Transcription
What's good, everybody? It's your boy Ou Jackson, and I'm back at it again with another video. And today I have, uh, a brother that's a content creator. Uh, he's also been following the page, and he has a very, very interesting story. He's living overseas. [snorts] I'm going to let him introduce himself and what his channel's all about.
Hello. Hello. How you doing? Um, I am what they call the black cleaner. I am a YouTuber. I'm also an author, and I also, um, am a business owner, and I'm here living in Panama, and I appreciate you having me on the panel today.
All right, give him a round of applause. [applause]
All right, brother. So, um, I met you, I think about a month ago, something like that, on our, our brother pill with me and brother Lar and George. And, you know, we, we had a really good time. And, um, you had an interesting story because, uh, you're living in Panama, but at first you were living, I believe, were you living in Atlanta?
Yeah, I was living in Atlanta. Um, brief story: I'm from Boston originally. Um, turned 18. You know, I was one of those working-ass kids who, you know, navigated that line of the streets and also the being in that, uh, middle-class life. You know, I wasn't bougie enough to be in the middle-class life, and I wasn't street enough to be in the streets. So, I navigated that line. And then once that crossroad came, I ended up leaving and, um, going into the military, which brought me over into Japan for four years. So that was in '95 to '99.
And then when I got back, when I, when my tour was over, I ended up back in Boston. And then, um, from there, um, Boston priced me out. It was just too expensive. And then I ended up, you [clears throat] know, date meeting my baby mother. We, she ended up getting pregnant, and Boston was just too expensive to be able to raise our child there. So, we ended up in Atlanta. And then once, um, I ended up buying a house and, you know, trying to make things work, and things didn't work out. Ended up having, um, breaking up with her, having another relationship, and then things didn't work out in that relationship, and that ended up having me come here to, um, Panama.
Okay. Okay. Cool. So, how long were you in Atlanta for?
From 200, um, 6 all the way up to 2023. So, 17 years.
Okay. So, what was, so I know like Boston, you, then you got the, the Boston Colleges, Harvard, you know, you, uh, UMass is in Amherst, right? But, um, a pretty big black community in Boston. People just pretty much probably don't know that. But what was so much different about Atlanta, um, in comparison to the culture of like black Boston?
Um, well, it's a lot bigger, 'cause in Boston they have everybody in one big vacuum, pretty much. As they say, you're just one big in-bomb. Um, with, um, Atlanta, it, they have something for everybody in Atlanta, which I love because, let's say that, uh, prime example, if you like punk rock, okay, in Atlanta they're going to have a whole section of black people who are into punk rock. If you a nerd, you know what I'm saying, you're into comic books, Marvel comics, they're going to have a whole bunch of black nerds. If you're into, you know, um, like me, you, I like the spoken word. I like, you know, all of the holistic wellness, you know, the, the crystal chicks, the Erica Badu, Neo. They have a whole sector for that.
But in Boston, they only got, you know, black, black people in, you know, I mean, no, we'll say, okay, you have your, your, your FBA, shout out to us, but then they also have your Caribbean, your Haitians, your Dominicans. They have it set up like that. But if you're in whatever you're into, you all are going to do it together. It's not going to be, you know, oh, I'm into, uh, I'm into the arts. If you're into the arts, you're going to be, as you said, you're going to Harvard, so you're going to be surrounded by a whole bunch of, you know, different people who are into the arts. If you're into the, um, music, you're going to be around the people who are into the music, and that's going to be diverse. It's not going to be you are around your people, and you all are all doing that together. So that's the difference between Boston and Atlanta.
Okay. And as far as it came to, um, like dating for black men in Atlanta at that particular time, uh, what was so different about, you know, having relationships with, with black women in comparisons to having those same relationships in Boston?
Um, pretty much the same thing. It's, um, as they said, during that time in Atlanta it was 10 to one, 10 women to one man, and most of, and they would say, you know, there's women down there who was paying, you know, rents and car notes in order to be with a man because the competition was just so thick down there versus in Boston, it's we're all together and we're all struggling. [laughter]
Okay. Okay. Got it. Got it. Okay. So you, you met your baby mama. Was it in, at, because you were in Atlanta before you went to the military, right?
No, I was in Boston before I went to the military.
Okay. Came to Atlanta, and you actually got, you know, had a, had a baby in Atlanta, right?
No, I had, I had my relationship in Boston, and I brought, we all moved down to Atlanta because, uh, Boston was just unaffordable.
Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Okay. What were some of the, um, so that relationship ended. How long were you with her for?
14 years.
Oh, that's pretty long. Okay. 14 years. So it ended around 2020, something like that.
No, it, excuse me. We started in 2001.
Oh, 2015. Okay, got it.
Yeah. And then we, yeah, we ended in 2015. Correct.
Okay. So around the time that the relationship, uh, ended in 2015, was it kind of easier at that time in Atlanta to kind of get it, you know, how was, how, how easy was it to get into like a new relationship or to get to somebody, you know, somebody else?
Um, it was fairly easy, especially when you're, you know, you're accomplished. If you have nothing, then of course you're going to get nothing. But if you have a little bit of substance about yourself, then yeah, it's fairly easy because that's what they're all looking for. And at that time, um, you know, I just, um, purchased a house in 2008, you know, in, um, in the, uh, um, the nicer part of Stone Mountain, you know, area. And I, I was working. I had a, had my cleaning business that was going, and then, of course, I had, um, rental property that was in Boston during that time. So, you know, I was, you know, fairly doing well for myself. So yeah, it was easier for me to get into a relationship in, um, Atlanta.
Okay, cool. So the relationship ended. What was the like? Like, what did you do after that? Like, you know, you, you and your beings break up. What, I mean, what was, did you like think about leaving the country at that time, or you was like, what was your mentality?
No, I was still trying to, I was just trying to find someone 'cause my daughter's mother, during that time when I met her, we both had nothing. I just got out of the military. I was still trying to get on my feet. The only thing I had was an apartment. I met her. She really didn't, she was 19 years old, just graduated from high school. So, she really didn't have nothing. She was just looking for some direction. And we was able to meet with each other. And I was just saying, "Hey, since we're both starting from ground zero and ground one, we can work together to, you know, elevate ourselves."
And then, um, you know, I, as I said, I brought her along with me, and I elevated myself, and she was still in the same survival mode mindset, and I'm sitting here like, "Hey, you know, come on. I, I need a partner to help me. You know, this is a shared responsibility." But she wasn't able to get out of that situation. So we ended up breaking it off, and then I ended up meeting somebody who was in a better situation. She had her own house. She had her own car. So we were pretty much on equal, you know, um, on even keel. So I thought the relationship was going to be better because of, you know, we both are equal at this time.
Got it. So, let's talk about, um, this second relationship. How long was it that you and this lady stayed together?
Um, from 20, um, excuse me. Yeah. From 2015 all the way to, um, 2022.
Okay. So, when you get with somebody, typically you're kind of there for a while.
Well, as they say, you know, the grass is greener where you water it. So, I'm one of those people. I'm going to try to make the relationship happen.
Okay. Okay. Okay. I like that. Okay. So then, um, the relationship ends. Is there a reason why it ended, or?
I actually wrote a book about it. [laughter] Okay. You, it's, you can check it out on Amazon. Shameless plug. It's called Memoirs of a Narcissist, right here. Um. Okay.
So, but the, the relationship ended basically because I was, as I said, I went to Japan. In Japan, their mindset is about shared responsibility. It's about, you know, working together in order to make things happen. But when you are in the United States, they're about Darwinism, you know, survival of the fittest, competition, you know, uh, second place is first place is loser, you know. So, um, here I am. I'm trying to once again work with this person, and, and she's believing in hypergamy, pretty much. She's like, "Well, what am I, why do I need to work with you for when I can just go out here and find somebody who's doing better than you and then get with him?" And pretty much, you know, it was like, "Okay, well, it fell off after that." You know, I try, as I said, I tried to water the grass and make it work, but in the end, you know, hypergamy won. And I ended up just saying, hey, okay, I can't, I can't compete with that. As, um, Phil Moore Slim said, in the words of Phil More Slim, "Hey, if it don't fit, don't force it."
Okay. So from 2022 to 2023, it seems to be like a, a different kind of paradigm shift from like at least the last relationship that ended in 2015, where you're still like, I just, you know, you know, I have my house in Stone Mountain. I have my business [clears throat] and let me try to find, uh, somebody better than what I had. And then from 2022, um, then all of a sudden it goes from, well, let me, you know, stay in Atlanta and, and continue what I got till I [snorts] need to get the hell up out of here and, and find something different. What was the breaking point or the turning point where you said, "I got to get out of the US?"
Well, I didn't really choose Panama. Uh, Panama chose me. Um, my aunt actually, she retired from the IRS. Um, she's also an FBA, and she, uh, was looking to retire on the beach, but of course, California and Florida, they priced her out at this time. So, she was looking in those international living, um, book magazines during that time, and she was able to find Panama, and she was able to retire in Panama. And she actually invited me to come visit Panama. And when I was able to see how she was living in Panama, you know, how it was summer all year round, there's no, um, tornadoes or hurricanes that hit here. The cost of living is very affordable here, I was saying.
And at that time, you know, in Atlanta, in order to live in Atlanta, you, you need to have at least $4,000 a month to be able to live comfortably. In Panama, you need to have at least $2,500 a month to live comfortably. That's why a lot of, um, retirees move here because they're able to, um, you know, retire on their 401k and their SSI and live comfort here. Me, I'm also a disabled vet. So, I have, so I have rental income, and I also have my, you know, my disabled, dis, you know, my disability money. So between those two, I'm pretty much, I don't have to, you know, go to work 'cause norm, I mean, because I have enough money to be able to pay for my expenses.
Um, and if I was to still be in Atlanta, but in order to get all of the extras, you know, to be able to, be able to go off and travel and, you know, go to the movies and buy things, I would have to actually go to work to be able to get that extra $2, $3,000 in order to live comfortably. Here, I don't have to do that. I can actually just live off of my, you know, off of my two streams of income, and then, and now I can really focus on building a business and being, and doing something that is a labor of love.
And actually, I was trying to convince, um, my girlfriend during that time of this option, you know, "Hey, you know, there's a better option here. Why don't we, you know, try to give this a try?" But of course, it was more difficult for her because, you know, America has that infrastructure, you know, and they also have those golden handcuffs that trap you. You know, she's working for, you know, Apple. She's making good money working for Apple. So, she's like, "Oh, nah. I, I, I won't be able to work for my job if I live here. What am I going to be able to do?" And I'm saying, "You can start all over." I mean, really, we have a foundation to be able to build off of. Uh, I don't want to be struggling. That sounds like some struggle love. Uh, so I was like, "All right, well, this is what I'm planning on doing." It just, in the end, as that what happened was, you know, the past wasn't aligned. I was looking for freedom. She was looking for comfort. So, I just ended up going on my path of freedom, and she ended up continuing down her path of comfort.
Okay, let me talk about this, um, kind of idea of maybe romance or dating outside of what they call the Matrix. Uh, as you know, our brother Mediac Turtles and Reviews, uh, he just was recently in Thailand, and so he was basically, um, you know, going viral across the black YouTuber saying that, you know, it, it was a kind of, he had a lot, a lot more serenity, a lot of peace there when he was, you know, on a one-month vacation. And so I'm curious, have you ever, have you dated in Panama? What's been the experience? [snorts] Uh, if so, what's been the experience, just with, you know, interacting with the women there on a day-by-day basis?
Um, short answer, it's been great. Um, I, yes, I have, I do date, um, here in Panama. You know, there's a lot of, um, Afro-Panamanians here. Um, there's Afro-Columbians here. So, I usually will date 'cause me myself, as I tell people, I'm still pro-black. It don't matter where I go in the world, I'm going to be looking for me and my family, my kinfolk. So, when I came here, that's what I was looking for. I, you know, I do, you know, try to date the sisters here, the ones that are interested in me. You know, we do, um, talk to each other and, you know, we create friendships, but once again, hypergamy is a big thing.
You know, they're not, they, you know what I noticed is it's, it's really about a mindset where in America, and I got this from, um, Robert Kiyosaki, I can't claim it. He says that America is run on two things: fear and greed. That's why people get up and go to work, that, you know, they go to work because they're, they're looking for that stability. But then once they get that stability, then the greed sets in, and now they want to get, you know, the more. Okay. Me myself, I'm not looking for, I'm only looking for freedom. I, I, as I said, I have everything that I need now to be able to take care of myself in terms of my, my expenses.
And that's another thing too. Um, the reason that they call me the black cleaner was not just because I'm in the cleaning industry, you know, which I've been in for 13 years. It's because if you ever play the game, um, Cashflow 101, okay, in order to beat the game, you have to have enough expense. You got to have your passive income exceed your expenses. In the, um, Cashflow game, there's a career which is the janitor. The janitor has the least amount of expenses that you have to be, I mean, that you have to, um, have in order to get out of the game. So pretty much I noticed that within that career. Me having my cleaning and, you know, having my cleaning business allowed me to buy real estate, which allowed me to, um, get, pay for all of my expenses, and now I'm able to be able to live comfortably in any of the place of the world that's affordable, i.e., Thailand, i.e., um, Panama, Colombia, wherever, wherever the expenses is around, you know, $2,500 a month or less. And that allows me to have a foundation in order to be able to take care of myself and my family. So really, it was the reason I came here was really because it was affordability and opportunity.
But the problem is, is that you have people who have the mindset of wanting comfortability. You know, they don't, they're not happy with just having, you know, a, a, a cottage, you know, in a, um, in a small city somewhere and then working their way up to the top. They want to be living large with a million dollars, popping bottles, you know, or just, you know, being on the top of their game, and they want to ride that, and they want to ride the elevator to the top. So, it's that mindset of being comfortable riding the elevator to the top. Me, I don't mind taking the stairs. And that's all I was looking for in my relationship is somebody who doesn't mind taking the stairs along with me.
Okay. So, what, what is the difference then in this ideology of taking the stairs with an Afro-Panamanian lady or, um, you know, somebody from the, you know, black American #FBA African-American community historically? What's the fundamental difference between the two, uh, schools of thoughts of women?
Good question. What I found to understand is this. Okay, back in, um, my grandmother's time, okay, we had community survival where we had to work together in order to survive. We, you know, the church was a big thing in our home during that time, during the silent generation and a little bit of the baby boomer generation. So, um, that's what allowed our families to be able to, 'cause I know my family, my family, they came from, you know, um, Savannah area, Chatham County, Georgia, and they moved to Boston. But they all worked together. They got their jobs, and then they were able to buy properties and buy, you know, um, corner stores, which we call bodegas, and they was, everybody was able to survive and thrive because they worked together. The moment they started competing against each other, that's when everything started to dissipate and, you know, dissension amongst the ranks, and, you know, you know how it is now, everybody, the families fighting over houses, and the houses are getting taken for back taxes, so on and so forth.
Here in Latin America, the infrastructure is still being developed. So, you still have that sense of community survival in, in, in those communities because they don't have a, a, a, an infrastructure, um, that has a safety net. You know, they don't have welfare, they don't have child support, they don't have these things that are being enforced. So they must rely on each other in order to survive. You know, they must, they have a word in Latin America which is called "competeer," which means sharing. We, we, we say it too. We say, "Building with you. Yo, let's build together, bro." You know, right there they say, "Let's share together." Let, yo, let's get, let's get together, and they have, you know, sharing parties, or they just come out and they just share with each other, which we would consider to be like a rent party where, you know, people don't have much, so they just get together and they put whatever they have in the pot to be able to continue to live. So that's what I see here is that there's that, that community, um, is still there.
And also too, um, Latin America is, um, a Catholic, um, country, you know what I'm, and so they still are big in the church. So they still have that church in them as well. So I'm, I'm able to be able to get a little bit of that in a Latin community versus in America, you know, the mindset is different because they separated church and state, and they have that, that, that government safety net to where now, you know, a lot of people, they're relying more on the safety net than they are relying on each other.
Right. Right. It's very similar to what happens in Uganda. It's almost, it's exactly what you're talking about. It's the same thing. Um, [clears throat] so with that mentality, then what I, what I could almost gather is that when women understand that they're more community-minded, they typically have a more favorable attitude towards men. Do you see that to be the case? And if so, uh, why or why not?
Um, I'm not understanding the question. Rephrase that.
So what I'm saying is, um, be, okay. So because women typically cannot rely on the state, then typically they are more, uh, are apt to want to rely on their families or their men for provision. Do, do you see that as a result of the community-minded mentality that you acknowledge as you correlate that with how women treat men, or is it different?
Yeah, it, it's, it is, you have that community mindset. Um, but you also have, you know, this movement that I actually spoils that. Well, I'm not going to even say the movement. I'm going to say that there are things that adulterate that mindset as well because there are a lot of single moms here, and, you know, the men who have, you know, got the women pregnant and left. So therefore, you know, same, same thing like in the states, it, they create, it creates that mindset to where they can't even rely on their men, or they look to just take advantage of the men before the men take advantage of them. That's what you see a lot of times when you see a lot of the brothers that come here. Um, there's a certain distrust because of what happened in their prior relationships. It's like, oh, I already got three kids with, you know, with the last guy, and he ran off. So, this guy, he's, he don't even, he's not even from this country. So, what's gonna stop him from running off? So I'm just going to be able to, I'm just going to get what I can get from him. And whatever it is, it'll be good. I just rely on my family, which would be my mother, you know, my grandparents, you know, and all of, you know, our community that, that I know that is going to be there to provide that stability. But in, on occasion, you are going to find the guys who are like myself, who are willing to be there and, you know, water the grass, as I said, to make it green.
Okay. What are some of the similarities? Because I think a lot [clears throat] of guys think that just because you go overseas that, um, women may not have problems. What are some of the issues that you have faced, uh, in trying to, you know, date a woman in Panama, or just you trying to understand certain cultural behaviors that might be difficult in identifying in comparison to an American woman?
Good question. And another shameless plug, I wrote a book about that, which is Found in Translation. It's actually a novel, and it talks about, you know, really my first year and a half of, you know, navigating, you know, Latin America and Panama and the different, you know, culture shocks that happen while you're dealing, um, in Panama, but also just in Latin America. You hear about the women who are going to be the, what they call the "chap chapiodoras," which is what we consider to be gold diggers. They just doing it for long term. Um, you're going to have the girls that are just, you know, the professional companions or the professional cheek clappers. And then you're going to have your single moms. And then you're going to have, you know, just your normal run-of-the-mill, you know, women. But all it is, is it, it's based on mindset.
As I said before, here the mindset is more so about, um, survival. They're looking for stability because they don't have a safety net that provides the stability. Versus in America, we have those safety nets. So the women in America, I'm not even going to say the women in America, I'm just going to say the people are in America because we already have a safety net built into our infrastructure. Now we don't focus on stability as much as we did back in my grandmother's time and, you know, my, my, my father's time. We're focusing on comfort, which is, you know, which is greed. You know, we're, we're all trying to, you know, hurry up and make a million dollars before we retire when really, you don't need a, a million dollars to be able to retire early. You just need to be able to have enough passive income to exceed your current expenses. And once you do that, you're good.
Here, there is no safety net. So, yeah, they're going to, so you're going to run into the girls who are going to try to take advantage of you. You are the safety net. So, they're going to be coming to figure out how they can work their game in order to get to extract the resources from you without you being in the picture. And then you're going to find the ones that because they're beautiful or, you know, they, they're very hypergamous. So, you're going to, you're going to still find that same greedy mindset. It's like, okay, well, all of these guys like me, so therefore, I'm going to exploit all of the guys so that I can be out here, you know, looking, you know, looking like one of the people that I see in, in America. So, you, you see the same thing. It's just that more of, more of the, the, the people here are on the survival end of it than the, um, comfort end of it.
Okay, let me ask this because, you know, obviously I was around when this whole ideology of the, you know, when Aaron Ferris and them, you know, came up with the passport bros, and, you know, in Panama, I, I really didn't see a lot of brothers going there, but most brothers was Dr. Brazil, um, Colombia. And so now there are just so many black men, um, just it's exploded everywhere, you know, in the Philippines, you got guys, you got, um, you know, now brothers like you in Panama. Do you honestly feel, um, that despite the opportunities that are, that are, that are still there in America, that black men would, would have a better opportunity in, in Latin America and Panama or, or in other places? Or is it just better for black men to stay in the United States and kind of deal with it? What would you see? What, what, what do you project in the next five years on why, as far as, you know, black men and where they're going to be at, and, and, and if overseas life is really going to give them the best opportunity to do what they want to do?
Well, the, the world is now becoming a global market. Okay. And my grandparents during the silent generation, they left at, I mean, they left Georgia in order to go to Boston, New York, Philly, and all of those places. Why? Because there were opportunities, you know, that was during the time of the industrial age. Okay? And because they were able to manage to get up there, they was able to become successful. What's going on in America now is everything has gotten too high where we're being priced out. So, and also America is developed. So, what's going, what's going on now is that there is an opportunity to go to some of these developing countries and bring your mindset, your skill set, and your tool set to be able to help them develop the infrastructure.
It's just like, um, example, you know, when we was in Boston, in order to keep up with the styles during that time, we would have to go to New York to see what new fashion or what new music or what new dances that they had. And then we would bring that back to Boston and say, "Oh, this is what they doing up in New York." [laughter] And now you, the, you the person who done, who's in style now, or you're the, you're the coolest of everybody because you was the one to get up on it early. So the ones who is actually migrating to Latin America, Africa, and Asia to some of these places where it's being developed and also taking advantage of becoming a part of their business and also, um, helping them develop their infrastructure, you are able to benefit off of that. So it's not about relationships per se. It's just about, it's, it's a new migration that's about, that's about to explode. I mean, there's a lot more black people that are just moving out because they see the opportunity, right? You, it's too high. I mean, the prices are too high to be able to live in the States right now. And until they are able to change that, or if there's a way for us to be able to, you know, improve that, you need to come where it's more affordable. That's what I see. And as I said, there's also business opportunities there, right?
So, what you're really talking about is black men are just going to have more leverage wherever they go. It, it doesn't even matter about romantic leverage. It's just all around, you're going to have more leverage, and you want to go where the leverage is in your favor.
Exactly.
Let me ask you another question. Do you, um, I know Latin America is a typically, um, a culture kind of really based in what they call machismo, kind of masculinity. Um, I know a lot of black men and, you know, I kind of felt that, you know, I was in America where your masculinity was, [clears throat] you know, kind of really oppress, kind of suppressed rather, and, uh, you kind of had to watch, you know, what you say, um, being around women, you know, saying the wrong thing, working next to them. And, um, you know, a lot of black men are kind of just kind of, you know, kind of walking on eggshells with that. Uh, but I have noticed that when the, when black men, um, move, uh, to the Philippines or even certain, even parts of Europe, like I lived in Poland, and that's, that's not underdeveloped, and, you know, masculine was a real big thing. You always felt like you were being treated, you know, not, not as a, as a, as a man, you know, a real masculine kind of place. How, how, how does that feel being in Panama? Um, is masculinity kind of suppressed there, or is it welcomed? And how do you feel about, you know, being a man living in Latin America?
Good question. [snorts] [laughter] I feel like Aaron Ferris right now. Good question. Um, I'm a black dude. I'm six feet tall. So automatically, um, they have no problems with, you know, my masculinity in terms of that. Me personal, though, I'm not, I've always been a nice guy. I've always been, you know, the happy person, you know, um, Roger from Sister, Sister, you know, that type of person, you know. So I, and but I've always had older brothers, you know, like, um, have you ever watched, um, Norbit with Eddie Murphy? Remember, um, what's her name? Rasputia, all she had all these older brothers. See, I, I've had older brothers like that around me.
So, so anytime I, you know, I, as they say in, um, Japan, you know, the, um, the nail that sticks out gets hammered. So anytime I would try to buck up to any of my older brothers and my older siblings, they would just, you know, put, put me in my place. So I was like, "All right, well, I'm just gonna stick to the books." [laughter] "I'll let you all handle all of that macho stuff." You know what I'm saying? But, um, and that's, and but also too, I was also def, I was, you know, um, defended or, you know, protected because I had all of my older brothers. So they allowed me to be able to navigate the streets without any problems because they always knew, "Oh, that's so and so's, you know, that's Big C's little brother. Y'all better leave him alone." So I could just walk the streets without any problems.
Um, um, I was going to get into the whole trying to be tough, trying to be gangster, you know, during my 18, when I turned 18, and then the fork in the road came because, yeah, there, you know, it was like a scene out of, um, Boys in the Hood where, you know, you got your boys, you know, there's been, you know, a rival gang that's, you know, that done shot and killed in one of your friends, and now it's like, okay, what are you going to do now? I was about to, you know, go and be down with my boys to stand 10 tones and go ride on them fools who did what they did to, you know, our, um, friend and my family member. But my brother, I had an older brother, an OG, who stepped to me and said, "Yeah, you can go there and do that with them. But what's going to happen is even if you are successful in accomplishing your task of getting them cats, now you got to deal with the jails, and you ain't special. You're just gonna end up in jail along with your boys, or you might not make it. You might just get killed, you know, on, on your way. So, do you really want to go that route?" And when it came time to do it, I was like, "Trey, let me out." Well, actually, I told them to get out. It was my car. And I, and I ended up leaving. And that's how I ended up going into the military and falling down this magic hole and going into, um, and being stationed in Japan.
Now Japan, they don't, they, I mean, they respect masculinity, but masculinity is, um, you ever seen The Bronx Tale? No. Okay. Robert De Niro was in The Bronx Tale, and he's always talking about, "Later for them gangsters. The, the, the working man is the real gangster. You know, let, let's see them work a nine-to-five and, and come home and support their family, you know, right?" So, that's the type of masculinity that they respect overseas. The person who's going to go and work and come and provide for the family, not the person who's going to, who's willing, who got hands and willing to protect the family. They want that, too. But more so because there is no stability here. They're looking for the man who's going to provide the stability. Right. Right. And they're not respecting the guy who's over here trying to be, you know, the big bully on the block.
So I ended up getting a lot more respect in Japan because, number one, I was the guy who provided the stability, and I was also the one who was very respectful, and I was, you know, among them. And I guess that's another reason why I have a, I've had a lot of problems in the United States dealing not just in romantic relationships, but relationships, period, because they're, as I said, they're more so on Darwinism, survival of the fittest, the jungle. Everybody's competing for the crap, for the crown. So they're trying to try you to see how tough you are. When you leave America, the further east that you go, it's more about cooperation. Who are you going to, I mean, who are you and what are you providing to the community? How are you helping us to be able to elevate the whole thing? It's, we don't care about, you know, one person getting up. We want, we all want to get up. So, we all working together in order to make this happen.
Okay. Okay. Cool. So, I don't really have any more questions outside of what we talked about. Is there anything else you want to tell us or something that we should know? I know you have your book and all that, but anything else that, you know, maybe you want to tell somebody who may be considering, you know, moving to Panama or things like that?
If you come in here for cheap clapping, we, we full. [laughter]
You know what's interesting? I, I noticed, I mean, control, but a lot of the brothers, you know, I know they, they didn't mess up the Colombia. Some of them brothers, they didn't, they destroyed the Colombia. They messed up some of y'all mess with the DR, but I've never heard brothers, um, you know, going to Panama messing nothing up there. Um, why, why you think that is?
Oh, because the, um, Panama gets their money from the, their retirement visa that they have here. So, you have more retirees here. So they don't have a chica market here. So you're not going to come here and you're going to just see, go to one area and you're just going to see an open market full of just chasing around looking for, um, men. You don't see that here because they don't need that. You know, the, um, as I said, there's so many retirees here. Um, what they're looking for is, you know, senior care, assisted living. You know, those are the things that you'll be able to benefit off of here.
Got it. Got it. Got it. Okay. So, any, any last words? Um, anything you want to let everybody know?
No, I appreciate you having me on the panel. And, you know, I, um, you actually had me on, um, your, uh, one of your, uh, it was dealing with Ronin the Travel where you was, you did a, a clip or a short, you know, talking about, uh, guys dating overseas, dating, um, black women, 'cause I guess they were saying that these guys overseas, they're not dating black women. And then you showed proof that most guys that go overseas, they are dating Afro-Asians and Afro-Latinas. And I was one of those guys who actually came on and say, "Yeah, we over here dating the black girls." Oh, okay. All right. So, yeah, I appreciate you giving me that shout out, and I appreciate you having me on the panel, um, you know, this time. And yeah, you know, check out the books that are on Amazon if you really want to know more about, um, the journey of the, you know, of my, my journey because, as I said, it's written in novel form. So, you know, it's a, it's a romance novel. Hopefully, I can get somebody to turn it into a movie. [laughter]
Okay. I, I'll put the link, um, the first comment pinned at the top. You know, I'mma buy the book myself once I get, even go to sleep right now. But once I get up, you know, I'll put it there. And again, you know, as my apology, I was supposed to, um, to do this, um, maybe like about a month ago, and there's another brother that I was supposed to interview that he was, he's living in the Philippines. I, I forgot what his name was, but he never even, oh, yeah. That's, we're, we're all in the same class. Like how you was talking about how you, um, uh, Media Tutorials, uh, Lead Attorney, um, Ronin Travels, Ronin the Wandering Travels, Vacation Time with Ryan, Charlie Chan, all of us that were on your, um, panel the night, the night that you was talking about, uh, Jamie Fox, we all work together, you know, and Charlie Chan, you know, he always says in this thing of ours, it's, you know, the travel space ecosystem, we are the new class that's coming up under you all to be able to, you know, just bring more good, you know, wholesome black content. Okay. To the, to the black space. Yeah. 'Cause he, he, he the one that, uh, I think he said the lady me on Facebook or something like that. I've been meaning to talk to him. So, man, thank you so much. Thank you for being patient with me. I know I was supposed to do this, and, um, shout out to Ronin the Travelers because actually you had emailed me, and I didn't see it. So, shout out to Ronin, and thank you for supporting me obviously and, you know, for throughout the years. And, um, hopefully this video is good. So, subscribe to, uh, Black, The Black Cleaner. That's his YouTube channel. Uh, you know, go support him, and he has some good stuff over there for you guys. And with that, we're out. Peace. Base.