul. Um, which I don't know why, like the more foul the experiences are in the classrooms of my followers, like the more at peace I feel with the world.

I'm like, listen, this gross thing happened. I'm glad, I'm glad to hear that the world is still an insane chaotic place in these classrooms because it's character building, right? Um, one of the things that somebody said is that they were doing a worm dissection and one of the kids was trying to be funny and took part of the worm and like dangled it above his mouth.

Trying to be funny. Um, and then , it slipped. And so he actually did drop the worm into his mouth, like mid dissection, which is so foul. Um, and the other one that was submitted, and this was this, by the way, this was the same Friday, so I don't know what is occurring, but in the same series of submissions somebody else said.

that a kid accidentally ate part of a frog during a dissection. These were two different people, two different, like, areas of the country, and two kids that apparently accidentally ate part of their dissection. I didn't get context for the frog one, like, I don't, I, so the best I can think is like, maybe you're cutting it, and your mouth is open, because you're like, that's how you, maybe you're like a mouth breather, cutting it open, and something gets, like, ejected from it.

You know, there's a lot of mucous membranes in a frog. So I, I don't know. I don't want to delve too deep because that thought is so foul. Um, but I don't know about you. If that, like, that makes me feel better about my day because I did not accidentally ingest part of a, partially dissected frog or a worm.

So my day is actually going pretty fine so far. Um, if you have thoughts about, uh, worm dissections or frog dissections or anything else that I talked to Sam about today, you can reach me on Instagram at educator Andrea, or you can email us Andrea at human dash content. com. Or you can visit the whole human content podcast family at human content pod.

And this is a new podcast. So thank you guys so much for tuning in and leaving feedback and reviews. And I got the absolute sweetest review this week from Reuben man, who said what's not to like Andrea's videos are awesome. She's awesome. The show idea is awesome. Even this review is awesome. Andrea for the win.

And I just, thank you. I appreciate that. I'm just like getting all gassed up for the weekend. I'm loving it. Um, if you want to view full video episodes, you can get them every week on YouTube at Educator Andrea. Thank you guys so much for listening. I am your host, Andrea Forkham. A very special thank you to our very funny guest, Sam Salem.

Our executive producers are Andrea Forkham, Aron Korney, Rob Goldman, and Shahnti Brooke. Our editor is Andrew Sims. Our engineer is Jason Portizo. Our music is by Omer Ben Zvi. Our recording location is the Indiana State Bi College of Education. To learn about our Those Who Can't Do's Program Disclaimer and Ethics Policy and Submission Verification and Licensing Terms, you can go to PodcasterAndrea.

com. Those Who Can't Do is a human content production.

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