It's All About Healing

How Surviving Street Violence, Hurricanes, And Snowy Roads Taught Me To Take Life One Day At A Time, with Chauncey Mays: Epsiode 368

• Robin Black

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What does it actually feel like to stand inside the chaos—sirens blaring, crowds surging, storms rolling in—and keep your head clear enough to help? We sit down with Chauncey Mays, a Florida-born cop, former firefighter, trucker, and dad, to trace a life spent where pressure is high and time is short. His stories are raw, funny, and disarming: a jam-packed Easter block party where gunfire cracks through the music, hurricane evacuations that turn gas stations into flashpoints, and a semi skidding through unplowed streets while the clock keeps ticking.

Chauncey opens up about the emotional toll of public safety: the calls involving kids, the wrecks that never leave your mind, and the quiet moments when you have to reset before the next dispatch. We unpack practical tools for resilience—fast debriefs with coworkers, the right kind of dark humor, and the discipline to call it when conditions turn unsafe. Along the way, he reminds us why service still matters, from the State Guard’s hurricane support to lifting a stranger out of the sand on a crowded beach. The thread running through it all is a steady creed: take one day at a time, handle what’s in front of you, and don’t let tomorrow’s noise drown out today’s choices.

It’s not all heavy. We talk fatherhood, travel in Old San Juan, and even a spirited review of budget-friendly cruises—proof that joy and recovery belong in every resilience plan. If you’re curious about law enforcement realities, firefighter life, hurricane prep, trucking in winter, or how to cope without going numb, this conversation offers grounded insights and a few much-needed laughs. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a boost, and leave a review telling us the one habit that helps you stay steady when everything tilts.

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SPEAKER_01:

Welcome back, listeners. I'm Robin Black, and this is It's All About Healing Podcast. Today we have a very special guest, a good friend of mine, Chauncey Mays. And we're just going to be speaking today about life's adversities and the things that we have gone through. So, Chauncey, tell us a little bit about yourself first.

SPEAKER_00:

What's going on, Rob? Always good to see you. You looking good as always. Thank you. Uh yeah, she's right. I am a little special, but we'll get to that later on in the podcast. No, I'm from Lake City, Florida, if anybody knows what that is. I'm from there originally. I live in Jacksonville now. Yeah, I mean, I grew up a regular normal country life. You know, got my ass tore up when I was a kid, but you know, I was pretty equal to what you would call normal, whatever that is, middle class, I guess. You know, we weren't rich, but we weren't super poor. Okay, so we weren't po e po. We were poor. All right. So I guess that's a step above. Like we weren't we weren't po, but we was just poor, you know what I mean? Like but but but it was cool though, you know what I mean? Um other than that, you know what I'm saying? Like, um I uh why are you laughing at me?

SPEAKER_01:

I did not expect you to say that, but okay. So tell us a little bit because you were a police officer, right? How long ago were you a police officer?

SPEAKER_00:

Technically, I still am, but um for I think this will be year 12 in November, so 11 years.

SPEAKER_01:

What that is crazy. I didn't know that. I didn't know you were a police officer that long.

SPEAKER_00:

So and then I started in 2014, I think, in November of 14, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And then prior to us coming on the show, you had stated that you had been shot before. Tell us a little bit about that. What happened?

SPEAKER_00:

I wasn't I wasn't shot, I was shot at.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, well, tell us a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, uh typical Easter gathering. You know, you know how we do, you know, we like to get together and put on. Yeah, and uh it's I mean, it was kind of the norm though, because every Easter you knew it was gonna happen, so they threw block parties. Well, you know, all us get together, and you know, once the liquor get to going, and everybody done left church, you know, it's time to party. So they had a block party of about I mean, it was every bit of probably seven, eight thousand people, my just estimation. Yeah, um, and I don't know exactly what happened, but a fight of some sort broke out. It's me and two other cops for all these people, like that no, it's just one just ball of like just ball of people. Nobody can move, nobody can do anything because everybody's just packed in there together. Yeah, so I'm kind of standing on the outside of the crowd because I need to be able to move when it goes down because I knew it was going down. It's Lake City. I grew up here, like I know it's gonna go down. I'm just looking at my watch and go, should be getting, yeah, shots should be rang out any minute now. So, yeah, so a little while later, you hear the gunfire, but I'm you should you see people disperse, everybody trying to run. So you know it only takes one person, the niggas to start running, and we well, we out of it. Yeah, so but it's so many people, you know, as an officer, you can't really see where the gunfire is coming from. You know what I mean? I can't see no muzzle flash, I don't know who shot, it's multiple. So I just had to kind of take some cover, so I don't, you know, take one to the face. And so I took cover behind this, like the side by side, it was backed into a yard, and uh they shot the side of the side by side, and I was sitting on the other uh, I was laying down on the other side of it, and this bullet came in, it went up because if it'd come in, it probably shot me in the neck or some crazy shit.

SPEAKER_01:

But oh my god, it didn't.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, it was pretty wild.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00:

And I told them after that I never work another Easter. Uh y'all have fired my ass before I work another Easter.

SPEAKER_01:

I was just curious, were you did you go back out on that detail? So I guess that's a nah.

SPEAKER_00:

No, nah, yeah. Uh-uh. No, I called out every Easter after that.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, yeah. I can't say I blame you for that, but it was just only Easter. I'm surprised it wasn't like that on different holidays.

SPEAKER_00:

That was kind of the big like crowd day. Because I mean you had other ones like Mother's Day, that's a that's also a big one. Um, it's usually uh Easter and Mother's Day, Martin Luther King Day, it ain't like it used to be back in the day. That was usually a big one, but not so much anymore. Um, but I mean it's just yeah, I I've seen all kinds of stuff, man. You don't some of that stuff I'll never ever forget.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Between my days as a cop and I was a firefighter for eight years, also. What? Yeah. Yeah, I've done it all. Yeah, I'm like a I'm like a black Mexican, you know what I mean? I don't I I don't have I done had so many jobs, bro. Like for real. The only thing I ain't done for real was like flowing an airplane. I ain't never drove a train.

SPEAKER_01:

So Johnsy, what and then at the firefighter, what are some of the the craziest things that you've seen or that were difficult for you to deal with or handle?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, anything involving kids is always tough because I have two of my own. Um so that was that always tugged at me a little bit. And you know, like just with that, no, nothing's ever really good in those public safety jobs. It's not like you're going, you know, when you get called to something, you're going to like celebrate somebody, or you know, it's something happy that you're going to. It's always something bad negative. But yeah, anything involving kids was was was was worse was bad and car crashes. I wasn't a huge fan of them because they get nasty. And you know, people that like are still in houses that can't get out of them when when it burns up. Yeah, that ain't never easy. And just dealing with like family members and stuff too, man. It's hard to, you know, watch somebody, you know, watch or have to hear that their loved one didn't make it, you know. So no, no, it's it ain't an easy job, but sometimes you just gotta compartmentalize because you know, when that's over, you just gotta get back on the truck and go to the next, or get back in the car and go to the next call, you know what I mean? So yeah, you just kind of have to find ways to deal with it.

SPEAKER_01:

So you say you you compartmentalize, and yeah, tell us a little bit how you do that because I know a lot of people struggle with compartmentalizing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's not easy. Yeah, I think the easiest thing to do is to just kind of have like a debrief or talk to like somebody. So, like a coworker, like if if you know, me and another cop, you know, we just got some of that, you know, we talk about it, you know what I mean? So that kind of gets that you know, that that buildup off your chest, you know what I'm saying? It just kind of like allows you to bring it down and just kind of settle down a little bit, yeah. You know what I mean? So you ain't holding it all in. You don't have to have like an in-depth conversation, like like a long drawn-out conversation, but you know what I mean. And a lot of cops and like fire and people in like public safety jobs, you know, unfortunately, like we kind of make jokes about kind of stuff like that, but it kind of helps, you know what I mean, like take that that edge off, you know. Not that the situation is funny, but it's just a way of how we handle, you know, that kind of stuff. Because it's never good, man. It's some shitty stuff you see, man. It's just like, yeah, you know, you you yeah, you just have to kind of uh laugh through whatever batch it you just saw, if that makes any sense.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. And then, excuse me, and then uh I know you recently just went into the military. Tell us because they you had to sign, or no, no, wait, hold on. They did a waiver for the AR.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it's this it's this it's the State Guard, so it's not technically that military, it's the State Guard, it's some it's it's Ron DeSantis' little army, uh-huh. But it's more for like a force multiplier for like National Guard. Um just extra, yeah, it's just an extra hand, you know, if they need help. But like, we know in Florida we have a bunch of hurricanes, so yeah, it's just like you know, people need trees cut down and stuff. It's just kind of a front line boots on the ground instead of waiting for the National Guard, you know, we can kind of mobilize and and do that kind of stuff. We didn't have any hurricanes this year, so I didn't get to go to uh any deployments or anything. Um, so that's about it on that. I don't know how much longer it's gonna be around, so who knows?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, okay. So, but so you would you would like to do something like that to to help others. You like helping?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean that it's pretty much what I've done my whole life because when I started firefighting, I was 19 years old. Yeah, you know, and some of that's like I told you, I had never seen none of the stuff I seen, you know, being that young. I was fresh out of high school, yeah. So that I mean, and then I went right into that and you know, I had a brief pause of truck driving for a little bit, and then that's when I went and got into law enforcement. So, I mean, for the last almost 20 years, I've been in public safety helping folks, which they don't always appreciate it, but anyway, whatever. You know, people don't always tell you thank you. They kind of give you the ass the kids, but it's all good.

SPEAKER_01:

And I know when I met you in in truck driving, which I am still very glad that I met you because you are hilarious. I I just the way we just vibe was absolutely amazing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I was born this way, man. Y'all, y'all, I was born like this. I don't even know, I can't even make this up. These ain't jokes.

SPEAKER_01:

And what did you say the first time? Wait a minute. I don't even know if I should say it, but the first time, I think the first conversation that you and I had, you said that you was riding dirty because you know what was your your medical card?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I had left it at the house, man. Like I had I didn't mean I didn't put it back in my bag, and so when I got the indie, I was looking for my stuff. I'm like, damn, I ain't got my medical card, bro. Well, it is what it is. I just ride dirty this trip. Boy, you know I was out there thugging it. That's how it is, that's how I'd be though, man. I ain't have time to be doing all that that extra stuff, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. But what so what struggles did you have with any type of truck driving? What have you faced with that?

SPEAKER_00:

As far as what now? Because that's I mean, there's a whole lot of struggles.

SPEAKER_01:

Anything dealing with the people, the customers, the driving, anything.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh well, people can't drive, you know. Everybody wants to cut off the truck, everybody wants to squeeze, you know. They want to, you know, take this much space and try to put you know the expedition in a damn three-inch space, you know what I mean? Like, bro, come on, but then get mad if they run into you, like, bruh, you see me sitting here, dog. Yeah, you know what I mean. Like, I think for me though, the biggest thing was learning how to drive in the snow. Yes, because like I didn't, I mean, I live in Florida, obviously, so we don't know how to do that. And I when I drove over the road for a little bit, I was like in the southeast, so I never really got like those heavy winters, like I never really knew what winter was like until I started traveling um at PLG, man. Like that was some whole different type shit, man. Because like, remember those snowstorms that we got hit with, like back to back?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I was lost.

SPEAKER_00:

Like, I was just like, Lord, please don't let me put this truck in this ditch. I'm sly, I'm talking about boy, I'm out there swerving like a mud.

SPEAKER_01:

Just why didn't you ever say anything?

SPEAKER_00:

Man, what I'm gonna say because they were just gonna tell me, hey, just slow down and be careful. But hey, get the groceries off the truck. You better bring the truck back empty, okay? And then tomorrow, guess what? It's gonna be worse conditions, and you're gonna go back out there and do the same thing.

SPEAKER_01:

But you never even told me. You said you were just sliding everywhere, man.

SPEAKER_00:

Bruh, I was out there on skates because I'm talking about trailer, just all over the road. I think, and I think one day I was coming through a neighborhood. I had made the wrong turn, but I couldn't see like it was snow everywhere, they hadn't plowed nothing. Man, I'm pretty sure I ran over somebody's mailbox. I ain't say nothing, you know. Yeah, man, I I couldn't control it. I couldn't control it. Like it was snow everywhere. I I I was lost. I didn't know where to go. I was going to like a Mexican restaurant. I eventually got there. And remember, I think when I called you and told you I was, I was like, nah, man, I'm I'm bringing this back. That last stop ain't getting done. I was like, I got to get out of this. But yeah, no, we're gonna we we're gonna have a catastrophe around here, but y'all ain't gonna have me on the news. Not this guy. Nope. Y'all, hey, you better tell hey, them they can get it tomorrow. I give them the address to the yard and they can come pick it up in the van.

SPEAKER_01:

Something is wrong with you. And so, and you said that you have you have two kids, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, I have two.

SPEAKER_01:

And what are their ages?

SPEAKER_00:

20 and 16.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, and because you recently took your daughter. Where did you take your daughter again? Was it Puerto Rico?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh yeah, we that was yeah, that was a couple Christmases ago, but yeah, we went to uh yeah, we went to Puerto Rico. That was cool.

SPEAKER_01:

No, where did you take her? What was it? I think it was around Valentine's Day or something, wasn't it last year?

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so last year. I don't remember.

SPEAKER_01:

You took her from her. What was what was that trip like? Because it wasn't in her 16th or something like that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, but I'm trying to remember exactly though, because we've done a lot. Yeah, we'll just talk about yeah. The port we'll talk about the Puerto Rico thing, that's the one I remember the most about because we've started the longest. Like it was cool, like it was fun. The weather, man. I wish the weather was like that, like everywhere, all the time. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like, and like the people was cool too. I didn't know they that they like church's chicken just as much as we do. Like that line was I stood in that line for that chicken for about an hour and a half, bro. I think they ran out of chicken. Well, it's Puerto Ricans everywhere. I'm like, I like this, I could get down with this, you know what I mean? I was just like, dang, I ain't know they they get down like this, man. But they have some good food too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that was cool, man. Like it the like the old San Juan, like to they got like the forts and like just the history and and and like the architecture, how the city was built. Now it's a whole vibe. If anybody gets a chance, so I recommend that they go. One of my homeboys, the other guy that that got shot at that was with me. The story I was just telling you, he lives in Puerto Rico now.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, okay. And so in Puerto Rico, they have uh churches.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, they got churches, Burger King. I ain't seen no Popeyes. I was looking though, so I had to settle at the churches. Yeah, they got churches. Man, that's that was swole, bro. I was just I walked in, I was like, okay, hey, all right, but then it's just more people kept coming in there, and they all locals, yeah. You know what I mean? Like, I was just like, okay, it was hot as hell, but other than that, I was like that that was cool. Columbia was cool. Um, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I I went on I went to Mexico on a cruise. That was all right. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

A cruise? I I am terrified to go on a cruise. So wait, tell me how that experience was.

SPEAKER_00:

It ain't it's not horrible. I mean, it's not super great, it's not super terrible, but it depends on like what your level of cruise is, too. Yeah, because you can go on like the big night ship, or you can just go on a ship, you feel me? So it just depends on, you know what I'm saying, what your budget looked like, you know what I mean? I I was kind of, you know, we was balling on the budget, homie. Like, you know what I mean? We didn't go, you know, on the Mac Daddy. We was a little bit above just a ship, you know. At least our ship had a name. So yeah, it was cool. Like, but I mean, it's cool to be like out there cruising around on the water and stuff, you know. They have like the activities, like the food ain't always the best, uh-huh, you know, because it's like buffet style. Now, the breakfast, I think on the last one, I went to the breakfast was my favorite, but I was always up. I was during there the first in line every morning waiting on it. Yeah, yeah, it was good. Like, uh, it was Margaritaville. It was straight though. I liked it. But I think it's better to like if you go on vacation than like fly in somewhere because you ain't held to a curfew like on a cruise. Like we went to the Keys and then Mexico, so you can only have so much time off the boat, and then you got to get on. So it's just like you don't have a whole lot of time to do like maybe everything you want. So you just gotta kind of pick a few things, squeeze it in the time cross because they will leave your ass, okay? Yeah, and I ain't got time to be trying to swim behind the boat, like hey, so and how long were you on that cruise?

SPEAKER_01:

Like, what was the limit? Were you on there for like four days? What was it?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think it's like four or five days. And so what was it?

SPEAKER_01:

What was it? Was it a carnival? Was it Norwegians?

SPEAKER_00:

No, no, uh, Margaritaville.

SPEAKER_01:

That was the name of the cruise?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, see, there you go. That's why I say it. We wasn't just on ABO, we was a step above, it had a name, okay? It had a name. So if y'all want me to be your cruise critic, I could do that too. I ain't been on but like three of them, but the three I've been on, boy, I could get the hell out of them. I need y'all a uh uh uh I give y'all a a great I'll paint a great picture of what it's like.

SPEAKER_01:

I've never heard of it. So see, so is it big or is it like a smaller cruise? Like what is it?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it it yeah, it wasn't like a huge ship. I mean, it was on the smaller side, but like it had everything you needed to do. But the thing is, is once you kind of do everything on those long uh those longer trips, like it kind of can get a little boring, yeah, unless you just like to gamble, you know, you can go in this casino, spend all your money, you know what I mean. But like for me, I think like the most important was the alcohol, the drink package. I have to have that, yeah. You know what I mean? Because I like to do my thing.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, but I think overall for the price, I thought it was cool. Yeah, you know what I mean. Like, I can't go on a cruise and not have a balcony, it's just kind of right. I think it's mandatory. I think they should all have balconies, but that's just not feasible, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, okay. I just I never thought when you said margaritaville, at first I thought you were talking about a name of a drink or you know, I mean a place to go. So I didn't know that that was.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it is a place to go, too. They it's a restaurant, you know, but it's also a cruise line, too. It's a smaller one. I don't know how long they've been around, yeah, uh doing cruises, but yeah, it was it was cool. I mean, it's just a nice little cheap trip. Yeah, yeah. Like, yeah, it sailed out of Tampa.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, and is it that the Only place that it ports from or you know departs from?

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know. They may go out of Port Canaver, but I'm not 100% sure. Because that was the first time I had been on that one. But it was straight. I mean, if you, you know what I'm saying, want to be cheap and hang out. You can't see the cheap.

SPEAKER_01:

What was what was the cost, Chauncey?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, see, so with the drinks, and I mean it was like 1500 bucks, man.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And you were gone for four nights.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, five.

SPEAKER_01:

Five. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Interesting.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. No, it was cool, man. Like, you know, we went to Mexico, and that is funny. We was on the beach. Uh-huh. And so we was just in the water chilling. And so I look up, and this this lady, she she she she told up. I'm talking about from the flow up, and she can't even get up out of the sand. And like her, she had, I guess it was her daughter, uh, a daughter and daughter boyfriend or something. And they was trying to help her up. Like, she like face buried, bro. Like, she can't even move. So I swam over there and like helped to get up out of the sand. She was wasted. Like, wasted, wasted. And then I see the little Mexican dude bringing the little like wheelchair over there to like get up out of there, man. And then she's the next day. I think I seen her on the ship. She act like she knows. I should have let you stay down there in that sand.

SPEAKER_02:

Shut up.

SPEAKER_00:

You can at least say thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

If she was drunk, she probably didn't remember it, Chancy.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, hey, that ain't my fault. That's that's her problem. They should have told the hey, that was the guy that picked you up out of the store. You know what I'm saying? You know how we do, you know what I'm saying? He threw it up at me. He's just like, we're glad you helped me with that. Get that mug out the sand. Well, he was over there struggling too. I sat there laughing a little bit. So I had to swim over there, man, because I was in the water, so I had to kind of get out the water, but it was bad. I usually mind my own business, but it was bad. She was gonna get left in Mexico on the beach. She'd have probably woke up maybe an hour from now. Like she was still gonna be to sleep out there, bro. Yeah, crazy. Crazy.

SPEAKER_01:

It's crazy, is because when we first met, I thought your accent sounded more like you were from Louisiana.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh no, yeah, yeah, I've been to New Orleans before. That was fun. That was a whole vibe.

SPEAKER_01:

How long were you there, or was it just like a trip?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, no, I went to New Orleans back in 2018. I think I was there for about four days.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, so it was just it was just a trip, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You basically lived in Florida your whole life.

SPEAKER_00:

My whole life.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, yeah, because your accent just tripped me out.

SPEAKER_00:

I man, Florida, Florida, the best kept secret in the world, man. I keep telling people that. I mean, it ain't no nap time, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, you know, it ain't 317, but dang, you know what I mean? It's it's nah, because like we just have good weather and like we don't have them hard winters, you know what I mean. It's like maybe 40 degrees outside, but I'm freezing like a mug.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and have you ever been involved in in a hurricane?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. I mean, they it's Florida, so they come, they don't come every year, but I mean, I'd say every four, maybe five years, you get some bad ones, like some real bad ones. So like when I was a cop, I had to work, like they made me work like in the hurricane, man. It was terrible.

SPEAKER_01:

So, what happens in the middle of a hurricane, though? Like the bad ones, like what are you guys doing?

SPEAKER_00:

I I'm usually drinking, but I mean, like, okay, so just the obvious thing. So you have like high winds, right? You know what I mean? You have a little bit of you mean you have rain, it's just like rain and wind, thunder and lightning, anything that comes with like a thunderstorm. But it's just those winds are so violent, like it just tears everything up. Then you and then throw in the tornadoes along with it, yeah, that just run rampant, and like it'll tear the whole, like it tore the whole city up almost, like as far as like the infrastructure. So, not like every house was blown over, but like the infrastructure, like nobody in the whole county had power. None of the traffic lights worked, there were trees down all over, blocking roads. Well, I remember like the lead up to it, it was like the last one that came through South Florida, it was the lead up, like they evacuated, it was mandatory evacuation for like all the people in South Florida, so they all migrate north. So, like traffic is backed up for like hundreds of miles, like people start running out of gas. So, like in Lake City, it just got like bad real quick. Yeah, because once traffic starts to back up, you know, then all the gas stations starts to get start to get full, you know what I mean? Then everybody the thing about Floridians is like y'all know winter's coming, right? It comes around every single year, and you just prepare for it, right? In Florida, they can tell us, you know, a month from now, on this day, we're gonna have a bad hurricane. Floridians, we'd be like, okay, yeah, all right, cool. Whatever. All right, yeah, you know what I'm saying? A week out, hurricanes coming, get prepared. Yeah, okay. You know, all right. Yeah, the day before, that's when we start preparing. You go to the stove, they ain't got nothing, you know. They and why the first thing that that the people always grab off the shelf with the toilet paper, bruh. When when you tell Florida is a hurricane coming, boy, hey, you better make sure you got the toilet paper cup because you ain't gonna get none if you go to the stove. Yeah, toilet paper and water, you ain't gonna have no power, and if you live in the country, your well ain't gonna work anyways. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, then you know they they jacked the price up on like generators and stuff. They be price gouging, like you know what I mean. They be trying to get off on us, but it be our fault because they told us a month ago that a hurricane was coming. Now all of a sudden, 12 hours out from the from landfall. Now we out buying shit. Crazy, man. I don't get it, and I'm just as guilty. I'm one of them. I be trying to go out right before the herd, right before it starts raining. Like it don't be nothing on the shelves, like the stores be wiped out, you know what I mean? Like then when you evacuate all the people from South Florida, it just depletes the resources because it's only so many. So you know, to go around, there's only so much gas, there's only so much water, toilet paper, all the essentials, you know what I mean. All the hotels was full, you know what I'm saying? So like people didn't really have nowhere to go. So it gets to a point to where these like convenience stores were getting so overrun with the traffic, like people was going in there just stealing, like they couldn't even control it. Yeah, like it was it was it was wild. Like I that was the kind of the first time I had seen a situation like get out of hand before the storm even come. You know what I mean? Because like you just I mean, it would be they would be over capacity in these in like the convenience store, like the gas station or the Dollar General, to where you know people just they get desperate and they just start taking stuff because it's only like maybe two people working in there, they can't control those 80, 90 people in there, people fighting in the parking lot over gas, like fights breaking out everywhere, traffic backed up just in the city from just miles and miles. So it puts a strain on like the locals and it stretches the resources of like the public safety, you know, because there's only so many ambulances, right? So you have to deal with the day-to-day stuff, and then you have to also deal with the stuff that comes with all that extra traffic you got because there's crashes spikes. So, to a point, it just kind of just goes to shit because there's just not, like I say, enough resources to go around. So you get that kind of stuff, and you can only you can prepare as much as you want, but it's not always, you know, like I say, feasible because at some point, situation is gonna dictate, and you just hope that you can manage it more or less, you know. I mean, you can try to prevent certain things, but you can't prevent everything. But as far as just like a resident, yeah, like you get trees down on your houses, you know. I mean, it I've seen it pick houses like mobile homes up off foundations and like put them across the road.

SPEAKER_01:

Dang, have you ever experienced one that just absolutely terrified you?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, they all do, you know. I mean, I've been fortunate enough to where I haven't like had a tree fall on my house or you know, where I was living. I hadn't had any, like my car hadn't been, you know, sent across the road. Like I hadn't had, I mean, minor stuff, trees fall down. I mean, like falling on a fence and busting the fence up, you know what I mean. But you you live with stuff like that though, you feel me? Because it's easier to have a to fix a fence than it is to you know have half your house rebuilt because a tree fell on it, you did, right? You know, or like mass flooding, or sometimes I've seen houses catch fire to a hurricane, right? And ain't sending no resources to you, right? Right, because then you create a bigger problem, you know what I mean. You you know, if you're putting other people's safety in jeopardy and something happens, now you just just exacerbated a problem even more, even more. So, yeah, so it's I mean, outside of that though, like I say, man, Florida, the best kept secret in the world, but y'all better get y'all better get out trying to tell you.

SPEAKER_01:

And what part are you in again? You're in Jacksonville now.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We in Duval, man.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Well, Chauncey, it's been amazing catching up with you and talking to you and having you share great.

SPEAKER_00:

Appreciate you having me on, man. I hope we uh I was able to share some insight.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, definitely. And I was able to catch up.

SPEAKER_00:

So every little do I get a second round? Do I get a second round to come back?

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay. As long as I wasn't a complete bust, I'm good.

SPEAKER_01:

If not, anytime that you want to come back, you're more than welcome to come back on the show.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, yeah, good to see you, Rob. Good to see you.

SPEAKER_01:

No problem. And is there any if you can think of any advice to give listeners? What is one piece of advice that you would give?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, um, this game of life is just gonna life, man. Just take it one day at a time, man. Whenever problems come, man, just deal with them one thing. Hey, I'll worry about that when I get to it. You know, you can only handle so much, so don't overstress yourself. Take one step at a time, one day at a time, man. That's how I live. You know, I'm out here thugging.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, whatever. But again, thank you, everyone. Again, I'm your host, Robin Black, and this is It's All About Healing Podcast. Everyone, stay blessed.