Dream Job

Is there really such a thing as a dream job or is it just a job with better snacks and fewer meetings?  Dream jobs aren't always found - they're chased, stumbled into, and sometimes discovered after a few questionable career choices. 

Come join House and Josie, along with special guest, Val, as they talk about unexpected career twists and reality of finding work that makes you excited to get out of bed. 

Whether you're chasing your passion, changing careers, or still figuring it all out, this episode is a reminder to embrace the journey - because you never know, your next job could be your dream job.

Transcript

0:00

career starting over switching from one thing to the a completely different field we can we can figure that out later what are you looking for we usually do like an opener an opening intro like music we have music we actually do like uh just like a a summary of what the uh yeah is gonna be about but we can figure that out yeah we can do it after so and you have your um oh my god this isn't a good start i can't even yes that's what i'm trying to say i was gonna say your wisdom but that's not what we call it but i guess that would work it's it is wisdom it is wisdom it's wisdom that's fair sure do that first um no no no no i just wanted to make sure you had it those are that I you have did you print it oh you print it that is organized organized so it's Val right we're going with Val sure is that what you like Val sure I like Val it's easy Val we have Val from where are you from are you looking for like city we say Val from Nova Scotia yes then then I have to practice my Canadian accent and say things like a boot. You're you're from Buffalo you got a you got a hint already I'm close enough Ontario's like right there so are we gonna mention like what you used to do at all like or are you gonna say like I used to work I'm just gonna ask like how how specific do you want me because I know you guys don't whatever you're comf comfortable with I just feel like if I say yeah I used to work in journalism and now I'm gonna cop every every like oh it's Rachel Kingston so I mean I could keep it more vague like what I used to do just yeah that it was a totally different field that I was involved in um like content creation production that sort of yeah yeah real vague you know I mean people might be like oh she was like an influencer right you know I'll I'll keep that vague okay that works I mean obviously I have to be a little bit more specific about my current purpose I don't have a problem saying what I do I won't say like where I do it yeah but but you're in Canada so you're good you are good I like I like the quick entrance or the quick teaser so why don't you do that as our entrance with the theme yeah just the quick teaser that you have there wait finding the dream job changing no she finally yeah she finally landed the dream job oh no we there yeah Nova Scotia I've never even been to Nova Scotia but I would like to go it looks beautiful well today on cubicle confessions we have another guest I'm so excited we finally have people joining in guests in a row so this is Val hi guys hi Valighted to be here she's from she came in all the way from Nova Scotia oh but we love Canada we are right there we love having you guys close by we love our Canadian friends close ish close ish ish how long did that take you to get here what is it question oh my god it has to be 11 hours 11 hours I don't even know tell you the job that's definitely a question for AI it sure is chat GPT where are you at? Right I named my chat GPT Bert oh I like that because I was like ah we talk a lot you should have a name Bert Bert like your uh like your pigeon yes yes yes um morning dove Bert you have a morning dove bird I do you know what I was not pigeon morning dove similar family 16 hours and 47 minutes wow it's not too well thanks for driving in how is the border just kidding we're not gonna get into all that let's not go there let's not talk about that you either zip right over or you're stuck there for hours so we're gonna get on with it so Val is here she finally landed the dream job but only after bad bosses awkward interviews and career detours so this is exciting this is exciting stuff we have who hasn't but at the end of the day she found her dream job where she's happy where she feels comfortable and you know she loves what she does. So we gotta talk about this like how did you get to this point? So it's funny because what I'm doing now was actually plan A. Really? Well that's a twist yes yeah what I used to do was the backup plan. However to clarify for everybody listening I am a police officer okay that's that is my line of work and so when I was younger and first announced to my family my intentions to pursue a career in law for law enforcement they were shall we say less than thrilled which was what caused me to kind of put that on the back burner and then pursue the other thing that I did for a while. I don't think it sucked that the people that don't have the same dream as you or I or House feel like they have input on that. Like why choice because I I had the same situation you know everyone's like I don't think you should do what you do like I think you should do this you shouldn't do this and I'm like what am I listening to you know what your opinion I'm gonna tell you one thing it one word right now boomers maybe just have some negativity going on in boomers I mean and who else is she wrong though no is she wrong no that's a good point no so keep going no I mean so I at the time now at the time not that this is uh justification but at the time I was like 19 years old still in college you know so and my mother in particular was very very very concerned about this possible uh career path that I wanted to follow and you know worried that I was gonna get hurt or killed or something something awful was going to happen. So at the time 19 year old me I wasn't happy about it but I ultimately did decide to as you said take a detour um for a little while and in retrospect now looking back it's probably not a bad thing that I did something else for eight almost 10 years because at 19 I would have told you oh yeah I'm ready I can handle this I can handle anything. Yeah my 19 year old self would not have been able to hand no mentally you wouldn't have been able to handle it or physically or both I just think that I think I benefited from coming into this after just gaining a little bit more life experience. You know at 19 you don't have life experience no no you think you do you think you do at 19 I was shit I was always oh welcome to the true north yes yes 19 let's go to the Mars Clifton Hill right that's who it is Clifton Hill yep Niagara Falls so I mean is it a terrible thing that I took a little bit longer to get where I am in retrospect probably not at the time I was sure yeah but we have my mother and I had a blow up about this I mean like a blow up screaming knockdown drag out fight like it was it was bad. Show you I'm gonna be a good cow so yeah I guess I guess waiting ultimately did work to my benefit even if I was not happy about it at the time my 19 year old self was very displeased but uh but look at that it was worth the wait it was it was that's awesome that you got your your dream job you got to the point where you wanted to be that's that's not a lot of people can do that. True I know well and what made me decide to pivot you know the industry that I was in I was happy doing it until I wasn't it got to the point where the bullshit outweighed any of the good stuff. Yeah wow you just summed up our whole yes you did all right thank you thank you for listening have a good day we're done that's it that's a wrap I have nothing left to add what about you Josie that was awesome preach preach no but that that was that was when I knew it was time to get out and make a change I mean I was literally getting up every day that I knew was a work day waking up and before I was even out of bed I'm lying there staring at my ceiling thinking to myself I have to go to work today. And I'd be driving in there and the gates would open and I'd be pulling into the parking lot and as soon as I pulled into that parking lot I could just feel my blood pressure girl it was like this is not I mean my personality started changing like I was that's not myself. That was when I knew okay I don't care if I need to go scrub toilets I don't care if I need to go be a cashier at Target like I don't care at this point. I just need to get out of where I am oh yeah oh amen to that because you just summed up how I felt many many times. I feel like we've all been there right everybody's been there at some point in their career where they're just like what am I doing? Yes what am I doing? But that's like why does everyone always feel alone in those situations? Like when I went through it I was like no one else would understand what I'm I'm the only one. Yeah I'm the only one talk to anybody and I felt like every time I brought it up someone thought I was just bitch into bitch. Oh yeah oh yeah you were being dramatic or it can't be that bad or you're overreacting and this is this is a this is work though. This is like what everybody goes through it's normal to feel that way and be burned out and hate feel feeling your blood boiling going into work sitting in your car just stressed and and that's before you've even made it into the office you haven't even walked in the door yet you haven't even converted your homeworkers yet right this yeah is it too late to turn around and call in sick I'm just gonna go home sorry I can't work today close to it well let's see 2000 uh eight years eight years was did it start out like that like no in the beginning or did how long were you comfortable and like okay with the job before you got to the point where you were just done I was having fun for probably the first five six years it wasn't until toward the end and it was a combination of things right like so I was working in um I guess I would describe my job as like content creation production so we were a local operation but like so many local shops we were bought up by a big multinational corporation oh no which was then bought up by another big multinational corporation and this was all while you're there this is oh man here they here they come let's time to micromanage videotape and then scan in so they know when you clock in and when you clock out uh uh um more demands more job responsibilities fewer resources and resources in terms of time in terms of software supplies things that are equipment things that are needed to actually get the job done you know they just put the squeeze on you they want more and more and more and hurry up how fast can you turn stuff out that's all they you become a robot it's that's it you're you're a nobody to them you're just a person I'm sorry a robot doing what you're told cranking out their work for them and they don't appreciate you no and to me again this is just my perspective but something shifted the mission shifted and changed the integrity was lost and by the time I left the management team that we had in place there was toxic it was a toxic management culture and just just miserable and I know I wasn't the only one who was miserable everybody there was miserable whether we said it in front of the bosses or not uh mostly we just talk shit behind their backs but when do they like I always wonder do toxist toxic bosses realize that they're being toxic no way I don't think they know like like if you went up to them at that point whether you were like I'm fucking out anyway so I'm just gonna tell them if you would have told them look at you are toxic like you have no uh human presence whatsoever in this do you think he would have been like shit and took a step back I didn't realize it no be like yeah no I know my dad like no I would be option B no it would not happen. How did they how do they keep employees though because we worked for a couple people like that it and it was you know after all this time you've lost how many awesome employees like how do you not see that you are the problem when you're constantly losing good people but you just like don't like care. It's like oh no like they're it's them it's it's not them like I'm a great boss I'm a good leader we have a great office here the culture's thriving like it's it's just comical to me. Yeah water bottle oh I got mine we all got them we all got them cheers time to confess sorry we just gotta hydrate you might hear some gulps I'm here for it here for all the gulps I love how we all hydrated together that's gotta stay hydrated now that's culture that's teamwork that's important so good so you you you actually have had other jobs too besides that one oh my goodness like yes like let's let's go off our our list here so I honestly I'm just gonna jump out of order because I always do because I'm just a pain in the eye I do I know I'm doing the same thing but uh I want to know what the most it says most ridiculous interview question but I don't know if you would recall that like I oh I can tell you oh I can tell you juicy so when I at my most recent job interview which was the interview that landed me my current job eight and a half years ago it's been a while since I've been on a job interview and I'm honestly fine if I never have to sit through another job interview. You're probably completely fine with that. Oh my god I hate job interview interviews that could be like a whole separate show how much really it could suck. It really could hate them hate them but at one point during my interview for my current job which by the way was a panel interview so it was me in a room with eight people no eight people all staring at me taking turns asking questions I'm like all right this is cool intimidating oh yeah it was the whole brass like captains the chief oh there were a couple of lieutenants I don't even remember who all was in the room and I don't remember who asked this question of me but somebody on the panel said well if you pulled over your mother for speeding would you write her the ticket I'm like I feel like this is a trick question. Right? They are looking for a specific answer but I don't know what it is and I kind of froze and looked around the table and I said uh well I guess it would depend how fast she was going like five miles per hour ten miles per hour over the speed limit no really good because you're thinking outside 30 40 miles per hour over the speed limit and after a moment they were oh well we don't we won't expect you to write your own mother why why did you why would you ask questions did you just want to make me uncomfortable yeah answer it because some people would be cocky probably and be like no I wouldn't write my mother ticket some people would be like yeah I wouldn't write my well and this I'm like what clearly they're looking for a specific answer here but I don't know what answer they're looking for. That was great you didn't give them like the the the the what's the I'm always up on words I am standard canned answer yeah you kind of questioned their question which made it a little bit more like I think interview people get conducting an interview they like that they like to kind of get in because that's how they get to know you better instead of just having a conversation let me ask you a stupid question and try to get you to elaborate on this and see how you react to it do you get nervous do you get caught off guard and then they watch like everything freeze do you right I have the most stupidest question and you'll know who I came from on a job interview. Now at the time I was in my profession for over 10 years. Probably about well yeah probably about closer to 15 years. And I got asked the question if I could be any animal in the world who would I pick they asked you that on a job interview I know exactly who you're talking about. What does this have to do with this job? Yeah of course I'm like I'll play along that's why I'll play along I go I want to be a tiger and then he goes and he broke down and started writing I'm like what are you making notes about what's the point of this and I was like what does a tiger stand for and he goes it means that you don't back down you're fierce you're strong you can stand on your own and I'll go well those are all great yes and qualities and he's like well it depends on what type of atmosphere you're in and then dynamics and I was just like oh my god again this is a trick question yeah and and mind you feel right or wrong isn't it speaking of bad bosses who like think they're great that's the guy that's him does it make sense to you after hearing this fucked up person I know he he asked me I I actually I didn't get an I didn't interview for that job they just hired me it was all word of mouth they're like oh they were like begging me to work there and I what a fool I was for going but um he asked me that question like after I started because I think you brought it up after you started after I started because I was like hey you didn't ask her the yeah the the interview question and I was like God I gotta think of the most like weird bird that like no one's ever heard of and she knew she had a heads up she knew that the question was going to fucking forward because I was like oh So you had some time to start thinking of an answer and preparing a harpy eagle. A harpy eagle. And he's like, What's that? Is that even a real bird? I was like, Yeah, it's a real bird. Look it up. Google it, fucker. But anyway. And then and then after that, we were like, Well, what did you say? Your character, your animal would be. And out of nowhere he goes, an eagle. Yeah. And we were like, oh. But not the harpy eagle. I bet it's a bald eagle. Was that too much specificity for you? I'm sorry. Yup. Yup. What a dumb. So dumb. I hate those interview questions. I know. Honestly, 90% of interview questions are just dumb. They are dumb, unnecessary. I would rather put someone in a real situation that I deal with on a daily basis. And be like, show me how you would handle it. Exactly. Yeah, right. See how they handle a stressful situation, you know, that we deal with on a daily basis. Knowing they're fully you know rejuvenated, but yeah, like this is a real situation. What could what give me some advice on how to handle it? Or and I think too, just like talking to someone, like I've had interviews like that too, where like it's they don't even ask questions, it's just a conversation. You're you start talking about you know the weather, and then it leads to like, you know, oh, like, oh, you grew up in Buffalo, and like what kind of you know, where did you live? And like, where'd you go to school? And then it just becomes this like conversation. I think that's how I personally really get to know somebody, it's like small talk and I agree. But it's as much about you feeling them out, yeah, and feeling the culture out and feeling the place out. Like, is this really a good fit for me? Is this really someplace where I want to work? Like in that scenario that you described, if it's more of a back and forth, just kind of casual conversation, yeah. It's almost like you're interviewing them or trying them out as much as they're trying you out. Yeah, and I think too, it's all about making that person comfortable because interviews are horrible. No one wants to do that. Everybody's so you get so nervous and you overthink everything and nerve-wracking, they're awkward, they're stressful. They're so focused on getting this job. You almost kind of overlook things that maybe are red flags, and then, like you said, like you're interviewing them, but I think it's hard to get into that mindset because you're you just want this job. So it's like, you know, I should be like interviewing you, and like maybe I don't want to work for you, and maybe I should feel things out better. And and I'm totally guilty of that because I'm always just all about landing that job. I think interviews they should let you sit one full day, just sit and watch. Yeah, just love no one, just watch the daily out of everything. Yes, like a shadow day. Yeah, just one full day. That would be and then if you want to sit down with me and I want to have a conversation with you, then we'll see. Yeah, if we both think that this is gonna work for each of us, then yeah, because there's been jobs where I know right away my first day, this was a big mistake. Big mistake. Yeah, or the worst part I'm I'm gonna just add one more thing and then we can move on. But the worst part, I had a job I was super excited about, and it was at um, I'll just say I worked at hospice in the inpatient unit, and I was so excited because I volunteered there. I loved the whole organization, and I went into the training, and during the training, I loved it. I'm like, oh, I'm so lucky. This is great. I found my dream job. Training went great, they throw me to the wolves, and I was just oh my god, I cannot do this. Is horrible. This is not what I expect. That's almost worse because you had such high expectations for it, and you thought, like, oh, I finally found the job. Yep, yep. And it was let down is that much. And I think too, the people that you know, when you go and start a new job, the people that are working there that have been there forever, and they tell you how great it used to be right off the bat, that's not good because now I'm like just coming in here with high hopes that this is a great place, and like now I was like, let's make America great. I was like, Yes! Let's make it great, and and it's and it I didn't make it great. I yeah, I was only there six months. So that was that's a whole other story, but that was tough. Yeah, that is that sucks. I'm so sorry you have to go through that. I know you really did like that job. Oh, I like volunteering there, yeah. Work in there, all of that. Great. Um try a lot, she answered, she already said a lot of this stuff, so um so Val, your current job, what makes the job fulfilling for you? You know, I could give you the cliche canned answer about oh, I want to serve my community. I mean, you don't? I mean that was, that was. Um, but the more honest answer is I need to be challenged. I am not the type that is built to sit at a desk. Um and I I like chasing bad guys. That's so badass! I like catching them even more. I feel like every day I go to work and I feel like I'm in an episode of cops. It's great. That is badass. I love it. It's fun, it's badass, it's fun. That's awesome. Damn. You know, I've wanted to be a police officer since I was a kid, and I still get that. Like, go to work every day, and I'm putting on the uniform, and I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna go do this. That's awesome. Oh, I'm so happy for it. It's so dorky, but no, it's not. That's the best answer ever. I wish my job, I wish I was like that. I wish I could wake up and be like, yeah, let's get them. I am not. Now, have you had an embarrassing work moment? Moments. Oh, too many to choose from. Okay, embarrassing in what way? Like where I personally felt humiliated or just a ridiculous situation, or um, yeah, whichever you think. Yeah, whichever yeah. Yeah, right. Why not? God, I really gotta think about this. Um yeah, yeah, yeah. Most emotional. Josie's the best editor ever. Most embarrassing. God, I don't know. Or like you you left work one night and you went home and it was just cringe. Like, just a cringe moment. I mean, there are a lot of moments where I cringe for other people. Tell us one. Tell us. Oh my god. Um fuck. I was not prepared. And I usually pride myself on my ability to think on my feet, but no, we most embarrassing thing. Or like, or something that was just so just like cringy and weird. Well, I wouldn't call it embarrassing, but I could tell you about my biggest oh shit moment that I've had. Oh, I love an oh shit moment. You already know this story because I've told you. Oh, I can't wait. Oh, I can't wait to hear it again. But um, so a little over a year ago, one night I was on the road um driving around, and you know, in in my line of work, you always kind of think in the back of your head, like there are a lot of things that can go sideways. Yeah. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, there are a lot of things that can hurt you or potentially kill you. And you're always kind of playing through all those what-ifs and possible scenarios in your head. But when I would think about those things, I would never have put my own patrol vehicle on the list of things that might have killed me. That's crazy. Uh, I was on the road one night driving around, actually about to make a traffic stop, which was gonna be a very good stop, by the way. I'm still pissed that I had to let the guy go. Um, but my car lit itself on fire while I was driving it. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Um, and the crazy thing was initially I didn't realize that it was my car. Wow. So I had so it was like 30 minutes before the end of my shift, right? Of course. And I had, of course, just gone to our gas tanks or our gas pumps and filled the tank in my car. Because, you know, you don't want to be a jerk and leave the tank less than full for the next guy for the oncoming shift. So I went, filled my 30-gallon gas tank, and then left the pumps and thought, eh, you know, I'll take a ride down this one main drag that we have in our town. I'll see if I can write myself a quick ticket before I go home. Right. This is a road that's known as a place where people like to speed, where the lead foot gets a little heavy, and sure enough, I'm driving along, I see this set of headlights coming at me, and I'm like, oh, he's moving. I look down at my radar and I'm like, oh, he's really moving. All right, here we go. So he passes me, and I start making a U-turn to get behind him and pull him over. And right about as he's passing me, and I'm starting to make the U-turn, I'm like, oh, something smells like it's burning. Oh my God. But again, I'm on a main drag. It's kind of like a mixed area. There's some industrial, some residential there. But even the houses on that road, they're large properties. People have a lot of land. I had my windows open, so I'm thinking to myself, ah, maybe somebody's having a bonfire, or you know, that's what I'm smelling. I noticed it, but wasn't really focused on it. So I turn around, turn my lights on, guy pulls over, I pull up behind him. I'm typing in the license plate, running it, like reading the data. I'm getting on the radio, just casually, nonchalantly calling out, you know, where I am, and I got this traffic stop, and the dispatchers acknowledge. I get out of my car and I start seeing all of this smoke. I'm like, where is all this smoke coming from? All right, forget the traffic stop for a minute. I gotta figure it out I thought like maybe one of the nearby businesses or something was on fire. I'm like, oh man, I gotta, I gotta figure out where all this smoke is coming from before I deal with this guy. I started walking around the back of my vehicle. Now we have mainly SUVs. So it's got, you know, the first row, driver's seat, passenger seat. There's the second row, the cage, where the bad people sit. And then you have the trunk area, which is full of, among other pieces of equipment, are fire extinguishers. Oh my god. I start walking around the back of the car and I look through that window into the trunk area, and it is full of flames. Holy shit. Yeah, that's what I said. That's what I said. I'm standing there and I'm like frozen for half a second because I'm like my brain is trying to understand. I'm like, flames, flames in my trunk. Why are there flames in my trunk? There are not supposed to be flames in my trunk. Wait, let me get my fire extinct. It's in the trunk. Oh, wait. It's also in the trunk and already on fire. Holy shit. What else is in the trunk? Oh, a bucket of road flares. Oh, oh, a can full of rifle rounds. Oh my gosh. I'm like, I need to get the fuck away from this car before it explodes. So what fucking started the fire? They never figured it out. I can't believe they never figured that out. The only possibility that they could not rule out was an electrical problem. I said no shit. I'm not a fire investigator, but I could have told you that. Do you know how much electrical wiring there is in the back of those cars? Oh, I believe it. I believe it. Everything. The onboard video system, our computers, the lights, the siren, like all the aftermarket added shit that they put in those vehicles. Uh-huh. All the wiring is back there. Oh terrifying. I can't believe I still can't believe that happened. Oh, you didn't give the guy the ticket. No, so I so me run up to my front seat, which I don't know why I ran to the front seat to use the car radio, because I was wearing a portable radio. It's just weird the things that you do when your brain is in like autopilot. Yeah. So I run up to the front, I get on there, I'm like, radio, my car's on fire. Copy. I'm like, did you hear me? I said my car is on fire. Get the fucking fire department here. So I run around. I have a bag, like a bag, my patrol bag full filled with all my crap that sits on the front seat next to me. Grab my bag, grab my water bottle, and booked. I ran. Yeah. It got me through. It was there when I needed it. Too bad there wasn't nearly enough water in it to put out the fire. But so I run up to the car that I stopped. Now we're but so I run up to the car that I stopped and I'm telling, I'm like, dude, get out of here. Go, go. And he's like staring at me. I'm like, go, get out of here. He pulls up about 20 feet and then stops. I run back up to his window. I'm like, dude, get out of. You need to leave the area like right now. My car's on fire. He goes, Oh shit, really? Is this a test? Yeah, right. It's like, it's a trap. It's a trap. It's his entrapment. Oh, God. Well, I'm glad you're okay. I know. That is. You know, now I can laugh about it. And that night I was just so, I think I had so much adrenaline going, and I was in shock that it didn't really hit me. It didn't hit me until two days later when I went over to the impound yard where they took it. And I looked at the aftermath, and that is when I was like, whoa, God. Oh God, this is not okay. Like two more minutes in that car, and I probably would not be sitting here. Did the uh did the bullets go off in the trunk? Um, I heard some things popping. I don't know if it was the glass breaking, like the windows, or I don't know what I was hearing, but uh yeah, it was I couldn't believe how fast it went up. I mean, literally within two minutes, the whole car was up. That is for sure the scariest and wildest and most ridiculous thing that has ever happened to me at work. No call even comes close to that. Not even close. I can't even complain about what I do anymore. I know, right? I know. Like you hear a story like that, you're just like, well, we are so glad you're okay. That is terrifying. I mean your desk could light itself on fire. I mean, actually, wait! Multi-electrical. I so that actually sort didn't not like this, but we had in what under my desk, there was a do you remember this? It might have been before you worked with with me. But in there was I had this old antique. I know I I was there a year before, so there is only that one lonely yeah. Number that you have. Number. Um, so I my desk, it was sitting on top of an outlet, and it's this very heavy antique desk, right? That desk was so heavy. Were you there with the electrical fire? So I was sitting there, and there's like a beautiful like oriental carpet like underneath the desk. And and I'm I'm sitting there one day, I'm like, gosh, I really I smell burning. And this went on for weeks. Oh no, and I would say, like, I smell burning, I smell burning, and no one smelled it. Everyone don't ever mock a woman's nose because women have a keen sense of smell. It does not lie to you. And um, so I kept saying, like, I smelled smoke, I smelled fire, or whatever. And it was always like, oh, well, I had a campfire last night. It's probably my shirt. Or like, you know, really, you wore the same flannel shirt to work that you wore around the campfire. Okay. It was a because that's when I had them move it. Yes, yes. And it was fried, it was black, black, it was whole. It was fried. Oh my god. Somebody went out, somebody, so someone put the outlet, like, was uh in the floor, and someone literally put the desk on top of wires and the plug. Yeah, so it was like, Yeah, don't think they're designed to be weight bearing like that. Yeah. So I'm just we're all like, who did this and how long has it been this way? So yeah, so that your desk can start on fire. But nothing like that. That is a burning moment. Like we're like, do we do like desks can stand on fire? Yeah, but more than you know. I can't, you but it's what I'm looking for. But you can't even compare to the business. So, so Vale, I have another question. Now, you said early on when you were 19 and you were like, I'm gonna be a cop. You're a lot of people were like, Yeah, no, like don't do that, especially your mother. Like, so when you did decide, hey, I'm gonna do my dream, I'm gonna go for it. What happened? How what were the reactions like now that you were older? So initially, I didn't even tell anybody. I I told nobody. Yeah, so that is smart, and I know it's similar here locally where you have um, in order to get into that field, you have to take uh a civil service exam. So it was the same. So when I was taking tests, I wasn't even telling anybody that I was taking tests. I so I quit my job at the old place because I just couldn't stand it anymore. I packed my desk up the one day and I said I've had enough. I walked out. No notice, nothing. You just packed up and were like, see ya. Yeah. Good for you. I hate to admit that I was that person, but I was that person. Because that is a beautiful person. Because it is. Because I knew that if I told that, if I gave them notice and said, Hey, just you know, as a courtesy, here's my two weeks, my last day is blah blah. I knew. That the GM in that place would have been like, oh, get security down there and walk her out. And I was not gonna give that bitch the satisfaction. Good for you. Good for you. I'm gonna walk myself out. See you late. Oh my gosh. Um my god. It's so unnecessary. It's so dramatic. They just want to make a scene. Well, that's it. They want to humiliate you. Absolutely. They want to feel like, I don't know, they're above you. I don't know if that like gives them their jollies or whatever. Their jollies. Oh, I got my jollies. Oh hoo hoo. Sorry. Um, but so I had left that place and I was actually just working a space filler type job. I was working in an office. That was the one point in my life, that little like year, 16 month span, whatever it was, where I was working in an office, and that was literally just a job for the sake of a job. And at that point I didn't care. I was actually happier doing that because I didn't have the stress coming into work every day of like, oh my god, I fucking hate this place. I hate everyone here. Yeah, this is miserable. There's no job, no job worth being that miserable over. I firmly believe that. I will always believe that. Yep. Cheers to that. Yeah. So I'm sorry, I got myself off on a tangent. Oh questions. So how did I tell people? Yes. So I was at how did they react? I was at this interim job. I'm taking tests. I'm not telling anybody I'm taking tests. I didn't say anything until I actually started getting called by some of these agencies, you know, and them wanting me to go through physical agility testing and interviews and background checks. And it's a whole, it's a very lengthy process to get hired in this field. And then obviously, you know, you do get hired, then you have to go to the police academy. It's usually about six months long. Um, but so I was doing all those preliminary steps and didn't say anything. I don't I don't remember now, but I don't think I told my mother until I was pretty advanced in the hiring process with the agency that I started with, um, which is not where I work now. I started with one agency and I was there for about a year and a half before I arrived at my my current agency. But I want to say I was pretty deep into the process with them before I said, oh, uh, by the way, I'm uh I'm in the running for this new job. And uh hope hopefully it's gonna work out. Things are things are looking pretty good so far. But uh your mom, and you'd be like, you have the right to remain side you say again will be used against you in the court of law. You know, I just I I just came out and told her. I was like, I should have done that. That's what I should have done. I should have fucked with her a little bit. That's pretty good. Thank you. Keep going. Keep going. Um and surprisingly, I was expecting her to have a much more dramatic reaction than she did. And I asked her at one point afterward, because she seemed relatively okay with it. I mean, I I still don't think she's thrilled with what I do. But she did not freak out the way that she did when I was 19. And I actually asked her that point blank at one point. I was like, what changed? Because you were dead set against it when I first brought it up, you know, when I was younger. And she said, I didn't think you were ready back then. Oh, so she knew that it was your dream job and she knew that's what you were gonna do, but she just felt at that point in your life you weren't ready. That's what she said. And I mean, again, in hindsight, retrospect, 38-year-old me looking at 19-year-old me is like, girl, right, you're not ready. Yeah, I know. I know you think you're ready, you're not ready. Yeah, so is there some truth to that? I mean, I hate to admit that my mother was right, but maybe she was right about that. So yeah, listen, listen to your elders. That was a good podcast. That was that was a good one. I love this. This is a good podcast. I like having someone here. Like it is nice, yeah. Like sit like in here because it we did um it's nice to talk to someone. We are talking to each other. We are working talking about it. We're I know talking to real people. I mean, I love you, but it's nice to have a third person. Sometimes it's nice to just break it up a little bit, you know? That's all we need. We just had a threesome. I know. That's so funny. Uh you know what? Cause you I I mean, Val, I don't get to talk to you that much, so I can tell that you're you're very passionate and and you're very outspoken, and you'll say whatever's on your mind. What was the best? What was the best time that you walked out of a job and said what you wanted to say? And what did you say? Did you just let it fucking fly? I I think it would have to be when I left the old place, when I left that industry and made the decision that I just gotta get the fuck out of here. Yeah. Um and the not the GM, the woman who was the GM at the time, but her. VP type? Yeah, no, he wasn't a I don't want to use the exact title because that'll give it away. So the middle management, um, the manager who I more directly reported to. Gotcha. And he knew, I think he was somebody who was brought in around the time that I was planning on leaving anyway. So, I mean, he had been there for like 10 minutes. Right. I was already one foot out the door before he even arrived. And I actually did like him a lot. I thought, man, if this guy sticks around and if they get rid of the GM, I could see things maybe improving here, but I wasn't gonna stick around to find out if that was gonna happen. Um, and he did ask me on my way literally on my way out the door, is there any way I can change your mind? Oh, that was nice. I really want you to stay here. And I said, you know, thank you. I appreciate the compliment because I I do take that as a compliment, but no, no, no, there's nothing you can do or say that is going to change my mind. No, no, because I would have liked to have said that directly to her face. Nice. Um that's probably good. But no, she she and I had had our our battles leading up to that point. She actually, I don't even know if she was there my last day. I don't remember. Or if she was. Right. You know, normally on a person's last day, the management will come down from the offices, and there's like a goodbye party, and there's a cake, and there's a this and there's a that. Yeah, and that's I I have it either. I haven't either. Well, don't feel bad because I didn't get any of that either. It was like, goodbye, see you later. And I was like, I'm gonna watch your fucking cake anyway. Yeah, shove the cake right up your ass. Tell them. Did you ever say anything to anybody though? Have you ever like stormed out and been like, fuck you! I dope you fucking slipping call. I don't think so anymore. I don't think I've gone totally postal on any of my old bosses. No, no, I don't think I have. I did lose my shit on one of my now former co-workers, because he's retired now, um, a couple of years ago, but for completely different reasons. Um, have I ever gone that feral on a former boss? No. Do I wish that I did? Yes. Me too. If I had it to go back and do over, yeah. I think everyone would at some point do a do-over. But you know what? Sometimes you are just so done. Yeah. You are past the point of caring. You're like, I don't even, I'm not even gonna waste my breath on you. Yeah, I just want this to be in the past. I have had so much stress and aggravation from this place that I'm just I'm just gonna walk away. Right. Don't care anymore. Very, very true. I love it. I feel like everybody's been there at some point. Definitely in their career, in their professional life. You're just you're just done. You're just over it. There there is a handful of people though out there that has never experienced that walk off a job. Yeah. Like some have started somewhere and they've stayed there. I mean, I kind of envy those people. They just if you fall into a place that's great and you can stay there your whole career, right? I feel like that's unheard of now. I it is unheard of. 50, 60 years ago, maybe that was the norm now. Well, I think people do that like it's like a three-year time frame because they they know that if they stay at this job, they're not gonna get compensated fairly. You know, they're they're gonna be bringing in other people, and those people are probably gonna make more money. Like once you're there, you're there. They might give you a raise here and there, but they aren't gonna pay you what you're worth. So it takes, you know, three years. Okay, now it's time I'm gonna go apply for a different job, and then you can negotiate that salary and make more money. And I I think that is too bad. But I also, you know, a lot of people are afraid to ask for a raise. Right. But but the other thing, and and we went through this, like, you don't realize how underpaid you are until you leave. And then you're told by like a recruiter or the place you end up, like, oh yeah, you are severely underpaid for what you do. I always lie. Like when I go on an interview and they're like, So how much are you looking for? What were you making? Oh my god, I know you know how to answer that. I know. What were you making before you came here? And I'm always like, Well, I know you're advertising for 70 grand, so I'm gonna say 68. Right. Yeah. Oh, well, if I'm not gonna equally pay you, you're gonna want more, so I know you're gonna give me that 70 grand. Yes. The funny thing, like it's such a stupid question. Again, it's like one of those games you have to play with your interviewer. Oh, totally. But you don't want to tell them that because then they'll be like, oh, we'll give you 47. I'm like, fuck yeah. It's how the game is played. I hope our listeners are taking notes. And if you're not, you can restart this podcast from the beginning. Play it as many times as a game. Oh my goodness. Um, where whereabouts are you on this? I you know what? I've kind of been bounced. I bounced around. I feel like we've covered a lot of it. Um a lot of good points, which we've got to do. Um, so let's see. Um, so let's talk about advice for people who are stuck. Like, um, you know, what advice would you give someone who feels trapped in a job they hate? What what would you say to them? Quit. Yes. Quit. Leave. You know, and I was always a person who was of the mindset that, well, I can't, I can't, no matter how miserable I am, I can't quit one thing until I have something else lined up. Right? I can't just leave and have nothing. I have to have some sort of work, I have to have some sort of income because I need to be able to pay my bills. Um, but I would say that thinking about leaving and thinking about, oh my god, what am I gonna do? Where am I gonna go? How am I gonna figure this out? Playing all those what-ifs out in your head is far scarier and more paralyzing than just doing it. You really sometimes, and I'm not advocating for people to just whoa fuck this job, I quit. Right. I mean, I'm not advocating for people to be irresponsible or frivolous in making career decisions, but sometimes you really do just have to jump off the cliff without looking. I had to, I knew I had to leave that place. And it was way, way scarier thinking about it before actually doing it than doing it. Doing it, all I felt honestly, was relief. Even though I didn't have all of my next moves mapped out, it was just such a relief to no longer have that pressure and that stress and that toxicity. When you remove yourself from that, then I feel like you actually can think clearly and sit down and and really figure out okay, what do I actually want? Right, where do I want to go from here? What's going to make me feel fulfilled and challenged and happy and like I'm on a a trajectory where my career is going somewhere, not just feeling stuck. Like the one thing I did, because I actually did do that, I took that leap of faith and did the same thing. I was just like, I can't do this anymore. And I literally packed up my shit and I walked out the door. That was it. I love that moment and do anything. And at the time I was, you know, I felt relief, like you said, I could breathe. And the second I got in my car, a little panic kind of came in because I'm like, you know, I don't have anything lined up, and I'm the same person, I'm a planner. Like, I have I don't make a move unless I have something else in my pocket, you know. But when I walked out and I had that time with no job, and and I was trying to figure out other things, but what I did do is I went on multiple interviews. I went on like three or four interviews, and they all wanted to hire me. And I told each of them, I was very honest with them, which I don't know why I fucking I was like, I actually have another offer, so I'm just gonna weigh my pros and cons before I give you a decision. And I let every single one of them wait four days before I good for you. Yeah, I couldn't believe I did it. I think four days, and then I called them up individually and I said, Thank you very much for the opportunity. I really loved everything we had to offer with this position at this place, and I told them exactly where I was going. I said, was offering me A, B, and C. Is that something you would offer me? Because I'm I'm very interested in that. And I'm like, but I really like what you have to offer, and they were like, Nope, I can't do that. And I said, Well, thank you very much for your time. And that's what I did with each of them. Like, I already knew where I was gonna go. Power play. Yes, power play. I love that. They couldn't do it for me, then I passed them off. So you turned it on its head, yeah. It was great. I I can't believe I did it, and it was the best thing because honestly, I really felt like I took control of my situation, I took control where I was heading and what I was doing, and that's what made me feel better about my decision. And I feel like to your earlier point, House, that's the type of thing that you don't do as a young person who is first getting into the job market. When you first start out, you're like, oh my god, please give me this job, please. I really just want this experience. And you will do anything, say anything, put up with anything to get that job and to get your feet wet and to start gaining work experience and breaking into the job market. I think it's only when you reach a certain age or a certain amount of time that you have been working, a certain place in your career experience, right? Where you do, Josie, exactly what you did. Like, you know what? No, I'm not gonna just take whatever's offered to me. Here's what I'm looking for A, B, and C. If you can offer that to me, awesome. Yeah, if not, thank you for the opportunity, but I'm gonna go in a different direction. Right. And I feel like you don't gain the self-confidence to do that until you've been in the working world for a while. Yeah, and not one or two years, like 10, 15, 20 years. Exactly. And you've gone through some shit. And you've had you've you've experienced the worst. So you're like, you know what? I don't want to do this again. I'm gonna make sure of it that I am in a place that suits me. Not only do I not want to do this again, I don't have to do this again. Yes, and I'm not going to do this again. Yeah. I'm like, I ain't fucking put enough of this shit anymore. No, yeah. I know, I know my shit. You know, you want me or you don't, but you're gonna you're gonna have to pay for me. That's very easy for us to say sitting here. There could be people listening to this going, oh my god, I I don't think I could ever do that. Like, I don't that is so intimidating. I don't whether it's uh people don't have the confidence or they feel insecure or they're unsure and they're like, ooh, ooh, I don't I don't know that I could do that. Do it. It's amazing how you what you can do when you're put in that situation. And it gets easier the more you do it. It really does. After a while, it starts to feel natural, and you're just like, Yep, this is me. How many jobs have you had like throughout your career? Oh my god. Like, I love that. That is so true. That must stay. All of it. Oh my god. I have been a cashier, I've been a hostess, a waitress. I worked in the kitchen at a pizza joint when I was in college. Um, I've done office jobs again when I was mostly when I was in college, but I had that little in-between stint between my first career and my second career. Um in my first career, I bounced around between three different places before I left that industry entirely. I I've had a lot of jobs. I've had a lot of jobs. Yeah, I think it is good to have a lot of jobs. It is too, and you're you're you've got a nice dynamic, like you have a lot of customer service, you know, some some industry stuff, some corporate stuff. Like you've got a nice, well-rounded resume. Yeah, a little taste of everything. Yeah. I will tell you that working for a corporate place reinforced for me that I have no desire to work in the corporate world. No, no, no. Like nope. Public sector's great. Thanks very much. Yeah, it really is. It really is. Absolutely. Yeah, so many. I'm trying to sit here and go back in my head and actually count. We did that the first episode. We wrote down all of them. I still think I missed some, but there was a lot of. I know. I'm I'm probably oh, I sold Avon for a while. Oh my Avon lady. Does anybody even still sell Avon? I think they do still a thing. Can I just act like speaking of Avon? Vintage Avon is selling like crazy. Like people want vintage Avon, jewelry, perfume bottles, like no kidding, scarves, like anything vintage Avon is hot. Wow. When you say vintage. Vintage, like going how far back? 80s, 90s? Like 60s, 70s, 80s. Oh, like way back. Yeah. Even nineties, 2000s, not so much, but like my grandma era. The Avon. I know. And there's so much of it out there. Like right now, their rings are very, very exciting to people, including myself. I know. It'd be worth a fortune. Could have made a little uh little side hustle. Oh, yeah, yeah. Did Aaron parties? I never did party. I never did party. It used to be door to door. Yeah. Did you go door to door? Oh my shit. Like handed out the catalogs. You know what? And it comes in handy now because all I do is talk to the public all day, every day. And they are usually unhappy customers. Yeah. Oh man. Your job is rough enough. It is. And you gotta deal with humans. Side note, people are like, why do you have three dogs? I'm like, because I hate humans. Yeah. I just want to keep it. When I leave work, I don't want to hang out with other people. I only want to hang out with dogs. Yeah. I don't blame you. I know I felt like I still feel like that. One of our neighbors came over last night, rang unannounced, rang the doorbell, and I I hid. I'm at home. I'm at home. I did. I hid. I was like, oh no. I thought of that Sebastian Manascalco. Did you guys ever see hear that um stand-up about it? Like how back in the day people loved when there were company, like you would have the Enteman's coffee cake and the Sanka instant coffee ready to go because people would pop in and out all the time. And and nowadays you hide. And it's true. I heard that doorbell. I was like, I don't have it in me to be social and communicate with this neighbor. I just I love her. She's great. I'm I'm like looking out the window. I'm like, Ruby, be quiet. The dog's bark, she's barking. I'm like today, Beatrice. I don't have the bandwidth for this today. Oh, get out of here, Beatrice. I so I was like, I'm sorry. I just can't answer the door. I was uh sending an email and I had to rewrite the email four times to a coworker. The whole time I was rewriting it, I kept going, don't be a bitch. Don't be a bitch. Nope, that sounds bitchy. Oh don't be a bitch. I think it went over pretty well. It was more like I kind of made the focus more about me. I I would like it if we could handle it this way, you know. Yes, using eye language. Yes. I think this is a better way. If you have a different way you'd like to do this, please go before I know what I would like to benefit from this. Yeah, I did the eye link. How did it work out? Did she respond? Yeah, she was a little bitchy. Uh I didn't know. After all that you killed her. And I fumbled, you know. Oh, I'm so sorry. Oh, here it is. Thank you so much for all your things. You were you were diplomatic. You were very diplomatic. Proud of you, Josie. Very proud. It takes a lot of effort sometimes. Yeah. People don't make it easy. No, they don't. They really don't. I try to at least. I really do. I really try to like put myself in someone's shoes. Like, honestly, I really wish I do too much to her because I was like, I don't know what her data is like. Right, right. I don't want to come up as a raging, you know, cut in her face. I just a raging see you next Tuesday in her face. I just kind of want it to be just cordial. And just I just want to do my work. That's it. And just go home and not deal with anything. Isn't that all any of us want though? Just sometimes it's really hard to get that though. It is. Yeah. It seems like such a simple thing to ask for. Just let me come to work, do my job, and go home. Yes, right. I'm looking for it. Yes, right, right. Because everybody wants to have a life outside of work. They don't want their job to consume them. You spend a lot of time at your job. You need a life outside of that job, completely separate. It's so important. And I think, you know, sometimes a lot is expected from people. Well, especially in the modern era, right? The era of email and cell phones. You can be reached anywhere, anytime. Literally anywhere, anytime. I shut my phone off sometimes. I mean, I completely shut my phone off. Good for you. I wish I could do that. Don't call me. Yeah. No, I'm not coming in for overtime again. I actually just shut off my notifications for my email from work. Yeah! Oh, good for you. And then I think at work it would like my phone, and then I could see a topic on the screen. And I was able to do it. Yes, I used to like, oh my gosh, same thing. Yeah, I finally shut it off before I get back. No work notifications on the personal cell phone. You gotta keep those. Absolutely. If you want me to work extra time, you're gonna have to let me know before I leave the office. Yeah, I'm not gonna be available any other day. Right. You get access to me for the whatever it is, eight, ten, twelve hours a day that I'm here outside of those hours. No, no, yeah. I remember a boss I had, he sent an email to me. It's like 10 o'clock at night, and I'm just it was like during COVID. I think everyone was kind of home working whenever they wanted. And he sent me an email. But 10 o'clock. And I had I know I had the notification, it popped up. I am in bed. And I remember responding and thinking, like, I really shouldn't be responding right now. I am in bed. And like he, I remember he was like, Oh, I'm so glad you responded. And you know, thank you for you know working after hours because whatever it was, I ended up like doing it or whatever. And I'm like, why am I doing this? Working after hours. Why am I doing this? Well, I'm in my pajamas in bed, okay? Like time. I was like, you know what? I'm like, I'm a really strong worker. Like, this is I I was. I was like, I was like, yeah, uh-huh. I'm gonna, it's 7 o'clock, but that's all right, I'll take care of it. I'm gonna put initiative I have. Yeah. Look how dedicated I was. I was, I was. I was just like star employee over here. And did you uh did you get employee of the month for that? No, I didn't get shit. I didn't get shit. A sticker or something. No one gave a flying fuck. Those little gold star stickers that they used to put on your charts when you were in kindergarten. Or like this, I actually scratch and sniff the scented ones. Yeah. I actually just got some of those in my my mother's day card. My goddaughter, it was so exciting! I know, I know it was so sweet, but they didn't even give you a scratch and sniff. No, no, no, nothing, nothing at all. In fact, the next day I probably worked through lunch and stayed late. And they probably didn't pay you for miss lunch either. No, no, no, nothing, nothing. No bueno, no bueno. I know. I have so many questions I want to ask you. Ask away. I didn't know like where to begin. Ask away. Oh my gosh. Okay, so one of the questions I did have is that uh a lot of the corporate or office settings always do the we're a family in it like oh cut that shit out. Do you do do do officers have that same type of atmosphere? Um how can I describe the internal police culture? I mean, obviously, we do all get to be very close because we spend a lot of time together. Oh, yeah. Um, and the nature of our job is that you you kind of have to be close to these people. You kind of have to know that you can depend on them literally to save your life if need be. Um I would say it's it is not like the corporate culture in the sense of there's none of that fluffy, oh, we're a family and we're a la. It's we constantly give each other shit. But if we're giving you shit, that means we like you. Like you should only be worried if we're not giving you shit. If we're straight out ignoring you or just like not talking to you, that's bad. If people are ragging on you and making fun of you and busting your balls, it means we like you. So I guess we're kind of like a family, but we're kind of like a family of siblings who don't always get along. Is that a good uh is that a good analogy? That is that's amazing. Siblings who are constantly picking on one another, but we love each other, but we love to pick on each other. Yes, but we love each other. But it's great. So I'm oh go ahead, sorry. No, no, no, go ahead, go ahead. No, you go ahead. No, you go ahead. No, you go ahead. We're very polite to each other. No, please, you go ahead. I insist. Please state your point. Oh my gosh. So like so you're you're you technically are a family in a sense. Because you guys you guys love each other. Truly like a a family. Like a real family, like ranking and picking and yeah, I mean, real talk for a minute. If any of these guys needed anything, uh I would do it for 'em. Yeah. Yeah. Without hesitation. That's awesome. I know that I would step in and uh potentially, if I had to, give up my life to save one of them. I would. Yeah, it is. It is a true family. Yeah. Like, if it comes down to that, um most days it really doesn't. I like how she lighthearted that. Most days. I mean, well, well, that's always that's a possibility in the back of your mind, right? It's always a possibility. There was just I I just saw a headline that in Buffalo, was it yesterday or the day before there was a police officer who got shot? Yes, yes. And I didn't see I didn't see all the details, so I don't I don't know what went into that incident. But you know, it's uh the thought is always there. You can't dwell on it. If you dwelled on it and obsessed over it, you'd be paralyzed. You'd never be able to go to work and get anything done. Right. But in that sense, no, we we are very we're a pretty tight-knit group. That's awesome. That's great. Because I don't think I could step in front of a bullet for Sally at the office. Sorry, Sally, when your numbers up, your numbers up. Yeah, I wouldn't have the takeoff. Today's your day, Sally. Sorry, Sally. We'll have some nice flowers at your funeral. So I take it you guys don't do police potlucks. No, mostly we just uh or happy hours, like the classic nine to five. Right. Like, oh, what do you bring into the potluck? Or no, no potluck. Thank God. There have been nights though where we get done with the shift and we're like, you want to just go out and sit and drink in the parking lot? We did that a lot during COVID. I bet. There was nothing else to do. I bet. That's great. That sounds like a good time. Just sitting on the tailgates, a guy. You should have called us. It's almost like tailgating, except there were no professional sporting events going on at that point. So um, it's like tailgating without the sports. Are you the only female officer? I am not. There are, let's see, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. There are seven of us now in my agency. Seven females. And we're a pretty small to medium-sized agency. We have probably total there are about sixty five of us. Wow. So still a very small percentage are are female, but no, there are there are other women. Is it separated women men? Or is it just a group? Like, are you guys just all officers? Or is there some like are like, no, you're you're no, I think, well, I can speak for myself, certainly, but um, but I think it's true for for the other girls too. I think we are generally accepted as being, you know, among the bros. That's good. That's good. Yeah. That is, yeah, we're not, you know, we my agency is um, we're a pretty young department. There have been a lot of retirements since I started. And so that kind of really old school old boys' club mentality has been kind of metered out. And it's a lot of younger people even younger than me, um Gen Z people coming in now. Um but from home. I mean, and there's that's kind of a double-edged sword, right? There's good things about them and not so great things about them. But one of the good things is I think younger people like our generation and the generations that came after us are much more open-minded and accepting of, for instance, women in police work. Yes. You know, they're not stuck in that really old school mentality, like this is a man's profession. Yeah, women don't belong here, and blah, blah. I don't know why I just turned to be like, I feel I feel like that's what they sound like though. For a minute. But um But no, there's not, there isn't that, there doesn't seem to be, at least, like I said, in our agency, there does not seem to be that mentality or any kind of animosity toward the women there. We're all just we're all there to do the same job and we're all there to look out for each other and hopefully have some fun. Yes, while doing it. That's awesome. I'm so glad that you got your dream job. Me too. Sounds like you really had a path you had to work toward to really get there, to know that you were at the right spot. Yeah. Which is great. But sometimes you only figure that out by being in the wrong spot first, right? Sometimes you have to work a bunch of shitty jobs before you find out, yeah, you know what? This ain't it. Yeah, yeah, this is not it. This is not for me, and I need to sometimes you do pivot. Take a completely different direction, go into a completely different industry. And like we talked about before, it's it's scary. Not gonna lie, it's scary thinking about it. That's why I'm still hoping our podcast takes off. Me too. This is our fucking pivot. Yeah, this is the pivot, but I feel like I mean, I'm I'm obsessive. I've I've listened to all of your guys' episodes, like the minute they drop. I'm like, oh, there's an episode. I have to listen. You have to listen. Vale, we didn't know you were a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I mean, not a fan, a QB. I'm uh I'm a I'm on the bandwagon. Yeah. I'm a groupie. I'm a I'm a I'm a QB. Oh, shit. Is that fair to say? That's awesome. I am you guys didn't know you had groupies, did you? Well, we'll have to come on the road with us. All right. We're taking it on tour. Cubicle confessions on the road. But but really, I mean, the things that we're talking about today and the things that you guys talk about in all your episodes, these are all universal experiences that I don't care what industry you work in, what your field is, what your background is, how long you've been in the working world, whether you're two years out of college or 30 years into your career, these are all universal experiences that everybody has had at some point. Or if you haven't had it yet, you will just wait. It's coming. Yes, you know, and that's what I feel like it's very relatable. You guys are very relatable. Well, thanks. Yeah. We we try, we try, you know, we try, just just being ourselves. But it's you know, you it's great that you guys are doing this because, like you said earlier, Josie, when you're going through some of these things, you always think I'm the only one. Why am I the only one? Everybody else has a perfect job, everybody else is thrilled, and they're making more money than me, and they're happy, and they have great bosses, and I'm the only one with this shitty fucking job. But you're not, and I never knew that though, yeah, but I think there are a lot of people who will find this podcast and listen to this, and that light bulb will go off like, oh wait, I'm not the only one. There's a lot of people going through the exact same thing that I've been through, and that's on some level, that's comforting, yeah, right? Yeah, totally to know that yeah, this is a very common experience that any human can have. Yeah, no, I thank you. That's that's awesome. Thank you. Yes, yeah, thank you so much. Do you have another question? I don't think so. You did a great job. Yeah, you have anything you want to offer, or you know, especially because you you found your dream job and you know you were able to take all these steps to get to where you are. Is there anything that you can offer to a 19-year-old new version of you who wants to take the same path you did? Did you tell that person to try other things and see if they fail first to make sure that they really want that position? Or would you tell them to just go for it because you ended up getting there anyway? Does that make sense? Oh man, that's hard. No, it's just that's a hard question to answer because probably depends on with the benefit of hindsight, right? Right. With the benefit of the hindsight that I have now, um, like I said earlier, I I don't think it was a bad thing that I kind of came back to this in a roundabout way and had other experience first, but I also I would never discourage anyone from pursuing something that they're really passionate about. If you know in your heart and in your soul, like this is what I want to do, I've always wanted to do this, I have my mindset on this, I'm willing to do whatever I have to do, put the work in, you know, whatever the steps are that I need to follow through in order to get there. I would never discourage somebody from pursuing a dream or pursuing something that they feel very passionate about. I don't care how old you are, I don't care if you're just out of high school, I don't care if you're mid-life and making a complete career pivot because people do it. I think it is so affirming and empowering when you trust yourself and trust your instinct and trust that voice inside of you that says, yeah, this is it, go for this. This is what we were meant to be doing. I just feel like there is nothing there's nothing that gives you more satisfaction than going for it. Right. Following a dream, working hard, setting goals for yourself, doing the things that you need to do, paying your dues, working all the shitty jobs along the way. Because I will say it it was. Wasn't easy to get where I am, and there were there times along the way where even midway through the the journey to get here was I like, oh my god, what am I doing? Why did I think I could do this? Why did I think this was a good idea? Yeah, there were those moments. But you can't you can't listen to the inner critic in those moments. You just gotta keep your sights on the end goal and keep working for it. And it's in my experience, it's been totally worth it. So so I guess that was a very roundabout way of saying. I would say to someone who has a dream, go for it. Go for it. Yes. Don't and don't listen to people who tell you, oh, why do you want to do that? Why don't you just stay where you are? Well, you make such great money. Oh, well, you're so good at what you do. Oh, is it really that bad? Is it blah blah blah blah? Those are all things that it's really easy for somebody on the outside looking in to say. Yeah, but they're not in your shoes. They don't know about your fucking terrible boss who you can't stand. They're not there. They don't know about your workload. They don't know about the culture in the place. They don't know and it's your life, not theirs. Right. Right. It's really nobody's business to give you that kind of advice. I mean, if you're asking for their advice, right? The sidebar. I hate when people give unsolicited advice. That's exactly that's like one of my number one pet. I'm like, oh, did I ask for your opinion? I wasn't asking for your advice, but you just felt the need to offer it. Okay. Alright. If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it. Right. And I didn't. And and I feel like a lot of times people just like to give their put their two cents in a lot. I think some people feel like they're being helpful when they do it. Or they're trying. I don't think it's trying to do it. They're trying to be constructive or encouraging, but it doesn't, you know, come off that way. No, no. You just get pissed. Shut the fuck up. Like she's pissing me off. You don't understand. You can't handle the thing. A lot of puns in this episode. That's alright. There are I feel like the audience is here for it. I feel like they're here for it. Nothing wrong with a good pun. Um geez. I feel like this discussion could go on for hours, days, weeks. I still have so many questions too about limiting. Those are like some really good questions that I think I asked. So we can always do a part two. We could. We can always do another episode. That sounds great. Yeah, it's it does sound great. We definitely could. I think I'm good. You were amazing. So I just want to say thank you so much. Oh, thank you guys for having me here. This was so much taking the the old trek down and hanging out with us. This is awesome. Yeah. This was fun. Yeah, you were great. Yes, absolutely. You're an amazing guest. You are. I know. I I had so much fun. I have this is great. Oh my gosh. I have many more uh snarky comments and we love them. Anecdotal stories, and yeah. Yep. Yes. Oh, like a yes, like a campfire. Let's sit around the cubicle campfire. Tell the colour. Let's go find my old truck. I was drinking that we can all curly around the patrol car while it goes up in flames. I'll bring the marshmallows. Didn't you save the light? I actually have the light bar that was on that vehicle, yes. I I asked our chief at one point while it was still sitting on the on the impound yard. I was like, what are you gonna do with that car? And he was like, Well, we we can't we can't use it anymore. I said, I know, but like, are you just gonna scrap it for parts? Is the insurance company gonna come take it? Like, what what's going on with it? Because I kind of would like to have the light bar. And he was like, I don't have a problem with that. So he actually like delivered it to me, brought it to my they cut the light bar off. I love that. Isn't that awesome? And I have it sitting at home, so I'm hoping because at the time the fire department cut the power to it after they put the fire out, it was actually still working. So I need to find somebody who knows something like an electrician or somebody who knows wiring, because I would love to wire it up and like plug it into an outlet in my house when I flip the light switch. So cool. Have it turn on. It'd be it'd be like a disco player. Disco, like a strobe light. Like hang it from my living room ceiling or something. I don't know. I gotta find the right place for it. Yes. I'm gonna be so disappointed if it doesn't work. Um I hope it still does. There's gotta be a it's it's a little singed around the edges, but it's not it's not terrible. You know, what what is that? What is that hanging from your ceiling? Um just a slightly used light bar. Yeah, have a seat. You want to hear a story? I'll tell you the story. Grab a drink, because they'll need it for this one. Absolutely. Grab the bottle. Man, I needed a drink after that night was over. Holy shit. Wow, that is terrifying. It's funny now. Yeah. Now I can laugh about it. Oh, right, right. At the time it was not funny. No. I remember I remember calling my mother that night. As I'm sitting on the side of the road, because that they had to call the detectives out, you know, they have to do the fire investigation, so they wanted to talk to me. So, and it was like it was like March. So it was chilly out, not super, super cold, but it wasn't great weather. So I'm just like sitting there, literally sitting there on the side of the road, waiting, waiting for the fire investigators to come talk to me. And I called my mother. Now at this point, it's like, it's like midnight. So I know I'm gonna be waking her up. And I call her and she answers the phone, and I could tell that she had been asleep, and I was like, All right, don't freak out because I'm fine. I'm not hurt. So now immediately she's like, What happened? What happened? I'm like, oh yeah, um, my car started on fire while I was driving it. She's like, What? What? I'm like, no, but but I'm fine. She's like, what do you mean it started on fire? I'm like, it started on fire. I what was confusing about that? I I don't. So I I do feel a little bit bad that I woke her up in the middle of the night and told her that her daughter narrowly escaped death. Although I feel, in fairness, she was waiting for that phone call. Like she always had it in the back of her mind that someday I'm I possibly am gonna get a phone call like this, but I mean, at least I wasn't hersh. Right? Everything was fine. I was fine. The car wasn't, but I was. As long as you were okay. I'm fine. Don't freak out. Which, of course, as soon as I say don't freak out, you're gonna freak out. Oh, yeah. It's like telling somebody to calm down. Oh, yeah. That as soon as you hear that, you just your anxiety, your throat through. Don't tell me to calm down. Like, calm, calm. God, we could do a whole episode on that. Like things you should not say to your coworkers or the public. Things that do not de-escalate a situation, things that just blow everything up. Oh, yeah. I feel like there are a lot of those, a lot, a lot of those things that you just shouldn't say. I wish I kept a diary over the years of all of the weird stuff. Like there's so much, and I forgot so many things. You said that picture today. I don't even remember you taking it. Oh yeah, it was during COVID, and we had like just gotten back to the office, and we were like in Josie's cubicle, and we took a selfie, and she go, What did you say? Oh, Susie Homemaker, what did you call yourself? Yeah, I go. Oh I think I still have the shirt, and what the fuck is going on with my Susie Homemaker hairstyle? And this is the fucking photo. Who's the person like down in the corner photo bombing? When Vince was missing. So so Jess came over and Rachel Jess and me did the the search. My name's Val. I mean, oh, she'll have it then. She'll probably take all this out. Yeah, so I don't know what the hell is going on there. That was when you had bangs. Yeah, yeah. Bangs in that photo. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. And I was at Sandra's last week and I almost got them again. But I she's like, you know, why don't you go home and think about it? Because AI can like figure out your like perfect hair for you and everything. What can AI not do? Oh my god, it's so annoying. And so this girl that was there, she's like, she showed Sandra the picture of her hair, like the AI chat GPT, whatever. And and Sandra's like, okay, are you sure? And whatever. So I was like, I'm gonna do it. I want to see. And I was like, okay, I can do this. And Sandra's like, just take some time. Why don't you just don't make any rationals? She's like, you don't do well when I cut your hair. I was like, I know. Yeah, I know. So no more bangs, though. I'm gonna pause, I'll just pause this. Okay. So here's for my words of enclear. Here's my words of encouragement. Your work journey is not a sign that you failed, it's proof that you kept going. Every job taught you something that helped shape who you are today. It takes courage to keep moving forward, to search where you belong. The right path isn't always a straight line. Your experiences build resilience, wisdom, and strength. And no single job title could ever give you that no single job title could ever give you. So keep going, QBies. One day, all those different chapters may make perfect sense together. Love that.