RADIODecember 29, 2023

THESE 2 stories have Glenn QUESTIONING zoomers

Glenn reviews two stories that make him question the state of today's young adults: McDonald's released Happy Meals for adults (complete with toys) and young couples are bragging about being "DINKs" (Double Income, No Kids). Maybe it's time for Gen Z to grow up, start a family, and get some common sense ...

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Wow. So I'm sorry. I'm very distracted right now. Because Buddy the Elf brought in some chocolates.

And I can't open them.

I can't -- they're --

STU: I mean --

GLENN: Do you have to be old money to know how to open these things? Because they're fancy chocolates.

STU: They have the gold wrapper on them. So, yes.

GLENN: My gosh, you can't -- there. Now it's open.

STU: Wow. This is --

GLENN: I mean, there's only so much time to open a box of candy. If they make it impossible to open, they just pound it open.

STU: There are shards of sharp plastic, all over the studio now. But as you were taking that off, you saw clearly, a sticker type of thing that was wrapped around the outside. It was obviously how you opened that package.

You don't want to slam it against the desk, like an insane person.

GLENN: I wasn't insane.

That is a regular way, that when you wrap chocolate, like you -- like it's -- like an old CD. That's how you you open it.

Would you like some chocolate?

STU: I'm okay.

I'm afraid that I would be eating plastic shards, if I were to ingest any of this.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

STU: Now, how many times have you done it? That seems like it's not the first time you smashed a package of chocolates against the table to open it.

I mean, you really wanted some chocolate there.

GLENN: No. Less about the chocolate, more about the packaging.

STU: You're just --

GLENN: You don't get to the point to where you're opening something. And it's been so sealed, that there's no way any human could ever open it?

STU: Oh, I definitely got to that point before.

GLENN: Yeah. I can't take it.

STU: Not international radio.

Not on intermittent radio.

GLENN: Oh, well, I'm not ashamed of who I am.

STU: Maybe you should be.

You know, I feel like that's a lesson we've learned lately.

I just need to tell the world who I am. Maybe you shouldn't.

You know, Glenn, maybe the way you just acted should be closeted.

You know, I'm just saying.

GLENN: You're sitting there with a bottle of whisky. And you're telling me to behave myself.

You see what I just did to the chocolates.

You know how much I want that whisky right now?

STU: I will say, because I have some whiskey right here. And it's such a beautiful bottle, I didn't want to open it.

GLENN: It's not that beautiful. Let's open it.

STU: Glenn is looking at me, in a way that is disturbing.

I feel like a protective parent, and you're Jared from Subway. That's what I feel like.

GLENN: What is it? It's like 12-year-old whisky. So...

STU: It's a very wrong conversation. But I will say, I -- I like taunting you over alcohol. Because I think it's really funny.

GLENN: I just want to smell it. I love the smell of good whisky.

STU: That's what is making me freak out. You really want -- I'm putting this away.

GLENN: No, no, let's leave it up here.

STU: I'm not going to leave it up here for you.

GLENN: I will smash that thing open.

STU: Look, at the very end of your career, too I want this to end in some alcoholic binge that gets us all sorts of ratings?

GLENN: I don't want to drink it. I just want to smell it.

STU: It's just one sip.

It's just touching my lips. That's not drinking.

This is what happens, Sara, you know.

GLENN: Hang on a second. You okayed a whiskey -- knowing that whisky -- you okayed a whisky sponsorship on this program.

STU: It's good whisky.

GLENN: And come on, let's be serious.

Why did you take that whisky sponsorship?

Yes. It's good whisky.

STU: It's great.

GLENN: No. No.

STU: And I did know it would torture you. So it's a small part of it.

GLENN: Now it's sitting here. And you're like, oh, my gosh. I can't torture you. You see what I did to the box of candy? Open that bottle of whisky now.

STU: Those are glass shards if you break the bottle of whisky, Glenn.

GLENN: Again, I don't want to drink it. I just want to smell it. I love the smell of whisky.

STU: You also love the taste of whisky, that became a major problem for your life. .

GLENN: Not really. That wasn't the problem. It was, I love the effects of whisky.

STU: Which you remember well?

GLENN: Yes.

STU: That's the problem.

It's amazing to -- to --

GLENN: Okay. But let me ask you something: Which is a bigger problem.

Alcoholism. Or being somebody that is excited about this story, and you're an adult.

McDonald's is bringing its adult Happy Meals back into circulation.

Even containing six individual toy options, the chief of marketing and customer experience officer, references the success of last year's cactus plant flea market box, and notes that it was something that would be revisited because fans told us, they wanted to celebrate that quintessential childhood experience again.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: So they're giving you the little Happy Meal, where the golden arches are the handle.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: With the little toy in it.

That none of us had for more than five minutes. Because it was crap.

And which adult -- I want to talk to the adults that are like, you know what, I'm really happy. I can really -- relive that experience. And see what McDonald's has left for me.

As a toy.

As an adult, who gets a toy.

I don't know.

I think I would rather be an alcoholic.

STU: It's an interesting point.

You know, the worst part about the Happy Meal for adults.

They have full sized meals for adults.

That you can just have that are bigger and more of the stuff that you like. Unless you're going for some weird -- I'm going back into a cocoon of childhood.

GLENN: And, you know, with what Disney has done. When I heard adult toys in a Happy Meal box.

I -- I --

STU: I can picture some psychopath out of the McDonald's parking lot, smashing open a plastic box with adult toys inside it.

GLENN: Daddy, why is your box vibrating?

Shut up!

STU: I'm going to smash another bumper in the parking lot.

Do you think though, that this is a thing that is -- has made a real comeback?

I feel like there's a time. Maybe I'm just misremembering this. I feel like there's a time, where it would be embarrassing, to want to jump into all the childhood behaviors of your past.

GLENN: Yes.

Our grandparents would have slapped us across the face.

STU: That's kind of how I would picture it, right?

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah. Sure.

STU: It seems like now.

I don't know. This is offensive to some.

Maybe. But the dish -- the real passion for Disney World and Disneyland for adults, is interesting to me.

Like, it's a great place.

I get it. And I know that right now --

GLENN: No. First of all, it's the spawn of Satan. So you can't --

STU: I noticed that. But I know a lot of people, even conservatives. Who still go back there.

As adults, you know, a lot.

Like multiple times a year.

GLENN: That is because -- wait a minute. Because that brings back innocence.

It brings back.

STU: A Happy Meal brings back innocence.

GLENN: It brings back crap, that you had -- you gave --

STU: Don't besmirch McDonald's. Rob --

GLENN: Has he -- how big of a house does that fat clown need? He's always raising money.

Hey, finish my house.

Finish my house.

Enough, okay?

You gave that box. That happy meal. Because it kept your kids quiet. So it didn't drink during the day.

STU: I don't know if your experience is exactly the same as everyone else's experience. Mister please open that whisky bottle so I can smell it.

GLENN: I'm just -- I'm just saying.

STU: But do you find that -- is it something where the world has become so dark? That they're looking for --

GLENN: I. No. No.

Nobody is growing up. When I was 18 years old, maybe 17.

I remember coming back home from school. And -- and I had a bowl of cereal. And I'm sitting on my couch. And I'm just watching TV.

And there's nothing on. It's like soap opera time of day. There's nothing on.

STU: Sure.

GLENN: So I keep flipping around. And the best thing that was on, believe it or not, was Mr. Rogers.

STU: Okay.

GLENN: Now, my dad happened to come home early that day. And I'll never forget, he came up the stairs. You know, we had those split level houses.

And he came up the stairs, and he came up the stairs. And he came around. And he's like, hey. And he saw me eating cereal on the couch, watching TV, which he was disgusted by already. He was like, do something with your life.

STU: Do something with your life.

GLENN: So he came. And I'll never forget. He walked past the TV. And then he turned around to see it, because Mr. Rogers had the little puppets with the king and the kingdom.

He looked at it. And he looked at me.

And he looked back at the TV. He watched it for about 40 seconds. Then he looked back at me and said, what the hell is wrong with you?

I think that should be said to every adult who is excited about the Happy Meal. You need a parent or a grandparent, that would -- that is in your life, that will just say you to, what the hell is wrong with you?

STU: Okay. I could see that. I could see -- there's -- I feel like that was the approach back in the day.

GLENN: No. That's the approach that should be today.

I'm very excited. What are you going to say? I'm very excited to celebrate this -- this quintessential childhood memory.

Out of all the memories we had, as a family, you pick the crappy 2-cent toy?

STU: There's some anti McDonald thing going on with you.

GLENN: I love McDonald's? I love McDonald's.

STU: No. You? What?
(laughter)
No.

GLENN: You are...

STU: No. I mean, but I do feel like there's this anti you've been bashing them a lot lately. I don't like it. I don't like it. I get defensive.

GLENN: You know why? Because they reduced the size of the Filet-O-Fish.

STU: Well, that makes sense. This all tracks now.

GLENN: Yeah.

It's like they're becoming like Dunkin minis. You know what I mean?

Where I got to eat two of them, to equal one.

STU: Right.

GLENN: And I'm pissed because, yes, I am fat. But I feel fatter, if I have to order two of them.

Then you're just like, then you're just like, oh, my gosh.

You know, you order minis by the box. Okay?

You don't say, I need 36 doughnut holes.

You say I want a box of minis, please.

STU: The world needs your knowledge and wisdom on these topics. It really does.

Are you familiar with the term DINK?

Are you familiar with the term DINK?

GLENN: No. But I'm relating it to you, right now.

STU: All right. That's fine.

It means dual income, no kids.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: So we had a video, we were showing yesterday. We watched it on The News and Why It Matters. These two people talking about what it means, because they're DINKs. And they're bragging about it. And one of the -- the fat guy who is -- there's a very small woman, and very large man in the video. I don't know -- oh, we have the video? Here's the video.

VOICE: We're DINKs. We're going to get asked daily when we're planning on having kids.

VOICE: We're DINKs. Of course we're going to go out to eat every night after work.

VOICE: We're DINKs, we don't have to ask our family for financial help or to watch our kids when we want to go out.

VOICE: We're DINKs. We're going to go to Costco and buy all the snacks in bulk that we want.

GLENN: Okay. Okay. Stop. Stop. Stop.

Okay. Let me tell you why they're DINKs. She's beautiful, he's a fat Gila monster. There's no way she's going to have sex with him. So there's no children in their future.

STU: Right. That's why they're DINKs? She's happy with his income.

GLENN: She's like, I am so -- leave your clothes on. Turn the lights on. Leave all the clothes on.

STU: Really. I had not thought about that. She has brilliantly convinced him there's some new ideology between a dual income and no kids.

GLENN: Yes. Yeah. When they first got married, he was probably okay.

STU: Right.

GLENN: Then he just let himself go. And she's like, I can't have sex with him.

STU: What if we create a whole new thing?

Actually I'm morally --

GLENN: DINKs.

STU: Yeah, we love being DINKs. It's a way better way to live.

GLENN: Let's go eat.

STU: I love that.

I have a huge problem, with these points. Largely because, the big fat guy doesn't understand that children, largely. The biggest part of the role of children is to get you access to more snacks.

It's the best snack highway you're ever going to find.

Do you know how many kinds of mac and cheese I've had over the past ten years? It's incredible!

GLENN: The world needs your knowledge. See. This guy is not only fat, he's stupid. He's stupid too.

Shocking train video: Passengers wait while woman bleeds out

Surveillance footage of the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, NC, reveals that the other passengers on the train took a long time to help her. Glenn, Stu, and Jason debate whether they were right or wrong to do so.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, I'm -- I'm torn on how I feel about the people on the train.

Because my first instinct is, they did nothing! They did nothing! Then my -- well, sit down and, you know -- you know, you're going to be judged. So be careful on judging others.

What would I have done? What would I want my wife to do in that situation?

STU: Yeah. Are those two different questions, by the way.

GLENN: Yeah, they are.

STU: I think they go far apart from each other. What would I want myself to do. I mean, it's tough to put yourself in a situation. It's very easy to watch a video on the internet and talk about your heroism. Everybody can do that very easily on Twitter. And everybody is.

You know, when you're in a vehicle that doesn't have an exit with a guy who just murdered somebody in front of you, and has a dripping blood off of a knife that's standing 10 feet away from you, 15 feet away from you.

There's probably a different standard there, that we should all kind of consider. And maybe give a little grace to what I saw at least was a woman, sitting across the -- the -- the aisle.

I think there is a difference there. But when you talk about that question. Those two questions are definitive.

You know, I know what I would want myself to do. I would hope I would act in a way that didn't completely embarrass myself afterward.

But I also think, when I'm thinking of my wife. My advice to my wife would not be to jump into the middle of that situation at all costs. She might do that anyway. She actually is a heck of a lot stronger than I am.

But she might do it anyway.

GLENN: How pathetic, but how true.

STU: Yes. But that would not be my advice to her.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: Now, maybe once the guy has certainly -- is out of the area. And you don't think the moment you step into that situation. He will turn around and kill you too. Then, of course, obviously. Anything you can do to step in.

Not that there was much anyone on the train could do.

I mean, I don't think there was an outcome change, no matter what anyone on that train did.

Unfortunately.

But would I want her to step in?

Of course. If she felt she was safe, yes.

Think about, you said, your wife. Think about your daughter. Your daughter is on that train, just watching someone else getting murdered like that. Would you advise your daughter to jump into a situation like that?

That girl sitting across the aisle was somebody's daughter. I don't know, man.

JASON: I would. You know, as a dad, would I advise.

Hmm. No.

As a human being, would I hope that my daughter or my wife or that I would get up and at least comfort that woman while she's dying on the floor of a train?

Yeah.

I would hope that my daughter, my son, that I would -- and, you know, I have more confidence in my son or daughter or my wife doing something courageous more than I would.

But, you know, I think I have a more realistic picture of myself than anybody else.

And I'm not sure that -- I'm not sure what I would do in that situation. I know what I would hope I would do. But I also know what I fear I would do. But I would have hoped that I would have gotten up and at least tried to help her. You know, help her up off the floor. At least be there with her, as she's seeing her life, you know, spill out in under a minute.

And that's it other thing we have to keep in mind. This all happened so rapidly.

A minute is -- will seem like a very long period of time in that situation. But it's a very short period of time in real life.

STU: Yeah. You watch the video, Glenn. You know, I don't need the video to -- to change my -- my position on this.

But at his seem like there was a -- someone who did get there, eventually, to help, right? I saw someone seemingly trying to put pressure on her neck.

GLENN: Yeah. And tried to give her CPR.

STU: You know, no hope at that point. How long of a time period would you say that was?

Do you know off the top of your head?

GLENN: I don't know. I don't know. I know that we watched the video that I saw. I haven't seen past 30 seconds after she --

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: -- is down. And, you know, for 30 seconds nothing is happening. You know, that is -- that is not a very long period of time.

STU: Right.

GLENN: In reality.

STU: And especially, I saw the pace he was walking. He certainly can't be -- you know, he may have left the actual train car by 30 seconds to a minute. But he wasn't that far away. Like he was still in visual.

He could still turn around and look and see what's going on at that point. So certainly still a threat is my point. He has not, like, left the area. This is not that type of situation.

You know, I -- look, as you point out, I think if I could be super duper sexist for a moment here, sort of my dividing line might just be men and women.

You know, I don't know if it's that a -- you're not supposed to say that, I suppose these days. But, like, there is a difference there. If I'm a man, you know, I would be -- I would want my son to jump in on that, I suppose. I don't know if he could do anything about it. But you would expect at least a grown man to be able to go in there and do something about it. A woman, you know, I don't know.

Maybe I'm -- I hope --

GLENN: Here's the thing I -- here's the thing that I -- that causes me to say, no. You should have jumped in.

And that is, you know, you've already killed one person on the train. So you've proven that you're a killer. And anybody who would have screamed and got up and was with her, she's dying. She's dying. Get him. Get him.

Then the whole train is responsible for stopping that guy. You know. And if you don't stop him, after he's killed one person, if you're not all as members of that train, if you're not stopping him, you know, the person at the side of that girl would be the least likely to be killed. It would be the ones that are standing you up and trying to stop him from getting back to your daughter or your wife or you.

JASON: There was a -- speaking of men and women and their roles in this. There was a video circling social media yesterday. In Sweden. There was a group of officials up on a stage. And one of the main. I think it was health official woman collapses on stage. Completely passes out.

All the men kind of look away. Or I don't know if they're looking away. Or pretending that they didn't know what was going on. There was another woman standing directly behind the woman passed out.

Immediately springs into action. Jumps on top. Grabs her pant leg. Grabs her shoulder. Spins her over and starts providing care.

What did she have that the other guys did not? Or women?

She was a sheepdog. There is a -- this is my issue. And I completely agree with Stu. I completely agree with you. There's some people that do not respond this way. My issue is the proportion of sheepdogs versus people that don't really know how to act. That is diminishing in western society. And American society.

We see it all the time in these critical actions. I mean, circumstances.

There are men and women, and it's actually a meme. That fantasize about hoards of people coming to attack their home and family. And they sit there and say, I've got it. You guys go. I'm staying behind, while I smoke my cigarette and wait for the hoards to come, because I will sacrifice myself. There are men and women that fantasize of block my highway. Go ahead. Block my highway. I'm going to do something about it. They fantasize about someone holding up -- not a liquor store. A convenience store or something. Because they will step in and do something. My issue now is that proportion of sheepdogs in society is disappearing. Just on statistical fact, there should be one within that train car, and there were none.

STU: Yeah. I mean --

JASON: They did not respond.

STU: We see what happens when they do, with Daniel Penny. Our society tries to vilify them and crush their existence. Now, there weren't that many people on that train. Right?

At least on that car. At least it's limited. I only saw three or four people there, there may have been more. I agree with you, though. Like, you see what happens when we actually do have a really recent example of someone doing exactly what Jason wants and what I would want a guy to do. Especially a marine to step up and stop this from happening. And the man was dragged by our legal system to a position where he nearly had to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I mean, I -- it's insanity. Thankfully, they came to their senses on that one.

GLENN: Well, the difference between that one and this one though is that the guy was threatening. This one, he killed somebody.

STU: Yeah. Right. Well, but -- I think -- but it's the opposite way. The debate with Penny, was should he have recognize that had this person might have just been crazy and not done anything?

Maybe. He hadn't actually acted yet. He was just saying things.

GLENN: Yeah. Well --

STU: He didn't wind up stabbing someone. This is a situation where these people have already seen what this man will do to you, even when you don't do anything to try to stop him. So if this woman, who is, again, looks to be an average American woman.

Across the aisle. Steps in and tries to do something. This guy could easily turn around and just make another pile of dead bodies next to the one that already exists.

And, you know, whether that is an optimal solution for our society, I don't know that that's helpful.

In that situation.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Max Lucado on Overcoming Grief in Dark Times | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 266

Disclaimer: This episode was filmed prior to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. But Glenn believes Max's message is needed now more than ever.
The political world is divided, constantly at war with itself. In many ways, our own lives are not much different. Why do we constantly focus on the negative? Why are we in pain? Where is God amid our anxiety and fear? Why can’t we ever seem to change? Pastor Max Lucado has found the solution: Stop thinking like that! It may seem easier said than done, but Max joins Glenn Beck to unpack the three tools he describes in his new book, “Tame Your Thoughts,” that make it easy for us to reset the way we think back to God’s factory settings. In this much-needed conversation, Max and Glenn tackle everything from feeling doubt as a parent to facing unfair hardships to ... UFOs?! Plus, Max shares what he recently got tattooed on his arm.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Are Demonic Forces to Blame for Charlie Kirk, Minnesota & Charlotte Killings?

This week has seen some of the most heinous actions in recent memory. Glenn has been discussing the growth of evil in our society, and with the assassination of civil rights leader Charlie Kirk, the recent transgender shooter who took the lives of two children at a Catholic school, and the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, how can we make sense of all this evil? On today's Friday Exclusive, Glenn speaks with BlazeTV host of "Strange Encounters" Rick Burgess to discuss the demon-possessed transgender shooter and the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk. Rick breaks down the reality of demon possession and how individuals wind up possessed. Rick and Glenn also discuss the dangers of the grotesque things we see online and in movies, TV shows, and video games on a daily basis. Rick warns that when we allow our minds to be altered by substances like drugs or alcohol, it opens a door for the enemy to take control. A supernatural war is waging in our society, and it’s a Christian’s job to fight this war. Glenn and Rick remind Christians of what their first citizenship is.