The C.H.O.D.E.S. Podcast
Two cousins, Maria and Leslie, discussing wild personal experiences in relationships, current events, and just life. We are sharing our experiences for relatability and entertainment. There will be laughs with a lot of gasps and we will also get down to the very intimate and raw details of the dating world and life lessons at every turning point.
Email us to thechodes3@gmail.com
The C.H.O.D.E.S. Podcast
The work episode part 2
On this week's episode join us as we talk about navigating the shifting landscape of workplace culture, probing how generational differences are rewriting the rules of job satisfaction.
We have a raw discussion on the pivotal role of parents in shaping the work ethic of future generations, the underappreciated rigors teachers face, and how the pandemic sharpened our collective focus on personal well-being and the value of service industry workers.
We also vented our shared frustrations with the often thankless realm of customer service and why many of us would rather pass up the mantle of leadership for the sake of sanity.
Finally, we indulged in a bit of dream weaving, considering the "what ifs" of pursuing passion projects and the serendipity that sometimes leads us down unexpected career paths. Join us as we reflect, vent, and dream together in an episode that's as much about the fabric of our lives as it is about the work we do.
DM us your questions or tell us your story!
https://linktr.ee/thech0despodcast
hi everyone, welcome to cousins. Honestly, openly disgusting everything spicy welcome to the chodes better, better. It's a little late, but I was like where's she at? Did she meet me?
Speaker 2:no, how you doing?
Speaker 1:how was your week?
Speaker 2:same old, same old girl. I didn't do nothing, I just worked. Old girl, I didn't do nothing, I just worked. And I baked a cake on Thursday at 11pm because I was stressed.
Speaker 1:Where's my piece Is what I would like to know.
Speaker 2:She can come get it if she wants some oh if there's some left. I know Dude, my mom and I have zero self-control. Well, shout out to Katia's Creations, because she sent me two cupcakes.
Speaker 1:I know Dude, my mom and I have zero self-control. Oh Well, shout out to Katya's Creations, because she sent me two cupcakes. Trick how she thought that we were recording together and she didn't know. And she brought me two cupcakes. So me and the actual Chode shared it.
Speaker 2:Whatever I'm about to, I'm about to send a very, a very Extense complaint To the HR department Of Katya's creation. Thanks, child.
Speaker 1:For her strawberry cupcakes.
Speaker 2:Oh, they look good too, damn no.
Speaker 1:They were good. They were good Packaging and everything Good.
Speaker 2:I believe you Did you take a picture? No, no, of course you didn't never fucking take pictures of anything.
Speaker 1:No, I'm not gonna take a picture of food, I'm gonna eat it you always take a picture of food if I remember well, not you. I mean regular people like other people I'm like.
Speaker 2:I'm like normal, regular people the igrs well, I don't always post my food, but I I like having the pictures because I don't know. It reminds me like when I look at london and I talk about what we ate in london, I'm like, oh my god, I had the best steak. Let me show you. And I have a picture of my food.
Speaker 1:Oh, you're like I'm sorry, bro, not me, so I have. I have the evidence in my gut, so that's not evidence because you're like I'm sorry, bro, not me, so I have.
Speaker 2:I have the evidence in my gut, so that's not evidence, because you're gonna let it out look at me, look at me well anyway. Thank you, child. I didn't get to enjoy it, but next time she made her own cake. Yeah, mine is a box cake, dude, not a fucking cupcake from scratch, or strawberries Delicious.
Speaker 1:Anyway, we have a lot of responses from the questions we asked from last week's episode, and last week we talked about what we do for a living and how we got there our career path journey.
Speaker 2:And we asked you what you do for a living. So I got a couple of responses. I asked what do you do for a living on my personal page and someone said they're a Starbucks supervisor with like one of those unimpressed faces emojis. Someone else said they're a barista full-time, part-time home baker. And someone else said they're a route driver for Culligan. I deliver water softener tanks and bags of salt. That sounds like a rough job. Tbh, do you want to talk about responses on the other page or do you want me to talk about the ones on my page and then we'll go into the ones from the podcast page.
Speaker 1:You go, and then I'll go.
Speaker 2:Okay. So the next question I asked was how do you feel about the $20 minimum wage increase? The responses were not everybody feels good about it. I guess somebody said still waiting for the increase to hit my company. Someone else means less hours, our company will decrease labor. To even things out, meaning more work, same pay. And someone else said it's a good thing. People need money. The bad part is inflation may be a factor. Someone else said I feel like I need a raise now, girl same. Somebody else said ridiculous, it was way too much and it's going to cost everything to increase in price. I mean, that's already happening.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that I asked a similar question on the page and that was the. That was kind of what we got on the page. The response is more on. It's already impacted some people, like the company's already cutting hours. Therefore the labor like they're getting paid the same people are in the end are making the same because now they're working less. They're getting paid more but working less to even it out.
Speaker 2:And yet the prices of like food and um other stuff, yeah, my mom told me she was reading on the news that there's massive layoffs happening right now because of that wage increase. I don't see it as a good thing to be honest, but to each their own.
Speaker 1:No, I don't think it's a good thing. I think people just saw it as a they just saw the money and they went for it, but they didn't look at the outcomes that were going to happen. I mean good for those that are still able to keep their hours and they're making more now, but it sucks for those that are not having to work less. Yeah, I imagine, and they were looking forward to the higher pay. Yeah, that's messed up.
Speaker 2:The next question was do you? No, are you happy with your current job? Um, not really. I need to leave soon. Some guy said yes, good for you, sir. Uh, yes and no, it's exhausting being in customer service. Then it's all right. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. Okay, so we're all in the same boat. We're just existing in our jobs. It is what it is, yeah, except for that one guy who's living his dream, apparently.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's like this. Well, I mean, no, there's some people that do have a job that they work for, study for, and they're happy, and I mean shout out to that Like that's so cool that you guys are doing that.
Speaker 2:It's hard to find. Yeah, to give context, I kind of know a little bit about him. He owns his own gym.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:So yeah, he's pretty happy with his life, I guess, but if he wants to talk more about it, I'm sure he'll reach out. Um, then I asked if you're not happy with your job, why not? And they said the system is broken. Uh, you work with a lot of young adults in the generation of, too sensitive to tell them anything, which let's talk about this. Let's pause here because, remember last I said, bullying is necessary. Girl, I cannot deal with these fucking kids nowadays like I know that every generation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know that every generation has said like oh, it's back in my days you know, and it sounds so ridiculous when you say it out loud, but girl like you really can't tell these kids anything, because everything's offensive.
Speaker 2:They don't want to work, or it's not that they don't want to work, they just they're not taking any bullshit from anybody. Like they don't care about keeping their jobs because they're like fuck that. Like I'm, I'm not gonna work for like a little bit of pay doing all this work and I don't know. I think, like because of instagram and tiktok and everything, they see all these influencers making shit, tons of money on promotions and videos and whatever, and they think that life is so easy that you're going to get monetized for going viral on the Internet, which is possible, right, but in turn, they just don't live in the real world, correct? You have to pay your dues, man. These kids like I have.
Speaker 1:I mean, they're all different, right, because they're not all the same. We're all individuals and we all have different personalities. But for the most part to generalize it, the younger generation and by younger I'm not talking about the ones that just graduated from high school, I'm talking about the ones that are in the workforce right now and they're like in the early 20s. These people, like, I don't know what made them so sensitive. What is it? The woke generation? Is that what they're called?
Speaker 2:I don't know what the fuck they're called. Like I understand, Like I understand where they're coming from, but, man, sometimes it's just like shut the fuck up. Just shut up, I get so annoyed.
Speaker 1:That's coming from her chest. Y'all that's coming from her chest? No, it's because you can't tell them what to do, and it's their job. You wanted to work here. Let's just generalize it. You wanted to work here, you knew what you had to do and now you don't want to do it. But you want to get paid because you showed up. So do I, so does anyone. We would like to get paid just for showing up, but you get paid per hour and if you're salaried, you're, you're getting paid to be there when you're needed to do the job. But I don't know, you can't. If you correct them, if they don't, they can't take constructive criticism. Like there's a movie there's a movie.
Speaker 2:There's a movie on Netflix. It's called oh my God, it's about this. Is it called Fathers? Oh, no, it's with this Bill Burr. You know he is not politically correct. Oh, it's called All Dads. So it's basically these three dudes that are like super old school. So it's basically these three dudes that are like super old school and they have their kids in this school.
Speaker 2:That now is all about like feelings and gentle parenting and oh, your kid is beating my kid up. I'm just going to go talk to you gently and tell you that is not OK. You're hurting his feelings, you know, and the whole movie just it's like this guy just doesn't understand how to live in the world now, because back in his day it was okay to say the most outrageous shit, and I think, in that sense, like it's okay that we've advanced a little to say as a society, to say like, oh, calling somebody a retard is is bad, right, but then to put so much focus on your feelings and then your feelings are gonna prevent you from doing your job, like, nah, dude, everybody, everybody has feelings and everybody has to learn to be professional. And you know, I know, it's not always possible to leave your personal life at the door. But you gotta fucking try, man. We've always, we've all been in a situation where we don't want to be at work when we have to be so and we don't.
Speaker 1:I'm going to tell you what a manager personally told me about this. To me, a manager, someone from a leadership position, told me that that mentality is because we're coming from the old workforce culture old workforce culture and I said, well, what does that mean?
Speaker 2:and this is someone that's older than me well, they're a manager, they can't have to be in the know apparently but he he said, oh, it's because now we have to be in the more inclusive culture where we allow individuals to express their authentic self.
Speaker 1:Permit me.
Speaker 2:Let me accommodate myself in my chair, because I cannot. Okay, carry on. Please do so. My authentic self Is to be an asshole.
Speaker 1:No, I'm just kidding. I was going to say to be a bitch, but my authentic self is to you know, go to work, do the job and the fuck out of there when my time is done and collect my checks as I should. I don't. I don't go there to make friends. I don't go there to be a bitch either.
Speaker 1:I just go to get my money right, Meaning I do my job and I do it well, so I don't get told anything bad and I leave and I'm at peace and the job stays at the job and I come home and I'm clean of it.
Speaker 1:But, lucky you, that's, that's my authentic self, my authentic self, is also to express when I'm being pushed over, you know so, when these people are not doing their job the younger generation, the, the woke ones, when they're not doing their job, I'm like um, excuse me, how are we getting paid the same to do this, to do the same damn thing? Yet you're not doing their job. I'm like, um, excuse me, are we getting paid the same to do this, to do the same damn thing? Yet you're not doing anything. You're just standing there, literally standing there, and I'm over here doing your job and mine, and I'm not getting paid double. I'm still getting paid the same and you're getting paid the same, but I can't tell you anything, and it's not my business to tell you anything.
Speaker 1:But if I stop doing something and I sound like this person, I get. I get told real quick, hey, get back to work. And then the excuses Well, you know better, I know better. But why can't this person be corrected though, too? Because they don't know better, so correct them. No, it's because we don't want to tell them anything, because then they're going to start getting sensitive. Well, I'm sensitive to you telling me anything. I'm getting mad now. Why are you? Why are you telling me something, but you can't tell that person something. It makes no sense. So that's my authentic self. So I can't be my authentic self in order to allow someone else to be their authentic self.
Speaker 2:That made no sense to me, the conversation made no sense to me, so, yeah, I'm like what the hell, dude, my authentic self is literally to be an asshole, like I don't. Let's start with the fact that I, most of the time, don't know how to speak properly. I think people have noticed in this podcast, right, I don't know how to say things in a way that they come out loving, right, like if I'm going to tell you you're fucked up, you're fucked up, fucking, fix it, own up to your mistake, right, especially in my, in my, I don't have the issue in this company, but I work for a company where I had to train people and, girl, when I tell you, for like a whole year they would ask me the same question as when they started training, oh my God, I would get so mad. I'll be like, fucking, write notes down and I would tell them like that, and everybody knew that I was a bitch and everybody knew that, oh, don't mess with Maria, because what the fuck, dude, I'm not going to be babying you, I'm not going to be sugarcoating life for you, like, not everybody is going to be nice to you. And the whole inclusivity thing, girl, oh my God, that's another whole like Okay To. That's another whole like okay To me. Inclusivity, right To me.
Speaker 2:Personally, inclusivity looks like when I go to Guatemala, for example, and I go to Walmart or like any store over there. There's people that have no hands, there's people that are not able to talk or even that are blind, but the computers they have they have like the Braille, or they have a sign that says I can't talk. But if you move your lips slowly I can understand you. And they don't have hands, but they can still touch the screen, they can still work.
Speaker 2:To me, that's being inclusive because you're giving them an equal opportunity to work in this environment that is fast-paced, especially like at a supermarket like walmart, right, yeah, but if somebody, like how you're saying, at your job is a fast-paced environment and they're just going to be standing there, it's a high, a high stress, fast-paced environment, because it's not a regular coffee shop, right. So it's like fucking, get to it. And if you can't tell them anything and the managers are not telling them anything, I don't know how you haven't snapped yet, girl, because to me that would not slide. I couldn't let it happen no, I can't either, but I let it slide.
Speaker 1:It's just more like I'm just there for the paycheck and I'm not gonna take home this stress. I'm not gonna stress out about it if the higher-ups are not even stressing out about it. Clearly I'm in the wrong because I'm part of the old working fat culture.
Speaker 2:I don't know what the hell that is. But well, if being your authentic self is being and it's not even that you're a hard worker or like a workaholic, it's just like wanting to do your job right. At least that's how I feel, yeah, and it's not.
Speaker 1:it's not even that. I just don't feel like I have to work double or I have to be put on check, when others are not being put on check. They're doing the bare minimum. I'm doing the job. They're not even doing the bare minimum. They're like not even doing anything and they're not getting told anything. But I'm getting told something because I know better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is true. I don't know why they're like that. Honestly, I blame it on the. We don't accept bullying at this school policy.
Speaker 1:Well speaking of school, speaking of schools too, on our page I asked about like is the education failing our, our kids and stuff like that? And the teachers are very limited as to how they can discipline students. So that's another thing. Girl like the, the younger kids right now, london elementary and junior high, they're not getting disciplined because the teachers can't discipline them and, for that matter, like schools are losing teachers, they're desperate to keep teachers because the teachers don't want to deal with it anymore dude, eso, that started from the pandemic, like speaking of like pre post life pandemic.
Speaker 2:Um, that started from the pandemic because parents couldn't deal with their own fucking kids at home and when they sent them back to schools, teachers were like the kids don't know how to behave because, obviously, being at home, the parents were not educating them.
Speaker 2:And uh enough to to like, oh for when the kids went back to school to to know how to act, right um and they, they want to tell the teachers what is your job to fucking teach my kid, not, dude, like it's your job to teach your kid like, especially life skills you're supposed to prepare your children to go out into the world and know how to deal with the real world, the the job of a teacher is to teach them about math, history I don't know arts and crafts, not fucking how to behave or how to Kids learn how to share stuff from who? From their parents right.
Speaker 2:Because if you have a kid who's selfish and you see that as a parent and you don't try to rectify it, then when they're older and they try to take your whole inheritance or whatever because they're selfish, you have only you to blame.
Speaker 1:That's how I see it, yeah pretty much and then so that was one Right. Another response that we got on the page was I feel like teachers do the best they can, but it's all the requests from the admin and the district that make things difficult and lead teachers to burnout, which leads to not inspiring students.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes.
Speaker 1:So it's not only the parents, it's also the school district, with all the rules and everything and then some teachers like like what he was saying that are already experiencing burnout or feel limited. They feel like they can't really inspire or teach how they would like because they're limited yeah, especially if they have a classroom of like what?
Speaker 2:40 students, and it's just them. Can you imagine shutting up 40 children?
Speaker 1:or if, like, uh, like an example, a kid, you know who's out of control and like all the teachers know about this student, even the principals, but they, oh we can't tell this student anything because he has issues, you know, mentally, or he has a disability, or he's in the foster care, I don't know A lot of things you know. So this kid is allowed to act up and, you know, disrupt the class, basically impede other students from learning or doing the right thing.
Speaker 2:I think I don't know if this is a fucked up thing to say, but I think we need more schools that are catered for mentally disabled children, because as much as the parents want the kids to have a normal life quote, unquote right, I think the people that teach at a regular school are um trained professionally on how to deal with those situations, and so that's when that happens that a teacher experiences burnout, and all that because they have to pay more attention to the student than the rest of them, but they can't really correct them because it's frowned upon. You know what I mean? I don't know. I think I think in every, in every um profession, like for a cop, for example, there's been cases where cops they don't know how to deal with a person with mental issues and then they just end up ¿cómo se dice, maltratándolos?
Speaker 2:like treating them badly, yeah like pressing them out, yeah, or like using excessive force, because this person usually like autistic children, right, it's known that they have more strength than regular children. So cops don't know how to deal with that and they end up hurting the child. So I think like a little bit more training in those in that aspect would also be helpful. But also, where are the resources? Because we don't have, like the, the government doesn't have money for schools, but no, they're, in fact, they're closing down schools.
Speaker 1:They're closing down schools and it's like what you said after pandemic, like a lot of um a lot of people didn't want to go back and then a lot of um parents, they're resorting to homeschooling how do you even homeschool somebody?
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I don't have kids, but uh, like I know, see, and that's another thing, but that's a story for another time.
Speaker 2:But we should. We should make a shirt that says that it's a story for another day. We'll leave that for another episode.
Speaker 1:Yeah so the workforce? I don't know. It's scary, these people, the things that like back then you know, if you were sick you would still go to work because you wanted to push through, you know, to get that paycheck or whatever. Now people are sick, they can't pay their bills, but they're like yeah, whatever, they don't care oh girl, I think it's just the attitude after pandemic.
Speaker 2:Like you, just you value other things, I guess oh yeah, you know, what people didn't learn from the pandemic is how to treat the service industry, because I think, like, imagine how much we couldn't go to restaurants and like ordering food became the new norm, right, and then, once people were able to go back to restaurants, they felt so fucking entitled to just scream at people, like on tiktok. There's a whole trend of people when they started going back to the restaurants, how they would treat the service staff and it's like the staff just got fucking sick and tired of it and they started snapping back like fuck, I don't have to fucking serve you.
Speaker 2:You know, like you said, like other things became priority, I guess. And I wouldn't use my sick hours before. Like, uh, if I was sick and I would be mandated by my doctor to stay home, girl, I wouldn't. I wouldn't give my note to my supervisor, I'll be like, no, I have too much work, I'm gonna do it now.
Speaker 1:If I'm sick, I'm gonna use my sick hours, fuck that yeah, I'm the same way like if I, if I'm sick like I'm, I'm gonna use the time that I have right now. I don't have any time off. I would be using that. But, yeah, clearly right, but I'm going to use the time that I have right now. I don't have any time at all.
Speaker 1:So I would be using that. But, yeah, clearly right, but I'm working through it and I'm not like, oh, please don't make me do this, I'm sick, like no, if I showed up it's because I'm able to right, I'm able to perform, do what I have to do. But some people, just they're able, bodied like you can do it. You're not nothing's impeding you from working and you just don't want to work and you're making up excuses.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're choosing to not work. You're making up excuses to not work and personally, like if I'm dealing with something to the point where I can't even concentrate, I don't want to be in your way. I don't want to be in your way. I don't want to be like causing backup, like you know, some people break down we all break down, but there's a time and a place and some of these people are having, like their nervous breakdowns.
Speaker 1:And it's like I would give the example, but then I would put myself jeopardized Because I really, if I go into detail, like all my people where I work, will know exactly who this person is.
Speaker 2:So I'm not going to say more on this, I think by saying that you already yeah, there you go, I'm not, but.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no girl, I get it, I get it. There are things that we can't talk about here. As much as we really, really, really want to, we can't until we're not making money full time from this podcast. We can't give you the full tea on some shit, but I mean, and there are people that make work a better place, like your coworkers, right? I know you said I don't go here to make friends, but you do have a lot of friends from your work um but they've earned the title being your friend.
Speaker 2:It's not like oh, you start working with me today and we're automatically friends. It doesn't work that way.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, it's something that developed in years and years of working together and what we said in the previous one like as much as you don't want to consider them your friends or family, like these people, you spend more time with them, but you know more about them than you know about your own grandma, or you know more, girl the amount of things my ex-co-workers know from me.
Speaker 2:It's like outrageous like I have my from my previous company, like two companies ago I had my two girlfriends. You could say and you know me and I'm very like. I think I haven't been as descriptive in this podcast but, like in my personal life, I'm very descriptive about the things that I've I've said or done or whatever they know everything, girl, because I would walk in in the morning. I'll be like guess what and I'll start running down what I had done the day before.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I don't see them, I just got the job, yeah, basically Like guess what?
Speaker 2:I saw yesterday, this fucking idiot, and this is what we did. But I don't see them as often as I would like to now, because when you work with people it's like you know you're there all the time. It's easier to make plans. When I used to work with them, girl, there was not a Friday that we wouldn't go out after work, and now, after so many years of not working together, we've gotten together maybe like five times. So there is people that become your friends outside of work, but it's harder to maintain a connection with them. And on that note, I did ask on my page do you get along with your coworkers? A lot of people said yes, nobody said no and somebody just said I'm just there for my check. So I guess he has no friends at his work or he works on their paycheck, which is weird to me because he's told me before that he's baked cookies and like cinnamon rolls for his coworkers.
Speaker 2:So I don't know. Are you really there just for a check, hmm, or do you want to fit in?
Speaker 1:No, I'm telling you, I feel like sometimes you just end up carrying like as much as you're like I don't want to be friends with these people, like they're there and you're like, oh well, I'm just just gonna take them this, you know if you're a genuinely nice person, you're gonna be like I'm gonna take that's true, I make cookies for myself, but I might as well give it to them because I don't want them, you know?
Speaker 2:or, yeah, dude, one of my closest friends, um, she. She worked with us for like maybe three weeks, four weeks tops, but she did not want to be friends with anyone and since she started working with us, I just went up to the front desk because she was. She was uh, kind of like the helper to the front desk person and I was like hey, what's your name? And she was like and I was like, oh, I'm maria, like nice to meet you. What time do you have lunch? And she was like, yeah, I don't know, but she was doing everything to get away from me, girl, and I was just like I'm just gonna adopt this person as my friend and I saw her and then I saw that she was outside and I was like, oh, you're on lunch, I'm on lunch too, let's go have lunch together.
Speaker 2:She was like I'm about to go in. Actually I was like no, but I just saw you came out and I ended up like stealing her whole lunch. And then I was like we should hang out, we should hang out, we go. We. And she was going to ELAC at the time and I was like, oh, I'm gonna go to ELAC. Imagine we could be like co-workers and then like go to school together. I was just so excited to be her friend I don't even know why girl honestly, like I can't remember the reason why because till this day, I ask her like why are we even friends?
Speaker 2:because we, we have almost nothing in common. I think like we, we like a lot of the same things but also like not, the personality is not the same. She's very like, kept to herself and I'm all fucking out there. And finally I went out with her when I was 21,. Dude, I was 18 when I met her and I would always message her and call her and message her, and we didn't hang out until I was 21 because we went out to have drinks. She was the first person that I went out for drinks after I was legal girl and we've been friends ever since. But I always tell her, like I was not letting you go as my friend dude. Yeah, that's a funny story, but yeah, that's what happens. See, when you work with people, I'm sure you have.
Speaker 1:I don't know Okay. So okay, what I get from work. What I've gotten from work is that I come off strong, I come off as scary, I come off as intimidating, and one girl even told me that I just have that leadership quality. So I command presence, like my presence commands attention. I don't know fear, what the?
Speaker 2:hell like fear fear.
Speaker 1:I was like, yeah, but I was like, literally I'm just existing, literally I just go in there, I can care less about you or anyone. Like I'm just there, it's just coffee guys Like I'm there for that, just for that and my money.
Speaker 2:But so it's about the coins.
Speaker 1:So yeah. So then they get the. They create their own assumption right, and I do it too. I judge people by their coverage. They don't want to be friends with me, like they don't want to talk to me. You're like that's fine, yeah, right, and if I see you that you're quiet, I'm going to make you talk. I'm going to make you talk because I like to you know how I am. I like to pick buttons.
Speaker 1:So like, no, touching up, if I see you quiet, I'm going to make you a social butterfly. And that's what most of my friends were. They were quiet, they were introverts. Now they're all sassy. They have almost like, yes, like you got to be like that, sometimes like, um, I know this because I used to be like that, I used to be quiet, I used to be shy, but and they know, sometimes you gotta, and I guess that's why I do look intimidating, because so people don't like to approach me or talk to me, but I like to get them out there, out of their little bubble, because I don't want people walking all over them and because I've been there, done that.
Speaker 1:Like I used to be quiet and and I used to be scared of people. So and then I learned like no, you just gotta. If you appear or put up a shield, people won't approach you or they won't fuck you over. So that's why I look like that, but honestly, I really don't care about y'all. And then I get people who are like now that they're my friends. Right, they're like, oh, I was so scared of you at first and like now we're best friends. I can't believe. Like I got you to be my friend. I was like bitch, you didn't win anything Like I'm no prize.
Speaker 2:But they did, Like you're one of the, Because there are acquaintances and there are friends. Like, when we think of acquaintances, let's just think of the people that are no longer in our lives, right? Like? Our former, I'm not talking about this moment of silence, the minute it is Not even, not even a minute.
Speaker 1:They don't get anything.
Speaker 2:But yeah, so let's think about them. About them like they were not good friends to us, especially, like the way they were treating us or like talking about us. Or, you know, like my ex-best friend, like I've told you all the shit that he would say to me and most of the time I'll be like, yeah, okay, because I understand your situation, I'm a lettuce light, but no longer right, and those people are not real friends. So I think, like when you're a friend to someone, you're a real friend, like me, like I have my rides or dies, but also I know a lot of people. I just don't consider all of them my friends and I've been told the same thing as you like, oh, dude, you like you look like a bitch before, but like you're really cool or whatever.
Speaker 2:It always starts. I have another, another one of my friends that I always tell her like dude, you have such a bitchy ass attitude when you start working with us, but now we're really good friends. You know it always it's, it's always like that. But I think you've always been told that. I remember clearly one time that we were in downtown la at a, at a discotheque no, I'm just kidding, it was like a like a rooftop bar. Um, yeah, the rooftop bar. Like some guy approached us and I don't know what the hell he said, but it was something along the lines of like oh, I'm gonna talk to you because she looks like she's scary. I was like what the fuck you?
Speaker 2:remember that I think, no, uh-huh, yeah, and we were both like, okay, well, why would you talk to me? But why wouldn't you talk to me, you know? And he said that I just looked approachable, and then you just look like you had a bitchy attitude and I was like, yeah, okay, I think it's the other way around.
Speaker 1:But I get it a lot. I get no, yeah, right, like you're the one who will be like upfront and honest to their face and I'm like the quiet, like more like sweet one in a way.
Speaker 1:I'm like way low first, but um, yeah, no, I do get that. I guess, even like one of my cousins approached my, my current one, the kid. They approached him and they, um, they asked my cousin. So I mean my cousin asked him, so why do you like my cousin? And he was like what do you mean? Like how do you handle her attitude? And he just laughed and he was like I have fun with her, so I don't know what you're talking about. And she proceeded by like I like you, like you're cool, and I thought that was funny. I was like why would my own blood ask that to my man? I was like it's good. They really like I don't know what it is. I'm like what have I done?
Speaker 2:but oh, well, I think you have a different relationship with each person, because the relationship that you have with me is most definitely not the same as you have with our other cousins, right, so, like on my side, I can only speak for our side.
Speaker 2:But yeah, girl, as in this podcast, there's a conversation for another episode. For now, let's finish with the work stresses, which is one of the last questions I asked and I asked on my page what stresses you out the most about your job and people calling out, then having to compensate for their absence on a busy day, expectations from management, zero recognition. And the other person said I'm a route driver, so all the stupid people on the road. What is your biggest stress from work?
Speaker 1:Mine is just the way that customers talk to us. They talk to us very condescendingly or belittling us, like thanks, hon, or not even thanks. They're like they'll talk really some reason you don't understand. Yeah, like that, like they'll just talk really slow. And some people don't even have manners. They throw money at you and like if you don't work in customer service, that is fucking rude. Like, don't throw money at anyone, we're no strippers. If we wanted to do that, we would have been doing that. But hand your money like decent people. I know because of covid we don't want to touch, don't worry, I have my sanitizer behind the counter. But like, be nice, have dignity, like at least. But some people are just. That's my stress, if you can't tell, that's my fucking stress. And the questions like my food, my food, like they can't wait, they literally just order and they're like food.
Speaker 1:Yes, I know you ordered food. I took your order, bitch, but just wait, just wait, and if you don't see your food after five minutes, then come tell me where's my food. But don't act like this, because we're standing here. I'm like the food comes from a different area, so relax, relax, I'll find you, don't worry take a seat.
Speaker 2:People don't know how to relax it for real, I mean, I think, unless you order ahead of time. And even when you order ahead of time, like what makes you think other people didn't just go and wait yeah, what's your stress? Well, girl, mine is just getting my work done, like right now we're in a in a. Let me, let me formulate my okay, your answer yeah uh, right now at my job, I feel like it's a lot of work and not enough people.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I understand that they can't just be hiring anybody right, especially my company, that they have a special way of hiring people. I don't want to say that they're discriminating, because it's nothing like that. It's just like, and I agree with the way they hire because they kind of try to.
Speaker 2:They're selective. They're selective with the people because they try to see that their values, like the person they're hiring, their values match with the mode, not the mode, the scheme of the company. Right, like you have to be very like caring and you have to have a good teamwork ethic or whatever. Like I don't know how to explain it honestly, like it's really hard for me to explain it. In my department, it's three of us processing claims. Sometimes there's an unbelievable amount of claims. The thing is everything's urgent, but also everything has to be 100%. If you make mistakes, it's like well, remember, it's like okay, what do you want? Do you want quality? Do you want quantity?
Speaker 1:Because you can't have both.
Speaker 2:Like it is really unrealistic to expect people to produce a high number of claims but also have 100% accuracy or 99%, whatever, 95%, like it's doable, yes, like, if you like, are a super, extremely detailed person, but even the most detailed of persons, they're going to miss something. And when there's a lot of changes, there's a lot of things that happen in healthcare constantly, and there are things that come from the Department of Managed Healthcare, for example, and there are things that come from the higher-ups in your company, for example, and there are things that come from the higher-ups in your company. But I think that a lot of the times, the people that are at the top don't know what happens here at the bottom right, and so they make the changes because they think it's so easy oh, let's just change this little thing and they think that that's gonna make the whole process better, but in reality, it fucks us over, right, and I always tell, like one of my co-workers, that we talk a lot. I'm like dude, I feel like in order to get to that position where you're gonna be like managing an entire company, you should have experience in every single department, so you don't make this type of decisions just based on whatever you feel is better, right, but of course that would be in a perfect world and that's like my high in a perfect world. Yeah, that's my.
Speaker 2:My high stress levels a lot of the time is the changes and a lot of, a lot of claims to process and the accuracy. Because, to be honest with you, girl, like my brain skips things, so like I don't know if you've ever heard like of people that read the first and last word and they kind of like put together the sentence in between. That's kind of how my brain works sometimes and so because of that I'm trying to change it, but it's I don't know. When you're hardwired like that, it's hard, so I miss a lot of stuff sometimes.
Speaker 2:But now I'm like really double, triple checking myself because, yeah, I don't want to be scolded again.
Speaker 1:Well, what you were saying about the whole managers having to learn all the other departments where I work. If you're going to become a manager at a location, you have to start in all the positions right To get familiarized with the area that you're working in, and they still don't know. That's another stress, stress. You know like they're making decisions like dude. You were trained, you knew what you were doing and now you're gonna fuck this over all of a sudden, you forgot that you used to work on this side too correct.
Speaker 1:So that's another stress too, that some of the people that are higher up they're there and then they act like they don't remember what, what it was like down here. So sometimes it's like whatever yeah, that sucks.
Speaker 2:That sucks because they forget about how hard it was and like I think, like when you're in a position where you think I never want to be a manager girl, like I I cannot aspire for a leadership.
Speaker 2:Yeah me, neither like I don't want more stress I know that it gets paid. Neither Like I don't want more stress I know that it gets paid more or whatever but I don't want to be overworking myself. I don't want to oversee an entire department. I don't want to have to tell people what to do, because trust and believe that I'm not going to be like, hey, you know as patient as they are with me, like what I'm telling you that I'm fucking up constantly and they're patient enough to like be explaining to me. I don't want to have to do that because I'm not going to be patient. I'm gonna be like fucking what the fuck is wrong with you, even though, like what we're saying, right, like I know what it is to get to make mistakes, but I'm not gonna have the patience to to constantly be babying someone else with their mistakes. You know what I mean. So it's a little hypocritical of me, but I don't ever want to be in a leadership role like that.
Speaker 1:I don't want to lead, but I also don't want to be led.
Speaker 2:I mean yeah, oh like, did I say it right? I think I understood what you meant.
Speaker 1:No, I think I said it right you don't like to lead, but you also don't want to be led.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't like micromanaging either, Like there are people that need that constant checking up on you, but I feel like I'm grown. I know I have to get my work done. Why are you on my ass for it?
Speaker 1:You know it's going to get done Like.
Speaker 2:so why are you pushing me? You know, yep, but yeah, on that note, note, girl. We both asked what would you do if money wasn't an issue, and the guy that said that he was happy with his current job said I would be doing the same thing I'm doing now. So clearly he's super, I know yeah well, I mean, that's his, that's his dream. By all means, go off, honey. Someone else said work in an aquarium.
Speaker 1:Someone else I got a dog walker. Oh see, that's good. Someone thought that they would be a dog walker, and if it was a salary position, even better. No like no. I was like okay, like yeah.
Speaker 2:I will never.
Speaker 1:I also got um. What is it like social media marketing? I was like oh.
Speaker 2:Or advertising for music events, and I was like oh okay, you can start by managing our social media, if you want that free internship, jk, but not really that's cool.
Speaker 2:I mean there are. If you go on Google, they have a thing called Coursera and I don't know if I'm saying it right. To be honest with you, a lot of my pronunciation is wrong most of the time but they have this program, I think you pay like $60. You can pay a membership to do all of their courses that they offer, or you can pay $60 for like the class, I think, and they give you a certificate for a social media marketing something. I don't know. Look into it. And I just want to say other people say, travel the world. And again, shout out to Katia's Creations because she said she wants to own her own bakery, open her own bakery, and I believe that that is possible, child. So you go and do it.
Speaker 1:Hey, we once said that we wanted to become hotel owners.
Speaker 2:That's still in my plans. I don't know about you.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:Even if we're 60, girl and we open a hotel and name it what we were going name it.
Speaker 1:I'm still gonna be like, okay, we did it. Oh, that'd be cute.
Speaker 2:Now we have to do it, yes, like I think I think that dream of airbnb and we're gonna start with airbnb and then we're gonna go and have our hotel. It's gonna happen, girl. Put it out in the universe yes, let's do that.
Speaker 1:Um, no, I think that's. Oh yeah, I would like to do event planning. There you go like oh child really yeah, I do.
Speaker 2:I like that. I'm gonna let you plan my next birthday party and see if you really like event plan.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna test you, I think, event planning, but you would have to like, give me money and stuff to buy the stuff.
Speaker 2:Well, by next year, hopefully, I have a black card and I'll just give it to you and be like it has to go off, oh, okay, no, not, hopefully you will.
Speaker 1:Let's go with that.
Speaker 2:Yes, by next year I will have a black card. There we go.
Speaker 1:Imagine if I had a black card Oof Child. Yeah, card Oof Child. Yeah, then I would gladly plan your party and you can test me out if I'm good or not.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good one. I used to want to be an event planner too. I don't know why I stopped wanting that. There's a lot of things I was talking to my mom about, you know. Like in the subject of work, I was telling my mom like I still don't know what I want to do with my life, you know, because what I'm doing a lot of us is not what I would have wanted. Like, the way I ended up here was literally because my dad took me to uei and he was like well, you're gonna go to a technical career and he was like you're gonna be a medical assistant, and because you know that I was never gonna do what my dad wanted. I just chose something completely different and I I didn't even know what the fuck medical billing and coding was.
Speaker 1:But yet here I am and, yeah, I think I asked you. I'm like how'd you even get to where you're at?
Speaker 2:because I don't never would have thought you would be in this profession no, because when I went to, when I went to UEI, that was a whole thing because I wanted to go to Marinello remember that school for beauty but because I didn't have enough time in the US, I couldn't apply for like um, like to go in there. I don't know, I can't. I can't remember exactly what they told my dad, or maybe he was lying to me honestly at this point.
Speaker 2:I believe that he was lying to me, yeah, um. So when we went to uei, he signed the papers that like it was gonna go on his credit, my career or whatever, and then, like a month in, they're like hey, so your dad's credit didn't really work, so we're just gonna put everything under your name, girl. Twenty thousand dollars, just like that under my name. I'm still fucking paying for that shit. So that's how I ended up there, but it was never something that I wanted to do and my mom's like, well, you know how to do a lot of things. And I'm like, yeah, I know how to do a lot of things, but like it's like that saying right, jack of all trades, master of none. So at this point I still don't know what I would like to do if I had faith that my paintings could sell, I would sell paintings, girl.
Speaker 1:But then I also don't like to be told what to do. So I don't want to be like, well, I, I mean, I don't know, I'm I'm wavy, because if you tell me like, oh, paint me this, y'all do it, but I don't know when, but I expect you to pay me when I'm done yes, he does a problem a problem, but I think your paintings could be sold, especially the one you did from Antigua.
Speaker 2:No, I know, I think you need to have a little more faith in you, because I've seen people sell stuff on TikTok that I'm like who the fuck would buy that? And then somebody in the comments is like, oh my god, do you have a shop? I need that in my house. And it's like fuck, como dice tu tía, en gusto se rompen géneros. I don't know how to translate that.
Speaker 1:In like you Break stereotypes.
Speaker 2:En gusto se rompen géneros. Yeah, something like that. Basically it means like to each their own.
Speaker 1:Oh my god, there you go. See, you did it, damn it you see how my brain works guatemalan thing.
Speaker 2:Hey, they make sense in spanish, but yeah, babe, next week. Um, as I gave you guys a little preview before, it was about friendships. Um, so what is it? What did? What did we say we were going to talk about next week?
Speaker 1:Like making friends. Like, now that we're older, how do we make friends and do we have big friend circles? Because when we're younger we make friends, we make a lot of friends, and then, as we get older, we end up having like one or two or three friends that just stick around for good. But that's about it. And how do you make?
Speaker 2:new ones. How do you even make friends as an adult, especially as an adult that doesn't leave their house? It's hard, but yeah, that's it for today. We hope you have a good week and we'll see you next week. Bye, have a good day or night, bye.
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