McRib, Bears, Dating, And Beyond for 1/15/26

A fast-food legend, a very real bear, and the strange state of modern courtship walk into a podcast. We kick off with the McRib lawsuit and what “rib” really signals to consumers, then push past the memes to the real stakes: honest labels, allergy risks, and how much uncertainty we tolerate for convenience. If you’ve ever said “it’s like a hot dog, I don’t want to know,” this segment might change how you read a menu.

From menus to crawl spaces, we unpack the saga of a 550-pound black bear living beneath a California home. Volunteers eased it out with oil-filled paintballs and deterrent mats, but the bigger story is habitat loss and why wild neighbors keep showing up. It’s a reminder that coexistence takes planning: secure access points, smarter waste management, and community education. Along the way we connect it to a viral refrain—women joking they’d “pick the bear” over a strange man—because humor often hides a truth about safety, boundaries, and public space.

Dating norms get a reality check as Gen Z and millennial men report approaching less in person. We break down anxiety, rejection, and the missing playbook for reading context: bars and events invite conversation; quiet errands, gyms, and solo park time usually don’t. Practical moves help—offer your number, accept a no, and treat rejection as neutral feedback. If you want warmth, bring respect and timing.

We also spotlight the largest nursing strike in New York City history, digging into staffing, safety, and the training gaps that show up in everyday care. Nurses carry the system; retention and quality demand safe ratios, mentorship, and real accountability. Finally, we share 2026-ready job search tactics to beat ghost postings and glacial hiring: targeted networking, daily LinkedIn signal, personalized outreach to hiring managers, and a portfolio that solves their problems on page one.

Enjoy the ride, learn something useful, and tell us what you think. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—what topic should we tackle next?

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.

Transcript

Cold Open And McRib Controversy

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Hello everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of Thirsty Topics. I'm Lawrence L. Rod. And I'm Meryl Climo. Hey Meryl, how are you?

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Hey, hey, hey. I'm really good. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 1:25

I am doing fantastic. I cannot complain.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Right now. I I will complain, but not to you. You're perfect. Well, uh, I want you want me to start it off. This one I have a funny one to start us off with. Okay. Now, are you a consumer of the McDonald's mick rib? Because I think this will handle how I get into this conversation today.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Um I used to, but the wife is making sure I stick to eating healthy. So I don't eat it like I used to, but I do like it though.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

But the the mick rib, if you were gonna eat a McDonald's, that would be like a choice that you would be one of your your go-tos.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

It would be. I wouldn't eat a long time. Um but yeah, it would it would be one I would eat.

What’s In The Patty And Lawsuits

SPEAKER_02 2:12

Okay, that's cool. See, I have I don't know if I've ever had a mcrib. Um, but I don't know if I'm gonna start now because there's been this crazy stuff online. Like the for I mean, I've been hearing this for like definitely over a year, where people saying the mick rib is like not only from not from like a rib meat sandwich, but it's from other pork cuts. Um, I mean, this is really crazy, but people are like obsessed or you know, convinced that some of these fast food places are like using humans too. There's this thing called like solvent green, if anyone looks it up. I don't know. Of course I'm a conspiracy theorist, but um the book and the movie Solvent Green will explain it all. But a lot of people think that our our fast food is serving us other humans. But anyway, the McRib has been uh under a lot of uh just kind of speculation lately. And McDonald has pushed back against claims in a class action lawsuit that the company misled customers by advertising the McRib. The McRib is a rib meat sandwich when it's patty allegedly comes from other pork cuts. Um McDonald says that the McRib is made of seasoned boneless pork, and like lawyers are getting to the nitty gritty gritty of it of like a mcrib isn't actually part of the rib. And McDonald's was saying, yes, but it's pork, and we're like advertising it as it, as that. Some people are saying it has no pork whatsoever. This just seems like a nightmare to me. I mean, I feel it just the way with hot dogs is that when I get these burgers and everything, I kind of have a feeling that like I don't know exactly what I'm eating and I'm okay with it. What about you?

SPEAKER_01 3:52

I mean, to me, the McRib to me is a a tastier, a tastier portion or example of a hot dog. Because everyone likes a hot dog every so often, but you really don't want to know what's in that hot dog. Yeah, exactly. So the rib has a very, very unique taste to it. Okay. I mean, you can be blindfolded and you know you're anemic rib.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

I feel like even though I've never had it, I can taste it. Um, also just a brief history. They started selling it in 1981, but then pulled it from the menu in 1985 because of poor sales, and then it's made a return again in 1989, um, only to be come back brought back in 2020 with like another comeback recently, 2024. And people really do like it, but a lot of people are saying that you're um you're like advertising it wrong. The people think they're getting like whatever area of pork they're getting, and it's not really that. I just cannot believe there's a class action lawsuit. To me, I would be more upset about what's in it rather than just like what they're advertising because I feel like McDonald's is not a brand that I'm like, oh, okay, yeah, they're like always on the up and up. I just figure we eat it, I try not to ask questions, I enjoy it. Hopefully, in one way or another, it leaves my body and doesn't form into a weird thing.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Yeah, I mean, I could be wrong, but this sounds like a lawsuit for the attorneys because realistically, even if it goes through and somehow or another it is granted, what are you gonna get? Maybe 50 cents to a buck if right and then is it gonna be for everyone, or is it gonna be somewhere you have to prove that you got bought one, which okay, no one keeps their receipts for McDonald's. So exactly I think this is a lawsuit for the lawyers. I could be wrong, but I think that's what this is.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

I do too. I do think, however, it's really important to if if they're using a different part of a different animal, like I think it's really important to specify, like if people think they're eating beef and really they're eating chicken or horse or you know, whatever is going on, just because I think religious reasons and like allergy reasons and stuff, I think it's important for businesses to be like real about the animal that they're using, but the actual part of it, like I don't know, this is this is what we get for eating like fast food.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Well, that's true. I mean, depending on if they are using a different type of meat, let's say hypothetically it's chicken. That actually wouldn't be a bad thing to admit, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:26

Right. Yeah, but some people are like allergic to chicken, you know, or or they they for whatever reason have chosen to not eat that. But ew, I I don't know. The other day I was gonna go through McDonald's, and then I really just thought, what if they are serving us human and it really like stopped me from doing that?

SPEAKER_01 6:43

I mean, who knows? I mean, it could be made with like a lot of people from the south. Um, they eat you know, pig feet, they eat chicks like that. Wouldn't it be funny to find out that all these years that the McRib was pig feet? Wouldn't that be interesting?

SPEAKER_02 7:00

At first, I thought you were saying who knows it could be made from a lot of people in the south. I'm like, I hope not. I hope that if we are using humans, once again, I call for some diversity and inclusion for everyone, not just southern, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Does this make you want to try McRib since you've never had one?

SPEAKER_02 7:17

No, no, I feel I genuinely feel like I could taste what it's like, and I'm gonna pass on it. Um to me, does it taste very barbecue-y? Because I'm not like like barbecue sauce is not one of my favorite tastes.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

One thing about it, um, the meat, I it's hard to describe the meat because it's like nothing you've ever had before. So that's not a bad thing, but you you definitely will know it's different, and they do lather way too much sauce. So just make sure that you know you eat carefully or you know, put some napkins or something down so you don't mess your clothes up.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

See, what once I like get too familiarized with a fast food taste, whether it's like the Wendy's nuggets or the McDonald's burgers, I need like one if I can taste it before it really like makes me think twice about ordering it.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

I hear you, I hear you. So I shouldn't buy you a McRib and send it over to your house, huh?

SPEAKER_02 8:18

You can sort dash it to me, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Interesting here. Do you remember the story about this bear living under someone's house?

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

Well, there's an interesting update to that story. A bear living under a home finally leaves for good.

Taste, Sauce, And Fast-Food Boundaries

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Oh is it hibernation time, I wonder? Even though we're in the we're it's winter for us.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Nope, actually, it wasn't hibernation. So basically, uh a 550-pound black bear, nicknamed Yellow 2120, don't even know how they came out, but yellow bread 2120, living under a Southern California home for over a month, was finally removed by volunteers from the Bear League using paintball guns filled with vegetable oil to startle it out of the crawl space. An electrified mat installed to prevent its return after it caused significant damage to the home.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

Oh, yeah, I could imagine.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

I don't know. Maybe it's me, but you really needed a volunteer group to come help you get that bear out.

SPEAKER_02 9:33

No, couldn't you just like take some salmon and lure it or something or like clothes off your area?

SPEAKER_01 9:39

I don't know. I mean, I know some ways to get the bear out. Um think I'd be protested by a bunch of animal groups if I said I can get that bear out. But yeah, you know.

Bear Under The House Update

SPEAKER_02 9:51

See, I would like I would, I would, it would be in living in the house with us in like three days. I'd be feeding it mcribs. And I feel like even a bear would be like, no, thank you to a McRib.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

I think that once the bear, because we said bear's gotta go out to eat. I would think that once the bear goes out, you know, you go ahead and put that electrified mat down. Um but I I heard one story that sometimes it was more than one bear living under the house that they thought.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Oh my gosh. Yeah, that's something how don't they like leave their house and just walk around? Like if you're coming home at night and it's late, you just hope that it doesn't come out and get you.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

I don't know. To me, I wouldn't very feel very comfortable living in the house because you're right. What if you're either leaving or coming into your home and all of a sudden you're face to face with this bear?

SPEAKER_02 10:39

Yeah, I know. I'm not feeling it. I definitely think I'm glad that they got it out safely, but I wonder now if it's just gonna go to the next place or like it's probably become like accustomed now to not be afraid of houses. So I think they'll have to be careful of where it goes next.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

I would think that they would have to you uh they would have to tranquilize that bear move someplace because to me that bear is too comfortable coming into a house now.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Yeah, and they'll smell where it was and just like oh, but I hope it doesn't have any cubs any like under it or whatever. I'm sure that they would take them too, but yeah, yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

I don't know. I I just think that um and and you know, part of the problem we don't talk about enough is you know, I get it, you know, you gotta build you know you gotta build houses, build this and that, but we're taking up a lot of territory where wildlife is their their space is getting less and less and less, and that's how you have all these um these crossovers between humans and wildlife going on. And I don't think it's gonna get any better.

SPEAKER_02 11:42

Oh, yeah. I mean, I we I see that all the time with coyotes, they just become such a I never thought I'd like have a life where coyotes are just so intertwined with it, they're just so common, and you know it's it's very weird to see them, and then I'm I'm always fine with like see one coyote, but if if I'm out walking in the morning or at night, it's like you don't want to be alone and come into a pack of like four or five of them.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

That's true, that is so true. And you know, even though that sometimes they may they may look you know nice and cuddly, they still are wild animals.

SPEAKER_02 12:13

I know, just like the bear. I really think with it, it would be one week of me feeding it, and then I my Jack would come home and there'd be like a bear watching TV with me.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

I just love to know how the hell that bear was able to get in and out. Because if you've ever seen a picture, this is a gigantic bear. Oh you know, going in and out of this small hole for for a window. So it's like how does he do that, you know, without getting stuck or or damaging this?

SPEAKER_02 12:43

I wish that's where I wish we could just ration with animals and be like, hey, you could totally live here. Just promise me you're not gonna hurt me or my family or anyone that comes visit. Like and then they'd agree. Like, I wish there was some that's what Elon Musk needs to invent, is like instead of a cyber truck.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

You're a much nicer person than me, Merle.

Living With Wildlife And Safety

SPEAKER_02 13:02

Well, that actually that's a perfect transition for my story because like a couple months ago it went viral on TikTok about like women saying whether or not they want to be alone in the woods with a bear or a man, and like everyone is always like, I'll take the bear, I'll take the bear. And so you know, you'll see videos of like men acting cray cray, and women will comment under it and just write like bear, you know. So that's what if anyone is ever wondering. Um, and this article has to do with why Gen Z and millennial men aren't approaching women anymore. So, you know, this is definitely a thing I hear with some of my younger single friends. Um, there was a uh study done saying uh of younger men saying that uh they have less interactions with women in real life. Um, they feel like girls don't want to be approached at all. They talked to this one younger guy who kind of like talked on behalf of a lot of guys and just said, I feel like I'm bothering them. Um, a lot of times it's just easier to make the first move on bumble or hinge or dating apps, but like, you know, they'll almost pass up the if they see like a beautiful, nice woman in person, a lot of these younger men don't say hello to women the the way they used to before. So I just I want to get your thoughts on that. Because like, I don't know, as a woman though, honestly, I feel like creepy men have ruined it for the nice ones in a lot of ways. Because like I don't want to be approached by a man in public, not because I hate them, because I love men, but just because like a lot of times you're just trying to get coffee or like do whatever you're trying to do without having to strike up a weird conversation. Um, but I feel like if I was single and wanting to talk to men, I would maybe be hoping it was happening more.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

You know, this age-old thing about men approaching women has been gone on since the day of time. I think it's gotten worse in the digital age because now you have young adults um that love to play video games and they love to you know get on different types of social apps or whatever, and you you're finding that a lot more of these young adults are not having face-to-face communication with people.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bear Or Man: Viral Debate

SPEAKER_01 16:08

A lot of them have that anxiety because approaching a woman um isn't the easiest thing to do, especially, especially for young adults that in their generation, you know, they're not really taught to approach women, talk to them, you know, know how to, hey, you be rejected, so big so be it, move on to the next one. They're not taught those things. So for them, you know, rejection could be like devastating, you know, like, oh my god, I don't know. And it shouldn't be that way. But I think that's a big problem with the times, personally.

Why Young Men Don’t Approach

SPEAKER_02 16:42

I agree. I definitely agree. And I think there needs to be more taught about like the time and place to approach women, because I think men, I think we all like take one one situation and then wrap it up into mean everything. Like where, for example, I have friends that actively are hoping that at a bar or like a restaurant when they're there to meet men, like that's when they hope they get approached. But on the flip side, when women are like at a gym or especially if we're sitting alone in a park, like we I can speak for most women, we don't want to be, we don't want a man to come up to us when we're like nicely laying in the grass reading by ourselves, you know. But if we're like at a singles event or at a bar, then that's like a yes green light. So I think maybe as a society, we need to get better with helping each other understand like the more appropriate times to go up to each other. Because that's the thing is like it's always the creepy men that will come up to you when you're like trying to sunbathe in a public place, just you know, minding your own business. And then I think the normal younger men think that that's like, oh, women don't want to be heard from and all.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Well, you know, the interesting thing is I remember when I was single years and years ago, one of the things I noticed when I went out was you would have a nice woman, let's say at a club or at a party, whatever. And you know, you come up, you know, introduce yourself, say, hey, you know, can I buy you a drink, or you know, can I talk to you, or maybe can I dance or whatever? And you know, they kind of shoot you down, sometimes in a very cold way.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

Then you see this other guy walk behind you, which is kind of a little bit of a character, and you know, he comes with this weak, incredibly kind line, and they're like, Yes, but one of the things that most women don't realize, the good guys pay attention. A lot of times we're watching you before we step up to you. So if you say you like a certain type of guy, that that guy is really not the best guy, we're not even gonna waste our time walking over there. A lot of women don't understand. That's true, that's true. Yeah, yeah. So the thing is that what you have to understand too is you attract what you're with. So if you like to go around all these goofy guys that you know want to be the Mr. Player and all this stuff like that, most good guys aren't gonna even approach you. It's it's sad to say most good guys will not even want to approach you. Yeah, yeah, I think that's fair. And I just don't understand. It's like you, you, you, you, you get with these guys that, you know, not all women. I don't want to say all women, but some women get with these guys, they know this guy's a wannabe player. This guy has multiple relationships, has kids that he don't take care of, and for whatever reason you get with this person, then well, he's not gonna do that to me. I never ever understood that to save the life of them.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

No, yeah, I don't understand that either. I don't understand either side, either men or women, like liking people that because they are a project or because they don't pay attention to them or because they're rude to them. Like it's it's very weird. I think everyone should work on themselves and like want something good before they even start looking for anything.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Yeah, and I think personally, and I've always believed this is that if you're positive, you feel good about yourself, it radiates and you actually attract people coming to you. Yeah, when they see that you're a positive, and here's the other thing, too. If you're a positive person, you're a very uh outgoing person, you you know, you're really taking care of your business, you're having fun, whatever. You know, unfortunately, some people may be intimidated by that too. And you know what? If if they are intimidated by that, that's their issue, not yours.

SPEAKER_02 20:23

Yeah, definitely. It's so funny. Uh I feel like the grocery store, I always get men saying random things to me, and like like I was wearing a sweatshirt that said something on its sleeve, and I must have had three men like you try to use that as like a conversation topic because they're like, What's on your sleeve? I'm Paul, nice to meet you. And I'm like, oh my god, go away. But once again, if I was single, maybe I'd be excited, or like I'm just trying to pick up chicken, I'm not trying to like talk to men or whatever, you know. So I think there's a time and a place for uh interactions, or maybe they're just being nice and trying to read my sleeve. But like sometimes we've all we're I feel like men and women have annoyed each other so much now that we're at like a higher threshold of than we want to be, you know, and now we have stuff like I mean, this is ridiculous, but like human trafficking and like like I mean, I know that's been going on forever, but I think we're just made more aware of it, and women are more hyper vigilant more, so that we're kind of like on guard a little bit more.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

And and here's the reality too. You know, if a guy meets a woman, you have a great conversation, whatever. There's nothing wrong with saying, you know what, um, here, you know, here's my number, you call me. A lot of women may be more comfortable with that because they're not sharing their information with you, and if they're interested, they'll call you.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Exactly. Yeah, and I think I was just gonna say the last thing I was gonna say is like the way that you probably men probably feel about seeing like a player guy go up to a woman and get her laughing and attention. We feel about like that men. Sometimes only approach who they deem to be like the absolute hottest, or it's like the really hot woman rollerblading by, like, that's who seems to get men's attention, where there's lots of other girls that are like still very good looking, but maybe not as much. Where, like, I think we all need to give each other a more of a chance in different ways, and like not such a superficial way.

Timing, Rejection, And Social Cues

SPEAKER_01 22:14

Oh, yeah. And you know, the one of the things, too, and I know we've been on this subject for a little bit, but this is one of the things, and I think most women understand this now. All guys understand this. Um, there are two different types of women to a guy. They're the women you take home to mom, and the ones you don't take home to mom.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

You want to be the one that you take home to mom. Because the ones that, you know, um, I'm trying to be real with this, but the ones that reveal a lot, act a certain way on public order, yes, they're going to get attention, but it may not be the attention that they want.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Right, and it might not be long-term and everything. We need we need to do a whole episode just on dating. Because sometimes I think people should listen to their friends that have been in relationships forever and have nothing to lose, because I feel like I'm gonna like I always try to give my single friend friends advice and they just are acting a fool.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

Yeah, you know, the sad part, Meryl, is that you know, even though you know I've been married over 30 years now, and it's almost like the dating scene is pretty much just the same, but all the num the names just change, but it's pretty much the same, same thing. And maybe I'm oversimplifying it, but that's what it seems like to me. Yeah, definitely. But then again, I could just be aging myself, so that's okay. Well, uh, a not so um good topic here. Um 16,000 nurses have went on strike in New York. Wow. Yeah, yeah. So, yes, around 16,000 nurses at major New York City private hospitals, including Mount Sinai and uh Mount Fiore, began striking on Monday, January 12, 2026 after contract talks stalled, making it the largest nursing strike in New York City history, focusing on staffing, pay, and patient safety. While some safety net hospitals have reached uh deals, nurses at the larger systems are walking out for better conditions with negotiations continuing for some hospitals as the strike unfolds.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

Well, that's what we don't want, is we need nurses, especially in like in New York.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

You know the sad part, Meryl, is I don't remember what episode it was on, but we were talking about how you know the administration um deemed nursing as a real profession. And I was sitting there looking like this is like right in the face of what we were talking about, and I don't understand why people don't think nurses are important. Nurses do the things that doctors don't do.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

Yeah, exactly. And we're yeah, exactly. We were saying that too, and how they like a lot of times are able to spend the time and the attention and care that like doctors for whatever reason can't. So, I mean, good and it I to me, if if any industry is gonna strike and we're going to hopefully listen to them and meet their needs, it would be, you know, the healthcare one, but oh it's so tough.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

Yeah, that's true. Um, I mean, I they have to work this out, obviously, because we can't go have to go out with without nursing. But I I would think that, you know, between how the administration wants to reclassify nurses and this big strike, I think it's gonna have long-term effects where some people may go, you know, I wanted to be a nurse, but I don't think it's worth getting into their field.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

I know. I even think they're they recruit extra hard for nurses because I do feel like that's one of the jobs that have like fallen off since COVID for sure.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

Yeah, oh, absolutely. And you know, the thing is that I think nurses really get the raw end of the stick because they put in just as much time, just as much work, or even more as the doctors do. Because let's face it, when you have a doctor's visit, the majority of the time you're talking to the nurse or the aide, and the doctor's in there for like five minutes.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Yeah. I don't know what it is. Oh, there's a doctor that I go to where like they use interns from local college, like they don't even have nurses, they just have like nursing interns. And the last time, yeah, and it's so crazy because I was I was telling the girl that the last time I had a student who put the blood the blood pressure taker thing upside down on me, and my arm was like getting cut off, and I had to tell her, and I'm like, is it literally your first hour of like being a nurse? Because this is cutting off my circulation and someone else had to come in and help her and help me. And I was telling the girl about what happened, and she said, Oh my god, I'm a student too.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

Oh my god.

Standards, Signals, And Intimidation

SPEAKER_02 27:13

So you could outsource nurses from like the Burbank Community College or whatever, but but I'm like, where are the actual like nurses overseeing you? So I'm wondering now if they're if they're cutting corners just in like every way possible. And this is like a legit physician's office. And I I had someone that like wrapped my arm with the blood pressure thing who did not, it seemed like her first time it seemed like she never even practiced it. It was like upside down, and my arm was turning purple.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Yeah, but you know what the thing is, Merle, I think they should tell you that up front, and that way you should find out because even in emergency rooms now, the majority of the time when you go in there, um, there's a nurse's practitioner that sees you. And I know my doctor uh, you know, told me, said, you know, whenever you, if you ever go into an emergency room, request that a doctor sees you. Um they can't tell you they cannot say no. Because my philosophy is well, if you're gonna have a nurse practitioner, are you gonna give me a break on the building?

SPEAKER_02 28:14

Exactly, exactly. That would be a good service for like retired doctors who still want to work a little bit to almost be like a mentor and like almost shadow the nurse and be like, actually, don't forget to ask him this, or you know, the same way that like beauty school people have someone that's like more advanced standing next to them and watching. Like, I think that would be good for for yeah, because you shouldn't have them all by yourself, and I feel like they need to be learning too.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

Well, I agree. I mean, I I tell you uh about the blood pressure thing, you are a saint because I'd be like, you know what? I need a doctor, and not not you guys, no offense, but I know, I know.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

I did tell them I I would be a good like tester for nurses because I'm just like, yeah, whatever, who cares? And I'm like, it's my I I think I was like, I don't want to make her feel bad, but I was like, uh, I think you this is on upside down, and she was embarrassed, but I'm like, like, I'm like, wait, there her and I were the only people in the room. It was crazy.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

Wow. That is funny but scary at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 29:16

Yeah, it wasn't even like, oh, I'm a senior, I graduate next May. It seemed like it was her first, she probably it was like 10 a.m. and I think she started her career at like not maybe 15 a.m. or something.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 29:33

I would love to hear from from our followers and and people who watch us. I would love to know if you had an intern come in or a student come in, would you be okay with that person administering care administering care to you? Or would you be a little angry or offended by that? I would definitely if go to any of our social media pages, we would love to know the answer to that.

SPEAKER_02 29:58

And I want to hear at what point of your blood pressure machine being cutting off your arm, would you uh say something? Because I think there's some people that are such people pleasers that they wouldn't say anything and they would just let their whole arm, you know, become like black in pain, but then but mine was like I I I gave it about like maybe uh maybe like 20 good seconds, and then I said something.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

Yeah, like I said, you're you're a saint. I have to give it to you.

Nurses’ Strike And Patient Safety

SPEAKER_02 30:25

But it was so funny because I was talking shit about that old student to that to the woman, and I'm like, oh my god, thank God, because I had the student that didn't know what she was doing, and then the person was like, I'm a student too. I'm like, oh my god. Um well, someone that may or may not know what they're doing. Um, reality TV star Spencer Pratt announces a run for LA mayor. Now, I find this very interesting, obviously, because I currently live in Los Angeles. Uh, we know that Spencer and his wife Heidi Montag lost their home in the Palisades fire. Um, Spencer has been very big on his like TikTok and just his social media about uncovering some of the, which I do believe to be true, some of like kind of the not foul play, but just some of the wrongs that the city of LA did when addressing the fire and um evacuating, making sure they had like proper, you know, the equipment was running and that there was like supposedly water that you know, emergency water banks that were not tended to correctly. Um, he also looked into a lot of kind of the insurance fraud. Uh and so it's funny because I have friends that are like are kind of split on this. Some people are like, there's no way I'd vote for that clown. And then other people are like, you know what, I'd give him a shot. Like the polic, the actual politicians don't seem to be doing a lot. So I don't know. I'm I'm interested in hearing. Um, right now it's Karen Bass, I think, yeah, who like doesn't have the best reputation. Um and I don't know. So I was gonna ask you, would you vote for for him for like uh your city or not really?

SPEAKER_01 32:09

Um for my city, no. And and here's the reason why. Now we've um we've known that um there have been very unqualified people um being elected to office. Um open your eyes, we can all see that there's a big unqualified person there out there running. But I would say because of Chicago, Chicago has had a big issue with crime and with budgets for years. Yeah, uh you know, and we've had several mayors come in that really have the best intentions to try and fix these items and they still struggle with it. So yeah, for him, I would say no for our city, but would I rule out any particular reality start depending on their background? No, I wouldn't. Um, because obviously what we're doing now is not working, so we have to basically look look at something as long as they're not convicted of a convicted felon, that's all.

SPEAKER_02 33:12

Exactly. I thought I think Spencer has the original idea of when, and I'm not this is not the same now, but originally way back in the day when Trump was announcing his stuff, there was a little little glimmer inside of me that was like, oh, this guy, of course, I I didn't I knew he was sleazy, but I thought he's gonna like take down all the bad politicians, or you know, he's gonna like I thought, okay, he's different. I think that's what a lot of his base still thinks, is that he's like taking out a you know, the whole draining the swamp type of thing. And I feel like there's something to be said about Spencer that maybe people feel this way, that it's like, okay, it's something new and different, and it's someone that's not so corrupt, but we also don't know if he's corrupt or not. Um, or we don't know if he's like suited to actually run a city because it's one thing to advocate. I think he's done like a very good job of at least publicizing flaws about the fire, and like maybe he should be put on some task force or something that's like fire related, but how is he going to handle homelessness, crime, to, you know, like there's a lot of other cities, like along with the actual budget and everything. But I'm I'm willing to learn and to give people like an open platform and just hear like what you know what makes them uh efficient.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

I agree. I mean, I think uh a great sector of people that should really think about running for public office is um prior military people, you know, that have you know that have had command. You know, maybe they were a captain, maybe they were a colonel, general, or something, you know, that has had people report to them, had uh areas that they were responsible for, had budgets that they had to manage. And then plus with that discipline, you know, maybe that's something new that would really help that position. And again, I'm just thinking outside the box here.

SPEAKER_02 34:59

You're so right, because they we know that they have discipline. We know that they have like a lot of times they have connections, they may things know things that regular civilians may not know, or they definitely do. Um, so I think that's really interesting.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

Yeah, I agree. I mean, like I said, I mean, it it's just crazy the stuff that's going on now. And and like I say, with everything going on, I do believe that most politicians um they used to really care, but a lot of it now to me is more of a power grab. And I think you see that across the board. And it's kind of sad because we as citizens, as taxpayers, we're the ones that's flipping uh splitting the bill for this stuff. Yep. For my last topic, and this is actually a pretty good one, especially in this day and age, now that we're off to a new year, we're gonna talk about new techniques to find a job.

SPEAKER_00 35:56

Yay!

Training Gaps And Care Quality

SPEAKER_01 35:59

So based on my research here, um new job search techniques focus on strategic networking, digital presence uh presence, optimization, especially on LinkedIn, and proactive personalized outreach beyond online applications, leveraging AI, hidden job markets, and tailoring experiences to specific company cultures to bypass traditional barriers and find unadvertised roles. You know what this reminds me of the way people normally look for jobs prior to this new day and age. It's amazing how they're repackaging it, but literally, these are things that you would have to do back in the day. Um probably dating myself. And basically it's relationships, it's being able to sell yourself, right?

SPEAKER_02 37:00

And not just like spraying out an application on a million different like Indeed sites or having everything so uh like digitized, like it's actually getting back to the you know, just about being with the actual people.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

And you know, some of the problems too, you can't overcome. Like, yeah, I really I don't know how you would fix this problem, but there's a lot of a lot of places that advertise what I call bullshit jobs. In other words, they put jobs out there that they have no intention of hiring people for. Either A, they already know they're hiring someone inside, but they have to make it look like they're looking for someone else, and or situations where they want to put it out there to kind of let the team know, hey, you know, we'll bring on new people if needed. To need those are games, and also too, you got people wasting their times, and I say wasting their times, applying to a job that they'll never get.

SPEAKER_02 37:55

Yeah, and that's the other thing, too, is like I've heard I've heard stories too about fake jobs. I mean, we've talked about that before about companies listing jobs that they know aren't for sale or are for for hire, and um like I can't believe the process of how long it takes people to get a job where I'm hearing people will it'll be like weeks in between the interviews, and then they'll be like, Great, we'll be in touch, and then it's two months later, and they're like, I've had to find a whole other job.

SPEAKER_01 38:21

Oh, exactly. And you know, the thing is what I don't understand is why do companies think that most people are going to sit around and wait two, three months for your job? I mean, to me, I'd be a little nervous because it's like you can't make up your mind, you know, it doesn't really take that long to figure out whether or not you hire a person.

SPEAKER_02 38:39

Exactly. And then also if you know that you're interviewing and you don't hear back for two weeks, like that it's kind of just like dating where it's like, well, have they found someone else? Or like, should I go get a different job? And then, of course, the minute that you get something else is when they come back. So I that's just a lot when people are needing something, you know, right away.

SPEAKER_01 38:57

Oh, yeah. I mean, I've heard situations where literally a person goes on like five to six interviews with one company. Oh my gosh. And you know, I've had situations in the past where you know, my initial conversations with the HR person, so I'll ask a question about sales-related question because it's a sales-related job. Well, I don't know the answer to that. Well, I don't know the answer to that, and you know, you have really answered you think to yourself, why the F am I talking to you? You know, yeah, exactly. How are you going to feather out whether this is a good fit or not? Well, you don't even know the job.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

Yeah, it's like hire me and I'll explain it to you for triple the price and everything. Yeah. And like I I won't work or I won't do a job where they have me do a lot of like unpaid work in the beginning, where it's like, say you're doing this, give us three different test cases of this and this. And I'm like, no, like I think it should either be paid or just like get to know me as an like an employee first, and then you know, then we'll see.

SPEAKER_01 40:00

Oh, yeah, I've seen situations. Um, I mean, luckily I've never experienced it, but I've heard of situations where some jobs will be like, hey, why don't you come, you know, work for us for a day, you know, see how everything works out. Why would I come work for you for free? I mean, yeah. And it's like, well, we'll see how it works out. And you know, if it works out well, we'll talk about the position. Otherwise, you know, we'll probably have to move on to the next person. Like, no, it sounds like you're trying to get a free labor for a day.

SPEAKER_02 40:30

Yeah. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 40:33

Have you ever run across that mural when someone's like, hey, you know, let's have you work for one day to see how it works out?

Reality Star For Mayor?

SPEAKER_02 40:39

No, I don't that'd be so crazy. No, I didn't have that. I just have had potential jobs take like really, really long times and you know, a long time, and I didn't know if they were still interested or not. And then by that time, I was like, Why am I even applying for this job? I'm not interested. So I can see how usually people apply to jobs because they are needing something somewhat urgently here, you know what I mean? And so I think they need to speed speed things around. I I had one, like, I'm not even really I'm not in the position where I'm looking for a job, but a few weeks ago, I talked with someone who's was a really interesting person. Um, and he he had like a job description up. And then when I talked to him, it just seemed like he was doing it for like picks and giggles, like just basically talking to people. He's like, Yeah, really interesting. I want to see what was out there, and instead, like I'm glad I wasn't like hungry for this job. This is just some I have like an informational interview. But um, like that's that's tough too, because now you're advertising a job and you just kind of want to like yep yep with people, you know, it's not that nice.

SPEAKER_01 41:43

No, that's not nice at all. And and you're wasting people's time. And you know, I don't know if that'll ever happen, but I know there's been a big push that people say, you know, well. If you're gonna have more than one interview, you should pay applicants um for their time. And you know what? To me, that's not such a bad idea because there's been a lot of company waste people's times.

SPEAKER_02 42:04

Yeah, exactly. It's so funny too because I could see that that person was like peeking at my LinkedIn like the day after and the day after again. And I'm like, what do you want from me? I just told you everything.

SPEAKER_01 42:17

Companies don't know that you can tell who goes on your LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_02 42:20

I don't know if they realize that LinkedIn is the most boring of all the ones to stock. I don't know why anybody would be peeking at my LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

That is so true. That is so true. Um, well, some of the things here that they have here um is leveraging your network uh in integrity. So basically, go beyond applications, reach out to friends, former colleagues, hand contacts for coffee chats, maybe an ask for advice, not just jobs, but uncovering hidden opportunities. Engage online. Daily LinkedIn activity keeps you visible. Connect with niche professionals and thought leaders to learn about uh non-traditional roles. Um I will say the only dangerous thing about online is when you're on LinkedIn, and let's say you want a new job and you want to update your your LinkedIn file, just be careful because your current employer may be watching your LinkedIn file too. Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so if you all of a sudden put up there, you know, I'm open to hire, and then it wasn't there at first, you you may draw some some some conversation.

SPEAKER_02 43:39

I didn't know that exactly. Like I didn't know this.

SPEAKER_01 43:43

Um, and then the last one here is build relationships, maintain regular contact with recruiters, uh, sharing updates on your skills and progress. So these are things that are actually new.

SPEAKER_02 43:58

Yeah, I think I think we need to have a revamping of both the like people applying and the employers too, because it seems to be getting out of control.

SPEAKER_01 44:08

It really is. I I totally agree with you on that. Wow, what a what a conversations we have today, huh? We are opinionated people. Yes, we are in a good way, though, in a good way. Exactly. Well, Merrill, tell us what do you have coming up?

SPEAKER_02 44:27

Well, I am promoting hard the uh Disney villains uh show at the horror uh sorry, at the it's called the Horror Nerd at the Hollywood Improv on Friday. So I'm very excited about that. So if people have a favorite Disney villain, let me know and I'll be happy to work it into my routine for you.

SPEAKER_01 44:47

That is nice. I would hope people do get on our social media because uh I will share that with you if they do.

SPEAKER_02 44:53

Oh, yay, please do. I think I already have Hook and Ursula from Little Mermaid, and I need to think of a few others.

Who Should Run Cities

SPEAKER_01 45:02

Nice, nice. Well, everyone, if you got some ideas, definitely let us know because uh Merrill would definitely love to hear from you. Yeah. Well, everyone, we had such a great time. We appreciate you watching us, listening to us, and also ushering in a new year with us. Um Lauren Selrod.

SPEAKER_02 45:21

I'm Merrill Cuimo.

SPEAKER_01 45:23

Take care, everyone.

SPEAKER_02 45:25

Bye bye.