Gatekeeping: How To Ruin Bourbon For Everyone Else | Ep. 136

Every scene has them: the people who know more, drink rarer bottles, and love to remind you about it. From craft beer to bourbon to cocktails, gatekeeping has become part of drinking culture… but does it ruin the fun?

In this episode of Arsenic Culture, Matt, Jason, Drew, and Pierre break down why people gatekeep in the first place, how it shows up in booze culture, and whether taking drinks too seriously actually kills the joy.

Do you think gatekeeping keeps standards high or just makes people look like assholes?


#Gatekeeping #BoozeCulture #ArsenicCulture

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Transcript

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Some guy online was like, screw you guys, I know more than you. I make a hundred KA year plus bend. I get 50% off my health insurance through my corporate group plan. Do you know who I am? I shop at Kroger. baby. in we're not, no, we're gonna have a laundry list of, there's 12 things we need you to do. We need you to like subscribe. We need you to comment. We need you to call your mother. Shove this bottle in my ass the wrong way. Yeah. Start with this end and then go work your way up to the other end. Yeah. You gotta make your to a before. before you're in. Leave the cap on. Good luck getting it out. It's like pulling an arrow out of like a, like a wound. Yeah. You gotta leave it in there. It seals it. Yeah. Welcome back to Arsenic Culture. I Matt. I'm Jason. I'm Jason. I'm Drew. And that's Pierre. What's up man? I'm Good. I didn't have a say in that. I didn't, I had nothing to do with that. That was I dunno how much of that's gonna make it into the intro. We'll find out in post. Uh, but yeah, welcome back. We're, uh, hanging out and we're completely sober and we're having conversations about, uh, true. many different things. Pierre, I'm glad you're back on. You know, why we're sober 'cause beers don't Beer don't count. I've had nothing to drink. Yeah. well it's actually. lie I've had one cup. Well you've had one. Me too. Probably maybe Yeah. Uh, P'S only been on, well, I say only a few times. He was on one episode and then he's been on like all of the last episodes. But you bring wealth of knowledge. I'm like, I'm glad you're here, I try, man. Thanks for coming. dude. Of Uh, he's got all his, uh, graded cards, like, well, some of 'em are graded, but like he's got all his cards like spread out on the table. And we've been talking about doing like local trading cards and stuff, which is cool. But, uh, we've also been talking about something, uh, pier. Me and you and Pop James, we've met in the beer scene. Um, drew, I've known you since I was four. Um, Jason, we met in the beer scene, right? You say you were a, a four or four. We, I met you since I was 4 0 4. Yeah. I've known you for, I've known We, we met in the you've always been a, you've always been a 10. Oh, shucks. Uh, but Jason, me and you met during beer. All in the gutter? Yeah, Yeah. Yeah. We were like derelicts, but like. In the beer community specifically. So we're talking about beer, we're talking about bourbon. Honestly, there's a lot of industries that do this, but it's a little something called gatekeeping. Yeah. Um, tell me, what is that, Jason? What is gatekeeping? You tell me. No, I'll tell you. I'll tell you. I'll tell you. I was like, okay. I looked up this beer right it back to me if you want. You You know what I would say gatekeeping is, so when you, I caught him on the phone is what it was. He was in the middle of a text message. I'm actually looking this beer up. I wanna make sure I get around when we talk about it. But, so gatekeeping is kind of like. When you first get into a hobby or when you first get into an, interest, it's people around you or you know, have knowledge of that, but they don't wanna let you in. Yes. Right. Like, they want like a, it's like the troll toll, you know, Like you got, you gotta pay something to get in, right? you get in the boys hole. You hit the nail on the head you, said hobby. Yeah. always sunny and fill too. Yeah. I was like, damn. The way he looked at me and he is like, is that a thing? I assure you it's a thing. thing. Once again, I had nothing to do with that. I didn't do it. Me and Pierre did not, did not condo that. what I'm talking a whole different side. Not know that. He's like, like, we didn't have anything to do with that. We're, we're completely, innocent on this side. Innocent, we're trying to learn beer, you know, tell you all what's but gate keeping has really kind of been, um, and anything that you do, Absolutely. What's it is? hobby It's, it's in bourbon big time. Right? So when you start out in bourbon, there's a Huge. learning curve. So unless you have somebody that will kinda like show you the ropes, like let you understand. it, You're gonna end up buying a lot of 40 to $150 bottles That suck. And you're gonna buy it because you walked in. No offense. Well actually offense, total wine, you walk in total. unless you wanna sponsor. us, then we're okay with it. But, We'll change our um, total wine man. You walk in there, you get a recommendation. I'm like, I listened to them talking. I'm like, yeah, you're lying. You're, you have no idea What you're talking about, they also distribute a lot You're, you're pressy, you're pushing your own brand. Yep. Like come be be honest. Say Hey, this brand's pretty good. It's our own brand. Say that first and say, here's what I'd recommend. If you like Buffalo Trace, we don't have Buffalo Trace today, but this is the closest thing we have to it in our own brand. Like, Be honest. Just be honest. buddy. It. Yeah. but You don't hear that a lot. So, you know, other gatekeeping, you look at secondary markets, um, if you don't know what you're looking for in cards, in. shoes in, in Pokemon in beer in bourbon, you will get taken to the cleaners. Yep. You will lose your ass because you know, like, oh, I want that bottle with $600. Well I guess I gotta pay that. And I'm thinking, no, it's 300. You know what I mean? Like it's, it's this, I know it. I've been around for long enough. So you have to have somebody. The ideal thing is you gotta find somebody that knows that will teach you but you, it's hard to do who you trust. Yeah. You It's like who you trust. And that's exactly it.'cause I don't know if you all know, but I don't know how prevalent. it is With beer, but uh, it's also a really big thing with, uh oh shit. oh shit. Is he just gonna pop a cap with his I think, I think he just, going on right I think Pierre just gatekeep bottle opening right there. Is this a thing? Oh, we got a ring on. I was like, that's still, that was very impressive. I must, was not expecting that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well my party trick. That's all. I got. But essentially it's, it's a really Big thing with uh, cards. So obviously, I don't know if it's a big thing with beer, but a hundred percent scamming. Yeah. You know, getting what you thought you were gonna get And not getting that at all. And That happens to be a really bad thing right now. Um, I mean, it's, it's really bad. And apparently I'm not a hundred percent sure with other cards. I'm only familiar really with Pokemon. Yeah. Um, it is really bad. You're talking about Yes. Scamming in particular, uh, fakes, things like that. Uh, getting not what you're supposed to get. Yeah. I don't know how prevalent that is in actual beer, but. if You buy a$600, 500 bottle of bourbon. And don't get said bottle of bourbon that you expected because somebody may have poured it out and put something in it. I don't know if that's a thing. So it's, So it's actually happened a lot. So you look, in, you look in Beer side project, I think Bill mentioned a minute ago. they actually had a holographic seal now on the on the back side, like their, their beer barrel times. absolutely. I mean, it, it does it prevent it, I mean. it helps. You could probably still get around it, but look weird. But a lot of these like janky wax jobs that you saw passed off as like, okay, yes sir. If, if you've been around and seen it, you would like pick it out in a second. You know what I mean? Absolutely. But, but if you're not used to it, it's like, oh, okay. I got a deal on this beer. Right. Absolutely. It's like going on Facebook marketplace Hey, hey honey, I bought you a 200 ball of Pappy 20. I'm like, no, you didn't, Right? because that ain't retail. That's not real. Yeah. That's not even, retail. That's not the thing. Yeah. You got scam, mom. Thanks. You know? you got scams. Yep. And it's just, It's really bad with, I guess now Burton's done it too, everything, which is insane to me to think about, but something that like Pokemon, like you said, trading cards, sports too. That was a children's hobby. That's, always what that's Isn't that crazy to think about? always what it's been. It is And anytime I have extra cards on me, grade it or not, if I have a card that that is valuable enough for me to, or is at a value that I'm able to pass it on and pass on that hobby I've given away? Countless cards at this point. because it's not about making the money, For sure, for sure. it's about passing on the hobby. Same thing with beer. Same reason you all brought me in. Yeah, true. Same reason you all brought me in. You're not a gatekeeper, but same. Exactly. But that's exactly, the point But that's the problem is shit. You know? I mean, like that That's actually a better term. Yeah. Yeah. But it's like you're, you're, But I mean, you are, you're taking away, from so many people, and it's honestly just. deluxe. It's Just sad. use a spring roll though. Oh Yeah. I'm in for that too. I'm in be a hand and I then I don't wanna eat the rest of it. I guess. Yeah. it's, it ruins it for everybody. It ruins it for everybody. And I, I think we try to make a conscious effort to not do that in whatever we're doing. Okay. So we talk about bourbon a lot. We talk but, but why do you make that conscious? Like, What happened that made, you make that I know what happened to me? Well, so I don't wanna say, I, I, if I thought about it, I could probably tie it down to an incident, but honestly like. I just think I'm a good person. Yeah, like I think there's a type of person, there is a type of there's A shit, Lord. They're called. Sorry. Matts, I No, you're right. Seriously. So a shitlord is somebody that just wants to kind of like profits screw you. Essentially it, it is. It's a modicum of power that they think they were bestowed and they wanna hold onto it by any means possible. In the grand scheme of things, it's futile. It's absolutely ridiculous to think that. false power. You're grasping that for no Exactly. As a quote unquote gatekeeper. I am in charge of something, but it's a self-imposed term. It means nothing in the grand scheme of things. It's all in your head. There are a lot of people that do this and they do that. They do this in across all hobbies. Bourbon is really bad. Bourbon is probably one of the worst that I've seen. Uh, Probably the worst That I think it is. that in Shoes. Is this sh Yeah. In shoes too. Are you saying like somebody who is selling to another person or somebody who is saying, Hey, I think you should buy this bottle, or this bottle is worth it because here's, here's, there's a difference. Here's my, you're directly taking advantage of somebody versus here's, here's my opinion. So like all of that I feel like falls secondary, but it all falls in line. I think a gatekeeper by definition is somebody that. When it comes to the stream of information in a particular topic or hobby and you are confronted and you wanna learn about it, the gatekeeper stands in your way and prevents you from learning about that. Yeah. That's the term gatekeeping. It's like, you gotta get through me. If you wanna learn about this. Right, and I'm not letting you get past it. Why? Because there a shit, Yep. Here's where I think it turns. So everybody hits the point. I did. I did bourbon and beer, cards and shoes. I've done every hobby I've ever had. You hit a point. Where you get screwed over. Yeah. Or you meet somebody and at that point, so I got screwed over. Right. The next person I meet that's younger than me, that's younger to the hobby, maybe not younger in age, but younger to the hobby. When they come to me for advice, I have an option. Mm-hmm. I can help them. Yep. And that gets him a step ahead of me when I was at their step, you know, their their age of, of the hobby, or you can hold 'em I can be the gatekeeper who's like, screw you 'cause I got screwed over. I'm gonna be this guy. You're gonna feel more pain than I felt, Or, or at least the same. And I'm not gonna burn that bridge And I I took the other. I took the Other option. I think Matt did There's a sense of satisfaction certain people will get when a layman or somebody that is new comes up to them and they're inquiring legitimately. Okay. So it's like, you come up to me and can tell a yeah, you, well, we'll talk about beer. Okay, so beer in the beer world, it was really prevalent for a long time. It still is to some degree. I feel like it, over time it started to erode and there was this open kind of like. Welcomeness, but it's still there. So, uh, let's say we're at a bar, a beer bar. We're over at the beer trap or something, and we're trying something new. Right? And me and you are there. We know all about a lot. Or mlo Bocher. Yeah. Well, uh, like Natty Light. Okay. No, but let's say, okay, let's, let's go, let's go full in with the example. Let's say, um, they just tapped a cante on, okay, let's go full in with this. Yeah. Okay. So we got phase three here. This is a great stout unia. This is absolutely. uia. It's actually, So like the Dubai chocolate we've talked about? on the show. Yes. Prime. This is, This is their version of Dubai chocolate. Where at did you bring this? Who brought So I did bring this, so actually uh, one of our friends here in town. I don't know where shit comes from. I just drink it and I uh, that's I mean, but that's like a prime example is like I would've never had this beer. if it was not for you. So let me, I'm the key master. I mean, hey. the, Oh, so you're, you're the guy. Ah, I know who you are. I'm keeping you though. So let me, let me give you a good example of this. So we have a non gatekeeping. Group locally in Lexington. Mm-hmm. That I run. And PS actually, man, I think hell Bill might be, I don't know, but if you want, wanna be a men, you can. so it's called local Costis and what it means is it's a beer group, bourbon, whatever, mead. It is a fa, non-official Facebook group that might or might not exist but may or may not may exist. but. It exists. It does exist. What our goal in there is, is to, is to pass along bottles of anything to somebody for cost. Stuff that people want that we're not gonna gouge you That's right. We're not gonna gouge you for, it. we might charge you a little more than cost 'cause we had to get it shipped to. us or We had to drive there. Whatever's, It's minimal, right? exactly. So I actually got this bottle. I actually, uh, got one from my friend, Chaz. shoot, And then when I got a bottle from Chaz, he's like, Hey, would you like to have a ball of Dubai chocolate Yuno? I'm like, I mean, I guess if you twist my arm, you no. Yeah. So we had to get this one. So thank you Chaz. Appreciate it. man. That's what it's about. He's a non gatekeeper. welcome to our club. Anytime. So we go, we go to a bar. We're, we're opening you Noia, okay. From phase three. This is a in relatively hard to get bottle. Me and Jason are, are drinking this. We're like, oh my gosh. You know, this reminds me of such and such and such and such, and this is hard to get. Let's say Drew comes along and he's just like wandering in with his girl and he is like my wife, not, not my girl, my wife. This is, this is still, this is still very uh uh, this is a colloquial conversation. Hypothetically. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I realize now that his wife might be watching this. I didn't mean it that way. I'm just, this is very anecdotal. he did mean that I heard him. he walks in with his, uh, his very beautiful wife, who is super understanding, but let's say like they're, they're not familiar with beer and they're just like, oh, this looks interesting. What is it? Okay, we have that option as a gate Cape Keeper, you could be like, you know what, I'm gonna retain this knowledge for myself. Yeah. Every time I can shut somebody out, that makes me feel more powerful. This goes across every industry. It doesn't matter if you're talking about hobbies. It doesn't matter if you're talking about occupations, you're talking about politics. Anything you do, I, I run to it at work. People are trying to gate keep me from that. percent. Hundred People have knowledge, they can either bestow that knowledge and and, and bring you into the fold and be helpful. And then it's like a comradery aspect. Or they can say, I'm gonna retain this knowledge for myself and I'm gonna put me in a position self-imposed where I am better than you. That's what it boils down to. Gatekeeping is one person wanting to suppress another person. Period. It's like you're just so they can be better. It's like you're, you're creating your own cast system almost. Yeah. Yeah. But it's all in your head, think there's A little caveat though. So Here's my caveat. When Somebody came up to me and ask me about this bottle. What is that? I would give them the definition, like, Hey, this is you Noya Barrel waste out from phase three. It has like the Dubai chocolate, you know, flavors in it. Yeah. Would you like a pour? And they're like, what If they look at me like, what the hell's that I'm. like, you probably, I mean, here's a little, you know what I mean? Like you have to look at like you still do. still do. still, what, just try But when I see their eyes light up, it makes me turn into a non gatekeeper. a me like, hey, if you like this up, if you Like this. Let me show you this. You know what I mean? Like It's a game changer. when you share that I'm pulling shit out like let's go in the cell, let's, let's go downstairs and get this. You never had Saint lamb before from Cante. I got you. You know what I mean? Like I, mean, I I have to shout you out because I reached out to you. one year for, uh, Blands. Yeah. And I could just happened to not be able to find it locally. And I was really struggling to get it, and I was getting it for the, the gentleman off camera, uh, puff. And so I was not able to find it in stores. And I was just like, bro, I need bland, Like, please. and he was like, I got you. And I was like, it really? It's that easy. I was like, it's Really? So that's him. He's like, yeah, I got you. No worries. And I was Like, it's one of those things I always picked up. I appreciate that. And that was the thing I was, I was willing to do whatever it it took. but you were just like, no Well, that's just, and I appreciate that, you know, That's what you should that's just surrounding exactly it with good people, Absolutely. That's the difference, you know? Yeah, absolutely. And, and it's funny 'cause when you get, I'm sure you have, I don't know if you all have, but you've been in an environment where like, everybody's a gatekeeper. Oh yes. fucking weird. It's strange. There is a, there's a weird, there's a strange power play. do not, fit in. I do not fit in, I'm like, everybody, everybody is trying to over like. Over, like do like be better than everybody else. It is horrible trying to one up the other. Yeah. where you feel like you can talk to everybody about everything, but you can't trust anybody with, here's the thing is terrifying. is like whatever you're there for, it's like, we'll do like a, like a bottle share for example. Um, I've been to a bottle share where I didn't know anybody and everybody was gatekeeping and I mean in Iowa when we were at stop, Yeah, possibly. Yeah. But it's like you get in the oh, yay. nobody really knows each other. Everybody wants to preserve their knowledge. I don't know what you know. You don't they won't preserve their bottle too. Right. Yeah. Well, that's that. Yeah. Yeah. But here's what happens is that like everybody holds onto their own knowledge. They hold onto their bottle, like they got the holy grail. They want you to come to them. They want you to grovel. They want you to like plead. They want you to be like, please can have some of that. That gives them that sense of power. But like when that doesn't work, what you start noticing is they try to flex other aspects of their Oh yeah. Oh yeah. do you know what I do for a living? Do you know who I am? Do you know who my dad think it was Cigar City. Cigar City. Um, I think Cigar City, Aaron, Craig could tell us this, but Cigar City I think made a beer called a hundred k plus benefits. Jesus love that name. And It was called some, Love That name. some guy online was like, screw you guys, I know more than you. I make a hundred KA year plus bend That's hilarious. And they named a beer after I named a beer after. It's fucking brilliant then sorry. It a gold chain. It's amazing. That's That's the flex you're gonna go I mean, I'm here for It insurance. I pay, I get 50% off my health insurance through my corporate group plan. You know who I am? I shop at Kroger. baby. I, I got, I got EBT, like, you know what kind of, food you like, you know what kind food stamps, I got man. You know three Kroger plus cards. Yeah. That's insane. Uh, yeah, dude. It is. Yeah, it is. I mean, it's an epidemic, It's, it is. and no matter where you go, I think bourbon is probably the worst Bourbon's the worst. Yeah. So it took me a long time. To kinda break into bourbon, I would say. And you know, there's so many parallels to beer and bourbon. We, we, I know beer better. Right? Like, I mean I think we both do. And then you look at, that, it's, It's scary of how like parallel it is. You'll see people online like, I know what I've got. I'm like, I know what you got too. You're also $200 asking too high or You know, hey, be nice once you open a bottle and share it with somebody. Right. You'll see people selling secondary only never open a bottle. and That's just like, man, you're not even drinking, bro. Like, oh, I don't like this one. I'm like, if you ever had it? Well, I mean, my friend had it once, I'm like, shit, dude, you know, come on. Yeah. Again, it just, It gets tiring. It gets really tiring, It wears you out, but it, it re rejuvenates you when you see somebody that appreciates it, that you wanna share with. that You wanna give knowledge to they reciprocate that, like they understand it, you Yeah. It like, it really, it makes you feel good. It's a good fun. The other thing too, real quick. You know what is not gay? Kicked is NSD bourbon. Hell yeah. Yes. Yeah. Our official It's actually slipped on. It is slept. It is actually a really good pour. Yeah. We appreciate you guys for sponsoring us. Uh, never Say Die Bourbon. Absolutely amazing. Pour You can buy this amongst of your stores and we're hanging out over at the party house party. HO s.com. You can rent this out. Um, Jason doesn't come with it. We're at, we're at the brick house and this is the Brick House by the Jason will come with it for a price though. I'll be here, I'll be here for a price. You know, If you're if you're gonna pay for it, I Can come with it for a price too. See both of us tag team. I'm just saying. I will cook you a meal. Yeah. And I got food. I'll get you drunk. Yeah. All We're, one too punch that you really can't live without. I'm just saying. I shake, shake, bake, yeah, if I'm salt, he's pepper. You know what I'm saying? So, no, Matt's out. Just me and Bre just call us. Holler. Holler at you boys. We're good. Matt's our hostess. I wanna be bought. our mare D. Yeah, We'll give you tips. That's fine. Just the then I, I cut you off though. I didn't either. off. Go ahead. I don't know what I was gonna say. Um, yeah, yeah. I was gonna say something about bourbon or beer. I, I don't know, it'll come to me Uh, I do have actually something that I think card wise ties into this bourbon. perfectly. Uh, it's a really random ass thing, but sorry. Matt's mom, But essentially it is, uh, it's, won't be back. This is is last time. I we're trying. I apologize. I I am a chef. I work in the kitchen. The head chef is a female she works. She cusses more than I do. I love you. Ash. Uh, but nonetheless, it is essentially one very peculiar card Okay. called the Drowsy. It's a Pokemon card. It is the drowsy full art illustration card. Uh, a What? Full art. I thought he said fart. I was like, I know. He said fart too. Yeah. I Full. I saw the drowsy fart. I'm pretty sure I've I, yeah. Yeah. I threw a lot of in a while. I do a lot of drowsy farts. So let me wife does a drowsy fart. She says. She does, but she does. My wife has never done a drowsy fart. So You mean your girl? Pokemon nerds, if you wanna show that to the camera up. Yeah. That is the picture of the card. That card in particular. I won luckily enough on my birthday. Uh, That card is insane. It's originally started at, I think, about $2? Yes. absolutely. And uh, so I think it was like maybe a, uh, like 50 cents to a dollar. Uh, maybe a little bit more.'cause it is a, a basic Pokemon. So it's one of the original Pokemon That card rose in value from. Why did that one go up? So the main reason this card went up in value was because of what's called market manipulation. Ooh. I'm familiar with marketing. We talked about so that happened. I got some The stories on that. and, go ahead. Yeah. So that happened due to some really clever gatekeeping Okay. Uh, that somebody essentially was like, Hey, this card's not graded yet, and it's a basic card that comes in the sets. And if I can find this card, 'cause I know the ratios and the percentages of how many packs have this card in it, then I'll just buy all of the cards that have already been pulled, right grade them all in a bulk value myself. And then keep them all and let the value go up. Oh. because then they're not on the market anymore. You're affecting supply. Affecting, yeah. We've talked about this too. So you're manually manipulating the supply. So essentially it, it's really weird because you can't legally do anything about it. So This card went from being worth, it's a gray black market right? Yeah, exactly. So it went from being worth $2 to I sold one of those cards for$40. That's crazy. Uh, raw in a sleeve like that Ungraded, we see it. ungraded Oh, graded. It was going for almost $340. We see I've bourbon a lot. Yeah. I've seen bourbon a lot. So meaning that if you have a bottle. of Bourbon. mm-hmm. We'll just make believe it's a bottle of bourbon. Actually. Just use that one. Never say no. Yeah. Never say, oh yeah, absolutely Bourbon Yep. Just so happens. So let's say this is a single barrel edition right there. Yes. There's only. 140 bottles of that. Yes sir. You sell 'em to your closest friends, and everybody buys 'em, right? Yeah. So then one person goes to market. This is the Best thing I've ever had. Yes. you have a pop one. This is the best burden I've ever had. You all should try. it. So they don't go to like market to sell. They're going in groups to say how good. it is. Yep. Then everybody's like, turn wheels turning, like, oh, well maybe it is good. Then you get somebody else coming in. Yeah. Hey man, I, I hear what you said. I actually got a ball. Yes, sir. It's the best thing I've ever had. Everybody's wheels turned. Then the third guy comes in listed online in a secondary group. That doesn't exist. That does exist. Mm-hmm. So they sell it for They listed it for a thousand dollars. Yes, sir. Everybody's like LOL. No way. This sells. I'll give you 20. Then your buddy over there, James comes in and says, I'll pay nine 50. Yep. You're like, okay, I'll sell it. James? Don't do that. no. I'll, I'll You, you upended the entire markets. No, Here's what happens. You got. listed for a thousand, he bought it for nine, bought it, for nine 50, right? Bought it. Yes. You never send money. Yep. You never send the bottle ghost bid, but you set the market. Yes. Then the next time you post it, nine 50, you get three people jumping in thinking, holy shit, I must have I, I got fomo. I'm gonna miss this. Then I'm coming in and buying it for 9, 9 50. Yep. Then you set the market. you manipulate it. We've, I've seen it in bourbon. I've seen it in beer. I've seen beer guys trade bourbon to that. It is crazy. is a direct result of gatekeeping. This is like by not being informed, then you get a bunch of taters or you get people that are duped because they're not being given the information that they, that they need, and that information is easily provided. It's very simple for well, kind of, kind of easy, easily provided. But the problem is there if it's a single barrel, yes, or it's a small run. of bottles of anything, or it's one of one car, You only have a few people that know what's worse. Exactly. Right. You You have to trust the person telling you. it's good or true, very true. Very true. It's like the F's, like the inner circle, you know? Like, we're not gonna let you in. I mean, that's exactly it. I had a, uh. That's a, there's a valid What was that one card that I had? Fre, I can't think of the name of it now. It's the same thing with cars. Had you manipul that all, what was the name of that card? Choose whatever, Michael J. Michael Pittman Jr. Yes. I had a Michael Pittman Jr. Rookie card that was graded in PSA 10. And it was a pop one, took the card to six different stores. Nobody wanted it wanted it. Really? and I couldn't understand why, 'cause I was like, it's literally the only car. Yeah. But They were like, it's the only so you can't You can't, so you set the market, there's no, there's no value And I was like, okay. So I was like, what about 200 bucks? And the guy was just. like. Cool. I'll give you 200 bucks. That's fair. He listed for 500 immediately. I mean Yeah, But that's exactly it. Like, that's the thing that's, it. Yeah. so it's, just, it's really crazy how that shit works. Yeah. But it's like that. with Well, it's, it's like a pyramid, you Yes. It's a pyramid. Hundred percent. It trickles that way. here and it's like you wanna get information and that information does not disseminate, but it but that's exactly it. cause and effect reactions. So Jason, stop gatekeeping everything. Damnit. I'm, I tell him, make my money Matt, I'll be honest, like me and you we're smart asses and we make fun of each other all the time and yeah, talk about how stupid you are I'm not smart ass. I feel ugly you are, serious guys. I'm very, I'm very pretty actually, Honestly, honestly. He going back, we get, we get a lot of comments on YouTube and stuff that, I, how pretty, I am. I just specifically, how about how pretty you I'm the prettiest. I'm Big league. Pretty big league pretty. Going back to when I first, I'm Big League two. Yeah, pretend like I got tobacco, but it's actually I guess I'm five gum. in this When I first met Jason, I've known you for, what, 15 years or 10 plus. Yeah. Um. um, honestly, you've literally been like the most generous guy I've ever met. Like, we're getting real for a second and I don't, I don't wanna make you cry. Angie, my wife. You watching this, you watching this great guy, great guy. Seriously, like we talk about gate keeping. Like you are the, the, you epitomize the opposite of that. And you always have dude, and like, that's a, that's a know. I think, I think sometimes though, I even struggle with it too. Like if you see somebody you think's not genuine. Yeah. It doesn't, it makes me want to gatekeep a little like, that's different though. You wanna put them in their place, you want, you I might misjudge 'em, sometimes I might misjudge that person. Like, I don't know. You know right? Yeah. your generosity can change that person's heart. It can you know, it really, but I've also seen it not change. But that's, the Yes. And can also, it can also feed, feed it it can man, I've seen, I've been taking double-edged sword for sure. Absolutely. and you know it and it's, dude, it's aggravating. I've had, I've took advantage of people that I didn't really realize I was doing that bad. Yeah. at the time. you know what I mean Of course. Now it's like, I wanna be fair when you're trading bourbon to beer, beer to bourbon, or whatever, Yep. there's always somebody winning. Right. But you know, I got lucky. Several years ago, and and you're in this group too? You're in the Swifty? Yeah, I'm in the locals. Yeah. I'm in Swifty too, 'cause I'm better than you I got both, but I am, But you know, you, you look at that your local friends like me better than you. They They don't, they don't. They actually don't. But What they taught me was how you win a trade. is you give the person what they want and more. You know what I mean? So like if, if I see somebody in our chat group say, man, I'd love to try Russell's 13. I'm like, I hate that. You probably Never get it. Next day I'm shipping 'em a box. Like, here, And then you end up throwing know what I mean? Yeah. Try some samples. like you gotta try this shit. You know, Give 'em taste of notes. like here, you know. Well, but that's what want do. But, that's the, but that's also like, good. You feeds you, you know? Oh, I love it. And that's the thing. Yeah. So just because you're a good person, but also in how the universe, I believe the universe works, is that eventually that's gonna come back. And Absolutely. A hundred percent. Yes, sir. A hundred may not have that in your mind initially, but I, I believe that's how it's gonna work. And Beer karma, bourbon, the bottom line is it is it foster doesn't count community. And that's a very forward thinking rationale is to foster community. And a lot of people don't think about that because it is human nature to be selfish. It's human nature to be like, how am I going to survive? This is mine, Yes. And it, it is a, it is a very like animal instinct. Like, how am I gonna survive? We're talking about fucking a bottle of bourbon. Yes. But again, that's the basic animal's instinct to say like, how is this gonna benefit everybody around me? Like, that is a very hard thing to do, and it's a very evolved way of thinking, dude, again, I'm fucking, you've done that for as long as I've known you, and that's really amazing. Big up. I tried to do that I'm not that. good though. I, I've done some bad shit Pierre does that. We, we do that. I feel like we do that and we cannot preach that enough. Like gatekeeping is probably like the stu, one of the stupidest shit I've ever seen in bourbon beer It, it's a short term gain. Yes. for a long term loss. Right. It's like, benefits nobody, it, you do. for you Yep. Try to be, try to be giving in whatever you do. Yeah. It doesn't matter what it is. it doesn't matter if you're a fucking truck. sorry. Matt's mom, uh, uh, truck driver. I'm sorry. It's, it's bad. Uh, try to be Matt's mom. Listen to Sorry. Try to be as giving as possible. I drive with an suv. V. Is that okay? It is like a truck. Is that sale? It's kind of a truck. I, you, I, I really hope we can at some point, uh, mic up the kitchen, 'cause the things we say. in the kitchen. Oh yeah. But nonetheless, I, uh, I really hope that it can get to a point where people are being more generous Yeah. than they are gatekeeping. Yeah. Because I feel like this community truly fosters love. Like it fosters like. Just fun like it. It's truly just the nicest when I can go out of state Yeah. and go to somewhere and go to a beer festival, same here. and all of those people are just like, what's up? How you doing? Where you from? Like, what? You know, what's going on? What beers have you had? I don't know. You, I don't even know your name. Right? But you want to talk to me and get to know me, and I'm like, that's cool. because of the community. But there's, There's six of us here tonight and we've all met through beer Yes. at some point. Absolutely We've all met, through beer or bourbon, Whatever. But that's awesome. You know, me and Matt travel some, we used to travel more. but. When we go to any state, essentially any state in the US there is somebody, one of us knows within driving distance, Like every freaking place. I've been able to introduce my best friend into beer through, Fre and through you guys I mean like that's amazing.'cause he was not a beer driver. I'm in, I'm in the not at all Those are the benefits of not being a gatekeeper. What is the word for like the opposite of gay? There's gotta be a word for that. Those are the benefits though. It's like you foster the community but you develop a relationship. Is Asshole, the better word, asshole, yeah. Yes. I was like, why would you be an asshole if you're not a gatekeeper? But seriously, those are the benefits of not doing that is that you create relationships and that is like, that is the crux of being a human being. It's pretty cool. Pretty cool. here. Here. Well, it's like, it's like the thing, like, you know, at my eulogy, like I want somebody to be like, Hey, you know, like he didn't withhold information about, you know, or whatever it is. Like, yeah. He was a genuine person who liked to hang out and he was generous. Like, that's what I want people person. We're gonna say he bought the, brought The best RTDs of the night. or not. I mean, he definitely did. Bill off camera over here, just like slipped me a little like note on his, uh, his phone as he Googled it. Gate breaking is the opposite of gate keeping. So, uh, exotic. gonna start. Nucleus. Sounds exhausting. The gate sounds exotic. and exhausting. I got you. I think he was like, dude, that's too much work. I'm not gonna do that yet. The new group, the gate, the gate So one more question. for you before We ended up? so what'd you think of This, one? What'd you think of the Dubai chocolate really good. as much. Bad, as I've heard of actual buy chocolate. This actually was amazing, too, dude. You heard bad at buy heard, a lot of really bad about buy chocolate. averages, chalky fat, this average of 4.37. I think it's criminally underrated. That's I'm a four or five. That's in least right, mean that's four five Yeah, That's really good. Like I'm, I'm impressed. Thanks Chaz. That last little sip I took, I wanted to lick the glass, but I didn't know if I was gonna be on camera, so I didn't wanna do it. you're holding the bottle and I'm just like, are you sure? There's nothing else left in the bottle. I'm like, Pierre's talking. I don't wanna look like this. Go talk over there. Go talk over the hair. You just turn the cameras off? Yeah. slowly like going off to the side like, can it see me yet? I mean It was different. Yeah, for sure. That's awesome. It's a good discussion. Yeah. Thanks for not gate keeping You're welcome. appreciate you guys. are the gate breakers. I'm gonna develop a little logo and like put the caption on I'll make a Trading card for Yes. There we go. we go. There we go. guys, uh, if you like this, then please share it for more arsenic culture. You can check us out on all the socials we are @arsenicculture like, and subscribe on YouTube. We'll see you on the next one.