Who's Got Secrets?

 The cat is officially out of the bag!

 Jen and Dagda reveal their return to the workforce and dive into the messy, hilarious, and sometimes "stinky" reality of modern employment. From Jen’s adventures in retail management—including a showdown with a pregnant mouse and the "Cat Shit Breath" coworker—to Dagda’s reflections on Army leadership and generational shifts in the workplace, this episode covers it all. 

They discuss the "what if" mindset in science, the shifting laws of shoplifting, and how Jen helped her team go from #27 to #1 in a company-wide competition. It’s a raw look at value, responsibility, and the secrets we keep while "adulting."

#podcast #GenX #adulting #celebrate #employed #payingbills #moneyisnice

Artwork:qimono

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:03

Welcome to Everyday Life. Thank you for joining our podcast, Conversations Over Coffee. My name is Jen. And I'm Dagda. And we're gonna hit you with the explicit content warning right off the bat. This podcast does include adult situations and adult language from time to time.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

I'm an angel. I never fucking cuss.

SPEAKER_04 0:25

Okay. Anyways, you ready to go?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 0:29

Alright, let's go. The thing to do the thing.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Do the clickety click clack clack.

SPEAKER_04 0:40

And is it recording now?

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 0:43

Nice. How you doing today?

SPEAKER_00 0:45

I'm doing alright. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_04 0:46

I'm doing fantastic. I feel very um, I feel very accomplished for the day. I put together an organic pasta salad.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Yeah, it was tasty.

SPEAKER_04 0:55

Uh right. I don't know if my partner will like it, but you know, it's okay. He he's gone from having the taste buds of a Tyler to having the taste buds of uh of an organic only eater. So but I made sure it was I made sure it was as organic as could be, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:10

At least he's not going vegan.

SPEAKER_04 1:13

I yeah, I'm not I'm not gonna touch that one. I don't feel like getting canceled this morning. Um, so yeah, I just feel accomplished. I got that pasta salad put together. Uh had a late breakfast, early lunch, I guess. Pizza, never, no problem there. I got uh I started marinating my chicken because I need to grill today. I need to grill for the week, just because the week's super crazy. Um, so I started marinating my chicken yesterday, and it was really yesterday I needed to start marinating my beef.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:46

So where's the beef? Where's the beef? It's in the refrigerator marinating. So I feel accomplished. I got my beef all cut up and put stuff in the freezer. Got stuff I feel accomplished. Only thing I have left to do before uh we head out later to do other errands is uh dishes. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 2:03

And hopefully not gas you to death, but you know.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Yeah, I'd prefer you not be in the room.

SPEAKER_04 2:07

Gas, gas, gas. Oh gosh, yeah. So so you're doing good. How's life treating you?

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Pretty good.

SPEAKER_04 2:14

Yeah.

unknown 2:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

I'm a little tired, but that's to be expected of having not worked for like a year to oh no, they don't know on this podcast that you're working again.

The Secrets Out

SPEAKER_04 2:24

Yeah, yeah. Oops, secrets out of the bag.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_04 2:28

Uh-oh, darn.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

You gotta be adulting again.

unknown 2:31

Right.

SPEAKER_04 2:32

I refuse to adult, but I do I do accept being responsible. I don't like adulting. I like being responsible and accountable, but I don't like adulting because when you say adulting, uh, I think of like having to put on a suit and tie and get on the train and go work somewhere crunching numbers for, you know, Mr. Bedrock or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yeah, I'm very glad that I found a job where I didn't have to put on a suit and tie because I would want to fucking kill myself. Yeah, it's by killing everybody else.

SPEAKER_04 3:04

Yeah, it's it's it's right. It's really hard. It some people are just hardwired for that's what they want to do. They want to be in a suit and tire environment and all of that. I don't. I don't mind being in a management position, but I've never wanted to be in one where I have to wear a certain skirt or jacket or anything like that. Because my management style is very, I'm finding is very different from a lot of people's management style. And so I'm officially the cat's out of the bag. So we talked about it. We might as well talk about it now. The cat's out of the bag. Uh, we already announced it on our After Dark podcast.

SPEAKER_09 3:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:43

Uh because we're doing a cause for pause there. Cause to pause. We had a cause to pause, so we got a couple week break from there. But when we get back into that, it's gonna be exciting because I'm really excited for the research. Uh, you know it's a great subject. Yeah, it's a fantastic subject. And I don't know if it'll end up being four or eight parts because there's so much information to it, but I'm excited to talk about it. Plethra. There is a plethora. Oh, my lord does a plethora of soft. Um, but so I have returned because I've had an opportunity, because you know, uh my credit card kind of wants payment for stuff. So I I had I finally was able to find um employment at a company I could get behind uh because of the mission statement. I it was really weird getting flooded with offers for for management positions.

SPEAKER_06 4:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:31

And if this company hadn't had the mission statement, I probably would have just sucked it up for the pay and went and done management somewhere else where I would have to wear, you know, not a suit and tie, but I was expected to wear slacks casual and a card, yeah, business casual, which I can do business casual, but I don't like it.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Yeah, I I fucking hate slacks almost as much as I hate just straight up tie and all that. Yeah. I remember when I was in the army, the thing I hated the most probably was the class A formations and inspections. Man, I fucking hated that shit. The only saving there were only two saving graces as far as I was concerned, and they're kind of nitpickety and minor was the fact that I was airborne, so I got to wear my beret as part of my class A uniform, so I didn't have to wear that cunt cap, as they refer to it as.

SPEAKER_04 5:47

So really shiny shoes?

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:49

They look like they they look more uncomfortable than anything I've ever seen in my life.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

They're super uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_04 5:54

They it's it's it's like somebody went, you know, I'm gonna get this hardwood floor wet so it's warped, and then you can just step on it and be happy.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Yeah, they're fucking garbage.

SPEAKER_04 6:03

Um and they're like they're pla they're they're plastic, they're pleather.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 6:10

They're fucking garbage.

SPEAKER_04 6:11

I hated it every time, I hated it every time I had to pack a pear. Like, people couldn't understand why I would pack the pear the way I did. And it was just like, look, when these toes touch, for I I would rather listen to nail on chalkboard. Okay, nails on chalkboard do not bother me. That does not bother me. But what does bother me is the sound. If you take a cotton ball and rub it between your fingers, okay, yeah, that high-pitch squeak.

SPEAKER_05 6:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:40

That reek, reek, reek. Yeah, I would rather listen to that that's what plethora shoes um plether shoes sound like to me.

SPEAKER_06 6:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:47

So every time I would pack them the way that they'd want, which is like, please pack them side by side, which is fine. Which is stupid too, because when you do that, anything you put on top of it crush the toes down.

SPEAKER_05 6:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:59

So what I did was I would take one sitting straight and then flip it so it was each toe was covered by the entrance of the other foot. Makes sense. So they were upside down and put in together. Because I swear to God, I could hear it when the boxes were being taken out of the house. Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak. And then I just got to the point when it came to class issues. If they insisted that they be sat side by side, you damn right, I put them in paper because I couldn't stand this, I couldn't stand the sound.

SPEAKER_05 7:25

Yeah.

Lead by example

SPEAKER_04 7:25

And I had to do a three cubic foot one filled with them one time. I was angry. Anyways, so uh, yeah, so I've taken a position in retail management again, um, which, you know, I don't mind. I actually really adore everybody. And you know, we've talked a little bit about some of the uh quirks, some of the quirks, not directly, we've been indirectly talking about it because I'm one of those people that I don't want to sit there and sound a certain way like, oh, I got this job doing this. Okay, first of all, let me just explain. I am basically somebody who gets paid to be the glorified whipping post. That's my job, is to make sure things are in a continually running smooth. When I'm there, make sure our tasks are organized, make sure if somebody wants to steal something, I tell them, go away and don't come back and answer questions um of a nature. But otherwise, I'm doing production, I'm doing sales, I'm doing everything that any other person there would do. Only instead of just doing one department, I'm doing all departments.

SPEAKER_05 8:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:35

You know, like because we have people who do production, right? And and and so they just do production and cleanup. And then we have people who just do um basically what we would call merchandising, which is putting the product out, but they also do cleanup. So everybody does at least two different things. I just have to do all of it. And it's really interesting because my ideal management has always been you have to be part of the team. If you're going to be a leader, you have to lead by example. And I do that every fucking day. Excuse my language, but I do. I go in there and I do production, or I do I do whatever they need, and then more. I never ask any more of anybody that I'm willing to do myself unless I'm physically not able to do it. And so it's interesting because other people's management styles, there's one individual, two individuals that are just very much like, just shut up and do what I say, and that's how it is.

SPEAKER_05 9:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:32

And I'm like, woo, because you know, when they see you sitting off in the corner drinking your ice water and uh playing on your phone, I mean, that's not an example you should set.

SPEAKER_05 9:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:44

And then when you've got another management style that's like literally I D G A F about everything, yeah. Then it's like, um, okay, and then you have the another person who's a little closer to my style, but like because they've been dealing with the same problems for so long, because they've been at the company so long, they're just like, I'm at the point where I throw my hands up. Throw it to me then. I have literally looked at so many people in this company and let them whine and complain. Okay, okay. And somebody raised their voice at me and I said, you know, see, that's not how this works. We're adults, right? So we're gonna have an adult conversation and we're gonna talk to each other respectfully. Because if not, one of us is going home, and that's just how it is. And the individual that I have this conversation with in front of other management like this was thought that I was saying, I will bow down to you. That's really not how this works, ma'am. So, anyways, um, and it was interesting because that's people can see I'm doing stuff, they can see my productivity. Am I always the fastest person? Hell no. I pulled my back this week. You know, I am of an age where it's just like I had to I I had to get a grabber because although I can squat and lean, I can no longer squat, lean, and grab weight from forward and pull it back to me without toppling over and hit my head. So I had to get a grabber for anything that requires me to squat, squat, lean, and reach.

SPEAKER_05 11:21

Yeah.

Workplace Conflict and Respect

SPEAKER_04 11:22

Um, but I'm I like to think I'm a fairly nice person and I'm very fair. Um, and somebody this weekend apologize to me for something and like, you know, I don't want you being mad at me. I'm like, oh, you'll know when I'm mad at you, and you've been around me enough to know that when I say my feelings will get hurt really easy, right? Which I didn't say that to them, but I just told them like I don't get that mad that easy. And I only really get mad when you get disrespectful or you run your mouth the wrong way. And then I just shut down and walk away, and then we have a problem. And you know that's facts because so I don't know. Anyways, uh, I in I literally enjoy every single person I work with except for cat shit breath man. Um, his negativity can get to me sometimes. I had another manager say to me, if this person needs to be corrected for an incorrect thing, are you willing to do it? I'm like, yeah, sure. I actually like this. I actually like this individual. Why? Because he smells like this. And I was like, oh, well, that's because his mouth is full of rotten teeth. They didn't realize that that's what they were smelling. I'm like, oh yeah. I'm like, it's rotten teeth. If for anybody who doesn't know out there or has not dealt with anybody who has more than two broken teeth in their mouth, rotten teeth smell like rancid garbage, rotting meat, and a dirty cat box that hasn't been changed for a year. So the first hint that you get of anything when you're just doing a quick pass by conversation is a really heavy cat urine smell.

SPEAKER_06 12:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:57

And that is the enamel breaking down on your teeth. If you continue to talk to them, uh, then you get the afterkick of rancid meat and garbage. It is not lovely. My recommend to everybody is carry breath mints. So, anyways, so talk a little bit about yours. So that's my fun and shenanigans. So you've gone to a a company, uh, and you're liking it.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

It's a company, and there's people there.

SPEAKER_04 13:25

Are you liking it? Are you liking the people?

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Yeah, so far. Yeah, I've not dealt with anybody that I've been like, uh, okay, I don't well, there was one person, but it's not um it's not a ongoing issue. An ongoing issue because first of all, they only work on a couple of days that I work. Um, and I don't have to interact with them very much. So Yeah. Um, I will say I actually mentioned this to one of the people that I work with regularly. Uh-huh. I was like, as I've gotten older, I wished that I had fucking taken the time to actually become an NCO when I was in the Army.

SPEAKER_07 14:05

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Because one of the first things that they do to before you become an NCO, you had to go to at the time it was called PLDC, which is primary leadership development course, which is literally a course teaching you how to lead people.

SPEAKER_08 14:19

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

So I wish that I had fucking done that, even though I'm not interested in leading people. I prefer to just do my own thing.

SPEAKER_08 14:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

But sometimes it's kind of necessary. Yeah. And like even in my previous job, it would have been helpful having those actual skills and knowledge for the times when I was actually in charge of other people.

SPEAKER_04 14:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Because I'm not very good at that. Well, it's not one of my strong suits.

SPEAKER_04 14:46

It's not that it's not a strong suit, it's that you're very much like me, where it gets to a point where you're like, fuck it, I'll do it myself. Go the fuck away. You can lose hours for the day. I don't care. Yeah. And that's not how you really resolve an issue.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Especially when sometimes when people figure that out, they'll fucking start doing it on purpose. Doing it on purpose, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:04

Yeah, hey, you know what? We've got one of those at my job too. Yeah. We have one of those at my job, and everything is everybody else's fault. Why can't it just be his way at all times? And um, yeah. So we we have one of those at my job too, and I get it. Um, but yeah, honestly, you would make great management because you you and I are very similar in the way it's just like, I'm not gonna ask you to do anything I wouldn't fucking do. The only thing I would ask other people to do that I won't do at this point, at this stage in my life, and because I did my time, um, is mouse traps. I'm not doing it. Nope, not doing rotten traps, not doing mouse traps. Um, that's an unfortunate side effect of retail anymore. Um, and especially where uh the retail location that I'm at is right by the freeway, which means there is only development on one side of the road and the other road isn't the other side of the road isn't developed. So we get rodents all the time. And um I heard a story that recently a customer caught one of the rodents in the store. And then I went in the break room because I still have to log, even though I go up to my office and deal with all that. I still need to log out downstairs. And I walked into the break room and this fat pregnant mouse came running at me, like, what you got, girl? And I went, ah, only it was very loud and sharper than that. And it like beelined it over to the refrigerator and sat under the refrigerator just out of reach. Oh so pest control people came out and I told the guy. So my other interaction was that day I was interviewing people, and there was a girl sitting waiting for her interview time because I needed to give my cashier a break. I don't know where it came from, but something came out and skirted along the way and then back down around the way and then back again. Only what I found out was probably what I saw was two different rodents going into the trap and a different rodent coming in the front door and going down around the way. Because I said to the pest control guy, I said, Oh, did you find said you found one, right? And he's like, Um, yeah, or two. And then as he opened up, he goes, or three or more. I think he got five.

SPEAKER_05 17:23

Wow.

unknown 17:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:25

So I I I don't know. It's really hard. I would rather be here every day podcasting with you.

SPEAKER_09 17:32

Um, it's a lot of God for fuck's sake.

Dagda's new roll

SPEAKER_04 17:37

It it's it's only because I feel so much happier doing it. I'm I'm getting to be that age or I'm getting to that stage in life where it's like my priorities have shifted from making, you know, hundreds of dollars a week to where it's just like, I would still like to make hundred dollars a week, yes, please. But I'd also like to really completely enjoy what I do. Because let me tell you what, this is no disrespect to anybody under 30, but everybody that I deal with under the age of 30 is literally has the attitude of one of two ways. I'm gonna be a robot and do nothing but play on my phone unless you catch me. Which fuck you guy, we caught you not once, not twice, but three times. And guess what? You had to go home. They lost out on their pay. Yeah, they lost out, they were like, wait, what? I gotta go home because of this. We're not gonna keep playing this game. You literally, literally, there is there is time after time after time where people are walking out the door with product and they were just playing on their phone. And it's like, you know, we're not gonna stop in the state of Washington, we don't stop shoplifters anymore. You can't, you can't stop shoplifters anymore, depending on what insurance company you have.

SPEAKER_05 18:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:51

But you can at least say to them, I'm available to for you to pay for this. Because if you have that and you're noticing that, then we can get a hold of our loss prevention and be like, I want to get a wall of shame up at work. Yeah. I'd love for our my company to have a wall of shame. Anyways, um, so I'm enjoying it. But I think you would be great in management just because you're like me. And the fact is, like, I'm not gonna ask you to do more. I'm gonna be right alongside you working just as hard.

SPEAKER_09 19:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:18

Which is interesting because I think that's why I think I have one of my co-managers might have an issue with me because um somebody made a comment the other day last week. One of my managers was out on uh a short medical leave vacation, and somebody made a comment about, hey, where's uh Miss Manager at? Where's other Miss Manager at? Um, are they upstairs? I want to ask them about this thing they told me the other day. I'm like, they're on vacation. Oh, I just thought they were upstairs. So that was one person. Second day of this same Miss Manager's uh, you know, medical leave vacation thing. I had somebody come to me going, Hey, I can't find Miss Manager. Um, did they like, are they did they leave for the day? Did they go off site to have lunch or what? I'm like, they're they're not here. Oh, well, I wouldn't know because they're never down here. So that was really interesting because it was really eye-opening to me because I was just like, I'll I'll be up in my office. Like, I have to be in my office at least a half hour day because I gotta do emails and I gotta do this and do that, and then of course, there's always continual training stuff you gotta do, which hurts sometimes, but whatever. I still have eight videos I have to finish watching by the end of April, and I just don't want to because it's not that they're stupid, they're just nonsensical.

SPEAKER_05 20:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:38

During COVID, it would have made more sense than some of these videos, but not now. But, anyways, um, otherwise, I'm out on the floor or I'm in production. I would rather be down there doing something. Yeah, makes my day. You know what happens when you sit in an office all day?

SPEAKER_02 20:55

You turn it into the big boss and go, fuck, I'm so fucking bored because there's so much fucking nothing to do except for sit here and look at report after report after report.

SPEAKER_04 21:04

I have zero uh desires to sit in my office for eight hours a fucking day going, yep, Department A, um, yeah, they did 1.73% less productivity than the same time last year.

SPEAKER_05 21:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:17

But they're doing 9.37 more productivity than the day before. I just don't. Anyways, so I I I do like my company, I like the mission statement, blah blah blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 21:27

And you're liking pretty much everybody but one person.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

Yeah. I mean, even that one person is like, okay, whatever.

SPEAKER_04 21:33

Is it more of an annoyance because they're lazy?

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Yeah, that and they're kind of like they have been there the longest out of all the people that I'm working with, I guess. But apparently they sucked at every one of the chops that they were doing before they got the job that they have now.

SPEAKER_08 21:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

At least that's what I heard. I don't know. I don't that's the way of the world. They failed upward, apparently. By simply being there the longest.

SPEAKER_04 22:02

Listen, there's a lady who works production at my company who's been working for the company. I kid you not. I want to say she said 26 fucking years. God damn. And she still can't do her job right.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

I've been doing this job the same way for 26 years. Now they're telling me it's not good enough. And it's like, hey, RBF.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

They've been telling you it wasn't good enough for 26 years.

SPEAKER_04 22:28

Did you facts? That's actual facts. Because it was like, it was like, wait a minute, wait a minute. Uh like what what part of production do you start out with? Well, I I started out as doing this, which is so basically a stalker on the floor. Uh-huh. And then I then one day they needed help and said, Hey, Miss RBF, come out here and do this.

unknown 22:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 22:49

And she's a sweet old lady. She is a sweet old lady until you tell me that you think that a quarter inch thick cardigan is a heavy winter jacket. Then you need to get your glasses checked and then you need to rethink it. So she she goes through this whole thing where she's telling me what she's done. And I'm like, why do you keep getting moved apartments? Is it because, like, you know, you wanted a new challenge? Like, I'm not gonna sit there and say, is it because you did bad? I don't know. They didn't like what I did, so they moved me over here and they moved me over here, and now I do this. And it was like, and it was really interesting because there's these actually two ladies, and there are times, and I think they're both fantastic. Uh, don't get it twisted. I think they're both very nice ladies, but they're also have RBF attitudes.

SPEAKER_09 23:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 23:36

And by that, I I mean that's their attitude. It's constantly RBF. So I had an incident where I help in production the other day, and and I want to say it was earlier, like last week sometime. I'm helping them because production, we're still working on filling our production department up, right?

SPEAKER_06 23:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 23:52

So, like I'm sure much reverse of what your company's doing where they're trying to fill out, you know, a different department or whatever. Yeah. So, so RBF number one's been there 26 years. RBF number two's been there like 17 years with the company. They've moved to a different couple different places, right? From one side of eastern Washington to here and or or or southern or what, anyways. So Miss 17 year says to me, Hey, we uh we don't we don't take this brand. We don't and I looked at her and I went, Okay, that's good to know. Well, you threw this over here. No, actually, I didn't. Miss 17. I've I've I've only been I just got over here and just got started. I have not put anything in your bins yet for you to deal with and produce. Well, it's the wrong one. Oh, okay. I'll remember that because you've told me. Um, sorry I didn't do it and I didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

Well, who else is here doing it?

SPEAKER_04 24:47

And there was uh Mr. Catbreath was there actually filling in in the position today that day, and I was helping them while they were dealing with uh cardboard. And I was just like, Well, you might ask Mr. Catbreath because he's been doing it, and it was a whole different thing. Oh, well, well, honey, we we don't take this, honey, okay?

SPEAKER_02 25:07

You just don't want to put those over there.

SPEAKER_04 25:09

Catbreath looks at 17 and goes, okay, I don't really give a fuck. And and that to me is the epitome of like somebody coming over to help. They're trying to do the best they can instead of nitpicking and going, you put uh uh uh uh uh black leggings into my white legging block and we don't do that. Pick it up and just say, hey guys, don't forget we don't take these and toss it into the box. Just leave it the fuck alone. But it literally stopped the entire area of production for them because she wanted to be dramatic and scene. And 26-year-old says, Well, that's okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

I've got this. We're not doing any heavy winter.

Managing the younger generation

SPEAKER_04 25:53

It was a piece I did, and I said, I said, Oh, I did do that piece, so you didn't want that in there? So it it did I miss a hole? Did I miss did I miss something? There's something wrong with it, right?

SPEAKER_02 26:04

Miss 26 says, This is heavy winter, this is hot winter stuff, and we're going into summertime and blah blah and I went.

SPEAKER_04 26:12

Mind you, I'm looking at this individual, and I'm going, oh, okay, that's fine. I I was just like, I didn't think it was winter, but oh, okay. Why wouldn't you think it's winter? Get nasty with me, and I'm like, okay, that's twice. You've used a tone with me. And then Miss 17 already used a tone for five, stopped everything for five fucking minutes just to be like, oh, well, try to pay attention to what you're doing, Mr. Catbreath. Oh, anyways, Miss 26 wants to get, and I said, Oh, well, it's just a cardigan to me, you know. And I'm like, okay, gets nasty with me again. And I said, look, I won't throw them over there anymore. I was just like, I thought it was okay because it's actually thinner than the cardigan you're wearing. Well, I'm an old lady. You know what Miss 26 said? I'm sorry, honey, I'm not wearing a cardigan. Now, when I say she was wearing the classic old lady cardigan, she was. So, anyways, but she got snippy again about something that Mr. Catbreath had thrown in. And again, he doesn't know any better. All he's doing, he's not looking at brands. He said, I will help do this process, but I'm not gonna look at brands, I'm gonna look for holes, rips, stains, and tears. Fair enough. We can deal with a little bit of shuffle if we need to. Yeah, that was the deal he said, to help. And they ought to be fucking thankful because he's really fast at noticing this. And he did pretty good. Other than brands, he did really good. And they just kept getting snappy and snappy. And I said, you know what? I was just like, huh. I was just like, you know what? You guys can deal with Mr. Cat breath. And I'll go find, I mean, I I literally I said, I'll go find something else to do because obviously me trying to learn and help isn't appreciated. So you guys have a great day, and I'll see you later. I turn around, literally walk by them, and Miss 26 looks at Miss 17 and says, You shouldn't have been so nasty to her. She was just trying to help us. Fucking blame game. Anyways. But I mean, for the most part, I do enjoy them because she did call me later that day about something else and was just like, hey, can you do this for me? And I'm like, sure, not a problem. I'll take care of that. And I and I did want to tell you how much I appreciated your help this morning. And it was just, you know, I just have to tell you, Miss 17 was on my nerves because she was being really mad and picky because she didn't want to do our job today and she wanted her old job back, and she doesn't know why she can't do her old job. And I was like, Yeah, I don't know. Maybe you should talk to Big Boss, but I'll take care of your problem. It's no big deal. Yeah.

unknown 28:54

Drama.

SPEAKER_04 28:55

I've never met so many people over the age of 60 that have to have drama just to have it.

SPEAKER_05 29:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:03

Are you finding that you're running into drama like that?

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Or um, I mean, maybe not so much because I'm in. That might be part of it. Although one of my coworkers does like to talk about politics and stuff like that a lot. And I mean, we disagree on a lot of things, but we agree on a lot of things too.

SPEAKER_07 29:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

Um, so of course, we're of the same generation, so um actually three, four, five. Five of my co-workers that work in the same sort of section are of my generation, which is kind of odd considering the type of work that it is.

SPEAKER_04 29:43

You think that it would be a younger person thing, but I mean, it almost sounds like your company got smart and went, Oh, I want I I want to get like-minded individuals that know how to get the job done together.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Yeah, that's kind of suspicious. Yeah. One of the dudes is very like, I think he's just super introverted. So he's kind of super standoffish.

SPEAKER_08 30:05

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

Um, but everybody else um, yeah, everybody seems fine.

SPEAKER_08 30:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:12

Um, a couple of them I really like, but the rest of them I'm like still deciding, but they all seem fine.

SPEAKER_04 30:18

Yeah, and you know, and that's kind of a cool thing because especially after like for me, I was so overwhelmed. Like, you see, these people, they don't know till now. If they're if you're not listening to After Dark, none of you guys knew, you know. Yeah, because we did not come out and say, oh, this happened or that happened. Um, but so but you've known the whole time, uh, because I entrust him with my secrets. And I pay him well for that. Just kidding. But anyways, I pay him in hot coffee and secrecy. But um it's in my making sure for the last year plus that you've been getting to your meds. Yep. Been going seeing your hot nurses when they're females. I made sure to say when they're females because I didn't want anybody thinking you thought the hot the male nurses were hot. But so you've known this whole time. But after working for Mama D, excuse me, that was kind of gross. My bad. Um, that the first week I was very overwhelmed because it we had such a routine down with Mama D.

SPEAKER_05 31:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:24

And it's it's just so crazy how the laws and everything had changed in between the end of COVID and now, and even just being out of the workforce for 15, essentially 15, 16 months, like so insane how much the laws have changed. And it's just like you can't say to somebody, stop shoplifting. You can't do that. You have to say things as, we're available for you to pay for your purchase right here.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

Yeah, I don't know how PC I would be able to be, because that sort of stuff pisses me off. So yeah, I don't know. Of course, I I do have a tendency to be like, I would be this way. And then in the moment, though, I tend to be more cute than what my initial response is in my head, like I'm gonna fucking choke you the fuck out to please walk away. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:23

But I don't know how you're dealing with it, but for me, um, especially because I'm not in a I I don't want to say I'm not in a in a behind the scenes capacity. Because to a degree I am. I try my very, very best to help the production teams along um at my company uh because I first of all I want to know more about it. And I want to stand because the company I work for, which I think is very similar to your company, um, is about helping the community.

SPEAKER_06 32:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:53

And um I I want to live by that. My partner and I actually had a conversation yesterday. And I was telling him that uh, you know, I was we were talking about my upcoming schedule, and I said I'm going back to my normal schedule. And which sucks because I don't there's no opportunity for me to even see you an extra day of the week unless, you know, like except there's there's three potential days a week I could see you. Yeah. Um if we were like, oh my God, this magnificent thing happened, and we gotta talk about it. Well, yeah, but then that gives you no time off.

SPEAKER_05 33:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:34

So essentially Sundays are my day off and are your day off from each other. And then we just get Mondays now.

SPEAKER_05 33:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:40

Um, because you know, Tuesday nights don't aren't always gonna be able to be happening. But, anyways, so my partner and I were talking, and I think he's come to the realization that although he he's happy for me because I'm working and now I have a way to actually pay off the debt I include while I wasn't working um and give me some of my self-esteem back to kind of rebalance my life. Um, I also think he doesn't like it as much because he said, Do you like working for less than you're worth? And we discussed how much I was making an hour, and it was the cutest thing ever because I said, Well, you do realize I make X amount of dollars an hour. And he goes, Not enough, not what you're worth. My little heart went pair pattern. I'm like, oh, sweetie, thank you so much. And he was just like, You don't know your own value and what you're capable of. I said, Well, yes, I do. But when I looked through all these job offers, I went with the one that touched my heart the most because that's as close to working for Mama D as I can get at this point in life.

SPEAKER_09 34:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:42

And I was just like, I expected it to be a little bit more comfortable, but especially after the first month where I just kept telling you, I kept telling you, I kept telling my partner, I'm fucking overwhelmed because I'm not used to. Hmm. I'm not used to having people say, I'm mad and I'm angry for no other reason, other than I didn't get my way, and saying back to them, okay, well, we can't always get, I can't always get my way, you can't always get your way. How can we work together to achieve this goal? And usually I get really high response back for that of like, okay, well, here's the middle ground for me, here's the middle ground for you. Let's come together and make it happen and just get done with this. We're through it, right?

SPEAKER_06 35:23

Yeah.

Generational Commonalities

SPEAKER_04 35:23

No, the in the individual kept pressing and that no, everything has to be me, we and if it's not me, we're targeting me and you're a racist, and you're this, you're that, and the other. Which was really super funny because then the individual told somebody else who is of a mixed race in my management team that don't hop on Jen's bad wagon and you're gonna target me too, just because I'm a mixed African American and nine other type women. And I'm like, first of all, I didn't even know. Let's start there. I don't see people like that. And I don't know if that's just something that's not a commonality in life anymore. But like, how how long did I know you? Two years before I even knew you were had black in you? Like two years. Um and that's only because you said that one thing and I wanted to kick you out of the car while we were driving home. But, anyways, I was overwhelmed. Now I'm not so overwhelmed. I go in and I literally, anybody who knows me, like, look, the minute I stop talking, then we have a problem.

SPEAKER_05 36:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:24

And I'm gonna figure out how to ignore you. And if you if you want to keep looking stupid when you've been doing your job for six months, a year, two years, and you want to keep looking stupid, I can play dumber than you because I can observe what you're doing, go in and do what you're doing for the most part. I can observe every job there and do almost every single thing there except for some of the weightlifting things. And I can do it better than half the people that are there. And then I got my boss going, this individual, rah, rah, rah. And I'm just like, oh, okay, I hear it. I implement changes and just start doing it myself. And it's just like, and I heard this the other day. I can't believe so-and-so did this. And I was just like, Did they tell you they did that? Well, I told them good job for doing that. And they looked at me and said, Thanks. And I said, Huh, that's funny because I did that last night. What? I did that last night and this last night. So I'll just go in and fucking do it. And then yourself can get caught up. If you don't be part of a team, you can get caught up.

SPEAKER_00 37:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:24

And I hate to say but that, and it might sound petty, but I'm not gonna be rude. I'm not gonna tear you down. I'm not gonna do any of those things. Either we can work together or not. And if we can't work together, and I know it has to get done, I'll just get in and do it. And then when you're caught and they call for video and to view the video and see what really happened, and I'm the one sweating my fat ass off doing it, and you were sitting there playing on your phone, your problem, not mine. Anyways, so I I was overwhelmed. It's not the same. Did you feel overwhelmed at all?

SPEAKER_00 37:53

No. I mean, when I first walked in, they're like just vaguely saying blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Sure. Um a little bit, but I'm like, it will take care of itself.

SPEAKER_03 38:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:06

Especially once I start actually doing the job. And then I didn't basically the management pointed me at one of my coworkers and said, they'll teach you how to do it. And then they actually spent quite a bit of time explaining things to me.

SPEAKER_04 38:20

Oh, is that that one guy you were telling about, uh uh Derek?

SPEAKER_00 38:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 38:24

I think he might be your favorite person you work with.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Yeah, I think so. Yeah, he's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 38:27

Nice. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

Um, and so in spite of the fact that, like, so we have quotas on how many pieces we're supposed to sure, just like any other manufacturing job, sure, sure. Um and so because he was showing me stuff and explaining stuff to me, he his quotas were fucking just completely blown up for a couple of days.

SPEAKER_08 38:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:50

Um, but he still like had a lot of patience with me and showed me stuff. So yeah, he was awesome.

SPEAKER_04 38:56

Yeah, he sounds like a great guy.

SPEAKER_00 38:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:59

Uh, you know, which is which is awesome. I'm glad you weren't overwhelmed. I do you feel like if you had to be like front of house on things in a position, like if you you think if you and I had to switch roles, like and we switched jobs and everything and companies and all that, do you think like you maybe would feel overwhelmed? Because I'm trying to figure out if it's normal or if it's just me because I was so spoiled by Mama D just taught me everything, and I know that she's just so fucking smart because she ran successful business after successful business, you know.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

Yeah, for decades and decades and decades. Um maybe, but it would have to do more with having to interact with more people um and not so dealing with um just um like processing uh items is fairly straightforward and not there's not the item isn't going to have an attitude, right?

SPEAKER_04 39:59

Right. It's just a thing that's gonna lay there and say, do what you will with me.

SPEAKER_00 40:03

The item isn't gonna come up and complain that it can't use the bathroom, stuff like that. So I'm not as a result, it's way less stressful dealing with that in spite of the the fact that I'm still not up to par as far as getting the number of my quota.

SPEAKER_04 40:20

Right, right, right. Um but I'm sure you're like here's the thing. Have they figured out how smart you are yet?

SPEAKER_00 40:25

I don't know. I I think maybe a couple of my co-workers, but probably not necessarily managed. Well, I did do something like the they had they got a uh rack sent to them.

SPEAKER_08 40:39

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 40:40

And nobody knew how to put it together. I happen to know how to do it, however. Oh, nice. Sort of, kind of, because my uncle has that type of rack.

SPEAKER_08 40:49

Yeah, sure, sure.

SPEAKER_00 40:50

And so I kind of remembered how to put it together, having watched him do it. Um, and so between me sorta, kind of knowing it and then other people there that are kind of mechanically inclined, we got it all put together fine. Um, so maybe, but that was more of an experience, not necessarily intelligence. Because like I said, I had already seen my uncle sorta kind of put one together.

SPEAKER_04 41:18

You do understand that does take a level of intelligence to halfway see something one day, yeah, and then months later run into a similar situation and be able to like, let's put the two together.

SPEAKER_05 41:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:30

Cause you know what's funny is um, so at my company, they took away all earbuds, nobody can listen to earbuds anymore. Um, are you able to Yeah?

SPEAKER_00 41:38

We're not allowed to. I I have them on me all the time, but I don't I don't have them in my ears except for when I go to the bathroom or when I go on the break. Other than that.

SPEAKER_04 41:48

You just have it for accessibility.

SPEAKER_00 41:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:50

Nice. Well, but they so I didn't realize that so many companies were doing away with earbuds for safety issues.

SPEAKER_00 41:56

Yeah, I can get that, especially like we have a uh I wanted to say a backhoe, uh forklift. Uh-huh. So yeah, if that thing's running around, you definitely want to have your earbuds.

SPEAKER_04 42:06

You've got a pretty small you have a pretty small I've seen your work and it's a pretty small area. Do we have a full ass forklift driving around? Yeah. It's pretty, it's pretty small. But I I get it. I I work in a small building too. So and we we have one, I think, you know, I don't know. Anyways, so I just found myself getting overwhelmed, and I wasn't sure if it was just because like to be honest, you know, like I said, I was talking to my partner yesterday about it. It was so funny because he's just like, you're not getting paid what you're worth. And I understand that, like, I know you're not getting paid what you're worth. And that's why I'm wondering have they figured out yet how smart you are? You know, and and it's not a braggadocious thing. It's not a I'm better, it's not like that. I don't think you're better than anybody else. It truly is, you have this very remarkable brain where you can do exactly what you did. I observed somebody putting part of a shelf together a few months ago. Because I remember when when uh your uncle and his wife were doing that, and you were just like, I told him I'd come help, but Yeah, and then I wasn't really helping him do it.

SPEAKER_00 43:05

I was watching the register.

SPEAKER_04 43:07

Yeah. And so it's literally like it was just in passing that you saw this thing, and then your brain, several months later, make this connection. So I'm not sure if they they should figure out pretty quick the house your brain, because your brain is neat, anyways.

SPEAKER_00 43:22

Um Yes, I'm amazing. Oh god, that fucking dagda guy, god damn.

SPEAKER_04 43:29

I like I can't thump my head on the microphone enough. Just like it can't be a wall. Um, but it but it was interesting because uh my partner, like I said, we talked about it and and I told him I was just like, I feel like I get paid, I get compensated decently. I'm not gonna say fairly because I know I'm worth a lot more an hour because I am willing to get in there and do the other jobs that other people aren't willing to do.

SPEAKER_06 43:59

I mean.

SPEAKER_04 44:00

The last thing you should ever say to me is, especially in a job, that is really if you think about it, it's just a simple, circular, repetitive habit.

SPEAKER_05 44:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:11

Items come in, items get processed, items go to the floor, items get sold. Items come in, items get processed, items go to the floor, items get sold. It's a repetitive process. So don't sit there and tell me, oh, if you think you can do better, do it, because you're not going to do better than me. And then I'm blowing your ass out of the water. And it's not, that is not a brag. It's not a boast. That is a okay, I see what needs to be done and I'm gonna fucking do it. I don't so I know I'm worth more. I know you're worth more because my partner couldn't believe that you accepted a job at the pay you did. And I said, I think for Dagda, it's about look, I don't need to make a million bucks, I need to make enough to get by until I decide what else I want to do with the rest of my life.

SPEAKER_05 44:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:53

It's like that in-between thing. You could be there for 20 years if you wanted.

Worth, Value, Support

SPEAKER_00 44:57

Yeah. But I I'm kind of lazy when it comes to stuff like that.

SPEAKER_04 45:02

You know, I never tell people that about you.

SPEAKER_00 45:04

And so, like, as long as I'm comfortable, I don't care so much. Yeah. And maybe if I had like plans to buy a new house or something like that, yeah, then maybe I would be more proactive at trying to get a higher paying job. Right.

SPEAKER_04 45:25

Um, but for now it's not necessary.

SPEAKER_00 45:27

Yeah, and considering my situation, like most of the higher paying jobs that I would get, I would need to have a car.

SPEAKER_08 45:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:35

I don't have a car currently. And so, and I'm my only goal right now is making sure my bills are paid and then paying off my credit cards. Those are the only things that I have like firmly, this is what I'm doing now. Um after that's done, then maybe I will reevaluate whether or not this job is actually worth it or if I need to move on.

SPEAKER_08 46:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:02

Um, but for right now, this job is more than sufficient to take care of those two things.

SPEAKER_04 46:08

Yeah. Um and it's and you're like me, you're not working very far from home.

SPEAKER_00 46:12

Yeah. And so, I mean, I could walk to work if I had to. It would take like an hour.

SPEAKER_04 46:17

I mean, you and I live in the same neighborhood. I can always drive if it got desperate, like, oh no, I woke up late and I missed my boss.

SPEAKER_05 46:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 46:24

Then I'm like, motherfucker, but you know, I'd still do it. Yeah. And that's what I told my partner. I was just like, um, I want to help my community. And that's one of the reasons why he doesn't understand that statement because he thinks it's just about the other side of what my company does. And it's not about that. I want to help my community because all of my not the production side of the house, but the front side of the house. You have three individuals that this essentially is either their first or second job, and it's definitely their first job, cashiering and really doing customer service and putting customer services before front. So, and you know that I've been working on uh my my customer service audiobook for a while. And it's literally just about done. I'm just lazy and haven't finished it because there was a part of me that was like, why am I not finishing this? Well, I need to kind of get back into the world and see how things have changed to see if I need to change how anything needs to be.

SPEAKER_06 47:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:22

And I've been using the principles that I use, and it's been working fantastically for those. For those who took the input, instead of just being here doing nothing, engage with people. I understand most of you are antisocial people who work here. I get it. Yeah. But the thing is, is if you're gonna be in customer service in any capacity, you're going to get a lot more flies with honey than urine. It's just a fact.

SPEAKER_05 47:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:48

And that's what helping my community is too, is teaching the next generation of people like an easier way to like there is an individual at work who's kind of um, she feels a little weird because customers are starting to know her schedule. So we needed to change her up a little bit. And I I let her know it is okay to look at them and say, I'm not okay with discussing that with you. I am here to ring you out for your purchases. I'm here to answer any of your questions that you may have that are with about the company, about the products, or what we do here. But I said, you know, it's okay to tell people I don't feel comfortable discussing that, but thank you for asking. I said it's always a good idea to say, thank you for asking, but I'm not comfortable discussing it because that lets them know I understand you're interested, but I'm not interested in engaging back in that way.

SPEAKER_09 48:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 48:38

And and it's a way to do it in a respectful way. So that's part of helping my community because there are two individuals that are there that essentially this is their first job. And one of them, there was somebody who used to work for the company, just really just bullied everybody around. And so Miss Snotty Snot, she's she's she decided to quit. She didn't want to get with the program and be on the teamwork deciding. She decided the job wasn't for her anymore after four months because she couldn't get everybody to do anything her way. Yeah. And that's fine. But that literally was her thing. I'm not, I, I'm nobody's gonna tell me I'm wrong, even when she had an entire management team, loss prevention team, and eight customers see her do something. She said, You all are lying. You can't, you can't do anything with anybody who has that kind of a mental health disorder or block. Yeah. So this one individual where it's their first job, they were very much leaning into following that individual's example.

SPEAKER_05 49:40

Oh.

The What If Game

SPEAKER_04 49:40

And I'm like, Yeah, I'm like, buddy, buddy, buddy, listen. I said, I it's so funny because I'm always scared if I talk about myself in a positive way, in a good way, the positive things I know about myself. I'm always afraid it's I'm gonna go right right back to my childhood, like when I would argue with my sibling and be like, but I'm really good with this, sissy. And she did everything to knock me down and just tell me how stupid I was. Yeah. I'm not stupid, I'm not an intelligent, and we're not children anymore. So she wouldn't do that anymore. I think, I think now because she's worked on herself and I've worked on myself. I think if she was to stand back and observe, she would be able to say, You're really good at connecting with humans, because I really am. Um almost too good. I know it's so sad, but I am disgusting. It it isn't it? We can't get in and out of safe way in five minutes if we try. We couldn't. We couldn't if we tried. My partner hates shopping with me. I love my partner so much because he does all the shopping now. And then on Mondays when I go, um, I'm going for the little things that I don't ask him to pick up because that's still part of my ritual of I'm making money again and I can actually afford to do so. Spending, you know, well, I literally was within a five dollars under my budget or ten dollars under my$75 budget because I had to spend$50 on fucking gas. And then, or I just hit my budget or$45 on gas. Anyways, yeah, so I'm really scared of saying really positive affirmations about myself because I'm always afraid it's gonna come kick me in the ass like it did when I was a kid. Of course, my older sibling is five years older than me. Yeah, only five, and not even quite five, just so you know, allegedly, not 15, only about five. Just want to make that clear, you know, and nobody in my family, none of us look our age, yeah, which is fucking awesome, anyways. Um, but I said to this individual, because I believe there are people in management at my company that they think they're gonna get people to do better by pointing out their flaws. I don't believe that. Yeah, I believe, and it's and I've worked with a variety of people over the years, you've seen it, of all kinds of antisocial, anti-this, stupid. I mean, I don't mean stupid like like, oh, you're so stupid, boy, you crazy. I don't mean like that. I mean like, should I lick my finger and put it in the hot toaster in the on position? It'll be okay, right? I can stick my hot dog down in there and that's fine, right? We have had people at work like that. Yeah. So I mean, not very practical sense. But I said to this individual at work, uh, I said to them, I said, listen to me. I said, I don't care how I said, I really don't appreciate how this person treated you. And I don't appreciate how that person treats you. I said, but let me tell you what my observation is. When I see you and I see you putting your best efforts in, I see somebody who has the ability to do so much more in customer service. I see somebody who eventually can work themselves into being a lead cashier person who can actually become a customer service rep if they wanted to. You have all the ability in the world to do that. You just have to remember to do your steps. And because they deal with being ADHD, um, I said, and because you have to deal with that, it's up to you to figure out how to keep yourself balanced. And I've watched you and I've observed you. And the first time I interacted with this individual, when I observed themselves staying on task and going a little bit above and beyond, I told them, and they just attacked me. They like verbally attacked me like no other business, which is the whole weird thing about the crazy psycho lady that did work there, is because she saw the whole thing and she's just like, no, you're not one to point out, you're just pointing out a positive affirmation, something positive, and I don't know why they took it that way. That's all you've ever done is be positive to everybody. Ask questions to be positive. So all of a sudden the flip the script the next week is beyond me. Anyways, that's how I like to manage. I believe in positive affirmations. I don't think everybody needs a participation trophy, but I do think that you can take where, say, Billy Bob. Hi, Bill, just borrowing your name for a minute. So say Billy, hey Billy, hey Billy Bully. Um, so say Bill is responsible for putting together 300 folders and labeling each one A to Z.

SPEAKER_00 53:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 54:00

Okay. And Billy Bob gets all the way till T and gives up. I'm tired, I'm frustrated, and then gets out of sequence.

SPEAKER_09 54:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 54:09

Most managers would go, the fuck's wrong with you? You were all the way to T. Why didn't you finish? That's not me. Me, I'd be like, oh man, these look so A through T look fantastic. I can see where you got frustrated. Did you ever think about stopping for a minute and asking for help? Because that's one of the things in management where you have to be able to see the fatigue signs for people. And it's not just, it's not really a physical fatigue, it's a mental fatigue, it's an emotional fatigue.

SPEAKER_09 54:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 54:38

And that is one, like literally, I cannot tell you how many of my other management team members are just like, I've been here for six hours already, I'm fucking tired, just fucking do it. And I can see when it's not a mental, when it's not a physical fatigue.

SPEAKER_05 54:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 54:50

So I don't know. I think I'm good at my job. I have a really good time with it. I do know that all the stores in my company just had a contest and we fucking went from we were store 27. We started out the beginning of March, 28 stores in this competition. We were number 27.

SPEAKER_00 55:09

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_04 55:10

We were number one. We finished the month as number one. Our store is number one.

SPEAKER_00 55:15

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 55:16

And I am so excited about that. Not because uh not because we don't all work hard, but because you could see the doubt in everybody's face. And I'm like, if we all I really have this philosophy, if we all do a little bit, we'll all accomplish a lot. And so it was about finding everybody's little trigger points. Like, um, so you know, they did they give statistics out every day. And I remember looking at this one cashier, because I do I do cashiering to give them breaks and all of that. And I need to know how to do the cash register.

SPEAKER_07 55:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 55:50

And I remember looking at this one individual and going, Oh, oh, look at that. I'm not even on the cash register all the time. And I can't, ooh, look at that, look at that. I'm coming up. I got so-and-so's number. I'm coming for you next. And that encouraged them to do better. But then they got, see, and this is where I'm talking about the braggingoshist thing, like, I don't want to be that way. Because then they walked around for an entire day flipping their hair, going, I was the best. Well, karma is a bitch. Because they walked around an entire day going, I'm the best, I'm the best. You just can't keep up with me. They meant it in a joking manner, but it came off very braggadocious and very um talking the rest of us down. Because it was just like, why is this individual talking like this? Because they had one good day.

SPEAKER_05 56:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 56:36

This should be like good job team, everybody. And this was said by another one of my cashiers, good job team. We all brought our numbers up. And I'm just like, oh, I'm gunning for that bitch. I literally, that's what I said. I said, I'm gunning for that bitch. And I wasn't gunning for that bitch. But what I did want to do was to be able to put my money where my mouth is. Because I'd already had, and I had to do that a lot this week. Because if you're gonna say, I will work with you, I will work just as hard as you. Sometimes I'll work more than you, but I am right there to help you every step of the way. You gotta have your money where your mouth is. This bitch right here had her money where her mouth is, and I'm pretty sure I was either first or second in the entire company for percentages, which is really hard to fucking do. Let me tell you what. It's really hard to do. But having a let's just call it a bonus sequence.

SPEAKER_09 57:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 57:27

So the expected is that 40% of your sales can have uh about 40% is what they want to see has a bonus sequence. Elizabeth Trent, yeah, with 69.57%. You know how hard fucking that is to do?

SPEAKER_00 57:42

You said 69.

SPEAKER_04 57:43

I did say 69. But, anyways, so here was the thing. Me and what is now, I believe, our head cashier. We'd like the individual being our head cashier because this individual, she exudes ever almost every single thing we want to see. Patience with the customer, please and thank you, common courtesy, reasonable amount of empathy.

SPEAKER_06 58:07

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 58:07

You know, it's just their their bonus sequence needs to come up because they forget to ask. And you just have to ask. That's all you gotta do is ask. And then we gave her a couple of different perspectives on how to ask. And she went being dead last in the company to she's third now. Oh, nice. That's beating other managers out.

SPEAKER_00 58:24

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 58:24

Like we had to forbid another manager from helping on the register. We're like, we're gonna fucking win this contest, go away. We did that, right? So, anyways, um, but I looked at her and I said, G, we did it. And she was like, Did we win? I said, I don't know if we won, but we did the most important thing. And she was like, What's that? And I said, Girl, you increased what you went from bottom of the barrel at the beginning of the month with your bonus sequences to you're up there. You increased 17%. Doesn't sound like a whole lot until you start doing actual numbers and go, oh fuck, you went from a projected 23% on$10,000 is$2,300, right? To oh shit, you did$3,700. If you, if you put it in simple numerical terms, and it's and that's not a really reasonable assessment. More the assessment's like$230 to$370.

SPEAKER_05 59:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 59:21

That's a massive difference.

SPEAKER_05 59:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:22

And I said, but the biggest thing that happened is all week this other person, this individual has been braggadocious. And that's cool if you can put your money on where your mouth is every day. Because let me tell you what, by Saturday afternoon, they had every excuse in the book why they were dead last out of all of us. I didn't really try. I forgot to ask. I didn't really have that. You had 414 fucking sales. You didn't tell me you didn't try. Come on now. But you know, but we did we literally were jumping up and down like them teenagers on the TV. We didn't, we beat them, we beat them. Because it was a team bonding, team building for us. So, but I love that's how I give back to my community is I want to give people a different perspective. Because I'm not perfect, I'm not great, I'm not fantastic, but I have seen over the years, if we work together, we get more T T everybody goes, Oh, I know, together everyone achieves more. And it's just like it's more like when you think mind, body, spirit, ego, confidence, and awareness, together, everybody achieves massively. I couldn't have asked for anybody to teach me better teamwork than you, so thank you, because you helped me be better at the jobs I've done.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:39

Yes, I know.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:40

Because I have to deal with that. But but now that the cat's out of bag, and now they all know we all have something else. There are a couple of people who've who kind of figured out a while ago, and that's fine. Yeah. Um, I needed to get past what I felt was my probationary period and get past a couple of things before I was really willing to talk about it.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:58

And then yours is a little bit more recent than mine. I've actually been going at it for about 10 weeks. You're just on week number two or three.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:06

This will be week three.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:07

Week three. Yeah. So and so we'll count, we'll stop counting weeks now. Once you get through the first two weeks, you stop counting weeks, but I had to keep aware of mine because of one, the situation you and I privately discussed. Yeah. And two, knowing where, I mean, technically, I don't feel comfortable talking about it, but by the time this episode comes out, I will have officially hit my. I've had every manager say, Don't you dare leave me. So I feel more confident than I did eight weeks ago.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:35

But I'm excited-ish. Well, I'm at least excited to be able to pay for coffee once a week.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:41

Having to give it up and not ever get coffee was like so sad to me for a month. I was like, uh.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:46

Yeah. Now I'm kind of annoyed because I have to leave too early to stop and get coffee.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:52

Don't you walk right by there going to the bus?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:55

So I have to be on my way to the bus stop right around the time that they're opening the coffee shop. So it's kind of But don't you walk by the station? No, I I don't.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:07

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:08

Yeah. I don't come over this way and then go down to the street.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:12

You just go up to the street closer to you.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:14

Oh, okay. Well, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:16

I could, but it then it would be one of those situations where it's like, okay, so I walked over here. Um, now I have to hope that they're ready, number one, to serve coffee. And number two, that there's nobody else there, so that I can get my coffee and leave immediately.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:33

And then maybe yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:35

But you can go in the afternoons a couple of times a week if you want.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:38

Yeah, I can't if you're not exhausted. I don't like getting coffee after two o'clock in the afternoon.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:43

So even decaf?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:44

No, even even decaf now.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:46

What about decaf tea? Have you found a decaf tea you like there?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:49

I mean, I like their peppermint tea or whatever.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:52

I mean, I'm just tea like just going to see them once or twice a week, I think, will lift your spirit in that. Because that was the hardest thing about going. I think the hardest thing about going back to a job. Well, first of all, I'm working a shift that I haven't traditionally worked in a very long time. In a like literally have not worked this shift in like a few decades.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:13

Because I'm used to by seven o'clock at night, my ass is, I'm, I'm, I've had my shower, I'm in my jamas. Or my, yeah, I call them my jamma, sorry. My pajamas. Uh, I'm in my pajamas, I'm having a hot cup of tea, or I'm having my bottled water or flavored water, and I'm ready to go snuggle down for bed. I'm in bed by 7:30, I'm asleep by 11. Life is good. And now I'm not even getting home most nights until 9:30 or 10.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:43

Which is fine because I actually like having some when you're at work and my partner's at work. So I'm not when I'm not working on the podcast and I'm here, I literally can be up, can be doing things, and then I can go take a nap.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:59

You have some calm time.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:02

I do. I do. But it is so crazy because the first month was the hardest because I was so used to making dinner for my partner and being here to eat dinner with him.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:16

And I was really fucking angry. Like, not at my company or anything else. I was just angry at the world because it was just like, how am I supposed to do this job 30 to 40 hours a week and keep up with the laundry and keep up with cleaning the house and keep up with all I finally had to give it up and say, fuck it all. I did. Um, and unfortunately, you know, I'm really great at helping my partner with uh laundry and stuff, but unfortunately, he didn't check his pants over the weekend, and I just threw them in. He had he had his dirty clothes, like two days there to sort them and wash them, and he didn't. And I just thought, oh, he feels overwhelmed because he mowed the back lawn and he did a grocery shop and let me do something nice. But I don't check pants pockets. No, I don't check pants pockets because the last time I checked his pants pockets, there was like a dirty snot rag. And it wasn't, I mean, it literally was a blow-my nose rag in it. And I was just like, ew, I can't stand touching stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:08

Yeah. I always carry handkerchiefs, and I carry two because I carry one for like sometimes the bathrooms.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:18

The way you whipped your hand, I'm like, really?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:20

Sometimes the bathrooms don't have paper towels. Yeah. So I'll use it to dry my hands. Right. That's actually what it gets used for the most often.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:29

Very occasionally I'll use it to wipe my nose or something. Yeah. So I have one that I do that with, and then I have another one that is in case I start bleeding and I need a bandage.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:39

So I keep one completely clean all times. Yeah. And then I use one to basically dry my hands and then occasionally wipe my nose.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:47

Well, and that's the thing is like my partner doesn't carry handkerchiefs. So his was literally a dirty tissue or toilet paper or whatever. And it was just, and I hate the way it's like stepping on. On uh it's like it's like it's like touching a slug in the dark. It's just like so, anyways. Um, but there, you've heard our secret secrets. We had a secret. Um, so we're working.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:13

Yep.

The Wrap Up

SPEAKER_04 1:06:14

Uh, you doing what you prefer to do, which is away from most people, me doing what I prefer, which is to be around I I crave human interaction. My favorite, my best reward, my two favorite rewards, three favorite rewards I got this week is one my company placed first out of all of our stores. We placed yes, magic. We went literally from almost dead last to first. Nice, and that's quite an achievement. That is a team effort. It takes everybody getting involved from the back of the house to the front of the house. Everybody has to get involved to be able to do that. Number one. So that was my favorite. Two was putting that bitch in her place. And we beat her. We beat her. No, um, but the the biggest reward I got this month is so many people telling me how kind I was. And I'm used to people saying, Oh, you're really nice and you're so sweet and everything. But I actually had a lady who came up behind me the other day, and you know, I've told your boss how nice you are. You're just you're so fun to deal with. I love coming here when you're there. And that's what makes me feel good is when I have people tell me that like I came here, I came back here specifically because you made me feel so comfortable. Like there was a customer who was kind of mad at me the other day, like Thursday. He was kind of mad at me. And I said, Oh, sorry, hon, all you need to do is say something. We're over here just giving our expect uh opinions. And he was just like, Oh, well, you know. And I was like, Didn't my and I saw what he had. I said, Oh, you're ready to come join our Lanai party. And he went, What? And I said, Yeah, we're talking about what clothes to wear on the Lanai to have. I said, I'm gonna have water iced tea because I don't drink anymore. She wants a cocktail, she wants a mocktail. What are you drinking? So it went from this guy being to he joined in.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:57

And it was really interesting because so then he spent money and then he said, Oh, I meant to ask, where's this other item? I said, Oh, if we have any, it's right there. And he's just like, uh, uh, and he was a slightly disabled, I will say that. Well, a little bit slow. And he was just, and I said, listen, Han, I was like, You've already paid for this stuff. It'll sit right here. Nobody will steal it. I was like, because I'll track them down, like Liam Neeson. I'll track them down. I said, so nobody's gonna steal it. Go ahead and leave and go take a look. You find something great. You don't, okay. I let him have 15. He he took 15 minutes and went and looked. He he came back and spent almost as much money as he did the first time because I gave him the opportunity to have a good time.

SPEAKER_09 1:08:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:37

And so that was the coolest thing about this lady is like I came in today and I haven't been in in weeks because there always used to be this little lady who was just so nasty telling everybody what to do. Hmm, but you made it fun and I had a good time. I didn't know, and that's the coolest thing for me is when she looked at me in front of our now what I call our head cashier and other managers. I had two other managers there, and she was just like, I've just had the best time coming in today. You are just so nice and you're so positive and reaffirming, and you're honest. And I had a good time. Thank you. I literally brought tears to my eyes. I was like, okay, y'all, this is too much. I'm going on my break. I'm gonna go take a lunch finally after five hours. Like, stop, you're gonna get my ego going. And she goes, but it should. She goes, it makes people happy when you take a minute and you give them your attention. So I get to do that.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:34

I get to have more human interaction than what I want.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:39

Hey, but at least it's not people you want to choke, make them lean forward and choke themselves. Just one.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:45

Generally even the person that I care for the least out of the people that I work back there with. Yeah, I don't really have to deal with him. I mean, he is a quote unquote superior to me.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:57

Who told you they were a superior?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:59

Uh well, just by virtue of him being there that long. Oh, that means nothing. Yeah. One of my co-workers is like, that dude is not your boss. You don't have to listen to anything that he says. Although I don't know, I I because he said that to me several times, and then this other individual has told me to do stuff, and I just did it because I'm like, I'm the FNG here. So even though it upset the other guy who is telling me that I don't have to do what he does, right? Do what he says, uh, just fucking go along to get along for right now.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:34

Yeah, and and you're learning stuff as you do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:37

Yes, and so once I'm established there, then I can start ignoring people.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:41

But yeah, if and if least if least desirable is telling you to do something that you have not done before, then they're still being they're still trying to train you to do some things.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:51

Because my understanding, words to the great friend, is least desirable can't even decide if they want to stay the company or not. Because I when I came and saw you the other day, uh-oh, I went and visited Daggnetwork. Oops, my bad. Um, somebody was just like, fuck that guy. He might not even be right here longer. He has a very long bus ride to work, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:10

So anyways. I actually, yeah, he actually there's two buses that go by the place that I work. And neither one of them is a very long bus ride, but both of them, like the one is like a 20-minute walk from, and the other one is like at best a 30-minute walk, um, for me. Um and the one that he rides is the one that's 30 minutes, but it's also the most convenient one to catch on the way back because like the that one basically stops right in front of my shop. Um, and it's like it shows up like 10 hours 10 minutes after I get off. The other one is like a five-minute walk to catch the bus from the shop, and it shows up like five minutes after I get off. So it's almost impossible to actually catch that bus unless I leave early. Um, and then it's like a 30-minute wait for that bus. So it's kind of a catch 22. It's like I can catch the later bus and get home at around the same time as I would if I cut the other bus as soon as it arrived, because it's a 30-minute walk. So it's kind of a yeah, it's kind of like six and one-half does the other one. How much I want to walk uphill for fucking 30 minutes.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:34

I should, I should, I I have you thought about looking at maybe getting a bicycle bike or a scooter or something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:43

I've considered it, but um, I'm gonna wait for a while. And yeah, I mean, summer is coming, so it's gonna be l well, it's gonna be hotter, but it's gonna be less of a deal.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:53

Because it won't be raining as much, and so it'll be more relaxing on the way home.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:59

Um yeah, but even if you just had a scooter just to get to the bus stop quicker.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:04

Yeah. Yeah, one of the co-worker that I really like, he has a scooter. And the first day that I came into work, I noticed a dude zooming past me on a scooter, and then I got to work and it was him.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:16

Yeah, nice.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:17

Very funny.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:18

Well, uh, now they know our dirty little secret. By time, by time this comes out, uh, you you never know, but maybe by then we'll have won the lottery.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:30

Yeah, I did that yesterday. Uh, damn it, where's my money?

SPEAKER_04 1:13:34

I hope you guys have loved hearing our we had a little secret. Secret, secret. We had a secret. We kept it a secret for our own sanity. Um, and especially for me, I needed that secret to be for my own sanity because I didn't know how it was gonna wash out.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:49

Yeah. And you don't want to jinx it.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:51

Yeah, I don't want to jinx it, knock on wood. Things are going at a progressive. Knocking on my forehead. Ow.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:57

Knock it off.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:00

But I hope you guys have a fantastic day.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:03

Yeah later.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:04

Bye.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:09

Okay, everybody. That's all the time we have for today. So I want to thank you for stopping by to enjoy the conversation. Uh, we're glad you're here. And please share and share again and share some more. And if you haven't already, subscribe. We'll be having another chat and another cup soon. We'll talk to you then. Look forward to seeing you.