193 - The Past Times with Ronn Vigh

The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds

In this episode of The Past Times, hosts Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds are joined by guest Ronn Vigh to explore historical newspaper clippings

Key takeaways

• Ronn Vigh shares anecdotes from his time as a flight attendant, including passengers walking barefoot through cabins.
• A 1896 lawsuit involved Ida Tulis suing Valentin Flauding Jr. for breach of promise after he failed to appear for marriage twice.

Main topics

• Antiquing and aging
• Customer service complaints

Notable quotes

I was a flight attendant, and one thing that happens is that you see a lot of gross people.

Conclusion

A comedic deep dive into the chaotic and often violent headlines of la

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:01) Welcome to the Past Times. It's Speaker 3 (0:04) a Speaker 4 (0:04) podcast. Someone's finally doing it. You know what we do here each week. We go through a newspaper from a random date in history picked out by none other than Dave Anthony. I, Gareth Reynolds, have never seen it, and neither has this week's guest. That's the great Ron Vi. Ron, you're back, baby. I am back. Here I am. Speaking of backs, you got four pillows under yours. Speaker 3 (0:27) My whole personality, okay, I'm only 47, but I have the personality. I've gotten to antiquing recently. Sure, sure. But the biggest thing about my age and gay personality is that I cannot go anywhere without multiple pillows under me and behind me. Speaker 4 (0:43) Now, wait, you don't go antiquing with the pillows in your arm, sort of. I Speaker 3 (0:47) go antiquing for old pillows. Speaker 2 (0:49) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaker 3 (0:50) What's with the antiquing? Where did this come from? I mean. I don't have any money, so I can't do real antiquing. But sometimes a lot of antique stores I find will literally tear pages out of old catalogs. It was like, oh, that's a pretty bird. Well, you are on a Speaker 4 (1:07) Dell computer, so that feels like it maybe falls in line with the antiquing a little bit. Speaker 3 (1:11) Yes, I got that at an antique store. And the reason why I was a couple minutes late is because my Commodore 64 computer was not working, so I went with... The Speaker 4 (1:21) Lionel Richie of computers. Speaker 3 (1:24) And then Speaker 4 (1:25) do you go antiquing with your partner? Are we doing this together? Is this a solo Ron activity? Speaker 3 (1:31) Okay, so I had a gig in New Hope, Pennsylvania area, and I'd never been there before. And farmer's markets are now a big part of my personality. Isn't it funny about comedy? 15, 20 years ago, you were getting shit-faced between every show, and you were drunk, and you can't do anything. And now, between the early and late show, I'm trying to get my steps in. And I can go for walks. And Speaker 4 (1:54) honest to God, the most relatable thing is how pathetic. Like, as you get older, you're like, yeah, I used to be a bitch. banging people and now you're just like i gotta get to bed i Speaker 3 (2:04) gotta i gotta be in bed Speaker 3 (2:07) it's so crazy how it's like turned around because comedy is not really a healthy lifestyle and it's still hard because you go and I, like I literally did an early show, went and got all my steps in around the complex, then went back to the green room, ate two baskets of mozzarella sticks. And then, and then, but the antiquing thing, it's not that we're hardcore, but we're starting to have an appreciation for things of the past. And I had this gig in the New Hope, Pennsylvania area. And that's a lovely area full of really expensive. stores and that is where we sort of were inspired. Oh, and the other part of our old personality is that we really love going for ice cream. You know, we used to stop at bars at midnight and 1 a.m. and now we're looking for ice cream places. But then the biggest part of this is we're always complaining about the ice cream. We're never satisfied with the ice cream. Never? There's got to be someone. Oh, Speaker 4 (3:00) never. Speaker 3 (3:00) Never. Hardly ever. Hardly Speaker 4 (3:02) ever. Oh, God. And it's the weirdest Speaker 3 (3:04) complaints, too. We're like, this is a little too creamy for me. Speaker 4 (3:10) That's great. I love that you're both on the same page with that. Speaker 3 (3:13) Well, and then I just found out, too. I thought it was just me. I was trying to. Not let this part of my personality shine so much, but then I found out that my boyfriend does it too. And that is we really enjoy writing strongly worded emails about customer service experiences. Oh, my Speaker 2 (3:31) God. Speaker 3 (3:31) So much that my boyfriend calls me Coupon Karen. Speaker 4 (3:35) And I Speaker 3 (3:37) just found out like last night that he hasn't paid for flowers on Instacart in like 15. because he always takes a picture. It's like, this one's wilted. And then just boom, it's free. And maybe I shouldn't say this out loud. I think you're fine. Speaker 4 (3:52) He's Speaker 2 (3:53) an Speaker 4 (3:53) optimist. I think you're okay. I don't think DoorDash is... But by the way, you could probably make that complaint with most flowers. I mean, they're flowers. I Speaker 2 (4:01) actually had never done a complaint on anything. And I ordered DoorDash and... One of the items was missing, so it was like a pretty big deal. So I just said, hey, whatever, half a chicken's missing. Half Speaker 4 (4:15) a chicken is a weird thing to Speaker 2 (4:17) order. Sure, you order it. And they just gave it to me for free. And then I was like, well, wait, so did the restaurant just get fucked? Like, what just happened there? Does DoorDash take the hit? Does the guy not get the tip? Who's getting fucked here? Speaker 4 (4:31) Here's who's not getting fucked, DoorDash. No, DoorDash is definitely not getting fucked. Speaker 3 (4:35) Well, this is my rule about it. I never will complain about like a mom and pop or a small business. But if it's Speaker 4 (4:41) a Speaker 3 (4:41) corporation like United Airlines, they don't give a shit about us. Go complain about it. There's always something to find on every flight. There's like a little spot on your tray table or whatever. Take a picture. Boom. Two thousand five hundred miles. Who doesn't need miles? I Speaker 4 (4:54) know I complete. It's shocking. Sometimes I have when I was talking to someone who worked for United at one of my shows. And I was like, are they cleaning the planes in between? And she was like, no. Not at all. I was like, what are they? Like, there's the people with the trash. They're like, they try to get trash, but that's it. So they are just like the bathroom keys. The thing that Speaker 2 (5:16) really weirds me out is the headrest and when people lean their head against the wall. Because sometimes you can see the little grease stain and you're like, oh. Speaker 3 (5:27) Well, let me tell you. Okay. You know, I was a former flight attendant. Oh, I didn't know that. Oh, something new. Did you talk about that on this before? I don't think I've heard that. Last time, I think we heavily focused on my bowling champion. I remember that. Speaker 4 (5:42) I remember that. Okay. So you were a flight attendant. Speaker 3 (5:45) I was a flight attendant, and one thing that happens is that you see a lot of gross people. And, you know, you'd be on a red-eye or a night flight or some sort of flight where people are trying to get some sleep, and I'm just sitting in the back galley, and all of a sudden I see these toes wiggling. It was very popular for people to walk into the airplane laboratory with no shoes on. I'm like, what are you doing? You're going to go in there with 10 toes and leave with 12. It is so disgusting. Speaker 4 (6:10) Without Speaker 2 (6:10) socks? Speaker 3 (6:12) Without socks, yes. Speaker 4 (6:14) crazy it's crazy that's just i mean i'm i'm a piece of shit and that is fucking disgusting that Speaker 3 (6:21) is i mean you see weird things i saw a lady breastfeeding her kitten i'm pretty sure her kitten yes her kitten Speaker 2 (6:31) I just Speaker 3 (6:31) know that like under her shirt, there was like this sort of like lump thing. Who gets a kitten on Speaker 4 (6:37) a plane, let alone decides to tit feed it? You would 100%. I Speaker 3 (6:41) just saw Titty and Kitty right there. And Speaker 4 (6:43) it was. Oh, that is. Speaker 2 (6:47) Gareth would do that. That's life material right there. If Gareth had lactating breasts, he would 100 % do Speaker 3 (6:52) that with his cat. Speaker 2 (6:52) And I'll tell you, it's not from Speaker 4 (6:53) a lack of squeezing. I'm trying to get something out of there, but it's just blood. It's Speaker 3 (6:56) a Speaker 4 (6:56) nightmare. Speaker 2 (6:59) Ron. Wait, speaking of antiquing, I want to do this. Speaker 4 (7:02) Oh, yeah. Speaker 2 (7:02) So someone made us a little, it's Speaker 4 (7:05) a Speaker 2 (7:05) little chair modeled after my father's chair that he used to sit in and fart. Speaker 2 (7:12) And it's, and, and those, this is by Jamie Herendez. So thank you, Jamie. I want to say thank you. Speaker 4 (7:16) Yes. Thank you, Speaker 2 (7:17) Jamie. Yeah. Speaker 4 (7:18) Oh, I thought that was, I thought you were going to ask Ron like to appraise it or something. Speaker 2 (7:22) No, no. I'm sure he would appraise it really hard. This is out of his affordability range. It's a fart show. Speaker 3 (7:31) I am not that type of antiquing gay. I just kind of point at things and be like, that's not too dusty. Speaker 4 (7:37) Ron, if someone were to come to your show and bring you some antique thing, if a listener from our audience, what would be the dream antiqued gift? Speaker 2 (7:47) Yeah, what's your dream antique? Speaker 3 (7:49) Oh, I really like old airplane stuff. Speaker 4 (7:54) Interesting. Okay. So anyone listening, maybe Speaker 3 (7:56) bring Speaker 2 (7:57) you some of the Speaker 4 (7:58) extra toes or something like Speaker 2 (8:00) that. Like a Pan Am bag or something? Speaker 3 (8:03) Yes. I used to, I don't have it anymore. I've kind of like had a purge of things, but I used to collect these like old airplane bags and I would have like 15 to 20 of them. But I don't need a lot of junk. I just, I need functional antiques nowadays. Like I need like an... Okay. See, I keep talking about antiquing, but I don't know what half the stuff is. I'm a bad gay. I was going to say like an old armoire, but I don't know what that is. It's like a closet. It's Speaker 4 (8:29) like a Speaker 3 (8:29) closet. Speaker 4 (8:31) Well, a bad gay knows about the closet. Good Lord. Speaker 2 (8:38) Yeah, it's like a big cabinet. You know what it is. No, I don't. Speaker 2 (8:47) It's like a closet. Speaker 3 (8:48) This is Speaker 4 (8:49) all a Speaker 3 (8:50) facade, you guys. Okay, Speaker 4 (8:51) let's stick to the air. So if our fans listen and they want to bring something to Ron's show, where can people find you online, Ron, to see your dates? Because you are fucking hysterical. Speaker 3 (9:01) I think most of my... I think most of my profiles are Ron, Ron, Ron, R-O-N-N, R-O-N-N, R-O-N-N. I need a person. I need someone to handle Speaker 4 (9:13) me. You Speaker 3 (9:13) got a Speaker 4 (9:13) person right here, baby. Speaker 3 (9:14) Thank you. But if someone Speaker 4 (9:16) goes to your show, bring you an airplane. I don't think we can count on them to bring you an armoire. I just think it's a big ask. Speaker 3 (9:22) It's a big ask. Yeah, I think the airplane stuff is... Speaker 2 (9:27) That's safe. No, I want someone to bring him an armoire. All right, fuck Speaker 4 (9:31) it. Bring Ron an armoire. He doesn't even know. what it is, but bring it to him for God's sake. From the Speaker 2 (9:36) 1500s. Bring him Speaker 4 (9:37) a Baroque-ian armoire. Well, Ron, you know what we do here on The Past Times. Past Times, sort of antique in a way as well, so you should be good at this. We're going to go through an old newspaper. You're going to guess the year. I'm going to guess the year. Dave's going to say you win because he's got a major attitude problem, and it needs to be adjusted, and it will be adjusted. But Ron, any year could be 1800s, 1900s, whatever. 1700s. Take a guess, Ron. Speaker 3 (10:07) I'm going 1908. Speaker 4 (10:11) That's a good guess. I'll go 1891. Speaker 2 (10:15) Oh, Ron wins. It's 1896. Wait, what? You were under. Speaker 4 (10:21) That's like allowed. No, Speaker 2 (10:24) this was reverse Price is Right rules, this one. Speaker 4 (10:27) Okay. Congrats, Speaker 2 (10:28) Ron. You were under. You had to be over. Thank you. What do Speaker 4 (10:31) I win? Is there an end to you? Speaker 3 (10:32) You get an armoire. Speaker 2 (10:33) A Speaker 3 (10:34) new armoire. Speaker 4 (10:36) But Speaker 2 (10:36) it's new. New to Speaker 3 (10:36) you, Ron, Speaker 4 (10:37) not new to anybody else. That's right. This armoire, who knows what it is? It might be a movable closet. The point is it's got a bunch of drawers and places for you to put all your things, Ron, including your back pillows and your Dell computers. Armoire. What are we? Speaker 2 (10:52) It's the Chicago Chronicle, April 8th, 1896. Okay. wants him to wed or settle. Oh, I get this. That Speaker 4 (11:02) sounds like the same thing. Speaker 2 (11:04) Ida Tulis says Valentin Flauding Jr. failed to keep his agreement. Ida Tulis brought suit here today against Valentin. Ida Speaker 4 (11:16) Tulis sounds like a fake journalist name. It does. Ida Tulis. Speaker 2 (11:23) Brought a suit here today against Valentin Flodding Jr. for $5,000 in damages, alleging breach of promise. She asserts that on two occasions they had arranged to be married, but that both times Valentin failed to appear. How do you, how do you, how? Second one. Yeah, the second one. Why would you be there for the second one? Fool Speaker 4 (11:43) me, can't get fooled Speaker 2 (11:44) again. You can't, you can't. Speaker 4 (11:45) Well, you know, the last chance. I mean, I think it's, I get, I think two's the max. Not on a wedding. Two's the max. I'm not showing up a third time. No, no way. Really? Yeah. But I love you. No way. But I love you. Yeah, Speaker 3 (11:59) why didn't she go back for this? I wish she was here so Ida could tell us. Speaker 4 (12:03) Ida. Ida. Ida. Ida knows. Ida knows. Yeah. I mean, look, I'm not showing up for one. So what do I know? Wow. Yeah. Not doing it. Sorry. Wow. So this is Speaker 3 (12:16) what we put in the papers in 1896? That's Speaker 4 (12:19) right. Speaker 3 (12:19) This is what we put in. Speaker 4 (12:21) Imagine Speaker 3 (12:21) now with texting. People don't show up. Speaker 4 (12:25) He ghosted me twice. Human ghosting. Put it Speaker 3 (12:29) in the centennial. Speaker 4 (12:32) No. I mean, also, I'll say this. It depends on how many. If you're doing a big invite list, two is fucked up. Two is real fucked up. Speaker 2 (12:41) Yeah, it doesn't say where. That Speaker 4 (12:43) feeling on that second one when you're looking at the clock and you're going, hopefully he's just 10 minutes late. Oh, my God. Speaker 2 (12:50) Yeah. Speaker 4 (12:52) 5 Speaker 2 (12:52) ,000 is a lot. Speaker 4 (12:53) But also, can we talk about how great it is to eat a whole wedding cake alone drunk? That's got to be a good feeling. Speaker 2 (12:59) I used to cater, so I've done that. Speaker 4 (13:01) Oh, that is nice. Speaker 2 (13:02) Just take the cake out the back. Yeah, beat it up. Just fuck it up in a parking lot. Yeah, fuck it up in a parking lot. A bottle of cognac. I Speaker 3 (13:09) feel like catering people are probably a lot like how poor flight attendants were back in my day, was you take anything that you can find that was left over. So often on like overnight trips, my diet was four turkey sandwiches that have been out for 12 hours. Speaker 4 (13:26) What about the little bottles of booze, Ron? Were you taking those with you? Speaker 3 (13:30) No, not back then, but now I would. Speaker 2 (13:34) So when I was catering. I followed the Speaker 3 (13:37) rules back then. That's wild. When Speaker 2 (13:39) I was catering, first I was a bartender and then I was a supervisor. So I would just grab the, whatever the top shelf booze was. Put one in my bag. Of course. And so I was doing it for two years. When I left New York, I was like, let's have a party. And people came in and they're just like, what the fuck? I'm like, yeah, have a drink, take a bottle. I had so many fucking bottles of Topshop there. That's awesome. That is awesome. Speaker 3 (14:02) I had a similar thing, except I was known for having parties with bowls of Vicodin. Speaker 2 (14:08) Sure. It's the same thing. Hell Speaker 3 (14:10) yeah. It's Speaker 2 (14:11) the same thing. And now Speaker 3 (14:11) you have back Speaker 4 (14:12) pain. Speaker 3 (14:14) The fate has twisted. I used to bartend and there was a guy who was very ill and he lived across the street and his only thing that he could do every day was just walk into the bar and that was it. But I would give him freebies every now and then and he got a lot of. from the government so he would hand me an envelope full of his pills. His leftover pills. And I was in my 20s so I'm like... Pills to pay the bills. Exactly. They were like my Skittles. And so I just had a surplus so I started having parties and they were very gay parties so it was like Speaker 4 (14:51) stuffed mushrooms, deviled eggs, and Vicodin. Vicodin. By the way, I've never, that might be the best pitch for gay I've heard. I'm very, that sounds phenomenal. Speaker 3 (15:03) Well, and you know, I'm a bad gay in a sense that I don't, most gays don't jive with me because like, for instance, I'm huge into fantasy football. I'm already in three leagues. Oh, is that right? Yeah, I'm a big football fan. Do you tell, Speaker 4 (15:17) do you not, is that a thing you hide from the other gays? Do you shield that so they don't know? Speaker 3 (15:22) Are you a Speaker 4 (15:23) closeted fantasy football player? Speaker 3 (15:27) I'm not. I'm obnoxious about it. I'm out and open to everybody. And here's the thing. I... proposed that we take the fantasy football app