#kickAChair
The episode starts off with DVK giving a disclaimer about how someone kicked a chair across the stage. They come out to start the show and kick that person out, and then they make Noah re-do the entire opening speech again, and they start the sing-along again. They try to figure out what just happened and realize that it was not a set-up or a joke. DVK comes up with #kickAChair off the cuff when he is reading a review. Rory is wearing his JGM sash. They do a lap around the stage for the gasser before the first letter. Rory mentions how he and his wife got their engagement ring (or wedding rings?) on Etsy for not a lot of money. The guys really dig in to the subtext of the letter wondering how this person came to wanting to get rid of an engagement ring to this particular podcast audience. DVK makes a reference to Rory’s engagement story where he proposed at an Explosions in the Sky concert (from the 01/02/2019 episode). Rory is worried that the ring is haunted, or has bad vibes on it in a reference to the giraffe story from the 11/07/2018 episode “Millennials & Falling for a Friend.” During the 2nd letter DVK makes reference to Rory working “middle out” again, like he did in the “Tuxas Redux” episode from 03/20/2019. The 2nd letter is another roller-coaster ride for the audience. DVK gets to reference his feelings on how one doesn’t get to choose what turns them on, which has come up in a few episodes before. They try to end with the pop-tart chant again like they did in the first live pen pals, but they screw it up.
The Pen Pals Podcast 