You guys,
Have you ever listened to The Ryen Russillo Podcast??
I think it’s about sports. I don’t actually know because I only listen to one segment: Life Advice.
Ryen and his two producers take questions from listeners seeking advice. Sometimes they answer them earnestly, other times they rip on the person emailing in. Either way, it’s honest and hysterical.
I wanted some advice from Ryen so I emailed him. No response yet. In the meantime, I’ll share my submission below and if anyone has advice for me, I’d love to hear it!
Life Advice submission:
Charlie Bleecker
5’ 3”, 120 lbs, former DI field hockey player, can hold two babies on either hip.
Dear Ryen,
My sister-in-law Jen has two boys, ages 10 and 8, and she’s always putting them in matching clothes. I think it’s fucking stupid, but whatever, they’re her kids. (Side note: Why do the people who put their kids in matching outfits also have the worst taste in clothes??)
Next week we’re going on a family trip to the Caribbean and Jen texted me and my husband to let us know she bought matching shirts for her boys AND our 2-year-old son. She was clearly very excited about this. She said it was a “surprise” for Grandma. Jen ended the text by asking us if we wanted her to wash the shirt for our son (she wasn’t sure if we used a particular detergent).
My husband and I agonized over how to respond to the text. We didn’t want that stupid shirt anywhere near our son, but we also knew it wasn’t THAT big a deal for him to wear something one time for one picture.
I told Sam to write, “Regular detergent is fine, thanks.” Sam said it made no sense to say thank you, but if he just said regular detergent is fine with a period, that would read kinda harsh. So we finally settled with an exclamation point at the end (Regular detergent is fine!), even though we didn’t want her to think we were even close to happy about this plan.
Our son is going to wear this shirt with his cousins and we will cooperate with a picture. I don’t want to be a dick about it, but I’m also incapable of pretending I think it’s cute. Do I make my opinion known without being rude and offensive? Or are some things just meant to be vented about behind closed doors with your partner?
I know this is not a big deal. I know I know I know, but where’s the line between inauthenticity and being an asshole?
Welcome, new subscribers!
A big shoutout to Kyle Koszuta. He was featured last week by Substack and when asked which Substack writer he recommended, he said me:
“She’s just an awesome writer sharing stories I love to read.”
Kyle subscribed to my newsletter in October after reading an essay I’d written about how to make your writing pop. We exchanged a few messages about website design, newsletters, and niche. I told him not to stress about niche.
Now he’s ThatPickelballGuy, chronicling his journey to become a professional pickleball player in a year (so cool!).
Here’s my takeaways from this story:
When you publish week after week, you WILL, undoubtedly, create a serendipity vehicle for yourself. I started with 10 subscribers 2.5 years ago and now I have over 800 (thanks, Kyle!).
And also, don’t take my advice. Maybe email Ryen Russillo instead.
—
Until next week,
Charlie