Canadian Candles Are Nothing to Sniff At

BUCK: Up in Canada, eh? We have some Canada listeners, Clay. I get the occasional Canadian writing in, perhaps even a Quebecoise writing in and saying (impression), “I love your show from up in Montreal.” So, yeah, it’s good stuff. Up in Canada, though, they’ve had some covid madness along the lines of what you see in Europe or close to what you see in Australia. Cops are dragging people out of church, arresting people. So this guy, look. This is on social media; it goes viral.

I don’t know the individual. I can’t verify. But if you watch the video, you get a sense of, “Yeah, this actually happened.” He’s at the equivalent of a Dollar Store. I forget the name of this particular one. But the dispute here seems to be over that he wouldn’t… It’s not that he wouldn’t wear a mask — remember this — it’s that he pulled his mask down. Let’s hear the reasoning. He’s fighting with the owner of the store here. Let’s hear about what it’s like up in Canada these days with mask policy.

BUCK: Mask up between sniffs, Clay. It’s a real thing now. You are not allowed to smell the candle you wish to buy without smelling it through the dirty, soggy mask that you’re forced to wear that does not stop covid, by the way.

CLAY: The accents make that video to me — and, by the way, the woman who just steps in is a random woman who was also in the store. That’s not a woman with him. So, I’m torn on this in many ways. I want to start with this, Buck. Have you…? Do you purchase good-smelling candles for your bachelor pad place in New York City? Have you…? I’ve never purchased a candle in my life. So I wonder on some level whether this is staged, because you have a man by himself in a Dollar Store, and he’s pulling his mask down to smell candles? So I’m curious, do you purchase good smelling candles for your apartment? Have you ever done that?

BUCK: Sometimes you want to put on a little bit of mint medley or evergreen fur tree or something, throw some Cat Stevens on in the background, let the Cat purr. You know what I’m saying? You got to set the mood, Clay.

CLAY: I’ve been married 17 years. I have never purchased a candle. What’s more, I have really bad smell anyway so I think all of the candles would smell the same. To me, like, all these different candle scents are primarily directed for women. But I do love the idea that this guy is so committed to his candle purchase that he’s going around individually smelling them and that some other man who is running this store is of the opinion that the store is no longer safe because this guy is smelling the candles. It’s a lot like what’s going on in airplanes right now where you have to pull your mask up and down depending — in between bites, in between drinks.

BUCK: I have seen and witnessed airline attendants telling people that they’ve taken too long in the mask —

CLAY: This happened to me, Buck, when I came on solo. I meant to tell you this. I was flying back from Key West. I had a coffee. I was sitting in the waiting area. I was drinking from my coffee. Literally, the coffee was on my lips and the flight attendant came over and she said, “Sir, you’re going to have to pull your mask up between sips that you take of your coffee or I’m gonna have to report you.”

BUCK: Yeah, these people are mentally ill tyrants. There’s no way around it. Everyone, let’s just call it what it is. They are mentally ill tyrants, and it needs to stop. Okay. They need to get a grip. We don’t need to placate them anymore. I’m sorry that they’re so incapable of dealing with reality, but enough is enough.