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April 10, 2025 13 mins

Strawberry Letter for Thursday, April 10th, 2025: He Puts It Down, But He's Broke

"Dear Steve and Shirley, my man and I were friends for years and he’s always been down on his luck. I called him Bad Luck Barry because he couldn’t ever catch a break. Over the years, we grew fond of each other and we slowly became more than friends. One day he admitted that he’s always loved me and that’s why he has taken such good care of me for 25 years. I could not remember one time he took care of me but then I had flashbacks of the small but sweet things he’s done for me. Things like coming over in the middle of the night when my dishwasher was leaking and painting my bedroom and helping me rake leaves one Sunday afternoon. I then remembered how I had to pick him up and take him back to his brother’s house after he helped me. Despite all of that, I fell for him after we made love for the first time. He went from Bad Luck Barry to Boss Daddy because he put it down! That’s his nickname now and my friends laugh at me because my man is not the boss of anything..."

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is time now for today's Strawberry Letter, and if
you need advice on relationships, work, dating, sex, parenting, and more,
please submit your Strawberry Letter to Steve HARVFM dot com
and click submit Strawberry Letter. We could be reading your
letter live on the air, just like we're going to
read this one right here, right now, and you never know,
it could be yours.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
It could be yours. Buckle up and hold on type
he got it for you. Here it is Strawberry Letter.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Thanking nephew subjects. He puts it down, but he's broke.
Dear Stephen Shirley, my man and I were friends for years,
and he's always been down on his luck. I called
him bad loved berry because he couldn't ever catch a break.
Over the years, we grew fond of each other and
we slowly became more than friends. One day he admitted
that he's always loved me, and that's why he has

(00:48):
taken such good care of me for twenty five years.
I could not remember one time he took care of me,
But then I had flashbacks of the small but sweet
things he's done for me, things coming over in the
middle of the night when my dishwasher was leaking and
painting my bedroom and helping me rake leaves one Sunday afternoon.

(01:08):
I then remembered how I had to pick him up
and take him back to his brother's house after he helped me.
Despite all of that, I fell for him after we
made love for the first time. He went from bad
luck Berry to boss Daddy because he put it down.
That's his nickname now. And my friends laugh at me
because my man is not the boss of anything. He

(01:31):
has a dead end job and he shares a car
with his brother. I drive everywhere we go, and I
slide my credit card to him when we go out
to eat so that he can pretend to pay for
our meals. Look, I get it. Everyone is struggling or
has struggled in the past, but the people around me
are ambitious and hard working people. I'm afraid that my

(01:53):
man is too comfortable with his circumstances. He's fifty two
and I'm fifty. So should I stick with him and
encourage him to get a better job and maybe help
him buy a car. Or should we go back to
being friends and I let him come over often for
great sex. That is the question. Well, of course it
depends on what you want. You haven't figured that out yet,

(02:17):
it seems. Do you want a man that can provide
for you, take care of you, and love you, or
do you want a man that can offer you great
sex but pretty much nothing else. There's nothing wrong with
encouraging him to get a better job, but you would
think at fifty two that he should be able to
encourage and motivate himself to be better by now he

(02:38):
should have something to show for it. He doesn't even
have a car of his own. Okay, all these years
twenty five did you say all these years? He's been
around that long. What has he been doing? Does he
want to be better? Does he want to do better?
Or is he just okay with where he is? And

(02:58):
if that's the case, he's not stepping up, then if
you get with him in a real relationship, it won't
work because you will you will be footing all the
bills and you will start to resent him. You're already
complaining that you have to drive everywhere and slide him
your credit card to pay for dinner when you go out.
You're already doing that.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
Steve, this letter is about something that's wrong with two people,
him and her because he's fifty two and she fifty.
This letter don't even sound right of a fifty two
year old man, and it don't sound right over a
fifty year old woman. Uh, we were friends for years.

(03:42):
He's always been down on his luck. Wait a minute, Waite,
always always been down on his luck. No, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
He's always made poor decisions.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
This is what this is the same about.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
No luck.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
See, every time somebody gets successful and envious, people go,
he's so lucky. No, but you know what the definition
is of luck. Luck, it's with hard work bumps up
into opportunity. That's how people describe other people's success. Now
you say he'd been bad that I call him bad,
look barry, because he couldn't ever catch a break. Over

(04:28):
the years, we grew fond of each other, and we
slowly became more than friends.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Here we go again with that old we friends.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
I untold y'all and told you, oh, don't nobody listen
to uncle Steve. Here it is again. One day he
admitted that he's always loved me. Shut up, shut up,
you are lying. He did, girl, I'm so surprised. And

(04:58):
then he tell me that's why it's always taken he
called me for twenty five years now, I want you
to pay close attention to that. I couldn't remember one
time he took care of me, But then I had
flashbacks of the small but sweet things he's done for me,
things like coming over in the middle of the night
when my dishwalker dishwasher was leaking and painted my bedroom

(05:22):
and help me rake the leaves.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
One Sunday afternoon.

Speaker 3 (05:26):
But then I remember I had to pick him up
and take him back to his brother's house after he helped me.
So you had to go get him so he'd come
fix the dishwashing. Then you had to go get him
to rake the leaves. Then you had to go get
him to paint your bedroom, but you had to take
him back every time. Despite all that, I failed for him.

(05:50):
What despite all of that, I fail for him? And
after we made love for the first time, he went
from bad dad look buried to boss daddy because he
put it down, well, I ought to be able to
do something. He got time. He got time. He ain't
making no money, he ain't worry. He got to be
able to do something. God to be able to do something.

(06:12):
He got time to focus. He ain't got to stop
he ain't any big I gotta get up out of here.
I gotta go to work. He ain't got to do that.
That's his nickname. Now my friends laughing at me because
my man is not the boss of anything. So you
have told your friends about it, and you called me
boss daddy. He got a dead end job, and he
shares a car with his brother. What he fifty two

(06:34):
and he shared a car with his brother.

Speaker 1 (06:37):
All right, hang on, Steve, all right, we'll have part
two of your response coming up at twenty three minutes
after the hour. Subject he puts it down, but he's
broke right after this, you're listening Steve Harvey Morning Show.

Speaker 3 (06:59):
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twenty four.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
All Right, see, let's recap today's strawberry letter. He puts
it down, but he's broke.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
Here's a lady that has been friends with this guy
for years, and I've told you all about the friendship.
He admitted that he loved her, always has and told
her that's why I've been taking care of you for
twenty five years. You couldn't think of what he's ever
done for you in the twenty five years. Then you
started looking back on all the small things. He came
over to your house and fixed your dish washing when
it leaked in the middle of the night. He helped

(07:57):
you paint your bed room. He came over on Sunday
and helped you rake leaves. Then you remembered you had
to go pick him up so he can come do
all this stuff. Then he had to take it back
to his brother's house. And while you have take it
back to his brother's house because him and his brother
share a car. How you share a car with somebody,
y'all ever had that before? That's a hard thing to

(08:18):
share a man a car. Anyway, Then they finally made
love and he went from bad luck berry to bouce
daddy because he put it down.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
Well that's good. He got to be he'all to be
able to do something.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
Hell, come on, But he and the friends laugh the
fact him because he ain't the boss of anything, because
he has a daddy in job and he shares a
car with his brother.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
Now Here we go, I drive everywhere we go.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
I slide my credit card to him when we go
out to eat so he can pretend to pay for
our meal. Then she said this, look, I get it.
Everyone is struggling or has struggled in the past. Well yeah, lady,
that's true. Everybody has struggle, and everybody has a struggle.
But you can't make this struggle your struggle. He fifty two.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
He shared a car with his brother, which means he
lived with his brother.

Speaker 3 (09:23):
You got to pull your credit card out, which means
he don't have one. You got to drive everywhere because
y'all can't go everywhere because his brother got the car.
And I'm not really sure that they sharing a car
because you still ain't mentioned of him ever driving anywhere,
so I think it's his brother's car. And he thene

(09:44):
told you he shared a car. I think it's his
brother's car because you have yet to hear.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
You got to.

Speaker 3 (09:50):
Drive everywhere, so when he's sharing the car, he don't
pick you up. That's because he don't share a car.
You're not listening. It's his brother's car and it's his
brother's house. He in worse shape than you think.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
Now.

Speaker 3 (10:05):
The people around me are ambitious and hard working people.
I'm afraid that my man is too comfortable with his circumstance.
He's fifty two and I'm fifty. Should I stick with
him and encourage him to get a better job and
maybe help him buy a car. Should we go back
to being friends? I just let him come over more
often for great sake. Wow, lady, your options ain't great.
Should I do this or that? I mean, you're not

(10:27):
giving me a great option to look at him, Junior,
Your mustache looks really thick on the zoom call today.

Speaker 2 (10:33):
Congratulations.

Speaker 3 (10:34):
Just thought I throw that out there anyway, Yeah, I
just want to compliment anymore now. I've never seen his
mustache look that thick before. He's maturing. Man anyway, Yeah,
we all might as well stop because this that ain't
going nowhere, Because I don't know what options you have yeah,
because your option is to leave him because he's too comfortable.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
He's comfortable, he's business, he's fifty two.

Speaker 3 (11:02):
He lived with his brother and he say he share
a car, but he don't really share the car in
his brother's car. And should you help him get a
better job, why he don't want a better job, and
maybe help him buy a car. No, you're gonna have
to buy the car. He ain't got money for food.
Where you see money for a car?

Speaker 2 (11:25):
Or should we go back to being friends? Now?

Speaker 3 (11:29):
How do you do that? And I let him come
over often for great sex. So all you're gonna do
then is enable him because he gonna sign a He
gonna sign that contract tomorrow because that's a good offer.
So listen, I can get with this woman, come over
our house, have great sex, and I ain't got to

(11:52):
buy a car. I ain't got to move out of
my brother house, and I ain't got to get a
better job.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
Jack fought.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
So your idea of going back to just being friends
mean now you only have to drive him everywhere, but
you're gonna have to go pick him up.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
For this great sex and then drive him home. So
I don't.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
Understand the upside for you in this at all. As
a woman of fifty, you with the man who has
no upside? Now, look, can you build a man up, yeah,
who has ambition?

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Can you build a man up yes? Who has a plan? Yes?

Speaker 3 (12:37):
But if your man ain't got no plan and your
man ain't got no future, what are you finna help
him do?

Speaker 1 (12:46):
And does he want this? It doesn't even seem like
he wants this man.

Speaker 3 (12:50):
This dude is comfortable. Man, he is comfortable. But that's
what I tell people all the time. Everything you really
want in life, life is on the other side of comfortable.
You've got to go through discomfort to get to it,
and a lot of people are not willing. It's a
prime example of a fifty two year old man who'd

(13:13):
decided I'm living with my brother. I'm gonna tell this
girl I share a car. It's his brother's car. He
don't share nothing, because not one line in this letter
has he ever picked him up ever? Right, I just
don't see it later, So yeah, and you can let
him come over and do what he want to do
to you.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
But all right, post your comments on Today's Strawberry Letter
at Steve BARBFM on Instagram and Facebook. And check out
the Strawberry Letter podcast on the free iHeartRadio app for
it Never Sounded So Good, you can download it. Today
you're listening to the Steve Harvey Morning Show
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Shirley Strawberry

Shirley Strawberry

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