YouSaid · the spoken record

Niels Jorgensen

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208
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2021-09-11
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2021-09-11
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  1. “No, they are. They're awesome. I was down here for some storm relief a few years ago. And I tell you what, I fell in love with it. The people are great. It's a great state. And yeah, definitely be back again for sure.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “Really made the most of that second chance. God gave me way back in 2011. I mean, I hope it's 30, 40 years from now, but even if it's 30 months from now, whatever. Giving it the best shot. So, thank you, sir. I appreciate it and wishing you blessings and success in your career.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “But it's just such a great place. And I just want to say thanks. It's an honor. It's an honor to have someone let me sound off, and it'll be even bigger honor if somebody will listen to me and just say, hey, you know, let me just try to do something good today. And that's the tunnel towers mantra is let us do good. And I just, you know. I got a really big credit card with God, a big balance, right? I need to pay him back a lot and I need to pay him forward. And I'm just going to spend the rest of my days trying my best. I don't know where this is going to go, what it'll lead into, but I really would like to get those dogs for those vets and build them that village and just keep going on from project to project to just say. My final day comes and I'm laying there and I say, you know what?”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “You are definitely an attribute to America, and we're glad you chose to come here. It's such a beautiful place. It's a beautiful melting pot. If we're all the same, it would be kind of a boring place, right?”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “But he said, wow, what a place of opportunity. And I said, it's never too late. He goes, Yeah, but you know what? You get tied down. And I understand that. I thank God my mom came here at 16. I thank God my grandpa got on that ship in his 20s, 27, I think, you know, with not a nickel to rub together. I thank God they did it because I don't know where else I would have ended up. There's no place else I want to be.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “Gives us all these opportunities. You know, like I said, no one's rushing out the gates to get out of here. They're freaking, I got a cousin of mine. I love him dearly. My cousin, Tony, in Ireland. And he said he's just a little older than me. He's in his 50s. He said, man, I should have done it. I should have went to America. My dad said, go to America. I went to England. And he went back to Ireland. But he's happy in Ireland. It's his home.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “Know what? Let me listen to what this guy has to say. And maybe he probably won't convince me, but maybe I'll go, well, you know, I never thought of it that way. Stop the finger pointing, the bickering, the tantrums, the fighting. It's just not necessary. It gets you nowhere, right? It's like, you know, I was two years old and I'd just stomp around because I wanted a cookie or a piece of candy. I still didn't get it, right? You know, turned blue in the face and whatever. Got a swat in the rear end, but it didn't get the candy. And that's what we got going on right now. Everybody's just stomping around being a baby. Stop. Just stop. We're really lucky. Look, the country's not perfect, right? Know, but it's damn good.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “Was tremendous, Lex. I never felt so proud. I was always proud of this country. You know, I remember my Grandpa Nails used to walk by, I'd see a flag or hear a star spangled banner, and he'd tear up and I'd say, Grant, why are you crying? He said, I'm not crying. There's a tears of joy. I love this country so much. And I just remember feeling that way. I felt that way 9, 10. I felt that way on 9-11. But then on 9-12, I was just so proud of just the people, the way they stepped up. And I just want to try to see if that can happen again. And I hope it's not necessary for us to have another tragedy to bring that about. Let's do that without the tragedy. Let's just stop and say, hey.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “People really do give a crap. They really do love each other. And now I'm going to be honest with you, I've been doubting that a little bit lately. I still have these examples of it, you know, that lady who helped me last night with the phone. And just, you know, I know there's these shining little examples, but sometimes I think. I don't know. Are we running out of them?”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “So we're just trying to say to people, let's bring back that unity and that feeling of 912. As strange as 912 of a day it was, it was so sad because it was the first dawn of the sun where we realized this wasn't a dream. This was real. And it's not going away. But the beauty of it was there was thousands of people lined up alone in Westside Highway with signs and American flags. And they were from every country and every race and every creed. And it didn't matter who they were, but they all shared one bond, love. And they were hugging and crying and thanking rescuers. And it brought the morale so high for a group of people that was so beaten down the day before, it just started lifting the morale and making us realize, you know what?”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “Fought next to Stranger and fought tyranny because they wanted freedom. They wanted to be able to live, love Pray and prosper, and they fought and died alongside of strangers. And it's sort of symbolic of what happened that day. And then strangers from around this great country just flocked in by the thousands to help. They didn't know who was in that pile, but they didn't care. That was another American. And what I ultimately am trying to do involved in this beautiful project is spread the message of doing the right thing. Look at these examples, these brave people who didn't have to, especially the civilians, they weren't paid to run back in there and help person after person. And they had no obligation. They could have just said, hey, man, I'm out of here and just bolted. But they didn't.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “Killed literally blessing victims at the site had just given last rights to the firefighter I mentioned earlier Danny who was killed and Father Judge was in the lobby of the building giving a blessing praying to God to please stop this and he was struck by debris and he was killed and Bobby goes on to elaborate about Father Judge's story. Father Judge used to walk the streets of New York City helping AIDS patients just with whatever they needed. And he was a Franciscan friar. They wear sandals and a rope. They just live very humble lives. And it's just a common denominator is loving each other And helping each other, regardless of if you know the person or not. And really, when you think about it, that's how America was made. We fought for independence, stranger.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “Whose birth father was on Flight 93. She had not even met him. And she had this premonition that somebody in her family was killed that day. And her adopted mom said, no, everyone's fine. Well, three years later, when she was legally able to find out who her dad was, she found out that her dad, Tom, was actually on that plane as part of the Let's Roll team. And we have a gentleman Robert Burke, who's an actor, sweetheart of a man. He's a gentleman. And he's a very, very popular actor in Hollywood. He was on rescue meet, blue bloods, gossip girls. And Bobby, my friend, as I call him, is a volunteer fireman now. This man doesn't need to get out of bed at 2 o'clock in the morning and help people with a stroke or burning garage or a burning house, but he does because he wants to because his best friend is Captain Patty Brown. And his other best friend is Father Michael Judge, who was our chaplain.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “He was an engineer, and Captain Patty Brown continued on to effect rescues, and he and his crew were killed. But he's now Mark was able to effectively evacuate this gentleman. They were the two known last survivors to come out of the tower. He now has dedicated his life to becoming a Coptic priest in St. Mary's church in East Brunswick, New Jersey. He did this for a total stranger. And he said he was inspired by his bosses who died and his friends, you know, one of his best friends was an Italian man. The other man was a retired Navy SEAL, Hispanic man. And they were part of this melting pot. And no one looked at each other that day, what color, what race, what belief were you? They just said, hey, you're a human in need. Let's go. And, you know, we have the story about John Feel on his mission to help the responders. We have a young lady, Mariah, who's...”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “Know like it seems like the common few themes, the common threads are being selfless, helping out others even though they might be a stranger. In acts of kindness, acts of love, and it seems to all be weaved together with faith. They all seem to have some sort of faith. I mean, we have one gentleman, Mark Hanna, and he's a Coptic Egyptian priest. And he's an immigrant to the United States. He was a port authority building engineer. And with his crew, who subsequently passed away, the crew did. He was effectively rescuing dozens of people on the upper floors. And his boss ordered him to assist an elderly gentleman who was 89 down 78 flights of stairs to get him out and in stopping on the 21st floor, he figured they would just wait there for medics. He came across Captain Patty Brown of Ladder Company 3, who told him, no, sir, you need to evacuate. And Captain Brown picked his brain a little bit about the structure because he figured found.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “And it doesn't make any sense. It's just like we need to just take a timeout and I think. Switch our tactics a little bit.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “And we have so many social problems here in our country, I think, that we need to fix first. You know, I heard this spoken in the past by many people. It's like the garden theory. You have your garden with a fence around it. You tend to your garden. There may be weeds on the outside of the fence, but as long as they're not inside your garden, your garden will prosper. And I know some people don't agree to that America first and the whole take care of our own, but it's like, How are we going to take in more people now? And I have a human feeling for them, but it's almost like the lifeboat theory. How many people can we take into the lifeboat before the lifeboat itself sinks as the ship is going down? So if we can't take care of our own homeless vets and our own homeless people, and it's just going to become worse.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “My friends, my body, myself, they must feel so betrayed because they passionately went over there to cure a cancer, the cancer of terrorism. Now the cancer's back. I hate to say it, but I think the cancer might start running wild. We need to change our tactics up. This is just my opinion. I can't see committing all of our guys to a continuous eternal war. But I think what we need to do is hit surgically and hit hard at that cancer that is over there. We are never going to rebuild that region. It's thousands of years of traditions that you're not going to change. It's just some people are unchangeable because they don't want to.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “It's like snakes are beautiful, but if you go ped a rattler, you're getting bit and you're getting dead, right? And that's what terrorists, you got to cut the head of the snake off. And I feel, no, don't commit our guys to me there anymore. But what we need to do is go with tech warfare. If we have Intel from drones or planes or whatever it is that so-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so are driving down in that pickup or whatever, take it out and do it again tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. And maybe they'll get the message after a while. Oh shit, these guys aren't messing around instead of throwing wave after wave of our brave warriors, brave seals, brave, you know, special ops guys. And God bless them for what they do. I couldn't do it. I could not have done it. They have to be now sitting home going To hell.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  20. “No one was attacking their country over there, right? No one was taking their country over. Maybe in their mind they didn't want people trying to build their government, this and that. I don't know. I don't know enough about the history there to really elaborate. We didn't attack them. If a soldier attacks a soldier, that's an understood concept of monks warriors. But when a soldier attacks a civilian, now you're after a different beast and you've written that beast off, if that makes any sense.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  21. “But the difference though, and believe me, I jocko, I am from a way, way minor league compared to him, right? I mean, this man was right there in the firing line. I can understand his analogy because when you think about it, right, those young conscripts back in Germany and Russia and all the countries where they were being drafted, even our guys were being drafted and thrown into this, they were gallantly and bravely defending their country. Now, I'm sure the young Germans felt, well, hey, Hitler must be right, right? And young Russians felt, hey, Stalin must be right. And, you know, the young Americans figure, hey, President Roosevelt must be right. So they were romantically, in a sense, defending the honor of their country, of their motherland. The difference between those, so they did have that commonality. If you and I were firing across each other from France to Germany or, you know, from Germany to Russia or whatever, we're just these two kids who got thrown into this. We didn't freaking ask for this, right? But the difference with Jocko's enemy is”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  22. “Evil bastards who perpetrated that needed to have missiles strike and rain down upon them and annihilate them like a cancer that they are. What just fascinates me is they'll show videos of these guys flying around and pick up trucks with 50 cows on the back. It's like, well, wait a minute. If a camera crew can get this footage, you think all these freaking drones and planes and radar assisted systems can't just good night. You're gone. So kill the cancer, kill the cells, get rid of it, get rid of it quickly, and go into remission.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  23. “Those evil bastards that flew those airplanes, one of those airplanes had a little three-year-old child in it from Ireland, where my mom's hometown. Friend of mine who since died of a heart attack from 9 11 toxins he found her shoe with human remains in it. And he thought someone was messing with us because we didn't know there was any kids in the building. He says, Boss, there's a baby shoe, and it looks like there's something in it, but there's no kids in the trade center. I went, the plane. It's a little girl shoe. I can never get that view out of my mind.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  24. “Know it's a troubling subject for me. I'm a patriot. I love this country. I love it with my soul. And I was just about to head over to the first Iraqi war, and we went out for Desert Warfare training, and then it ended. I was at that time a combat medic assigned to an armored cav unit. So basically tanks, driving around an armored personnel carrier. And when it gets hit, then you tend to that guy try to save his life. I didn't want to go. I may sound like a coward. I did not want to go to war. I would have went willingly if I was sent to defend my country. I took my oath. didn't join the military to kill, but if necessary, I would Use the analogy of cancer. If you have a cancer and you're aware of its presence and you don't annihilate those cells. Take them out quickly. It's going to spread and it's going to kill you.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  25. “Whenever you do something quickly without thinking it out, thinking it through and planning. Dozen I understand that we needed to exit. I mean, how long are we going to stay over there? And we've lost over 7,000 of our young souls over there. Sometimes people I don't know if they're grateful for it or not, right? I mean, I don't know.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  26. “And I don't know how that's even possible. The people in this country who have given the very most And they're struggling. They're hurting. That's not fair. And my whole thing is if I can have this dream of succeeding, so to speak, I want to try to change it. So that's why I'm praying to be a billionaire. My Irish mother probably wouldn't agree either because you're not supposed to, right?”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  27. “They take the Army, you know, the places where they had all the supplies, or you know, there's massive buildings where you could just retrofit it and make light manufacturing within two weeks. Give these guys jobs. Do they live? Do they work? They'll take care of it. Military guys, they teach you how to take care of stuff, right? How the hell in this country should any vet come back home and be homeless? Because now after dedicating their lives for six, seven, ten, twelve years, five, six deployments making $7.50 an hour. And then, you know, they spend seven years or they get a whopping 16 an hour, right? You know, they walk out making 35 grand. And now no one gives them a job. No one gives them a chance. So very quickly, they end up homeless. No fault in their own.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  28. “Just light up when they get these dogs. It just changes their life radically immediately. And I said, that's it. God, I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I want to be a gazillionaire. And I don't want any picture, photo ops, this, that. I just want to go, there's a dog, there's a dog, there's a dog, there's a dog. And then I want to build veterans land for these vets who just need a nice clean place to live. So why don't we take these old army bases and marine bases and navy bases that have been shut down. They're just sitting there riding away. I was in the Army in Alabama. My old Fort McClellan is three-quarters vacant. It's sitting there. They just did a documentary on it. It just looks like zombie land going back to zombies. So why don't we take that and renovate it and say to vets who are struggling, hey guys, you're going to live here.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  29. “Mentally wounded warriors, right? These Having a really hard time, and now they could be out a while, they may have come back in country two, three years ago. Now it's just starting to set in. And here's a waiting list for thousands of therapy dogs. And he said. They can't get enough of him quick enough. But he said when you see the response the way these”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  30. “The old timers had a sign that says, I am content. Because if you got to Ladder 114, that was considered such a great place, such a great assignment, such great guys. You had to be vetted to get there. You couldn't just randomly go. And it was a little exclusionary, but they wanted good guys. I said to myself, that's where I am in life right now. I am content. I'm restless because I want to really do a lot more good. It's like this podcast. I want to make sure that it's not forgotten and I want to make sure that these charities that are really, really helping people get recognized. But I'd like to take it a step further, right? A friend of mine runs this foundation for young folks suffering mental illness and in crisis. For someone that we love dearly. On a mission now to get therapy dogs for really, really”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  31. “In the barracks, it was spotless, right? And I gave it $10. I said, I'd really like you to buy lunch with me today. I said, you really didn't have to do me that favor. And she goes, no, sir. I said, no, no. I said, I want. And it was like I gave her a million bucks. And I say to my wife now, I'm been praying to be a billionaire. She goes, that's a sin. I said, no, no, you don't understand. She goes, Oh, you misducked me, Mr. Guy. I said, no, no, no. I said, You're getting it wrong. I said, I'm praying. To be like a multi gazillionaire. Because I want to give it all away. We used to have a sign in Ladder 114 until some other rival truck company stole it, right? Because that's what we do. You get sent to cover your district when you're out of fire and now your stuff's missing.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  32. “Was on the road coming back, driving from my family up north down to Tennessee last week. Stopped in a bathroom It was closed. The girl was cleaning it, whatever. She's working so hard, whatever. She goes, Sir, she goes, If you go down the hall, there's a family restroom. Feel free to use it. She didn't have to do that. And I went down and I'm old. You need a bathroom, you need a bathroom, right? And I walk back out. And I said, ma'am, I said, I want to thank you for being here today. I said, the bathroom was immaculate. It was. It was like my army bathroom.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  33. “And my mom comes from this tiny, tiny little village. She's out in the middle of nowhere. And the childhood home she grew up in, still my aunt and uncle live in it still. I just love it there so much because everyone waves. Tennessee is similar. They wave driving by and you're like, who the hell is that? Just wave, you know. But my cousin will point it out. Actually, third cousin, second remove by, you know, Johnny, like, holy shoot, I'm related to everyone here. But, like, everyone stops to say hello, and how are you? And I have a problem doing that because my wife goes, people think you're crazy. Why are you talking to everybody? I said, like, I'll literally stop someone and say, how's your day going? I mean, I'll randomly on the sidewalk, then it looks a little nuts, but like if I'm buying a cup of coffee”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  34. “You know, that's what I love about small little towns like where I am now in Tennessee. And I'm not knocking New York. I'm not knocking big towns. But I guess it's easier to do in a smaller area because it's just not this massive humanity. But they'll stop and check on you. Like you're out in the road, you know, like I'm cutting and cleaning or whatever. Occasionally I'll roll a lawnmower or a tractor into a ditch because I'm not a farmer too good. But it's easier to drive a fire truck in New York. But they literally, oh, I was worried I haven't seen you. And I'm like, no, no, I'm okay. But they literally like check on you. They're worried about you. And I'm going, these people hardly know me, but yet they're so caring. And that's the problem. That's what I love about my life. I spent a lot of time, especially as a young boy, and a lot of time in Ireland at my grandma's farm.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  35. “You're giving them away. Well, now I got leukemia. I'd be kind of concerned to get into COVID. I mean But I really think we need that. We need hugging booths in each city or each town. Because there's so many people that just want to know someone gives a shit about them. And that's the problem.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  36. “I got some of my buddies. I give them a huge hug and a big sloppy kiss on their cheek. Because I love them. They're these are my brothers, you know. But on this set, I swear to God, it got to the point, and I'm not trying to whatever, but there was people that would come up to me for the daily hug. What are you doing? And they said, Come on, bring it in. And I give him the hug. And they said, You don't understand, it just makes me feel so good. Makes me feel like you give a crap about my side. I really do. Said, but it touched my heart that people were seeking me out to get that hug to start the day. And I remember there was a guy in Manhattan, he was selling hugs for like 50 cents, and I think he got arrested, right? It was just before COVID. But like, I wouldn't sell him if.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  37. “No, no, no, not at all. If I was, it didn't really work out so good. I wouldn't. On to be in a stage hand that way. I'm not pretty. And they don't want old guys waving bye hairdos But it was funny, the crew, we became really tight. We had shoot like 80, 90 people on a set, right? And, you know, the first few episodes, everybody's trying to feel each other out because, you know, you work with different crews, different people. This is going back starting in 2004, so it was a different time And I love to hug people. Is to me a hug expression of love and caring. You may not know a person a long time, but you say, I care about you with a hug.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  38. “It is the Love is the most important ingredient on this earth. And that's the problem that's going on right now. Take politics out of it, right? Take polarizing each other against each other. Take all that crap out of it and just airdrop a bunch of love. When I worked on Rescue Me, right? Love those people so much. They were such great. We had such a great crew and they worked so hard.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  39. “You got to put that child first. It's like being a military person, a responder. It's not about you anymore. Now it's the team. So that little child is now the team. And your wife or your significant other, you know, like it's not about you anymore. And see, that's the problem is people have a hard time not making it about them. You know, like now it's really weird. My kids are 19, 21, and 24, and they hardly want to hang with me because they're busy in their life. We love each other. They're probably tired of hearing me go on and preach and whatever. But they're adults. We did pretty much the crux of what we had to do to put them into adulthood. I look back and I go, wow, I wish I didn't work so much. And I wish, but then I say no, but it was okay. My wife stayed home. Good lessons, good, you know, just”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  40. “Cracked up because it's true, she's got to stand on a milk crate to reach him because she's tiny and he's tall. It's true, but you know, but she was hard but fair, but loved that's the thing you take any child, anywhere from any background. If you love them, you nurture them, you teach them, and you guide them. You have a successful adult. And see, that's the problem in our society. It's not judgmental. I'm not judging anyone. But we need to try harder as parents, as siblings, as friends, but especially when we're blessed with a child. It's like,”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  41. “Well, you know, it's funny because my son said to me, my son's 21 now. He's a good kid, you know. And he says to me back when he's like 12, he goes, Dad, I don't want you to be offended, but I'm really scared of mom. I'm not really that scared of you. And, you know, like I.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  42. “I wasn't ready to accept it in 2011. It was so much more to do. It was so much, I was so scared. I'm like, wow, who's going to take care of my kids? And they were little, you know, 9-11 and 14, right? It's like, what the hell? I have two girls and a boy between and a beautiful kids. They're such good, good children, adults now. I mean, but, you know, my wife's a drill sergeant. She's tough. You don't mess, you know, she's this big.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  43. “My dad's there all the time, kid, you're gonna end up working with hundreds of guys, and you know, you'll love a lot of them, but he says, when it's all said and done and you're all like me and if you still got two or three of them that you talk to and you love. And I tell you what, I mean, I have thanked the Lord more than two or three of them. And I have my six. I call it my six. Six guys that are going to carry my coffee when I'm gone, right? Because I know this cancer is going to come back. I know it. Like we get multiples, right? My friend Navet just got his second. My friend Mike said five of them. My other mic is two of them.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  44. “Dealing with the same, yep, exactly, because they want love, right? They want love, and they, and they can't. Can't really find it like.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  45. “Okay, because maybe he doesn't have any idea who loves him. He's got a lot of people clinging on to him because of his success. And he just... Can't fill that void, you know, and then they fill the void with something destructive. And I'm not bashing people that have substance abuse problems or alcohol problems. I don't mean it that way. But what I mean is. Just sad that their level of despair is so high on the surface they look like they just got everything going on. It's all great, right?”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  46. “Oh, yeah, it's a good thing, though, when you, you know, because that's the problem, I think there's a lot of people running around and thinking they're immortal, right? You know, when you look at Alex, right, you look at the heartache in a lot of segments of people. And anytime like someone that's got fame and wealth and success and they die tragically, a lot of times it's from substance abuse or just some horrible death. I used to say to myself, How the hell would someone with that much money and that much fame in this freaking mansion and I love cars, my son and I were just big car heads, you know, and I'm like, you know, this guy's got a collection of cars and he overdosed because he was sad. And I'm going. The frig are you set, but then I stop and I go.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  47. “I really tried to go past that and heal and part of living out in the country. It's very, very healing for the mind and the soul. But. Now, thank God for the cancer because it humbled me. I didn't really need humbling. I wasn't an arrogant, puffed up type of person at all. Know maybe I was running away at myself a little bit working on a TV show, I'm firm at the time, well, I was 42, I got sick, you know, life was cruising, man. It was great. And then all of a sudden it was like, Blowout on the highway in the middle of the night, and you're just veering off towards the guardrail.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  48. “Got it, they figured out her treatment. They got her onto her road to recovery. And then I spent a long time Asking God. Why do I have cancer Then I stopped and I went, Wait a minute. I didn't die that day with my friends. She wants me for asking why of cancer. I had ten years after nine eleven. With such great years. And I got to watch my little girl being born. John never got to see his son. So it was all gravy after that. And I said, but now I know why I have my cancer because I can. Can empathize with people who haven't. And I can try to be their voice when they can't talk. Be their shield to try to take that pain. I can understand. I can walk there, walk. And now I thank God for my can Because it's made me a better human being. It's made me, I'm not going to lie, it brought a lot of anger for a while and my family suffered it.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  49. “They asked me to try to convince her to let them do that, or she was going to die because if they couldn't figure it out, it was advancing quickly. So I talked to her and she said, I can't. I'm too scared. Said, but are you more scared to die? And she said, I am. I said, okay, I'll stay with you. I'll hold your hand, you squeeze it as hard as you want. I said, if you want, they'll give you like a towel or something to bite on, whatever. I said, but you get that pain out, but you need to do this so you can get saved. She said, okay. And they came in and they this huge thick needle, they just bore it into you. And she's screaming for her life. And she's squeezing my fingers so hard and so hard. And I said, that's okay, hon, you keep going. You keep going. We got it. It's just 10 more seconds, 10 more seconds.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  50. “That was it, and I hung the phone up, and I said, Ma'am, I'm so sorry. I said, you know, they'll notify you. And I stayed with him for a while holding his hand, and then they wanted him to rest, and then I left. Got the tap an hour later, and they said, Sorry, he's gone. And then there was another girl, and she was a young Young girl Of the areas I work, young African American girl where I used to respond, and I didn't know her, but I knew her neighborhood. She had what I had, but Got their own little nuances, own specific treatments. So if they don't know what you have, they don't know what to do for you. She refused to let him drill into her hip to take the marrow because it's vicious. It hurts so much. It's like someone's boring into your hip with a wood drill and it's no joke.”

    2021-09-11 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #220 – Niels Jorgensen: New York Firefighters and the Heroes of 9/11 · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source