1294: Sister’s off Her Meds, Now She Faces the Feds | Feedback Friday

11:28Jordan Harbinger:Plus, when a lot of people go off their meds, they don't believe they're sick. I mean, That's part of the issue.

11:33Gabriel Mizrahi:Yeah, they go off the meds because they aren't feeling sick anymore.

11:35Jordan Harbinger:Unfortunately, very common. And then they're right, and you're the enemy, and there's only so much this very flawed system can do to make sure people are getting the care they need. It's just awful. So look, it's very possible that you won't be able to do much to help your sister right now if she refuses to engage with you, if she refuses to talk to her public defender, if she truly isn't interested in defending herself against these charges. There's just not a lot you can do. But here are a few ideas. One thing you can try to do, you can contact the public defender's office, try to get in touch with the attorney they assigned her and send them a history on your sister.

12:06Jordan Harbinger:The previous psychiatric holds, her diagnosis, her medication history, her pattern of decompensation when she goes off her meds, they might not be able to tell you very much about her case, but they can receive information. Maybe your documentation makes her PD go, okay, I'm gonna file a motion for a competency evaluation or I'm gonna push for diversion to a mental health program instead of prison time, if that's an option. Sadly, public defenders can often be overwhelmed and underpaid and not super motivated to fight for clients who are a huge pain in the butt, but a decent one might see what's going on here and try to help her.

12:38Jordan Harbinger:We also wanted to get an expert in here, so we reached out to the one and only Corbin Payne, defense attorney and friend of the show. That's a new soundbite. We had to move away from Law & Order for IP reasons, but this one, now AI can make just about anything. Anyway, Corbin said the other thing you could do if you wanted to, I don't think you're obligated to, but you You could reach out to your own criminal defense attorney, maybe somebody with experience representing clients with serious mental illness. Even if it's just for a consult, you don't necessarily need to replace the public defender, but just to understand how this is going to go, what your options are, what the realistic outcomes are in your sister's case.

13:13Jordan Harbinger:Corbin said that if a good attorney in the community approaches a PD with all the documentation and can make the case that your sister has some serious issues, then the public defender is more likely to take that seriously than hearing from some random family member of that one client that the public defender actually dreads talking to. Corbin said a private attorney can also advise on how to frame the information in a way that a public defender can quickly grasp and easily communicate to the judge. And that is key.

13:38Gabriel Mizrahi:I would also look into whether your state has what's called an assisted outpatient treatment law, an AOT law. So in California, this is called Laura's law. In New York, I believe it's called Kendra's law. Other states have other names. Basically, these are laws that provide court ordered community-based care to reduce things like hospitalization, incarceration. They're designed specifically for people with severe persistent mental illness who are resistant to treatment, people who have a history of hospitalization, people who are at high risk of deteriorating. So this would allow a judge to order someone to comply with a treatment plan while they continue living in the community.

14:13Gabriel Mizrahi:So they have to go to psychiatric appointments, they have to adhere to their medication regimen, they have to maybe go to therapy or substance abuse treatment, you know, work with a case manager. It can look a few different ways. It is not perfect, but for people who are stuck in a cycle like your sister's, it can be a game changer. But someone has to petition the court for this option. Could be a family member, could be a psychiatrist who's treated her, could be a hospital director, and then her lawyer would either argue for or against AOT. The lawyer themselves cannot typically file an AOT petition on their own.

14:45Gabriel Mizrahi:But if your sister wants AOT and it's on the table, then it should not require a petition at all. if her county is offering it. Then she could theoretically enter treatment without a court order at all.

14:56Jordan Harbinger:You do have one other option, not easy, but on the table. You and your family could look into getting a conservatorship over your sister. Corbin said that one of the big factors in getting a conservatorship can be whether the person in question is engaging in dangerous or unlawful behavior. And it sounds like you guys have prime evidence that that's the case. There are two big benefits to this, according to Corbin. If you got a conservatorship, you guys could take steps to force medication, and you'd be laying the groundwork for establishing a competency issue at trial.

15:23Gabriel Mizrahi:Yes, but we've talked about this before. Getting a conservatorship over somebody is not easy. In a simple, uncontested case, you're probably talking about two to six months, maybe$5 ,000 to$15 ,000 in expenses on average. If it's a more involved case, like when somebody contests the conservatorship, or there are big assets involved, or it becomes a messy family fight, then you could be looking at, I don't know, six months to a year or more easily $20 ,000 or higher. So just keep that in mind.

15:52Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, not cheap, not easy. My understanding is that the main thing you have to prove in these cases is incapacity, that the person cannot provide for their own needs or manage their affairs safely. One of those needs is managing their medical care or medications, which you might be able to prove.

16:06Gabriel Mizrahi:Right, but you need evidence, and apparently quite a bit of it. Doctor or psychologist declaration, an explanation of how the condition impairs decision-making and judgment, stuff like that.

16:15Jordan Harbinger:And you have to prove that alternatives won't work. Power of attorney, a health care directive, management of their estate, stuff like that.

16:22Gabriel Mizrahi:And then you have to show that you or someone in your family is suitable for the role of being a conservator, which is a whole other element.

16:27Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, it's a high bar, and that is by design. The courts don't want to make it easy to control somebody who doesn't deserve to be controlled in this way. My understanding is that conservatorships fail pretty frequently, so you're going to want to talk to an attorney about all this, and of course, your family to decide if this is the route you actually want to take.

16:42Gabriel Mizrahi:All good options, but I think you could make the opposite case, Jordan, that maybe he shouldn't help his sister at this point.

16:49Jordan Harbinger:Great. I love when we swap roles. Usually you're the idealist and I'm the guy going, screw it, they're on their own.

16:54Gabriel Mizrahi:Well, like you said, watching a sibling decompensate like this, potentially face prison time without proper treatment, it is tragic. It is heartbreaking. So of course our friend wants to help. I'm sure I would want to help as well. But I think the history here shows that there really, like you said, isn't very much he can do. Even if he and his family could influence the sister, they can't be with her every second of the day to make sure she behaves properly, right? They can't control everything she does and monitor every movement and force her into treatment that she doesn't want to get. And she has had four involuntary psychiatric holds.

17:26Gabriel Mizrahi:I know that that system is very limited, but I do wonder if that is her best shot at getting the interventions that she needs. So where you're going with this is maybe she needs to go to prison. I mean, look, it's awful to think about it is not where you want anyone like this to get mental health treatment. But if she ultimately ends up there for a time, she might, might have to confront what she has made of her life. Like, oh, I ran away from the police. I punched a cop in the face. I quit my job. I ended up in prison. My family won't help me anymore. I drove them away. You know, now I'm on medication.

17:58Gabriel Mizrahi:So I see that more clearly. Maybe I do need to stay on top of my meds.

18:01Jordan Harbinger:Or she doesn't get any help and she views prison as one more way that, you know, everybody's out to get me and she gets worse. I just feel like maybe we're giving people with a severe mental illness too much credit to be able to self-reflect in jail?

18:13Gabriel Mizrahi:This is also possible. There are no guarantees.

18:16Jordan Harbinger:I mean, she could get in fights with other inmates. She could attack a CO. She could catch more charges and have to serve more time. I don't know.

18:22Gabriel Mizrahi:She could. I mean, apparently she already attacked one guard in the jail, so that stuff could continue. And look, mental health care in prison, as we all know, famously terrible. So I hate to think of her ending up there. I just wonder if she needs to experience some some consequences in order to realize that she needs to manage her life differently.

18:40Jordan Harbinger:Look, when we talked to Corbin, he walked us through an interesting scenario. Let's say your sister ends up going to trial. She loses. Then she'll have to undergo a sentencing hearing. But at the sentencing hearing, you guys can come in and testify about how wonderful she is when she's on her meds, how dark things get when she's off of them. Corbin said that these can all be mitigating factors in a sentence. They're factors that might make the judge lean towards the lower end of the sentencing range. The judge can also order certain services for her in prison or while on probation.

19:07Gabriel Mizrahi:And by the way, an attorney gets to decide whom to call or whom not to call to testify. So in Corbin's view, a good defense attorney, public defender or private, could call you guys even if your sister does not want you there. And if they don't happen to call you, then Corbin said that you can absolutely write letters to the court requesting some sort of leniency and explain who she is when she's off her meds.

19:28Jordan Harbinger:And if she goes on probation, which Corbin said is likely if she doesn't go to prison, Then you guys can also contact her probation officer, make sure that they're aware of what's going on. He said probation can keep an eye on things and monitor her compliance with the judge's orders, including medical treatment.

19:42Gabriel Mizrahi:Corbin's hunch, just based on his own experience, is that your sister is probably going to be a difficult client for her attorney. She's probably going to be uncooperative, unruly, inconsistent. If she does end up going to trial, she'll probably upset the judge and jury and unfortunately get convicted. So Corbin said that if he were an attorney in a case like this, he would be grasping at straws toward the end to get some measure of relief for his client, even if it means calling family members she hates to testify. But Jordan, I think what our friend here is really wrestling with is how much he should realistically do for his sister at this point.

20:18Gabriel Mizrahi:It's so hard because he knows what she's like when she's medicated. She's great. So of course he's going, how do we just keep her out of prison? How do we get her back on Risperidone or whatever, so things can go back to how they were. Well, I'd be asking the same thing. So I guess my question is, why does he feel like it's his responsibility to save his sister now?

20:36Jordan Harbinger:I think because it's his sister, their family. I'm an only child, but you know, that seems reasonable.

20:42Gabriel Mizrahi:I understand wanting to do the right thing. I understand wanting to be a good brother, but this is a pattern now and it's a difficult one. And if she's going to go through this cycle again and again, as she seems to be demonstrating, and he's going to want to intervene every time something happens. I don't know. That just, that sounds like a very stressful life. It's not sustainable at the very least. I think he and his family are coming to terms with the reality of her situation, which is that short of institutionalizing her, which doesn't sound like it's going to happen anytime soon, or getting a conservatorship, which is not guaranteed and will take a lot of time and money, or making her, I don't know, move in with them and keeping an eye on her 24-7, which sounds like a bad idea in addition to probably being impractical, they cannot make her do anything she doesn't want to do.

21:26Gabriel Mizrahi:So at some point, as hard as it is, I do think they have to at least imagine a future where she is on her own path and it might be quite scary and quite sad for a time.

21:36Jordan Harbinger:I know. It just, it breaks my heart that they might have to watch her go from being awesome and having a job to being in and out of prison or out on the street or something.

21:43Gabriel Mizrahi:It's devastating. Dude, I lived next to it with a stranger once with the Josh thing. I saw it firsthand. It is, you know, I wasn't even related to him and it was indescribably painful.

21:55Jordan Harbinger:I don't disagree with anything you're saying. I mean, say they managed to keep her out of prison. Then what? She goes home to her apartment she can't pay for because she quit her job. She keeps getting arrested for starting fights. Is our friend here going to pay for housing? Is he going to bail her out every other weekend? Is he going to save her every time she creates a massive problem? him. It's just it's not fair to him. She's not his child. And even if she were his child, there would still be a limit to how much they can and should do. I mean, even Josh's parents, your neighbor's parents, had to give up at a certain point for the most part.

22:25Gabriel Mizrahi:Exactly. That's exactly right. So I just have two quick ideas for you. If you and your family somehow managed to get your sister medicated again, I would consider recommending that she take one of the long acting injectable forms of these drugs. Sometimes it's monthly. Sometimes it's once every like two or three months. That can be extremely helpful for people who struggle to stay on their medication.

22:45Jordan Harbinger:I didn't even know that existed. That's a fantastic idea.

22:48Gabriel Mizrahi:It's not perfect, obviously, and it can still be a problem when they have to get their next shot, you know, like they might forget that or skip that one. But apparently this is a game changer for a lot of people and their families, of course.

22:58Jordan Harbinger:I bet. And also, it's probably a lot easier to monitor, hey, did you get your shot every month or 90 days than it is, hey, did you take your pills today? This just has to be a godsend for people who, I don't know, they live alone, they want to stay independent, but they can't stay on top of their meds. I don't know, I'm imagining you go on a trip and your luggage gets lost or you drive up to Lake Tahoe, you forget to pack your medication and three days later, I don't know, you're wandering the streets thinking that Stasi's out to get you.

23:23Gabriel Mizrahi:You know, I don't know. Yeah, exactly. No, it's a huge help. My other recommendation is make sure you're taking care of yourself through all of this. You guys are going through a lot right now. I'm sure a lot of your energy is being absorbed by your sister and that's probably keeping you up at night. So just come back to the things you need to take care of yourself. Therapy, of course, if you're not already there, I'm sure this whole family situation is probably, there's a lot to talk about. I would also look into a support group for family members of people dealing with psychosis. Highly recommend this.

23:51Gabriel Mizrahi:I hear it can be extremely helpful, and I'm going to include a bunch of great resources in the show notes for you. But also, you know, friends, exercise, most importantly, a life outside of your sister. Boundaries, for sure. Yeah, big time. I think our friend here knows this better than anybody, having a sibling like this is a big deal. It is uniquely demanding, uniquely confusing. And I would just really love for you to stay connected with people you can talk to who can not only help you know how much to support your sister, when to support your sister, when to show up for her, when not to show up for her, but also help you work through all of the difficult feelings that a situation like this brings up.

24:27Jordan Harbinger:I think the biggest one, which is not a surprise, is grief. Grief about the sister that he used to have, the one he's lost to this disorder, grief about the stability they all used to have.

24:37Gabriel Mizrahi:Of course. And you know, like, what would our friend here have to deal with if he did not step in and save her, right? A ton of sadness, I imagine. Anger, maybe at this disorder, at the system, at her, and maybe a general loss of hope that things might get better with her. Fear about what might happen to her from here on out? Fear is a big one. that's a huge one. And connected to that, maybe some anxiety about what other people, like his parents, for example, might think of him if he stopped trying to help. We don't have all the information. He didn't say anything in his letter that suggests this, but I can imagine worrying about, you know, like, would my parents be disappointed in me if I didn't try to intervene as strongly as they are?

25:15Gabriel Mizrahi:Or am I going to be ashamed about being a quote unquote bad brother if I don't behave a certain way?

25:21Jordan Harbinger:Or if you feel you can't step out of this role, that would be important to work through as well. Don't get me wrong, I think it's very touching that you want to show up for your sister however you can, even when she's literally saying, go away, I don't want your help. But pushing to help, that might be a way of staving off these very difficult feelings. I also suspect that it's costing you quite a bit mentally, emotionally, physically, and I think you have to ask yourself whether that cost is appropriate and sustainable. I am so sorry that your sister is struggling with this disorder. I'm so sorry that you and your family have to go through all of this.

25:52Jordan Harbinger:My heart goes out to you guys. it really does, but it's also important to remember that she's her own person, and she also has to figure this out in her own way, to the best of her ability. But I hope that we've given you a few ways to still influence the situation within reason, sending you and your sister a big hug and wishing you all the best. Now, we're going to lead you on a five-minute chase through an ad break with some deals that are straight-up crazy. You're not hallucinating. These discounts really are that good. We'll be right back. This episode is sponsored in part by Mint Mobile. I don't know about you, but I like keeping my money where I can see it.

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28:38Gabriel Mizrahi:Okay, what's next? Hey Jordan and Gabe. I'm pretty sure that my wife's business partners are screwing her over. I think they're being dishonest about the financials and they're refusing to do certain things that their partnership agreement requires them to do such as providing income statements and the like. The kicker is that her partners have announced their plans to retire but to keep their equity positions in the company and keep collecting their cuts of profits without working. My wife is an older millennial slash young Gen Xer, and her partners are baby boomers. Legally, if she threw down, she would have a strong case.

29:14Gabriel Mizrahi:It wouldn't be cheap, but it wouldn't be too expensive either. We could also connect her with lawyers and third-party companies that can do the back office work for her to get established on her own. So she could just walk and leave her partner stuck with a company in which the only truly productive member just quit, and which they won't be able to exploit to fund their retirements in their second homes on the beach. All in all, it's a powerful negotiating position. But she's scared of negotiating aggressively and quote-unquote being mean. I want to be respectful of her feelings, but also encourage her to stand up for herself.

29:49Gabriel Mizrahi:Any pointers on how to advise my wife to be comfortable with boldness and aggression here? Signed, helping my wife find her big girl pants, when her go-to stance is to avoid looking askance and simply dance around this dodgy finance.

30:03Jordan Harbinger:Interesting. Okay. So this is concerning. Gabe, I'm trying to imagine why they would be hiding the financials in the first place. That's just, it's never good. I worry that either they are not paying her her fair share, probably that's the case, and or they're embezzling money from the company or even committing some sort of tax fraud or something like that. Basically, there's no reason to refuse to hand over financial data to a fellow partner if you're not doing anything.

30:30Gabriel Mizrahi:If you're not doing something weird. Right.

30:32Jordan Harbinger:Like best case scenario, they're screwing her over on the money. That's the actual best case scenario. The worst case scenario is criminal liability. And they're going to be, I don't want to go too far down this rabbit hole, but if anything happens, it's like you're a partner, you're also liable for this. Well, they weren't sharing the data with me. And okay, whatever, tell it to the judge. So you should be very worried about this. And I'm very sorry that your wife is going through this. Competent partner carrying the load, legacy partners slash criminal partners coasting and obfuscating name a more iconic duo am i right i mean it just sounds like this is hitting close to home it sucks that they're pulling this move she's the one who's scared of being mean but i assume that this fear of conflict is also partly why she's in this position in the first place i'm guessing her partners know that she's kind of a pushover slash nice person people pleaser and they're like ah michelle's gonna just suck this up we're just make her do all the work she'll be too chicken shit to say anything on the other hand I do feel for her.

31:28Jordan Harbinger:Kind people, conscientious people, people who are collaborative and fair, they tend to equate assertiveness with cruelty sometimes, which is obviously not the case, but it probably feels that way to her. Plus, with older business partners, there's often a subtle power dynamic that makes confrontation feel intimidating and dangerous. So I understand her position, but obviously she has to do something because this cannot fly. So here are a few thoughts. First of all, I'd continue to make lots of room for your wife's feelings around this conflict, hear her out, ask good questions, validate her, help her appreciate the aspects of her personality and her history that this showdown with the partners is bringing out.

32:05Jordan Harbinger:She's getting ready to enter a fight that's going to be a big deal for her. It's not just going to help her solve this problem with the company. It's probably also going to rewrite a huge pattern of hers to sidestep a conflict like this. It takes some time to get there. It'll also take the support of other people in her life. Now, part of that should probably be helping your wife see some of these vulnerabilities more clearly. When the time is right, I would tell her, you know, so many of your great qualities, your collaboration, your diplomacy, your kindness, when it comes to partners like these, they become liabilities.

32:34Jordan Harbinger:These people are counting on you not to stand up to them. And I think that might be an important step in helping her see that she needs to tap into other qualities. Then I would start to help your wife appreciate that assertiveness is not aggression. I'm guessing your wife thinks of these qualities as binary. Either she's kind or she's mean. Either she's a team player or she's, you know, the enemy here. Obviously, these are spectrums.

32:57Gabriel Mizrahi:Yeah, you can be multiple things at once. For example, you can be tough and respectful at the same time. You can be assertive and diplomatic at the same time.

33:04Jordan Harbinger:I would also help her understand what's at stake if she doesn't push back here. The obvious consequence is that she runs the company alone and doesn't fully benefit from that labor. And I think she knows that. And that's not a good feeling. I've been there. But there's also a psychological cost here. The feeling of being taken advantage of. the anger and resentment she's going to feel toward her partners and also toward herself for allowing it, the regret she might feel about missing out on an opportunity to rewrite this pattern and build some new muscles.

33:31Gabriel Mizrahi:That's a really good point, because sometimes when we don't want to do something, we need to get clear on the cost of not doing it. Sometimes that's the only fuel that we respond to.

33:40Jordan Harbinger:Exactly, because we mostly just want to stay safe, right? So it's not like running toward the danger is going to be motivating, but realizing that we're cramping around our limitations, that we're going to kick ourselves for not trying something new, that can be motivating. Maybe instead of saying, you know, be bold, be strong, screw them, maybe you just ask her, hey, what's the cost of continuing like this for five more years, emotionally, financially? The answer she supplies is going to be way more useful. Another way to help your wife get comfortable with this is frame it as a management thing, not just an emotional thing.

34:11Jordan Harbinger:Enforcing a partnership agreement or an operating agreement, it's not aggression, it's not being mean, It's just good corporate governance, period.

34:19Gabriel Mizrahi:Right.

34:19Jordan Harbinger:It's leadership. Right. If these partners are literally saying, yeah, we're not going to provide the financials required under our partnership agreement, that's a breach of contract. So allowing them to do that, that makes her an ineffective manager. And that means letting the partnership down, not to mention probably slash possibly incurring some liability down the line. I was reading some research on women in negotiations, and the finding was basically women tend to experience social penalties for negotiating assertively. Surprise, surprise. or at least they anticipate those penalties. And that anticipation often makes them not want to fight for what they deserve.

34:52Jordan Harbinger:But when women frame negotiation as advocating for fairness for the larger system, employees, clients, shareholders, their assertiveness often feels more legitimate, both to themselves and to others. I'm going to link to that study in the show notes, by the way. It's quite interesting. You might want to read that. So maybe you tell your wife, look, this isn't just about enriching yourself, standing up for yourself. This is about protecting everyone in the company, present and future. This is about protecting the integrity of the company and the agreement for every person that the company touches.

35:22Jordan Harbinger:That might give her the legitimacy that she feels she needs. And once she does decide to push back, I would help her remember that point about being two things at once. She can be calm. She can be professional, respectful, measured while being totally firm. So when she talks to her partners, she can literally say, I want to make sure we're fully compliant with the partnership agreement. I need the financials by X date. If that doesn't happen, I'll need to consider further steps. Talking to counsel, making a formal books and records demand, considering a breach of fiduciary duty claim, whatever it is.

35:52Jordan Harbinger:That seems unnecessary. All we have to do is follow the partnership agreement that we all signed. But if you don't, then that's the process and the timeline. That does not mean. That is called being a freaking grown up. My hope here is that these older partners are just paper tigers. Once they go, oh, crap, Michelle's got a backbone or somebody's telling her to do this. We better back off this whole plan. But if they don't, your wife has a choice. Either she throws down, which probably means hiring an attorney and getting even tougher, and you can support her in that too. Or she leaves the company and starts her own, which sounds like a very viable idea that would be less baggage, potentially.

36:26Gabriel Mizrahi:I am voting for that option, honestly, myself.

36:28Jordan Harbinger:Well, me too. I probably hinted at it earlier, but the whole situation sounds like a mess. And I doubt these partners, I just very much doubt these partners are going to suddenly start to treat her fairly at this point. If their whole plan from the jump was to leech off the company, possibly with fraudulent behavior and just make her leave her holding the bag and doing all the work. Come on.

36:45Gabriel Mizrahi:I mean, if she leaves the company, she might lose something, but she would gain something huge, which is her freedom. She would be free from these people.

36:52Jordan Harbinger:Yes. A clean break under these circumstances is always better. Ask me how I know.

36:59Gabriel Mizrahi:Listen, I would not focus on that possibility at this stage because, you know, it might not come to pass and you don't want her to feel even more daunted. All she needs to do right now is appropriately push back and demand to see the financials. That's it. And however they respond to that, that's going to tell her what her next move should be. And then she can deal with it from there.

37:16Jordan Harbinger:Agreed. So I hope that gives you and your wife a way forward here. She's lucky to have you in her corner. I'm sure your confidence will go a very long way. I've been in a few major business conflicts myself, as you can probably tell, and they can be awful. They're unpleasant. They're a massive waste of time and energy, or at least investment of time and energy. I'm sure your wife just wishes she could run this company, but sometimes these conflicts are necessary. So in a way, I'm actually kind of excited for your wife because here's an opportunity to learn how to lean into these conflicts, build some crucial muscles.

37:45Jordan Harbinger:That's a big part of leadership as well. And if she learns how to stand up for herself when she has to, I know that that skill is going to pay dividends for the rest of her career. Sending her our best thoughts and all of our confidence. And good luck. I am so curious how this shakes out, by the way. So if you get a chance, shoot us an update. in six months to a year or however long it takes because I got theories, I got thoughts, and I'm very curious what ends up happening here. Speaking of building muscles, how about some deals and discounts on supplements and or chef-crafted meals and or a personal training app and or a bougie mattress?

38:19Jordan Harbinger:We'll be right back. This episode is sponsored in part by Quilt Mind. If you're not on LinkedIn, you're probably making a mistake, not because it's so cool, but because it's practical. If you're trying to get hired, recruiters are there. If you run a business, people are absolutely looking you up before they take you seriously. LinkedIn is your built-in credibility slash this person really exists. Check. But here's the bigger miss. Having a profile and never posting. Most people treat LinkedIn like some kind of static resume. The moment you start posting consistently, you stand out because almost nobody does.

38:48Jordan Harbinger:Every time I post, I get DMs from people I haven't talked to in years. Like man that hit home, suddenly I'm top of mind. That turns into intros, partnerships, opportunities. That's not luck. It's visibility. and that's why I use Quilt Mind. They help busy execs get LinkedIn famous in about 30 minutes a week. I do a quick call. They pull out my stories and insights, turn them into short, punchy posts that sound like me and they keep me accountable because my default setting is I'll do it later and you know how that goes. And I'll share stuff there that I don't really talk about on the podcast. So if you're curious, look me up on LinkedIn.

39:16Jordan Harbinger:If you want Quilt Mind, email jordanaudience at quiltmind.com. That's jordanaudience at q-u-i-l-t-m-i-n-d.com. You can reach us Friday at jordanharbinger.com. Please keep your emails concise. Use descriptive subject lines that makes our job a lot easier. If your recently widowed father is knowingly participating in tons of romance scams, your business partner is using your past against you, or you're wondering how to talk about your self-harm scars when young kids ask about them, whatever's got you staying up at night lately, hit us up Friday at jordanharbinger.com. We're here to help, and we keep every email anonymous.

39:49Gabriel Mizrahi:All right, next up. Hi, Jordan and Gabe. My 69-year-old mom is one of the most selfless, giving, nurturing people on the planet. She's a mother of six and grandmother of nine, and has felt mothering to be her calling since she was a child. I'm her youngest child and live out of state with my spouse. My siblings and I are all close, and despite our parents being divorced, the 19 of us, my parents, siblings, siblings' spouses, and siblings' kids all get along well, and there have never been any significant issues.

40:22Jordan Harbinger:That is a minor miracle. 19, what a tribe. That's very sweet and probably a lot of fun.

40:27Gabriel Mizrahi:The problem is that my mom's devotion to her family, her helpfulness, and her extreme capability sometimes get taken advantage of. And part of the reason that there haven't been issues in the family may be because everyone is too kind and puts peace slash no drama above honest feedback.

40:47Jordan Harbinger:Interesting. I was wondering how a family of 19 avoided any major conflict whatsoever.

40:51Gabriel Mizrahi:Come on. Interesting theme on today's episode, huh? Conflict avoidance and all of the concomitant problems that it creates. Exactly. A couple of my siblings and I agree that my sister-in-law, Ellie, takes advantage of my mom's kindness and care and her resistance to saying no. Ellie and my brother Peter have three kids under age 10 and rely on my parents, but mostly my mom, on a weekly if not daily basis to manage their lives. Driving to swim lessons, babysitting the youngest child, hosting meals a few times a week, to name a few. Ellie and Peter live one mile away from them. Ellie subjects my mom to extremely long visits, in which my mom feeds her and the kids at least one full meal and many snacks, watches the kids, cleans up everything when they leave, and is left exhausted.

41:43Gabriel Mizrahi:My mom loves this time with her grandchildren more than anything. But two things can be true at the same time. These visits, which happen multiple times a week, exhaust her. She's even gotten UTIs from sitting for so long and chatting with Ellie. That is, listening to Ellie vent and gossip.

42:00Jordan Harbinger:I didn't even know it was possible to get a UTI from sitting? Imagine, sorry, I don't mean to laugh, but imagine suffering through a conversation that's so bad it gives you an infection. That's pretty extreme. Yeah.

42:11Gabriel Mizrahi:Ellie sounds like a lot. Meanwhile, my brother has irregular weekends and is never present during these visits. I'm sure if he were, he'd be surprised at what goes on and give his wife feedback. Like, maybe let the almost 70-year-old rest and chase around your own three-year-old? My hunch is that Ellie doesn't let Peter in on how long the visits are, and my mom always downplays how hard she works. Interesting. Each of these lengthy visits probably costs my mom at least$100 in groceries, much more if they stay for dinner, and can last nine hours. Oh my god. I've witnessed Ellie encouraging her kids to take a bath and nap in my mom's room instead of driving the roughly 5 ,280 feet to their own home.

42:53Gabriel Mizrahi:Ellie has never washed a single dish, vacuumed, or in any way made an effort to clean up after these visits, other than putting the crayons back in the box. Not cool. This is so selfish. My sister-in-law is generally quite a selfish person, but I'm not sure if she's also extremely unaware, just doesn't care about my mom's health and happiness, or is pretending to be unaware. She lives a rather insular life. Her only friends are parents of her kids' friends, so for her, these visits are one of her only social outlets.

43:26Jordan Harbinger:You know, I can't imagine why she's not more popular around town. She sounds so, so amazing and give, honestly, this is a typical archetype of a person that, uh, yeah, doesn't read the room at all and doesn't care to.

43:39Gabriel Mizrahi:Interesting data point or maybe a straight up red flag that her only friends are parents that she meets in like the carpool line.

43:46Jordan Harbinger:Yes. Air quotes friends. Yeah. Friends. But you know, I appreciate that you're curious about what these visits mean to her as well. And they are open to different explanations for all this.

43:53Gabriel Mizrahi:I appreciate that too. So she goes on, another perplexing detail is that she and my brother don't like their kids to have screens and use tech or watch TV a lot. But Ellie conveniently forgets this rule during these interminable visits. I don't think Peter knows that when Ellie is gossiping with my mom downstairs, she's letting the kids watch TV alone for up to a few hours upstairs. This dishonesty to my brother also bothers and saddens me.

44:19Jordan Harbinger:Well, the screen time thing is one of the biggest virtue signals of parenting in 2026, but that's a whole separate skeptical Sunday. So, okay, this is interesting, too. These visits might be precious to Ellie because they're like a Peter free zone where the normal rules don't apply and she can parent how she wants or, you know, not parent at all is the case, maybe. be.

44:38Gabriel Mizrahi:It's interesting. Obviously, I don't have children, so I don't know firsthand, but you and I, Jordan, might be on slightly different pages with the screen stuff. I theoretically, I'm a big fan of the idea of not letting kids use screens too much. I understand that a little bit is probably not that harmful if it's done in moderation and they're watching decent stuff or whatever, but that does create objectively a ton more work for parents. Like if you're not letting your kids watch screens, somebody is going to have to entertain them. So she might just not be up for it. But Peter's like, no screens, but he's at work all day, so he doesn't have to deal with it.

45:08Jordan Harbinger:It's easy for him to say exactly. If they're not watching Peppa Pig on their iPads, they got to be doing something. And that usually means mom or dad have to entertain them, make a plan for them, assign them something, which, you know, that's great, but it's a huge job. So I do understand that these visits are a reprieve for her. She's taken a little bit of

45:24Gabriel Mizrahi:liberty with it. Lastly, Ellie has often told my mom that she's coming over at, say, 10 a.m. and then showed up at 11 a.m. with no explanation, leaving my mom waiting around with hot food getting cold and not being able to leave the house even to walk her dog. Last year, my mom ended up quitting her fitness class because she got charged for being a no-show too many times, owing to Ellie's flakiness and constant need for childcare help.

45:49Jordan Harbinger:Okay, this is actually pretty concerning. She's giving up on a major component of self-care and health that is a serious sacrifice that directly affects your longevity and quality of life. So yes, this is super rude to do to somebody who's doing you a favor, to say the least. But also at a certain point, your mom has to say, Ellie, I love hanging with you and the kids, but we need to coordinate better. I need a heads up. I need to know what time you're going to be here. I have commitments too. Gabe, my father-in-law takes care of Jaden and sometimes he's like, oh, I'm going to cancel lunch with my friends.

46:17Jordan Harbinger:And I'm like, Jen, we can't let him do that too often because he needs his outlets too. You know, this is, it's not fair.

46:23Gabriel Mizrahi:Yeah. Not a crazy thing to ask for at all.

46:25Jordan Harbinger:No, not at all. This is not a conflict that's going to tear the family apart if somebody stands up for themselves slightly for once.

46:31Gabriel Mizrahi:Yeah, no. All she would be saying is I just need you to be a little bit more thoughtful and show up on time so I can make it to Zumba once in a while.

46:38Jordan Harbinger:Yes. I want mom to go to Zumba. She deserves Zumba. Look, I am not a huge fan of Ellie so far, but mom is also abandoning herself at this point.

46:47Gabriel Mizrahi:Totally agree. But I think what our friend here are saying is this is how hard even the most basic friction is for her mother.

46:54Jordan Harbinger:I hear that. I do. I'm just saying that she also has a responsibility to take care of herself here too. Come on.

47:00Gabriel Mizrahi:In sum, these visits monopolize not only my mom's personal time, but also her social time. My five other siblings almost never have a chance for themselves and their kids to see my mom alone. My mom is never going to have an honest conversation about these visits and the exhaustion that they cause her because she's so caring and so selfless.

47:18Jordan Harbinger:A slash avoidant, maybe a little brittle.

47:21Gabriel Mizrahi:Yeah, two sides of the same coin, I think, oftentimes.

47:24Jordan Harbinger:Absolutely.

47:25Gabriel Mizrahi:This is really starting to concern me and a few of my siblings, given that my mom is turning 70 next year. She's getting depleted and is unable to prioritize her own health. Selfishly, I also care because I almost never get to see her, and half the time I call her, Ellie is in the room. But my mom would be upset if I talked to Ellie behind her back, as she doesn't want to cause trouble and feels that the situation is manageable. Peter might also be upset if we didn't talk to him first, so I feel totally stuck. Do you have any advice on how to deal with this frustrating situation and help my mom?

47:59Gabriel Mizrahi:Signed, wondering if I need to get tough when my mom can't say enough's enough.

48:04Jordan Harbinger:Oh boy, your poor mom. So first of all, I feel for everyone in this situation. Your mom, of course, but also you having to watch her struggle to stand up for herself, suffer because of her people-pleasing. your siblings and their kids. They don't get to see your mom alone, the bind you're in about how to approach all this. It's just a tough one. There's a lot of knots here. At the same time, I think your mom has co-created this situation, and that is also frustrating. Although to Gabe's point, I also know that somebody who can't stand up for herself in these very basic ways, that's got to be because of some trauma in her past, some capacities she was never taught.

48:36Jordan Harbinger:And at 69 years old, you've been operating this way your entire life. Kind of hard to rewrite that pattern. You're up against a lot here with your mom. Option one is you make more of an effort to connect with your mom when she's alone. Check in on her, ask how she's doing, get her to acknowledge how she's really feeling these days, especially after one of these visits. Now it sounds like her answer is probably going to be, I'm great. I love time with my grandkids. I'm so happy to cook and clean and give Ellie a break. So that might be tough to cut through, but you could also say, hey, I hear that mom.

49:02Jordan Harbinger:I'm so glad you love being a grandma. You also sound kind of tired. Or when she ends up in the ER with her fifth UTI this year, you could say, Mom, I'm worried about you. This shouldn't be happening so often. What do you think is going on? Or if she ever talks about being tired or stiff or not going out as much, maybe you say, I know how much you loved Zumba. I know how much you enjoyed those long walks with the dog. Why did that fall off? Basically, you can try to point out how Ellie's visits have disrupted her life in a variety of ways and gently push her to connect the dots and acknowledge what a big sacrifice this is for her, which might take a while.

49:34Jordan Harbinger:Ideally, she feels safe enough to say, you know, I do love those visits. I really do. But they're also a lot for me. At which point you can start to say things like, Mom, I can see what a toll those visits are taking on you. Are you sure this is fair? Are you sure this is sustainable? Do you feel totally loved and appreciated for all this work you're doing? Is there anything you could use to make these visits more manageable to you to allow you to still live your life? And then basically work up to asking her, how can I help you communicate some of this to Ellie and Peter. I don't know if it's going to happen, but the ideal solution is that your mom is the one who talks to them, and maybe you can help give her confidence in the language to do that.

50:08Jordan Harbinger:But step one is really just getting her to acknowledge how she's actually feeling and what this role has done to her life.

50:15Gabriel Mizrahi:I mean, even that would be a really big deal for her. So that is step number one.

50:19Jordan Harbinger:Yeah. Part of how she avoids having to stand up for herself is denying that she's suffering at all. So you really have to start there. Option two is you talk to Peter. He's your brother. There's more of a connection there. I'm guessing more of a shared interest in your mom's well-being. You don't have to say, hey, your selfish, gossipy, pain-in-the-butt wife is monopolizing mom and sending her into an early grave. But you can say, I know how much you and Ellie depend on mom. I'm so glad you guys have a close relationship with her. I'm so glad she gets to spend so much time with the kids. I'm also starting to get pretty worried about her ability to keep up with it all physically, emotionally, financially.

50:53Jordan Harbinger:You know mom, she's almost 70. She's the last person to speak up when something's hard for her, but here's what I'm noticing. And then I'd tell him, I wouldn't focus so much on Ellie's behavior at first, the selfishness, the lack of care and help, the screens thing. I'd really focus more on the overall impact that these visits are having on your mom, because that's something Peter can probably take in more easily. And maybe he goes, oh, I didn't realize she was depending on mom so much. All right, I'll talk to Ellie. That could be all the progress you need. Or maybe he goes, well, mom says she's up for it and she and Ellie get along great.

51:21Jordan Harbinger:I don't see what the problem is. you're just jealous. I don't know. In which case, you might have to help him see what the problem is more explicitly.

51:27Gabriel Mizrahi:Oh, man. Which would mean telling him that his wife is kind of a problem.

51:31Jordan Harbinger:Yeah. In a word. Yeah. I mean, there's a diplomatic way to do it. She can say, I don't know if Ellie realizes how much work goes into these visits. Or I know mom loves Ellie and the kids, but it's hard for mom to carve out time for herself, too. Or she's 70 now. She's getting up there. I think she could use more help. Something like that.

51:46Gabriel Mizrahi:Yeah. Nice. I like that. She can also say, I'm glad Ellie and the kids get so much time with her, but our five other siblings and their kids almost never have a chance to see mom alone. I never get a chance to hang out with mom alone. So like, that's not fair to the rest of us either, is it?

51:59Jordan Harbinger:Well, that's smart because then Peter can't say, oh, you just want mom to yourself or you just have a problem with Ellie. Right. So these are all more tactful ways to say, your wife is self-absorbed and clueless and she's taking advantage of a vulnerable old lady for company and free childcare, which is what's happening.

52:15Gabriel Mizrahi:You know, I hope Peter gets the message. I do think he's going to be her best ally in this situation. Let's also remember that she said her brother is never present during these visits. So just sharing this with him, he might go, oh my God, I had no idea. Okay, let me chat with her. I'm on top of this.

52:28Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, if he's a halfway decent son, I think he probably will. He might be more, should be mortified that his wife is acting this way with his own mom.

52:35Gabriel Mizrahi:I also think that our friend here should probably be prepared for this to cause some friction with Ellie.

52:41Jordan Harbinger:I think so too, but that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. Protecting their mom and helping Ellie see that she's not being very gracious. To me, that's more important than being on perfect terms with this unreasonable woman.

52:52Gabriel Mizrahi:So I totally agree. I'm just appreciating that our friend here is a product of the same family that sweeps things under the rug to get along, right? That's partly why she is tied up in knots about this. But this conversation could be a way for her to rewrite this template for herself, too. That would be huge.

53:08Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, that would be great. I mean, you got to risk ruffling some feathers to do what's right. And this is what is right. We're talking about a vulnerable, put-upon older parent who can't stand up for herself. There are ways to minimize the feather ruffling, and she should. But at the end of the day, the message is, this isn't OK. Something needs to change. Of course, your third option is to take this directly to Ellie. But I do think there are OK. I think there are some good reasons to do that. But it is riskier and it's probably more daunting for you.

53:35Gabriel Mizrahi:Yeah, and she did say that her mom would be upset if she talked to Ellie behind her back. So there's that.

53:39Jordan Harbinger:Although, candidly, I don't know if that should matter.

53:42Gabriel Mizrahi:I mean, it's an interesting question. I think that's probably your mom's anxiety and avoidance talking. she's afraid that Ellie's going to come over and be like, you complained about me to your daughter. Like, yeah, you made her tell me that I'm asking for too much. I thought we were friends, Phyllis. Like, what the hell? Whereas if she heard that directly from your mom, she would probably have to make some corrections and apologize, or at least I hope she would.

54:03Jordan Harbinger:Our friend did also say that Peter would probably be upset if she didn't talk to him first. So for me, the obvious strategy is talk to mom, get her to at least acknowledge how she's feeling so that if anyone talks to her about this, she's at least able to confirm that the visits are kind of hard. Talk to Peter first, fill him in, see if he can work on Ellie, then talk to Ellie yourself if and only if necessary.

54:23Gabriel Mizrahi:Or talk to Peter and Ellie together at the same time. There's that.

54:26Jordan Harbinger:Or that. Make it a collab. Like, how can we all enjoy mom's company without depleting her so much? I like that.

54:31Gabriel Mizrahi:Jordan, I just want to appreciate once again how fraught all of this is for our friend. I know all families are like this to some degree. There's always some back-channeling. There are always concerns about, you know, like who knows what and who talks to whom and who should hear this first and all of that. But in this family, especially given the conflict avoidance thing, and when a family is this big, which does create more complexity, you can see how much stress it creates for everybody else when they see things differently.

54:57Jordan Harbinger:For sure. And it stems from her mom being unable to stand up for herself in even the most basic of ways. It's sad. But yeah, a parent like this, they usually can't teach their kids how to have these conflicts because it's impossible for them to do it themselves.

55:09Gabriel Mizrahi:Yeah. And now she's dealing with the legacy of that. There's also something and help me out here because I feel like I'm circling something and I can't quite put my finger on it, but she said she's the youngest child, right? And she seems to be taking a special interest in her mom and her mom's health. And I don't know, I just wonder if there's something in the mix here about her wanting to protect her mom very badly, maybe more than all of the other siblings. And I just wonder if that's a role that she's taken on herself from an early age, maybe like, is she the one in the family who usually had to step in and protect mom?

55:38Gabriel Mizrahi:Or maybe as the youngest child, did she feel that she never got enough of mom because there were all these older siblings who had gotten a mom first. And so when she sees Ellie dominating her mom, which I'm not disagreeing, I think that is what's happening, but maybe that hurts even more because of the childhood she had. And maybe that informs the lens through which she's viewing this whole Ellie and Peter situation. She might have some extra resentment because Ellie is touching on a wound of hers from an early age. I'm speculating, but I do wonder if that's something worth exploring.

56:09Jordan Harbinger:Interesting, could be. So I hope that gives you a way forward here. I'm sorry your mom's going through it. At the same time, I'm glad she's so popular and surrounded by so much family, maybe one family more than the others. But still, despite all these challenges, I'm sure that that does give her a lot of joy and meaning. My hope is that she can have that experience with all of you and still carve out a life for herself. That's crucial for anyone, but it would be an especially big win for your mom right now. She's lucky to have you looking out for her. I hope you can find a way to influence the situation, sending y 'all a big hug, and wishing you all the best.

56:40Jordan Harbinger:You know what won't make it burn when you pee? The deals and discounts on the fine products and services that support this show. We'll be right back.

56:50Jordan Harbinger:This episode is sponsored in part by Little Sleepies. If you got kids, you already know the truth. Bedtime can turn into a full-on negotiation. But one thing that's been a reliable win in our house is Little Sleepies pajamas, is. We're fans a little sleepies for years before they even sponsored the show. Jen fell hard for the adorable prince, grabbed a couple pairs, and then it basically spiraled from there. Now you've got a whole drawer full of them. The kids have the cutest matching sets. And yes, we've even gone full family matching pajamas. Kind of fun, not going to lie. And the fabric is the real deal.

57:19Jordan Harbinger:Ridiculously soft, super stretchy. The kids like wearing them, which means fewer complaints when it's time to change. Plus, we've had ours for years, and I can say with confidence, these things hold up. That matters when you're buying kid clothes that get worn constantly and washed, because, you know, lots of stuff gets on those clothes. I'll leave it right there. And they also make a great gift. The prints are adorable. The sizing is easy. Parents are always happy to get something cozy that'll actually get used.

57:42Gabriel Mizrahi:If you're expecting or dressing little ones, check out Little Sleepies. You can visit littlesleepies.com and use promo code goodnight for 10 % off your first order.

57:51Jordan Harbinger:If you liked this episode of Feedback Friday and found our advice valuable, I invite you to do whatever smart and considerate listeners do. That is take a moment and support the amazing sponsors who make the show possible. They're all searchable and clickable on the website at jordanharbinger.com slash deals. If you can't find a code, something's not working for you, please do email us, jordan at jordanharbinger.com. We're happy to dig up codes for you. It really is that important that you support those who support the show. Now, back to Feedback Friday. And now for the recommendation of the week.

58:20Jordan Harbinger:I am addicted to Litvilla.

58:23Gabriel Mizrahi:So I've been thinking a lot lately about how to preserve and share all of the travels that I've been doing for myself and also for other people. And I started doing a couple things on my travels in the last year or two that have been really helpful. And I just want to share them with you. One of them is keeping a log of what I do every day when I'm traveling. You know, just like very brief notes and the notes app on my phone or an Evernote or something like that. It's kind of amazing when you're traveling, especially when you're on a brief trip, like five, seven, ten days, two weeks. It's a whirlwind.

58:50Gabriel Mizrahi:And the days start to blur and you can't remember what you did, which day, what thing, with whom. You forget a lot of the stuff you did at all. And so keeping a log, I find, helps you track it all. And I also find that it helps you enjoy it a lot more when you look back and you go, oh yeah, that was a great moment. That was an awesome day. That was the day I met up with Jeff in this city and I did that. You know, it just makes the whole trip more vivid and realer somehow. But also it can be really helpful if you ever want to like organize your photos in an album or tell people the story of your trip when you get home or remember the name of that restaurant you loved in that place that night.

59:24Gabriel Mizrahi:So there are some practical benefits to this as well. Another thing I started doing a couple years ago, and the log can also help with this, is marking on Google Maps the places you went and loved so you can share that list with other people. So I have two specific recs here. One is creating a custom shareable map in Google Maps. So easy to do. Basically, you can create your own map and you can save locations and you can give them different categories. You can add notes. And then if you know anyone who's going to that city or that country or whatever, and you want to share your recs, you can just send them your map with a link and they can open it right there on their phone.

59:58Gabriel Mizrahi:It's an amazing tool. The other option is to just type up a list of your favorite recs and save it in a document or create a shortcut on your computer and email people your list of recs whenever they go. I actually kind of prefer that sometimes even though it's not as seamless as the Google Maps idea because it's easier to provide, you know, more commentary and expand on each rec and say like, I love this place and when you go make sure you ask for this thing or look for that thing or whatever. By the way, this is what I do whenever you guys ask me for recs for Japan or Portugal or whatever. I have these lists saved and can basically just copy and paste.

1:00:30Gabriel Mizrahi:So happy to continue doing that for anybody who's interested. So just a couple of little habits that have made my travels a lot more fun and made it way easier to help other people have a good time when they travel. So give them a go. I think you'll be happy you did.

1:00:43Jordan Harbinger:Solid recs, Gabe. I never type up my recommendations, but I do star a bunch of places in Google Maps. I can refer back to them if I need to. The log idea, I used to do that when I was younger. Kind of fell off, but totally agree. It really does help keep track of how you spend your time, what your trip is all about. Big fan of that one. Okay, what's next?

1:01:00Gabriel Mizrahi:Dear Jordan and Gabe, my son turned six a little over a month ago, and he's about to start his third season in our local Little League. At the end of the last season, a board member approached me asking if I would serve on the board the following season for the youngest age group. I said yes enthusiastically. I played Little League for 12 years. My dad never had a strong command of the English language and was never able to coach or sit on the board, so I'm really happy to be in a position where I can help and support the league and my son.

1:01:30Jordan Harbinger:That's really sweet, man. I love that.

1:01:32Gabriel Mizrahi:Fast forward to the prep stage for this upcoming season. I'm in charge of making the team rosters, schedule, and general communication about league events, which entails fulfilling players and family's requests to play with friends, schoolmates, etc. And I see that there were three players who requested to not be on a team with my son. This didn't bother me until someone on the board forwarded me an email request that an assistant coach's son not be placed on the same team with my son. The dad noted an incident where my son hit and threw his helmet at the coach. I remember the incident. My son got upset because the team was given a set of rules and someone ignored them and threw some things around.

1:02:14Gabriel Mizrahi:I was quite upset. I took him off the field and had a talk with him as we rode home. We actually talked extensively about the situation. We even practiced apologizing at the next practice. Ultimately, my son couldn't approach the assistant coach to apologize and we played the rest of the season, never fully addressing the incident. I find it...

1:02:35Jordan Harbinger:Sorry, that sucks. Continue. Don't let me stop you. That was just a strong reaction from you. Come on, man.

1:02:44Gabriel Mizrahi:Let's return to the, uh, shall we? Yeah. I find it odd that he, the adult in the situation asked for this request. I could understand if my son did something to his son, but he didn't. The coach is an adult volunteering to work with youth. Shouldn't he have more patience? Shouldn't my son be given another chance? I've now coached two seasons and can't think of a reason to not have a kid on my team.

1:03:06Jordan Harbinger:Look, yeah, I get that. Ken confirmed as a dad, the school drama, the Little League drama is real. Amazing how being around children turns all the adults back into eight-year-olds too, but it can be ridiculous.

1:03:17Gabriel Mizrahi:I agree, but I do find it curious, and I wonder if this is what you were getting at a moment ago with your reaction. Three different kids' parents explicitly requested to not play with a son, right? Right. That's a lot of kids.

1:03:28Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, it is. And so at a minimum, that means that it wasn't just this coach who had a problem with the way he behaved. And I don't know. I have a lot to say. Continue.

1:03:38Gabriel Mizrahi:I mean, that's assuming that the helmet incident was the only incident. Maybe it wasn't, right?

1:03:43Jordan Harbinger:Right. I don't want to speculate too much, but I got to wonder about that.

1:03:46Gabriel Mizrahi:I'm a school teacher, so perhaps my 18 years in the classroom inform my take here. I give students many second chances, and trust me, on most occasions, I don't want to. At any rate, I don't plan on putting his son with my son on the same team, but we will see each other on opening day and on days we play against each other. Part of me wants to be cold. Part of me wants to say, what a bummer the two boys aren't on the same team. I really want my son to make neighborhood friends. Right now he attends a different school district. He'll likely attend neighborhood schools once he enters middle school, and I want him to have friends and be welcomed by all.

1:04:22Gabriel Mizrahi:How should I handle seeing the dad in person? Should I bring up the incident and acknowledge his request? Signed, stepping up to the plate to put down this emotional freight.

1:04:32Jordan Harbinger:Interesting problem. Super relatable for a lot of parents, I'm sure. So sorry to my son who's listening to this in 20 years, I'm sure. But my son, Jaden, he bit a kid named Eddie. This is like a year or two ago. He bit a kid named Eddie on the shoulder because Eddie was annoying him and And he didn't want to play with Eddie. And Eddie's dad saw it. And Eddie's dad texted Jen and was like, hey, I know this stuff happens, but blah, blah, blah, blah. And it was not ideal. You know, obviously it was super embarrassing. We felt really bad about it. The school is really great. So they sort of got involved and they were like, OK, we need to make things right with Eddie and blah, blah, blah.

1:05:07Jordan Harbinger:I know what it's like when your child does something wrong. It's not a fun feeling. And every parent goes through it at some point. So sorry you received this request from this dad. I know it stings as a parent to feel like your child is being rejected or that he's wearing a scarlet letter or whatever. That said, this dad, this assistant coach, it sounds like two other parents might actually have some good reasons to not want their kids to be on the same team as your son. But look, I'm glad you had what sounds like a pretty meaningful talk with your son about all this. That was obviously the right thing to do.

1:05:35Jordan Harbinger:But it's interesting. I think this whole situation could probably have been avoided. and your son could have, well, he could have got a really good lesson if you both apologized to this coach and his son way back when, when you had the opportunity to do so. You said that ultimately he couldn't approach the assistant coach to apologize. We played the rest of the season, never fully addressing the incident. My question is why? If it was just a logistics thing, the coach took off early, everyone was busy after the game, whatever it was, your son could have called him. He could have emailed him. He could have apologized to the next game.

1:06:06Jordan Harbinger:I'm just assuming that was not his only chance since he played the rest of the season without addressing it. To me, personally, it sounds like an avoidance thing. Your son was nervous and he chickened out, and probably, frankly, you did too. And that would have been a great moment to say, hey, I know it's a little scary, but apologizing when you've done something wrong, that's the right thing to do. We practiced this, you know what to say, go over there and talk to him, I'll be right here waiting when you're done. Or you could have walked over to the coach with your son and said, hey coach, my son wants to say something to you, and forced the moment.

1:06:36Jordan Harbinger:My point is, I love that you talked with your son extensively about the situation. I love that you practiced apologizing. You sound like a very conscientious dad. But I really think you missed a great opportunity to help him go all the way with this situation and repair things with this coach and his son, which could have been a great life lesson for your son, a crucial skill for a child to develop. And it would have avoided this awkwardness and, you know, avoided people talking about it for the rest of the season and not having a resolution, because that's probably another reason why other people are like, hey, I want my kid on that team.

1:07:07Jordan Harbinger:But now that you're here, I think your best bet is to honor the dad's request, put your sons on different teams. And the next time you see him, I would go up to him and say, hey, I saw your request to have the boys on different teams. I totally understand why. I'm happy to honor that. I'm sorry you felt the need to do that. I'm also sorry about how my son behaved. I had a long talk with him about it. He actually wanted to explain what happened and apologize to you after the last game. And it's my fault for not making him do that. So I apologize for that as well. And if your son is there with you, I would make him apologize right then and there and smooth things over.

1:07:39Jordan Harbinger:You might also want to make things right with the other families too, especially if you have a relationship with them and they're in your neighborhood. I'm going to guess the assistant coach is the most important person to apologize to because he's the most involved. But what I would not do at all under any circumstances is escalate things with the father. Don't be cold to him. Don't say something passive aggressive about how it's a bummer the kids aren't on the same team or whatever. It's just, what do you gain from that? Like I said, Jaden bit this kid, Eddie, on the shoulder. The school got involved and, you know, he had to make things right with Eddie on a personal level.

1:08:09Jordan Harbinger:They're really big on that social, emotional learning stuff. And we have become friends with Eddie's parents. In fact, a few weeks after this whole biting incident, they came over for Jaden's birthday party and I met the dad and he gave me kind of a sideways look like, okay, okay, does this guy know that this kid bit my kid? And so the first thing I said in front of everybody loudly is, all right, no biting. And everyone laughed because it's the elephant in the room, right? Dad knows, everybody knows. And Jaden was just like, I'm not going to bite Eddie. Why would I bite Eddie? And the kids just, you know, they wandered off to play.

1:08:39Jordan Harbinger:And the parents were just kind of all laughing. It just kind of diffuses the situation, right? Don't elevate kid drama to the adult tier. Don't bring your little league drama up to the majors. You have no reason to have any beef with that dad at all. There's no reason to make it worse.

1:08:55Gabriel Mizrahi:Zero. Such a good story, Jordan. I think it really illustrates such an important point. You know, teaching his son how to behave and how to recognize when he's done something wrong, how to apologize, which is a skill like any other skill and make things right with the right people. It's just so important to teach a kid from a young age. And if his true goal is to help his son make friends and be welcomed by all when he moves into their school district, that's really what he should be focusing on here.

1:09:19Jordan Harbinger:Yeah, look, if he doesn't handle this well, in four years, his son might enter that new school and all the kids who've been friends for the past decade or whatever, they're going to be like, oh, that's the punk who threw his helmet at me and had a meltdown on the baseball diamond when we were kids and never apologized for it. And then his dad said something else to so-and-so's dad. I mean, this is just avoidable. The whole thing is avoidable. Ego is your enemy here. Don't make this worse.

1:09:42Gabriel Mizrahi:I never got to play team sports as a kid. I never did Little League, but it seems to me that the person he is helping his son become through these experiences, the kind of friend he's learning to become, that's the real game being played. It's not just baseball.

1:09:55Jordan Harbinger:Isn't that the point of kid sports? I mean, come on. And it sounds like he's already doing that. It's terrific, but you have to go the last mile. And I'm sure that your skills as a teacher are going to be super helpful in helping him do that. Sorry things played out this way, but you live and you learn, both you and your son. Again, I think this is what Little League is for. Good luck. Go back and check out Dr. Abigail Marsh if you haven't done so yet. The best things that have happened in my life and business have come through my network. It's a circle of people I know, like, and trust. I'm teaching you how to do the same thing for free.

1:10:22Jordan Harbinger:It's our six-minute networking course. It's free. It's not gross or schmoozy. There's no shenanigans. It's on the Thinkific platform at sixminutenetworking.com. The drills take a few minutes a day. That's really all it is. I wish I knew this stuff 20 years ago. Dig the well before you get thirsty, folks. Build those relationships before you need them. It's all at six minute networking.com show notes and transcripts on the website, advertisers, deals, discounts, ways to support the show all at jordanharbinger.com slash deals. I'm at Jordan Harbinger on Twitter and Instagram. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.

1:10:50Jordan Harbinger:Gabe's on Instagram at Gabriel Mizrahi. This show is created in association with podcast one. My team is Jen Harbinger, Jace Sanderson, Robert Fogarty, Ian Baird, Tata Siblauskas, and of course, Gabriel Mizrahi. Our advice and opinions are our own. I might be a lawyer, but I'm not your lawyer. Consult a qualified professional before implementing anything you hear on the show. Ditto Corbin Payne. Remember, we rise by lifting others. Share the show with those you love. If you found the episode useful, please share it with somebody else who could use the advice we gave here today. In the meantime, I hope you apply what you hear on the show so you can live what you learn, and we'll see you next time.

1:11:24Jordan Harbinger:Think you need top secret clearance to catch war criminals? In this preview, Elliot Higgins shows how everyday citizens with nothing but Wi-Fi and curiosity are uncovering global crimes that governments tried to bury.

1:11:35Gabriel Mizrahi:Bellingcat does something called open source investigations. Thanks to smartphone technology, social media, and the wealth of information we have online, stuff like Google Maps giving you satellite imagery, ship tracking websites, plane tracking websites, all kinds of information that's accessible to you now. I started doing this in 2012 as a hobby. I just tried to figure out how How can you prove if a video is filmed somewhere? And I realized that you could compare landmarks visible in the video with satellite imagery and do a kind of spot the difference thing. Now that's a technique known as geolocation, but back then it was just me playing adult spot the difference on social media platform.

1:12:12Gabriel Mizrahi:I think when we live in an era where the truth is constantly contested, especially on the internet, it's good to have something where you can not only point to the evidence, but the actual process you use to come to your conclusions and open it up for debate. because there is a tendency for people just to read stuff that reinforces what they already believe. And that causes a lot of problems. If we're going to have a debate about something, it should be on actual facts, not just the opinions of a newspaper columnist you've just read. What we do is important. It's not just about allowing people to see how it's working, but giving them the ways to actually do it themselves.

1:12:47Gabriel Mizrahi:And if we let the world just be run by people who want you to shut up, then it's going to be a very dark place indeed. For me, it's really about taking open source investigation and guessing as many people as possible to use it. Yeah, I'll just say give it a go if you're interested, because that's what I did and I turned out quite well.

1:13:03Jordan Harbinger:To hear how Bellingcat is using open source sleuthing to expose war crimes and rewrite the rules of intelligence, check out episode 1192 of The Jordan Harbinger Show. If you like this show, there's another podcast you should check out. If you want to stay informed about what's happening around the world without drowning in noise, check out the President's Daily Brief. It's built for people who want the big stories fast and clear. Think 20 minutes in the morning, then a quick 10-minute update in the afternoon. Just focused coverage of the developments shaping the world right now from the Middle East and Venezuela to China, Russia, and beyond, with an emphasis on what actually has real-world consequences for the United States.

1:13:38Jordan Harbinger:The show's hosted by Mike Baker, a veteran of the CIA with decades of firsthand experience, so you're getting smart analysis from somebody who's been inside the system. You get straightforward context to help you understand what's happening and why it matters. Follow The President's Daily Brief wherever you get your podcasts and stay ahead of the curve.