Rage on the Rocks
Two women. Zero chill. Rage on the Rocks is because we love the world enough to be mad, actually, and leave with a reason to keep going. Pour something strong (tea definitely counts). We'll wait.
Rage on the Rocks
10 Things That Shit Us
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This week on Rage on the Rocks, we're doing something a little different — no deep dive, no documentary dissection, just pure, unfiltered catharsis. Sarah and Lauren count down their top 10 things that shit them, from the petty to the political.
Expect plane etiquette violations, questionable cocktail service, corporate jargon that makes us want to flip tables, and some deeper dives into decision fatigue and the invisible mental load women carry every damn day.
Recorded at the Darwin Ski Club over Brookvale ginger beers on a beautiful dry season afternoon, this episode is part rant, part therapy, and entirely relatable. Come for the rage, stay for the solidarity.
Warning: Contains strong language, feminist commentary, and possibly too much truth about toilet paper psychology.
It's Rage on the Rocks time. I'm Sarah, and joining me as always is Lauren. Hi. Hi, my co-conspirator in Cocktail Fueled Commentary. This afternoon we are doing something a little different. No deep dive, no documentary dissection, just pure unfiltered catharsis. Because I know, right? I'm excited. We are counting down the top ten things that shit us. And trust me, we have been saving this list. So some of these are petty, some are political, some will make you laugh, and others will honestly make you want to flip a table. We've got everything from tiny cocktail glasses to the invisible labor of being a woman in 2026. And I can tell you it's quite a journey. So, ladies and gents, grab a drink. Ideally, in a properly sized glass with the correct glassware for your spirit of choice. Settle in and prepare to feel seen because we are gonna rage about the state of the world, the patriarchy, and the people who don't understand how plane deplaning works. Urrh, we might as well do it together.
SPEAKER_00And we're doing it over a Brookfale ginger beer at the Darwin Ski Club on a beautiful Thursday, dry season afternoon. Thank goodness the weather has changed.
SPEAKER_01It is delightful. I can see the ocean from here and the sun is glistening off the ocean. People just enjoying life. Yeah. I don't know if they had to go to work today. I'm jealous.
SPEAKER_00But we did our hard yards and we're here to rage. And now we're here. We totally are. Listening to the beautiful Laura Keats who might chime in with whatever's shitting them.
unknownNo.
SPEAKER_00Hopefully not shitting on us.
SPEAKER_01A bird did shit on me at my wedding. It's good luck. No, maybe it's not. I don't know. I'm not sure. How did that go? Well, we were married for quite a while. Great. And do you know what? Best wedding I've ever been to. Well, more shitting. That's what I say. Right, bring on the shit. So here we are. We are going to do the bit of a countdown. Ten things that shit us. And do you know what? I'm gonna kick us off, can I? Of course. Number one for me. Number one. People from the row behind you on a plane trying to get off first. It shits me. I feel like going, look, dude, relax. We de-plane front to back, not hunger game style. Seriously.
SPEAKER_00Very true.
SPEAKER_01Does it shit you?
SPEAKER_00Agree. It does, it does. I will say I do like to stand up and stretch my legs, but I'm certainly not trying to like get in front of the person in front. And there are lots and lots of people who do that. And literally, the door is closed. We're not going anywhere, Bub. True.
SPEAKER_01Plain etiquette, people. Think about it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Just relax.
SPEAKER_01Number two, hit me with it.
SPEAKER_00Oh, my number two. Met Gala. I'm gonna do Net Gala today. Um, because it was yesterday, I get a lot of pleasure out of Met Gala, I'm gonna say. I love a bit of fashion. It's a fundraiser for a museum, and it's a really deep appreciation of art. But this year, just with everything that's going on in the world, and the fact that Jeff Bezos like sponsored it this year, it just felt so tone-deaf. And so I was watching Heidi Klum dress up as a statue and do the weird stuff that she does. And I really appreciate her commitment to the bit, but it just sucked all of the enjoyment out of it for me. I feel like at the moment, just billionaires are sucking the joy out of shit. So it's the billionaires that are. It's the billionaires. It's definitely not the fashion, it's the billionaires, and I think it's a little bit like rich people going out and it it just felt this year like a bit of a let them eat cake moment.
SPEAKER_01It shit me. Billionaires shit me too. I'm with you on that one. I agree. Number three on the list of things that shit us. Voice notes that are over two minutes. Good lord, that's not a message, that's a podcast. And I tell you what, I did not subscribe to that.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna tell you if anybody sends me a voice note, I'm probably not listening to it. Send me a text message, brush. I don't get the voice note thing at all, to be honest. Might just be me, maybe. It's a millennial thing to not like it, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01I do have a voice note conversation with a couple of select people. Right.
SPEAKER_00Yes, I I'm now that you say that I can think of one because it's always much easier for her to tell me a story over voice note, and I do stop and listen to that. But just every day like that could have been a text message. No. You have to stop. Shit's me. Shits me. Shit's me too. Cocktails in tiny glasses. It's an abomination. It's evil. I actually really love a good cocktail. Not like a super sweet fruity cocktail, nice, strong, or refreshing cocktail. And you order it, it sounds zesty and delicious and refreshing, and it comes out and it's in a thimble. And you've just paid like $150 for it. So you're only having one before you move on to some other more reasonably priced beverage, or many more if you're really into it, but you're not going to be really into the $25 thimble cocktail, really, are you? I agree. Outrageous. Come on, Bars.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's right. And when they also don't make an effort, like it's a cocktail. Also at the garnish people, that's what cocktails are.
SPEAKER_00A little bit of burnt orange, please.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, why not? A little bit of zhuzh to it. That's it. Umbrella is it.
SPEAKER_00Set it on fire. That's what I want.
SPEAKER_01And may I stay on this alcohol serving topic and talk about gin that is served in a highball glass? It's not okay for a start. That's not a gin and soda, that's a cry for help. But I will say that even when I'm asked if I want it in a tall glass or a short glass, that shits me as well. Because you just think you should know you're serving this beverage. Right, right. What do you think? And particularly these days if you're paying 12 bucks for it, right?
SPEAKER_00Well, that's probably a cheap one. Yep. Actually, yes, yes. Agree, agree. Okay. Bulk buying toilet paper. If you think that maybe the person on the radio is highlighting that there may at some point be some form of emergency, you go to the supermarket and everyone has decided that during this emergency they are gonna shit themselves. Like, I don't get it. I don't get it. And I have two children, and they really, really love their toilet time. When I can't find toilet paper because someone thinks that COVID gives you the runs, or whatever other reason, it really shits me, but not literally. Not literally. Because that would be really super bad. That would be when you can't find any toilet paper. It is a weird, has been a weird lesson in human psychology though, hasn't it?
SPEAKER_01Well, it's the first thing to go.
SPEAKER_00It is the first thing to go in the water because no one maintains their cyclone kits here in the Northern Territory. That's true. Let's be real.
SPEAKER_01That's true, but even before general food items, toilet paper first. You can always get chickpeas, folks. Not to wipe your ass with.
SPEAKER_00Not for your case of the shits. It might give you some flatulence, but no, you can eat. There's always tinned beans, is what I'm saying. And tinned beans are underrated, but they're always there. The toilet paper's gone, the beans remain.
SPEAKER_01I don't think I've ever heard anyone under 60 use the word flatulence. I was trying to be proper. I love it. Proper for the pod. This is proper pod from now on. Everyone? I love it. I love that so much. Look, I have to share this one. Oh, this really makes my blood boil. It really, really does every time. And I just want to poke my eyes out with a fork when I hear these words. Give it to me. In a meeting. I'm just gonna share my screen. Oh my god. I hate those words because suddenly I know that we're all trapped in a low-budget hostage situation that's gonna result in death by PowerPoint. Oh, a thousand percent. Whoa! It's the worst. It is so bad, in fact, that it is on my bumble profile as my personal help. Thought I'd share that with you all.
SPEAKER_00It's also especially fun when they share a screen of something that everyone was supposed to be updating, but no one does. So you can all talk about how no one's updated it.
SPEAKER_02So good.
SPEAKER_00Oh dear. What awkward. Yep. Leads me really nicely into my next one, actually, because when you say that, I just think, wow, Marjorie, could you have sent your slides out on email? Because my next thing that shits me is meetings that could have been an email. Look, I completely understand that getting the team together is a really good cultural activity. Checking in, making sure everybody's good. I'm all for team culture, thousand percent. But I tell you what, the older I get, the more impatient I get about meetings. Agenda, tell me why we're here. What are we achieving? Do we all know what we're doing? Great, let's move on. Otherwise, send a frigging email. I don't want to just fucking spend all of my work life, my paid time, sitting in a room, repeating things, and asking five times if somebody's done some really boring action item. Send it around, do it over email, save everyone the pain. And it is pain. It's real pain. It's just it why?
SPEAKER_01Did you see? Sorry, I'm I'm laughing and trying to talk at the same time. Did you see the memes that came out about Albo when he did his press conference? He called the big press conference around the Iran War war and the fuel crisis. And some of the memes were this could have been an email.
SPEAKER_00It could have been a socials post, Albo. Look, I understand it. It was like I'm going to just let people know everything is fine. It's like that little dog with all the fire around it saying, This is fine. But no, he was trying to say, This could get bad though, and I'm showing early leadership to make sure that you all calm and not buying the toilet paper. So I get it, but we spent all day stressing. What is this gonna be? It did feel like it was meant to be a churchill moment. It felt a little bit like, I don't know, is it gonna be are we going into this war? Is it conscription? Am I going to need toilet paper? Am I gonna need toilet paper and chickpeas? I don't know. Are we going camping this Easter? What is Albo gonna say? And then I remember actually I was in a meeting during PowerPoint. There was no PowerPoint, thank God, but there were people who fucking arrived late and had to do the whole meeting like twice. Oh, I hate that.
SPEAKER_01Oh, what did I miss? They come in and say, What did I miss? Oh, let's just catch up.
SPEAKER_00Or they come in and say they're they're across everything, and you're like, Why are you here then? So that we can go through everything again. Rage, rage, rage. Anyway, I said, We've missed it. To the person who was watching the press conference, what did he say? And they're like, We're so confused because they just told me it was literally like three minutes and said things we already knew. Maybe and they thought they'd missed something.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, maybe his speechwriter dropped the page with all the crucial information on it too. You think we'll ever find out whether we should have bought the toilet paper.
SPEAKER_00We'll never find out because we're in a forever war, which also shits me, but it's not on my list. We're not in the forever war, but the world is in the forever war.
SPEAKER_01Can I just circle back? And that is another thing that shits me. People that say circle paper.
SPEAKER_00No, you can't circle back, Sarah. No.
SPEAKER_01I just want to circle back to the toilet paper issue for a moment. And point out that if you are in a crisis, it's most likely food and water that's going to be the least available. True. Toilet paper. There are so many things you could possibly use if you really need to wipe your bum. It's very true. You know, where's people's creativity gone these days? You know? I don't get it. I am tempted to ask AI what other things I can use for toilet paper if we are in a crisis. And we will circle back to everyone next episode. Oh, you know what we could use? Those ridiculously long receipts that you get with everything now. That also shits me.
SPEAKER_00I'm not sure about the feeling of that thermal paper on your bum, but maybe.
SPEAKER_01Maybe we need to be developing it out of different materials so we can have double usage. Right. So look, I believe we have covered eight of our quick thinking things that shit us.
SPEAKER_00It's by no means an exhaustive list.
SPEAKER_01No, I feel like we may have to go again at some point, and we would really like to hear other people's list of things that shit us. But Lauren, tell us about the thing that really shits you.
SPEAKER_00Oh, making too many decisions is one of my big things. Like, just sometimes you just feel tired, and a conversation about what's for dinner is enough to push you over the edge. It's just too much. What are you gonna wear today? What are your kids having for lunch? All the decisions you have to make at work, coming home, making all the decisions about the thousand jobs you've got, and then having to decide what's for dinner. It's just it's a lot.
SPEAKER_01Decision fatigue is real. It is real. I feel it on a minutely basis. Is that a thing?
SPEAKER_02Minutely.
SPEAKER_01On a minutely basis. Minutely with Sarah. Okay. I can feel my life, my soul being dragged from me every time I have to make a decision. And I have actually been through periods where I have put some measures in place to reduce the decisions that I make. I mean, don't get me wrong.
SPEAKER_00There's some decisions that it's like, yeah, that's good. Save your energy for that. I think the whole Mark Zuckerberg shits me. But you know, this theory about taking some of the decision making out of what you wear every day, those sorts of things. Perfectly legitimate Obama. Barack. Yeah, well, that was a much better example, thank you. I think that was him, wasn't he? He had the same suits. Was it the tan one that apparently caused uh we should all hate him for wearing a tan suit?
SPEAKER_01I don't think it was the tan suit, but I think he has a cupboard full of suits that are all very similar so as not to spend his you know important cognitive power on such a small, useless decision.
SPEAKER_00I really I agree with that. Yep, I agree with that. So the easier you can make your dinner in terms of your planning for the week, the easier you can make all of those things the better, I reckon. Save your brain space because sheesh, women have got enough to think about.
SPEAKER_01And I do think that it's not necessarily about making less decisions, though sometimes it is. Sometimes it's about batching your decision making and doing it when you have the capacity, because it's those decisions that have to be made all the time at the spur of the moment when it comes up immediately. Yeah, I think that's very draining in terms of your energy. It is very draining.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00And we've just made it less fun, right? Like deciding what you're gonna wear every day is a is just one example. Because you leave it until the morning and then you're looking around for what's washed, what feels good, what fits that day, because it probably depends on where you're at in your hormonal cycle. All of those things, and you just forget to have a bit of fun with it. Because you just don't have the time to have a bit of fun with your fashion and you you know, you know what I mean? You want to save your decision making for the important things and the fun things, and the fun things, yeah. It's not just about the important things, it's about the things that just give you a bit of life. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01Will I go two or three ply? Decisions like that, very important, determine the quality of my life. Chickpeas or kidney beans? I don't think anyone's ever asked themselves that question. I probably have.
SPEAKER_00Really? What are we gonna have for dinner tomorrow? Yeah, what are we gonna have for dinner? Vegetarian chili or chickpea curry?
SPEAKER_01Ooh, okay, that does sound pretty good. Both may cause flatulence. Flatulence, yep. Okay, I'm gonna start you.
SPEAKER_00Moving on, you go. What's yours?
SPEAKER_01Mine is about people, I'll say women, but this has certainly happened with men as well, who say to me, I wish I could, when they absolutely can. And I don't mean to say this as a judgment piece. When I was in my 20s, I went away travelling for quite some time, and I came back and I had a lot of good friends, and one in particular I had a conversation with, and he had said to me at the time, Oh, you're so lucky to have been able to go away. I did the backpacking thing around Europe. It was great, best thing I've ever done, of course. It was scary. I had to work three jobs to make it happen. I had to work while I was overseas. There were times when I didn't have money and I didn't know where I was gonna live and I didn't know what I was doing, all the things, right? It wasn't an easy holiday. But I came back and he said, I wish I could do that. And he was at 20-something, the same as me, and there was no good reason that he could come up with why he couldn't. And it kind of just shit me a bit. I'm like, well, if you want to, you do it. You don't just complain. Sure. More recently, it has come up. Now I am a part-time single parent, I suppose. I have my girls week on, week off, and that week off does give me that flexibility. And I have been able to, I I took two weeks earlier in the year and I went to Scotland because I didn't have the girls, and it was that, or be here in January when no one's here, and do what? Stay at home. So I went because I wanted to go. And I had a couple of friends who are married women say to me, Oh, I wish that could have been me. And it wasn't a finance thing or a work thing, it was about I can't leave the family. And they are coupled up. Yeah. So that for me was a point of I don't understand. Now, having said that, I kind of do understand because I have been married for some time, and I remember feeling the obligation of us both needing to be there. It's like having to constantly be showing up in an equal fashion, perhaps, for the kids, or maybe it's because women feel like they have a role that is more vital, or people won't be able to do things without them. I certainly felt like that for a long time. And what I have found in this last few years, since I have not been married, is it's funny how we all just can survive fine when there's not two parents in the house all the time. True, true. Do you have a counter-argument for me? Because it does shit me when I'm presented with a situation like that. Oh, you're so lucky because you can. And I'm like, well, where actually, if you want to look at it and compare situations, financially, these people are much better off than me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm not sure I have a counter-argument. I I guess when I'm thinking it through, it's just more to do with sometimes people just can't see the forest for the trees, you know what I mean? You get so stuck into your daily routine that it's less about but I can't, and just like I can't see how I could.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that isn't a good differentiation. Yeah, I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00Like, you're so lucky, I can't see how I can do that. But I do think, yes, there's lots of people who could do some soul searching and go, hey, Sarah's gone and done that, and that really stokes something in me. Oh, I wish I'll go and do that. Why am I not doing that? But I think it's the expressing that to you. I wish I could do that. There's something slightly weird about that sometimes. You're so wise because it's a little like, oh, how lucky are you? Like you haven't worked your ass off to go. It's well, it's not just luck, it's work and it's organization, it's having the perspective that that's something that's important to you. It's not luck, but I do think some people just don't have the maybe they've got the blinkers on and they're just not seeing how that's possible for them. But I agree with you, you know. I think about some of the weeks coming up, we may have to have a little hiatus. We don't know, we haven't decided yet. Because my partner's heading off down the track, go to Fink, down in Ellis Springs, I'll be here with my girls, and that's just what we do. And we've always done that because I would travel a lot for work when my little one was born. We just got very used to that, so we support each other doing our own things. As well as our things together, and it's just all perspective and what you're used to, and but yeah, I think it's more the I wish I could. Well, you've got everything.
SPEAKER_01Got all the resources to do it. I appreciate that perspective. And similarly, but in a slightly different way, even the consideration of me going to Scotland. I remember thinking that I was going to go for a holiday.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And when the thought came into my head that Scotland could be a possibility, I had to actually work through that and say to myself, hang on, it is a possibility. Is this a possibility? It is a possibility. Exactly. I had to almost spend some conscious time telling myself that actually, why not? I had to ask myself the question, why wouldn't I do this? What gets in the way? And then how?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And if there's an obstacle, how do I get around it? But some people just don't get that far, Sarah, because we've got too many decisions.
SPEAKER_01Oh, decision fatigue. We could blame that for all of our problems. We really truly could. Yes. Well, Lauren. Any glimmers for today? Oh, glimmers for today. Glimmer for today was waking up this morning and it was a dry season morning. It was delightfully cool and refreshing. And I have been feeling really great these last few weeks in particular. So starting to see through some of the challenges, I think, of the uh perimenopausal era that keep rolling around. And I know it's not over or finished, but I've been trying a few different things and starting to hopefully see turning of goodness. I I hope so.
SPEAKER_00Love it. Love it. For me, it's probably, you know, right now it feels like a little bit of we're getting into the gold now here. The sun's at that nice angle. The bar that we're at is actually starting to get quite busy now. So it's 5:30 in the afternoon, it's coming to life. Someone is yelling at people in the pool who are doing acaerobics. There's somebody doing testing on the mic. So there's something happening on the stage, and this is what I love about this time of year. I think the community comes out, and you know, our little corner of the world really turns it on. I love the rain, I love the storms, I love all of that, but I think the dry season just really turns it on in terms of the community coming together.
SPEAKER_01So I like that. And if you're listening from afar and you haven't been to Darwin, my question is why not get here? For sure. You are missing out. It is a piece of paradise for the next few months in particular. Yes. It has been a treat talking to you as I have regurgitated the things that shit me. My list is not complete. I anticipate needing to go here again. But I've really enjoyed just being able to get these things out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thank you for listening to our shit list. There will definitely be more. I've had a little bit of a cough as well, so if you heard that, I mean that shits me. Yeah. But anyway, we're not going to get back into it. We're not opening this old wound back up. We will sew that one up and come back into it. But please let us know what's shitting you at the moment. Maybe we can run an episode on it. And we really appreciate you coming and raging with us. Rage on. Rage on.
