Javier Caballero – Riding Through Childhood Memories

Claudia Henock 0:01
Hi, everyone. Welcome to Your Most Precious Thing, the show that talks about the stories about items we hold near and dear to our hearts. I’m your host, Claudia Henock, and let’s meet our guest for this week.

Claudia Henock 0:10
When asked to describe himself, Javier Caballero has a few choice phrases in mind: the resident meme guy that works in marketing, a cartoon enthusiast that appreciates the good vibes in life, a human with a dog soul that tends to overthink a lot, but most importantly, a good person to the people in his life.

Claudia Henock 0:34
Hi, Javier. Welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today?

Javier Caballero 0:37
I’m doing great. Claudia. It’s, it’s been an interesting day.

Claudia Henock 0:43
That’s understandable based on what you told me earlier before we started recording. But to get things started, what would you say is your most precious thing?

Javier Caballero 0:52
My most precious thing, as I came down to it, was most likely my scooter, my childhood scooter. To give you some context, and the important info on that, it was a scooter I got for Christmas, somewhere around the age, I want to say between six and eight years old, around that period of time. It was super special specifically then because it was, I believe, the first time I was celebrating Christmas, with what I’m going to say was the white American side of my family for context. I am come from Bolivia and heritage. So, you know, 90% of the Bolivian side really is all the way in Bolivia. And we do have like, the rest is in Jersey. But it’s already like another generation of Americans. So it’s, it was a whole different feel. I remember like, I remember that Christmas so well, because it was, oh my gosh, it’s just, it’s hitting me now as I’m saying it too.

Javier Caballero 1:48
It was so, picture me, you know, eight years old, coming into a giant house, super, super nice, beautiful house with all kinds of people around, everybody looked like they were in their late 30s. Like it looked like the cast of Friends to be honest. And these people were my uncles and aunts, which was really cool. And what I was always used to with family was they would speak Spanish, but this was like, all they knew was English. And so, I felt like I was able to connect on a different level, even though I was just a kid. But I think what really made this special as I look back at this time was that I was the only kid there. I was, none of them had children. So, and I guess they were given the heads up that I was going to be there, and so all of them bought me presents and I wasn’t expecting that. So my mind being blown, or like presentt after present after present. Eventually it comes to, I find out a scooter was one of the presents and it blew my mind because at that time it was like getting a car. I didn’t have a bike or anything. And yeah, so it felt like I was getting a car, and I’ve never forgotten about that. Nobody forgets about it. I still have the scooter to this day because I can’t throw it, I can’t get rid of it. I would never want to because there’s some precious perfect memory of that Christmas that can’t be replicated, you know?

Claudia Henock 3:09
That, to be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting that story about scooter but that’s actually really interesting as well. So before that Christmas, how were Christmas is typically celebrated before that time with your family?

Javier Caballero 3:22
That’s the funny thing as I think about I’m like, I don’t remember how we celebrated Christmas before that. It you know it, you know how fickle memories can be, but that I struggled to remember what came before the scooter. I don’t, I don’t know why I can’t remember as well because there are parts of you know, me being five years old and kindergarten that I can remember. But again, I don’t know what made that particularly like a giant gap of memory for previous Christmases. But since then, I was able to mostly remember every single Christmas after that. And I had wonderful Christmases after the fact, but nothing I feel ever topped the scooter. Even as presents got more, you know, expensive, per se or whatnot. It’s just nothing felt as real and as amazing and impactful as the scooter.

Claudia Henock 4:13
Do you have any like funny stories involving the scooter at all, or any like memorable, like fun stories about it?

Javier Caballero 4:19
Yes, well, because for the most part, I mean, it wasn’t just Christmas. I kept riding the scooter. I had great moments with friends, we’re like we were on this giant hill. it was like a weird divot hill that you just went, it was perfect where you would go all the way down and you would build up speed on the scooter, and you would really feel the impact and because it’s a sidewalk you hear, you feel the bumps. You know, and it would just go like bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump. Yeah, it was so, I had a lot of great times with the scooter, just with friends, and also I mean, as always, we all remember, I think, just cutting our ankles every time we were trying to spin the scooter or whatnot.

Javier Caballero 5:04
But yeah, it’s been in it’s, I feel like it’s continued to build more deeper meaning as time goes by. This same story and like connection to the scooter that I’m talking to you now was something I even talked about more recently at a very sad event, which was a funeral that was for one of my aunts. But like one of the best top aunts I’ve ever had hands down. The reason she’s top Aunt, has always been top Aunt was, one she was the oldest. But she was also the first of that side of the family to come and live in the States. And the other thing that I only found out until more recently was that for my dad, she was the reason why my dad came to the states in the first place. And the majority of cousins that I spend time with now love, and we get along all the time, we spend extra time with now, I wouldn’t have gotten to know them if it wasn’t for this Aunt. And my core first memory, I think of this Aunt, was at that Christmas as well. And she always came for every Christmas, and that was just the tradition was to go to New Jersey, Philadelphia as well that there was some, you know, families all around in that sector. But that was the tradition then to always go there for Christmas. I mean, aside from that, I, the other reason I feel like I tried to hold on to it, it’s just there was a connection that I had, or of split brain moment of the movie, I don’t know if you’ve watched or heard of called Citizen Kane?

Claudia Henock 6:35
Faintly no, sounds familar but don’t know the plot from the top of my head.

Javier Caballero 6:42
No worries, the SparkNotes of it was well, some people call it one of the best movies of all time, it’s totally hyped to certain, certain extent. Part of it just being the way it was shot, inspired so many other movies after that. But the main premise of the story was there was this kid, who was came from like, kind of a poor background or whatever, then he kind of inherits a crap ton of money. And then you know, goes into the slow thing of like, okay, he has all this money and all this power, but he just gets sadder and sadder and sadder as things just don’t really seem to fizzle out and work out. And the whole premise of the movie is that they’re trying to investigate what the last thing he said meant, and he said the word “Rosebud”, and you find out that he was saying Rosebud, it was in connection to the beginning of the movie where he was playing with his sleigh, which was the most meaningful, precious thing that he had in his childhood. Despite all the giant mansions and just crazy cars, like this guy lived grand. Despite that, his last words was Rosebud, the name of his sleigh. And when I watched this part of the movie, I had the instant connection. “Like, what is that from? Oh, my God, it’s my scooter.” That that would be my rosebud. And that’s why it’s something I want to keep with me for a long time. You know, I, even like in the house. When I think of items. I’m like, if something happens to my video games, you can buy new video games, you can buy a new TV, but your first scooter your, your first deep, meaningful toy that you really didn’t, I didn’t even ask for the scooter. But it blew my mind that I got it. It’s so it’s something that’s never left my mind. And I don’t want it to leave my mind. So yeah, I’ve rambled a bunch.

Claudia Henock 8:18
No, you’re totally fine. That’s kind of like the best way to like talk about things that are important to us. The another question actually just came up when you were talking to is, I don’t know if you want to have kids in the future. But do you see yourself, like if the scooters still in good condition, do you see yourself like handing down the scooter to your children or to a niece or nephew, maybe?

Javier Caballero 8:43
That is a good question. Um, I would say if was in my plans to have children, I, sometimes I feel like I’m on the fence. Other times, I’m like, “No, the I have my own kind of set mind that I have for my future in life, without kids.” But if I was, I’m pretty sure that yes, I would definitely want to give it to my kids. So it would have to be someone, someone I know who would be really excited to get a scooter, it would have to mean as much to them as it meant to me. And I don’t know that many kids that get excited about a scooter today, you know, mostly I think more people focus on like, a new bike, maybe, you know. Not many people I’ve never met a lot of people who are as hyped about their scooter, other than those couple friends on that whole slope thing. And even then, I’ve noticed whatever stuff they had, they eventually gave away to their cousins and stuff, which I do with a lot of my other stuff. But the scooter always felt like it remained it just, it was just such a memorable moment. I couldn’t part with it. Unless there was such an impact that I could give back.

Claudia Henock 9:45
Yeah, that’s something that I’ve kind of touched on a few other episodes to is just, I guess like either deciding whether to keep it because it is such an important thing to you, or to pass on to the next generation as well. Because even though one of the reasons is to like talk about items that are important in people’s lives, when we pass on, we’re not going to take our wealth with us, we’re not going to take our reputations with us, we’re not gonna take this stuff with us. So I’ve always just been kind of curious about whether people want to either keep the items that are percious of them or eventually pass it on.

Javier Caballero 10:20
Right? Um, well, the more I thought about it, as well, the thing I think about is like, is this scooter kind of like my own Horcrux like, it’s part of my like, childhood soul. I want to continue living on and it only will live on as I hold it, and it remains. That’s, you know, connection to my childhood. Because, you know, as we grow older, certain things change and like, you get, you mature, you adult, you know, and you leave certain things behind. And, you know, I’ve done that with a lot of different things because I do, I wanted to continue maturing as a human being like, I know, that’s where I want to keep going. But I guess, there’s certain things I’ll make exceptions for and this is I feel like one of the few exceptions of like, I still want to keep it even though I don’t even ride the scooter like at all now. Honestly, it’s probably a little rusty, I would have to fix it up, clean it up. But even as an old man, if I’m not riding that scooter, I imagine it’s in some epic, cool trophy case of just like my childhood. Here it is, the scooter, yeah.

Claudia Henock 11:20
That definitely sounds really cool. And hey, no judgement as well. Literally, then, like what I did for like, my first solo episode was I literally just talked about, like a Cheshire Cat plush that’s been in my life for a very long time ever since, I believe, middle school. And I have held it on for such a long time, because a lot of places I moved to, I couldn’t have my dogs with me. So I kind of use that plush that I’ve had since childhood essentially, to essentially be a replacement for my dogs. So I do understand the importance of essentially holding on to items that are important to you from your childhood, and because of the memories or the associations that you have with them.

Javier Caballero 12:00
Right. Um, and I mean, even when I think about like, what similar things could be to the scooter that I own, like I had a bike and I loved my bike to death. But I eventually, I don’t know that I would say gave it away, it was more like I had a sign, like, take it if you want because it’s kind of not, the brakes don’t really work anymore. I don’t want to die. We put a sign. And someone took it. And it was like, Okay, great. But they saw the sign, the brakes don’t work. But my connection to that, I think, was not as deep partly because like, that was a bike that we had, my parents had gotten from me from a yard sale. So it was kind of, kind of like a hand-me-down. I had great times on it. But it was like, time to upgrade, and I got a new bike. I think that’s the difference maybe with the scooter. I mean, I had to have the same thought and conversation with myself as I was actually looking for the scooter to take the photo for the podcast. And I got a little worried because I’m like going through the whole house. I’m like, I don’t see it in the house. I remember it was in this house. And then I’m like literally Oh God, what do I do if I don’t find it? What, how do I process this?

Claudia Henock 13:07
I’m sure it’s in the house somewhere. I’m giving you hope, I’m sending hope through my screen to your screen. I’m sure it’s in the house somewhere.

Javier Caballero 13:15
I appreciate it. Um, most likely it is in like a storage unit. So that’s a whole little journey I’ll have to do to get it. Not too hard, but the next thought in my mind was like, if I can accept it and you know, I’m like it’s just a scooter at the same time. Like, because it’s me arguing with myself, whether it be my mature adult self like it’s a scooter, I get it symbolizes everything, but like, don’t have a mental breakdown.

Javier Caballero 13:41
And it was like, well, what could you do in the future? Like how could that scooter live on if it were to disappear? And I’m like, well you know what, if it disappears because, probably my parents didn’t think and threw it away. The next logical step was like I’d have to get an electric scooter, like an expensive, really nice and let that live on as like through some kind of symbolism, second life, soul continue on other, so I have another connection to something. Because I did get to ride an electric scooter. I want to say only twice. It was a blast. I just saw all the benefits. I’m like, Okay, this is kind of better than the manual scooter kind. So I was like, probably I’d end up doing that as best of a way to replace it because I don’t know, I like to think I’m at least decently emotionally stable to deal with some kind of thing like that to happen because things happen to you know, I would I would never hold it against my parents. I’d be like, I get it, I get it. You guys forgot, I mentioned it a bunch, but I get it. It’s not worth it, because I love my parents to death, you know? And I kind of at least love and respect that they’ve understood my connection to the scooter and have been very respectful of it in the past. Of course a couple of times are like, “Don’t you want to get rid of it?” I’m like, “No, not at all. Not even close.” And they were like “Okay, okay, understandable.”

Claudia Henock 15:02
Yeah, cause I was about to say because you mentioned this little bit. How did your family react to the scooter being such an important part of your life? I know you talked a little bit of detail about your mom and dad like reacting to it. What about the rest? Actually, do you know who gave you the scooter?

Javier Caballero 15:18
Yes and no. It was interesting from when I had last asked about it, the family in Jersey, apparently it was one of their friends that had come and, and bought me, yeah, bought me and gifted the scooter. It wasn’t even a direct family member for what I understood, or if it was, it was like, like a cousin of a cousin type situation who just happened to be there, and also was like, “Oh, there’s a kid. Well, I’m sure he’ll enjoy this scooter.” And it was, it just feels a product. I don’t know. I really feel the moment in time of that Christmas. I’m like, it was a time where like, the economy was apparently doing so well. And everyone had so much disposable income because also like they didn’t have any kids. So they really were like, “Let’s spoil this one child as much as possible.” And that’s the other moment too, because we still have these Christmases, but it’s very different. Now, there are many different kids, many different cousins. I have like, like, who do I have? Christian Stephie, Mike, Sean, Riley, David, that’s at least six. No, no, Nora. Like it’s a bunch of other kids. And so that changes the focus now. Now it’s no, it’s not, like I had my reign as a child. And after that, now, it’s just gift cards and just like “Hey, how’s it going? How’s the how’s your job like?”

Claudia Henock 16:39
Well, things happen as we age too. And, and it’s good that like we’ve had the limelight essentially for our Christmases, but it’s time to let the next generation as well.

Javier Caballero 16:48
For sure, and but to answer your question, because it was a good question. I do think that has changed from the moment I had this scooter to today. How that went for my parents. I mean, they were thrilled about it for the longest time, they became a little worrisome after an incident with my niece, which was weird that I have a niece at such a young age, but for whatever reason, I had a niece who’s like a few years younger than me. She had a scooter, but she got into his scooter accident. But it was a different scooter, one of, I don’t want to say it was a cheap scooter. But I basically it was like a Barbie scooter that didn’t really have any brakes. And yeah, she basically had broken her leg. Because she went on a really steep street Hill and yeah, that was a horrible, horrible thing that happened. She’s okay now, she’s doing great. Um, but yeah, I think that was like the little scare of my parents. They’re just like, “Well, you gotta be careful with your scooter. I don’t know about the scooter.” And I’m like, “Mom, Dad, for starters, my scooter has brakes. Mine has brakes, at least.”

Claudia Henock 17:52
Yeah.

Javier Caballero 17:53
Also, I was not going down too steep a street, like I was an only child. So my parents were really protective with that kind of thing. Specifically, I know I talked about that one slope. But it was in my recollection, like it’s okay. Because it was like, very unique that it was like one. What do you call, the sidewalk? It was like one sidewalk, but like on both sides of the sidewalk was grass. So like worst case, you just jump out to the grass, you’re safe, you’re fine, or whatever. So yeah, whenever I did use the scooter, I was usually pretty safe. And I always thought it was cool that I could do a couple of different tricks with it. Nothing that’s impressive today at all. But as a kid, I was super cool for doing them. So forward to, fast forward to now. They were more like, I think they were more fighty about it like a couple years ago, maybe? You have to understand we’ve also moved a lot. We’ve moved like at this point between six to eight times within my life. So each time we move, it’s always like, “You’re still keeping the scooter and you’re bringing the scooter?” I’m like, “Yes, I’m bringing the scooter with me to the next place.” And it just, so it always does eventually come up into the conversation at one point or another and towards the end. They just saw, “Okay, it’s that one thing. We know that he at least, you know, he takes care of himself. He takes care of his stuff. He doesn’t, he’s not a hoarder. It’s eventually they came to terms with it. And even today, I think they’re still pretty cool about it, so.

Claudia Henock 19:23
That’s definitely great to hear as well, and I’m really glad that they understand how important this scooter is to you as well.

Javier Caballero 19:29
Thanks. Yeah, I they’re, they’re pretty swell, amazing parents.

Claudia Henock 19:34
So I understand earlier, before we started recording, you had notes to talk about. What type of notes do you have?

Javier Caballero 19:41
Okay, well, I think it was just, I watch a lot of TV shows and movies. And so I tend to find a lot of different connections sometimes in moments that I can find similar to, so one of those, like I said was Citizen Kane. Another one was from a show called 30 Rock. I don’t know, if you have you ever heard or watched 30 Rock?

Claudia Henock 20:01
I’ve heard of it. But I haven’t watched it.

Javier Caballero 20:04
No worries. It’s a great show. I do enjoy it. I can’t say it’s for everybody, but I definitely liked it for what it was. The basic premise was it’s, think of like, they have their own show like Saturday Night Live thing. It’s two characters, one who’s like the head writer of the show. And then the other character, who’s like the CEO of like that the TV show slash company that owns that TV show, or whatever. His name is Jack Donaghy, the reason I bring him up was just like, I want, one I loved him because he’s hilarious, but also he’s very, very entrepreneurial. He’s somewhat on the conservative side, but he’s like a he, he’s the kind of person who fanboys over like Ronald Reagan. I hope that paints a picture.

Javier Caballero 20:48
So in one particular episode, he was, he was kind of sad, because he had all this money and success. But he remembered like back in his childhood, he used to be like, really happy, like, and he couldn’t reach that same level of happiness now and so he goes back to like his old tapes and like childhood, and there’s a birthday tape of him blowing out the candles. And apparently, he was so happy, so excited, with one present that he got that he threw up. And yeah, no, it’s just, it was it was cute and adorable. What else? Oh, my god. Um, and so he spends like, all his time and money trying to track down what was it that made him so happy. And it’s so, it was so interesting to see the lengths and what he would do. He is like, alright, well, let’s see, oh, I’m saying something, but there’s no sound. Alright, get me somebody who could, like Jonathan, get me someone who can read lips. Person who like comes in and reads lips is like, “Okay, you’re saying, oh my god, it’s the Apollo.” And then like, you realize this, oh, wait, it was a spaceship. It was a spaceship, wasn’t it.” And then he works to try to find it online, to find that spaceship once again, again, trying to recreate what he wants lost.

Javier Caballero 22:05
And so I think that’s part of what I think about sometimes with my scooter, as I move in advance in life, I have my own entrepreneurial spirit. So there are parts of me that can almost relate to Jack. But I feel like I’m a lot more fun and creative than the character that they painted him as, but they still gave him a heart and soul. And at the end of the day, he, he was, I do believe he was a good human being, he just was lost in his climb to success.

Javier Caballero 22:32
And I definitely had a moment in my life where I was climbing, trying to sprint towards success, like sprint, I literally for graduation, I had for my cap and gown, the cap part, I, the quote I actually put was like, I want to what’s it called? What was it it was like, “I want to succeed, like I want to breathe,” like it has to happen. And I was on that whole mentality for I think a couple years, like really trying really hard because I connected money at that time to freedom because I wanted to have all those fun, amazing fun times in childhood that I had. But the best way paying, like how do you do that? I’m like, well, the only way is if you had really enough money where you don’t have to work anymore. You don’t have to worry about bills, and you don’t have to do all these things. So then became like, alright, if that’s what it takes for me to enjoy, have fun and like, keep on, keep on having the fun time I had in childhood. I gotta work super hard, I gotta make this happen. I have to have that crazy mentality.

Javier Caballero 22:44
You know, fast forward on to more today. I don’t know that, I think, I still have that entrepreneurial spirit. But having talked to a lot of different people having gone through different types and levels of burnout, I’ve changed my whole strategy on that. And it’s a lot more balanced now. And I feel like I’m in a better place than I was back then. But still remains that idea that I will be a lot, wherever I’m going. It’s just going to keep getting better, to a certain extent. But I’m not going to sprint and kill myself trying to get to a place that might not exist because I sprinted there, if that makes sense. That was a mouthful. Sorry!

Claudia Henock 23:44
No, that’s totally fair, because I think that’s just really important to know about too. And Javier, I want to say thank you again for being on my show today, and talking about the scooter and the connection that you have with it. Because sometimes, even if it’s not really obvious, we can have a strong connection to the important things that we have our life, whether it’s through a relationship, or through memories that we have of it. So Javier, if people want to find you online, where can people find you?

Javier Caballero 24:48
Oh, okay, I’m like, do I put my instagram handle on here or do I put my LinkedIn?

Claudia Henock 24:54
If it helps, I post these episodes on both my Instagram and LinkedIn, but I’m gonna leave it up to you.

Javier Caballero 25:00
Oh, well, that’s just so perfect. Okay, I will say they can reach out to me, I’m in both places. The fun, crazy, creative, social, fun person that I am, that’s on Instagram. The very professional, I don’t wanna say uptight, but definitely, I seem a lot more formal, will be my LinkedIn, I hope, I hope this podcast does not paint me as the crazy, Jack Donaghy character that I described. But someone who kind of found his balance in life, and still able to kind of keep his childhood dreams and goals alive, while still enjoying life, you know? So yeah, you can reach me either way. Be professional or fun me, I’m available both places.

Claudia Henock 25:40
That definitely works as well. And I’ll, and I’ll definitely put both links to it in the show notes as well. So Javier, before we close out, do you have any last words that you want to tell to the audience?

Javier Caballero 25:52
Sure. Um, trying to think of, as far as words of wisdom, oh, well, the one that I use my go to is always don’t get lost in the sauce. Definitely, like, I guess during that time period, I kind of got lost in the sauce. A lot of times, not a euphemism for drinking, but you know, lost along the line of journey, of this whole journey called life and adulting, and whatnot, and existentialism, I feel like I finally find my way out. And even though I don’t have necessarily all the answers for everything, I feel like I know where I am. And I think, I know,I believe I know where I’m going. So, yeah, try to live a balanced life. And you can always fun, doesn’t end when you get older. And so you don’t necessarily need to stick to holding on to items for that set amount of time. But if you’re going to like, gosh, I’m getting lost in my own advice. I’m getting lost in the sauce. See, this is why I tell you don’t get lost in the sauce. It’s trouble.

Claudia Henock 26:56
Totally, that’s still a really great advice to hear as well. And Javier, I want to say thank you again for being on my show and have an awesome night.

Javier Caballero 27:06
Thank you so much for having me. You have a nice night too.

Claudia Henock 27:09
Thank you. Alright, have a good one.

Javier Caballero 27:12
You too.

Both 27:13
Bye!

Claudia Henock 27:17
Thank you for listening to this episode of Your Most Precious Thing. If you want to support the show, you can leave a review on your favorite podcast platform and share your favorite episode with a friend. You can also contact me @claudiahenock on Instagram and Twitter, and Claudia Henock on LinkedIn. In addition, you can also contact me at claudiahenock1@gmail.com. You can also follow Your Most Precious Thing through my official website, www.claudiahenock.com, and anywhere where you listen to your podcasts. Intro and Outro music is Synapse by Shane Ivers and you can also listen to his music on silvermansound.com.