Topic Talk | Man or Bear?
The A to Z English Podcast
Choosing between a Strange Man and a Bear
A debate ensues on whether encountering a strange man or a bear poses a greater risk for a woman alone in the woods, delving into societal issues of harassment and the perceived dangers of humans versus wildlife.
In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl presents Jack with a conundrum:
Would you rather have your daughter or wife encounter a strange bear or a strange man while alone in the woods?
Transcript:
00:00:00
Jack
Hey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.
00:00:17
Jack
And if you.
00:00:18
Jack
Join the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.
00:00:22
Jack
Talk with social.
00:00:23
Jack
And we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.
00:00:49
Jack
Welcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we have another topic talk for you and social you have kind of a I don't know what you would call like a situation or a conundrum. A conundrum is like a difficult decision or difficult situation.
00:01:09
Jack
So what is your? What is the conundrum?
00:01:12
Xochitl
Jack, this has become really popular in my medicines in the last, maybe even couple of months and it's very popular amongst American medicine. So I'm curious to hear what your answer is. So without any context, let's say that your wife and your daughter are in the woods.
00:01:32
Xochitl
Lost and alone. And they have, you know, no Internet cell service. Whatever to call you or call anyone else.
00:01:39
Xochitl
Would you rather they come across a strange man that no like you? You don't know? They don't know. Nobody knows him or his intentions or anything. Or would you rather they come across a bear?
00:01:50
발표자
Yeah.
00:01:51
Jack
No. OK. So just to for our listeners there, in in, in case you didn't catch that you said social that my my wife and my daughter are in the woods just walking in the woods. They have no cell phone, no way to to contact anybody.
00:02:12
Jack
And the question is, would I rather they come across a bear or a strange man that they don't know?
00:02:21
Xochitl
Yes, correct.
00:02:23
Jack
OK.
00:02:25
Jack
This is, you know, this should be an easy question. I mean, if we lived in like a, like, a a reasonable world, you know, where we, you know. But I feel like I listen to a lot of, like, true crime podcasts. And so I just, I've listened to too much true crime to.
00:02:44
Jack
To to answer this one easily, what kind of bear is it? Is it a grizzly bear?
00:02:50
Xochitl
Don't know. We don't know what kind.
00:02:52
Xochitl
Of bear it is. It's just.
00:02:52
Jack
You don't know what kind of bear it is. It could be a brown bear. It could be a black bear. It could be a a grizzly bear.
00:02:57
Xochitl
Come here. Just sit there. It's just like you don't know what kind of man it is. You.
00:03:03
Xochitl
Also don't know.
00:03:04
Xochitl
What kind?
00:03:04
Xochitl
Of bear it is. Yeah, have.
00:03:06
Xochitl
Some good choice there.
00:03:09
Jack
Do I know the gender of the bear?
00:03:12
Xochitl
Uh, no.
00:03:16
Jack
All right. Because, you know, if it if it were, uh, if it were a female bear, I would be, I would. I would choose the man because, you know, if if the if the if a if a female bear is protecting her Cubs. If her Cubs are in the area. That's a very dangerous situation. So I would.
00:03:36
Jack
I would just hope that the man is not a psychic, a psychotic killer. You know, a psycho.
00:03:44
Jack
Right.
00:03:46
Jack
If the if the bear were male I uh, it's probably gonna just leave them alone, you know? Like it just it it they.
00:03:54
Jack
You know, they don't really necessarily see humans as prey, necessarily, unless they're starving, you know, they'll they'll pretty much just. They might play around with you or whatever, which is terrifying. You know, that could still kill you or injure you. But generally speaking, they'll they'll leave you alone.
00:04:16
Jack
If it's a if it's a male Baron, it's starving. It'll it'll eat you. So that in that case, I mean, there's just too many. I guess there are too many variables when it comes to the bear.
00:04:25
Xochitl
You can't overcomplicate Jack. You don't know because also you could also think you know black bears like 100% of the time, pretty much like 99.9% of the time a black bear will run away if.
00:04:38
Xochitl
It sees a human like it'll just take.
00:04:39
Jack
Right, right. Exactly, exactly. They're they're they're not interested in humans. Really. You know, they might be curious.
00:04:44
Xochitl
They're scared. Blackberries are scared of humans. Actually a little bit like if they see one, I run into them. When I was camping in national parks, I we did like two week backpacking in national.
00:04:53
Xochitl
Like and they they like, run away, cause there's kind of scared of people, black bears, and they're pretty. They're kind of they're a lot smaller than grizzly bears, actually.
00:04:59
Jack
Yeah, yeah.
00:05:04
Xochitl
They're not that big.
00:05:04
Jack
The problem is just the. The problem is that bears are just too unreliable right now for me to like if my wife and my daughter came across the bear. They're just too you just, you just never know what's going to happen.
00:05:16
Jack
Like it's just.
00:05:16
Xochitl
Well, what about men? So men are are men reliable to you?
00:05:20
Jack
Well, I think a bear is going to do what a bear is going to do, right? Like like they're they weigh 500 lbs. They're going.
00:05:25
Xochitl
OK.
00:05:28
Jack
Them.
00:05:29
Jack
You know, if they decide that they want to, you know, bite you and mess you up, they'll do it. And it's really kind of like, it's very much like a a coin toss.
00:05:42
Jack
Now the man, on the other hand.
00:05:45
Jack
What percentage of of men are are psycho killers?
00:05:52
Jack
I mean like it's it's got to be.
00:05:54
Jack
It's got to be minuscule, right? It's got to be like small, small percentage.
00:05:57
Xochitl
That kind of bad Jack, because I was like, I realize that you're a good guy. And that's like, you don't think of this but like, think about it this way. How many men are psycho killers? Yeah. How many men are actually good people when they come across a woman alone in the woods?
00:06:14
Jack
I've been, I'm going to say still a large a majority.
00:06:19
Jack
A large majority are good, are good people, but there are there is a percentage of of of very bad people that are gonna that are going to be like a crime of we call this we we would call this a crime of opportunity right. It's like they're not necessarily they're not necessarily going to do.
00:06:21
Xochitl
OK, that's all.
00:06:35
Xochitl
Yes.
00:06:39
Jack
Anything in society, but when when society is not looking?
00:06:44
Jack
You know, and they feel like they can, you know, sneak their their hand into the cookie jar and get away with it. How many men, you know, what are they going to do?
00:06:57
Jack
This is this is like the Darkest podcast we've ever done. When I think about it.
00:07:01
Xochitl
Yeah, but I want to ask you something that might make it a little lighthearted and dark. Dark in a way. What would you have answered? How, what would you say if I said, would you rather that your wife and daughter come across a woman in the woods? A strange woman in the.
00:07:07
Jack
Yeah.
00:07:15
Xochitl
Woods or a bear in the woods?
00:07:17
Jack
Ohh woman yeah, 100 zero. Yeah, I wouldn't hesitate in.
00:07:18
Xochitl
Yeah, it's.
00:07:21
Jack
A for a SEC.
00:07:22
Jack
In.
00:07:23
Xochitl
And then like you see how bad it is that like we have to, we we've sat here having quite a long conversation debating whether a man or a bear is a is a worst threat. And when we think about a woman we're like, Oh yeah, that's fine because.
00:07:36
Jack
Yeah, a woman is is not a threat, just like a.
00:07:39
Xochitl
No, but also it just speaks about how poorly men behave in society and how many men are criminals and or just crappy people that.
00:07:50
Jack
Yeah, I mean it is, it is really, uh it it is really.
00:07:55
Jack
It it is, it is bad I-11. I remember a few months ago, my daughter was.
00:08:02
Jack
Coming home and she got harassed by some guy.
00:08:06
Jack
You know, she's 16 years old and yeah, I was. I was. I ran outside. I was like.
00:08:09
발표자
Oh.
00:08:13
Jack
Where? Where is he? I'm going to kill.
00:08:14
Jack
Him, you know.
00:08:16
Xochitl
What?
00:08:17
Jack
But it's just like you know, it's what women have to deal with in society, you know, getting harassed and things like that is kind of related to this question where, you know.
00:08:31
Jack
If if they were to come across a man in the woods.
00:08:35
Jack
It would. That is also terrifying.
00:08:39
Jack
But statistically, I would rather they come across a man than a bear because the bear is just too unreliable. I just don't know what the bear is going to do. I can't. I just can't trust the bear cause of the bear is just going to is going to do what's what's in its nature, you know, which is hunt or whatever, you know, like.
00:08:59
Jack
To attack, defend whatever it feels is necessary at that moment.
00:09:05
Jack
A man if 95% of men are are are decent people, that's a pretty those are pretty good odds, right? That she's not going to come across that other 5% so.
00:09:18
Xochitl
Wow, Jack, you have a really good you. You think 95% of men are decent people? I I'm not the only need a real audience or anything. I just think most men would, even. Most men would probably disagree with you on how many. What percentage of men are good people when a crime of opportunity arises.
00:09:25
Jack
Think so? Yeah.
00:09:38
Xochitl
And so I would have to say I'm closer to this 75 or 65% mark.
00:09:44
Jack
Ohh no, I don't. I that's that's too high. I I don't think I. I really don't think that uh that there that that men are that bad. I just think that like the the the crimes we how can I say it like like it's like it's over amplified in some ways like.
00:10:00
Jack
True crime like because it's, you know, you only hear about the the bad stories.
00:10:04
발표자
Like I think because.
00:10:06
Xochitl
You're a man that you feel this way.
00:10:08
Xochitl
Jack.
00:10:08
Jack
Do you think so?
00:10:08
Xochitl
I'm not trying to, you know. Yeah, you're you're biased because you haven't experienced everything that a woman experiences. Your daughter is only 16, and she's already been harassed on the street by a man.
00:10:10
Jack
Gender bias?
00:10:20
Jack
Yeah, yeah.
00:10:22
Xochitl
Think about that. That's kind of what women grow up with. I think the first time I was harassed by a man, I was nine years old.
00:10:28
발표자
Ah.
00:10:29
Jack
Yeah, that's awful. That's really. That's disgusting. And I mean, it's disgusting behavior. I guess he, I mean, you. I could be totally wrong here. You could be. You could be more on on on point than you know. 7525I I was. I guess I'm just I I 5% seemed like a high number to me.
00:10:29
Xochitl
So.
00:10:32
Xochitl
Yes, I have.
00:10:35
발표자
And.
00:10:49
Jack
Even then, you know like cause that's a lot of people. That's a lot of people, you know, that's like in the United States that would be 15,000,000 people, you know.
00:10:51
Xochitl
So funny.
00:10:55
Xochitl
Add.
00:10:59
Xochitl
You must surround yourself with really nice guys. Like really great.
00:11:04
Jack
Yeah, I guess I just, my my, my, my friends and and you know colleagues that I work with are just just very decent people I guess I.
00:11:05
Xochitl
Other men that are really great.
00:11:14
Jack
I don't.
00:11:15
Xochitl
Like I don't know and.
00:11:17
Xochitl
There's probably a part of it is also cultural.
00:11:21
Xochitl
But it I'll tell you netizens in the US, even though the US is, is to me a fairly safe country for women compared to Mexico and even compared to Korea in some contexts because, well, I did. Well, I did feel safe walking around Korea late at night to the convenience store or whatever.
00:11:41
Xochitl
Situations you see horrible things come out in the news about women in clubs in Korea and all sorts of horrible trafficking rings and terrible, you know, things that happen.
00:11:52
Jack
MHM.
00:11:52
Xochitl
So the US is a fairly safe.
00:11:55
Xochitl
Country for women, I think in my opinion.
00:11:59
Xochitl
Compared to where am right now.
00:11:59
Jack
Oh yeah, and I'm I was. I was thinking you might say, actually, I was just. I was kind of being like, UM, you know, but I but I. But I I I I think that like, you know, for the most part like.
00:12:12
Xochitl
I think it's like even though regardless of of the fact that that the USA is a safe country for women, most women medicines are choosing to be.
00:12:12
Jack
You can.
00:12:24
발표자
Here.
00:12:25
Jack
Really, they're going with the bear because the bear might just turn, cause they're thinking the bear is going to turn around and run away, and then they're they're then they're, it's done it. They're free. But the man is like you gotta, you gotta deal with this like.
00:12:27
Xochitl
And I have.
00:12:38
Jack
If he's a good guy, OK, fine. He'll help you get out of the woods. But you know, if he's crazy, you know, sick or deranged to man a sick, deranged man. Yeah, I would much rather have the bear. You.
00:12:56
Jack
Yeah, that's tough. It's a tough one. I'm still. I'm still gonna go with the man over the bear. I still think that the bear there are just too many variables with the bear. I just can't. I just can't trust the bear. And and and.
00:12:56
Xochitl
Right.
00:13:09
Xochitl
I'm gonna go with there. Sorry, go ahead.
00:13:11
Jack
No, no, no. You're going to go. You. So you, you're going to go with the banner.
00:13:14
발표자
I'd better go with.
00:13:15
Xochitl
The better than the man because I've I've grown up as a woman and I've experienced too many things throughout my life to trust random man in the world.
00:13:28
Xochitl
And I have encountered random beads in the wood.
00:13:32
Xochitl
Umm, when I was camping and backpacking. I have that experience and bears especially black bears, usually run away and grizzly bears are not as vicious as a lot of people think they are. If they're not, like really in attack mode, they kind of just chill all the time like they're starving and like they might eat.
00:13:52
Xochitl
You.
00:13:52
Jack
Yeah, they will. Yeah, yeah.
00:13:54
Xochitl
Well, what they can do is like, maim or eat you. I know it.
00:13:57
Xochitl
Sounds terrible like.
00:13:58
Jack
Our grizzly will mess you up, though that there those are terrifying. They're they're they're big, they're changing.
00:14:04
Xochitl
Yeah, if it attacks you. Yeah, it will mess you up. But you know, there's that whole documentary, Grizzly man, where he lived in most grizzly bears for like, 20 years before he was eaten by 1.
00:14:13
Jack
Yeah, but it's it's a bear.
00:14:16
Jack
I mean.
00:14:16
Xochitl
Yeah, like it's a man, just.
00:14:19
Jack
He's what if he's just, he's probably just.
00:14:20
Jack
Probably just a hunter. You know, he's probably out hunting. Just it's a nice guy, you know, trying to trying to shoot some shoot a deer.
00:14:26
Xochitl
A company I don't know if I've ever met a nice guy that like hunted animals. I mean, except for people who traditionally do like indigenous peoples. But, you know, I don't know most people who have hunting as like a hobby are kind of weird, too. It's like, I don't know, I I just wouldn't trust him, man. I just. I just don't know why there's too many variables.
00:14:46
Xochitl
The man. And so I would rather I would rather be maimed and killed by a bear.
00:14:51
Xochitl
Then if it came down to it, then like tortured and killed by a.
00:14:56
Xochitl
Man, I know it's so dark.
00:14:58
Jack
The more I think about this your answer, the more insane I think it is though, like a bear versus a man like a human.
00:15:07
Jack
I I don't know. I mean I I get, I get why you why? Why the medicines and why you you. Why you guys think like the bear is better.
00:15:08
발표자
Sing.
00:15:16
발표자
Here.
00:15:17
Jack
But I just think statistically.
00:15:20
Jack
The man would be a much safer bet.
00:15:24
Xochitl
Statistically, more than run away from you when they when they encounter you, like most of the time you're going.
00:15:30
Xochitl
To encounter a black bear.
00:15:32
Xochitl
And it's going to run.
00:15:34
Xochitl
Uh.
00:15:36
Jack
Like what percentage of the time do you think a bear would actually attack you though?
00:15:41
Jack
Do you think it's the same? Do you think it's like less than 5%?
00:15:41
Xochitl
That's right.
00:15:45
Xochitl
But I don't think that's less than 5% for men. Jack, I don't think that at all. I'm pretty.
00:15:50
Jack
Sure, it can't be more than 5% of men and that you're talking about like hundreds of millions of people, I mean.
00:15:53
Xochitl
I'm gonna look, let's look up statistics. I I'm gonna look up statistics on this. I'm gonna look up statistics and.
00:16:04
Xochitl
So one in.
00:16:05
Xochitl
Three women have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner.
00:16:09
Jack
Hmm.
00:16:11
Xochitl
And.
00:16:13
Xochitl
Let's see.
00:16:14
Jack
Yeah, that that tracks. I would. I would believe that.
00:16:20
Jack
But that's domestic violence a little different than in the woods, I think.
00:16:21
Xochitl
And.
00:16:24
Xochitl
It says I came across one statistically demonstrated that roughly 1/3 of women experience assault of some kind.
00:16:32
Xochitl
It's kind of a lack of reliable data here.
00:16:35
Jack
Yeah, I don't think it's hard to hard to gauge because what what you're talking about in the woods, this is like a full on like a felony level like, you know, crime like, like the worst crime you can do, you know? So I don't know that this is there's no way for us to.
00:16:48
Xochitl
Right.
00:16:53
Jack
To to really resolve it. I guess it's just kind of our feelings, you know?
00:16:54
Xochitl
Let's say 20.
00:16:57
Jack
Like I still.
00:16:57
발표자
So.
00:16:58
Xochitl
I'm going to come back next week with stats because I want because I I want, I'm going to come back next to the stats cause I feel like you have your blinders on your man and I want to dismantle it. So I yeah, I'm gonna also, I want you to talk to your wife. I want you to ask your wife just if you think she'd be down to answer.
00:17:10
Jack
I got to get my my main blinders off.
00:17:19
Jack
Yeah, yeah, sure, I'll. I'll ask her. I'll. I'll tell you what she says next week, for sure.
00:17:25
Xochitl
She's telling me like, why?
00:17:25
Xochitl
You're asking me this question.
00:17:27
Jack
Maybe that's a?
00:17:27
Jack
Weird. You know, I need to murder me. Yes.
00:17:29
Xochitl
Very, very good. Yeah. So I.
00:17:33
Xochitl
Have I been married to a serial serial killer? All.
00:17:35
Xochitl
These years.
00:17:35
Jack
Right, right.
00:17:37
Xochitl
Yeah, but you know, it is a weird question, but I think one thing that should give us pause is just thinking about how quickly would be to answer that if it were, if it were a woman in the world who would just automatically.
00:17:49
Xochitl
Who's a woman and what man we do? We do think, you know we're sitting here and thinking about it.
00:17:50
Jack
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:17:54
Jack
No, I think you I think you made you made the point and I think the point is very clear that there's a, there's a distinction.
00:18:02
Jack
And why is there there should not be one?
00:18:05
Jack
And it's it. It's sad. It's a sad commentary on our.
00:18:12
Jack
Society or our world or whatever, that, that, that I couldn't answer that one as fast as the.
00:18:19
Jack
You know that we that the answer is, you know when it's a woman, it's so quick to say the woman, but when it's a man, I'm hesitating, you know, right there it's it's already the point is already made. You know so.
00:18:33
Xochitl
Right.
00:18:34
Xochitl
Yeah. All right. Well, listeners, this was was a bit of a dark episode, but an interesting episode nonetheless. Yeah. So I'm curious to know what your answers are. Please leave us a comment at easing with podcast.com. Shoot us an e-mail at AZ englishpodcast@gmail.com and please join the WeChat and WhatsApp groups to join the conversation. I'm really, really curious.
00:18:54
Xochitl
See what the women think.
00:18:57
Xochitl
And yeah, I I gotta know. I gotta know, guys. So let let me know what you think and and we chat on subgroups and yeah. Also Jack and I have started an English corner and we do this Monday to today and it's really fun. We have a lot of fluent English speakers in there and we have a lot of people.
00:19:16
Xochitl
That you get a lot of speaking time to get to practice your English and better your English with your other whole learners classmates almost on the.
00:19:24
Xochitl
Just and I think that it's really interesting. We have discussion questions and I've had a really good time doing it so far and it's 10 USD a month, which is about 20 or sorry $0.50 a uh, a class is being 20 classes total. So yeah, I hope that you guys can join us for that. And if you're so interested, make sure to.
00:19:46
Xochitl
Send us a message and we'll get back to you on how you can join and we'll see you guys next time. Bye bye.
00:19:52
Jack
bye
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