HR BESTIES - Free Food (in Lieu of Pay)

Episode Date: March 13, 2024

Today’s agenda:  The office taco delivery man   Cringe corporate speak: double click Hot topic: Why do people hate pizza parties? Don’t compensate your employees with food Food in the office can be a way to bring people together  Every person in the organization should be eligible for bonuses Questions/Comments  Your To-Do List: Grab merch, submit Questions & Comments, and make sure that you’re the first to know about our In-Person Meetings (events!) at https://www.hrbesties.com. Follow your Besties across the socials and check out our resumes here: https://www.hrbesties.com/about.  This episode is sponsored by SixFifty - https://www.sixfifty.com/ and head to sixfifty.com/besties for more information. We look forward to seeing you in our next meeting - don’t worry, we’ll have a hard stop! Yours in Business + Bullsh*t,  Leigh, Jamie & Ashley Follow Bestie Leigh! https://www.tiktok.com/@hrmanifesto https://www.instagram.com/hrmanifesto https://www.hrmanifesto.com Follow Bestie Ashley! https://www.tiktok.com/@managermethod  https://www.instagram.com/managermethod https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyherd/ https://managermethod.com Follow Bestie Jamie! https://www.millennialmisery.com/ Humorous Resources: Instagram • YouTube • Threads • Facebook • X Millennial Misery:  Instagram • Threads • Facebook • X Horrendous HR:  Instagram • Threads • Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So I'll tell you, there is no force more powerful in a workplace than the force of food and what food can do to people and how it can motivate and engage them. And where I come from, some of you all may or may not know, I am San Antonio, okay? So I'm Hispanic from San Antonio, Texas, and I live in San Antonio. I'm very proud of San Antonio, but I'm absolutely a taco connoisseur, all right? So I know a good taco and I know where to get them. So if you're ever in San Antonio,

holler at your girl, holler at me. I also love eating tacos, especially with the Mexican Coke. So that's kind of my go-to there. Oh yeah, give me that real sugar cane shit. You know what I mean? I drink it right from that glass bottle. Yes.

Oh boy, do I love it. I see it, you have good pictures with that on your stories. I do, I always pose. Yeah, they look great, I love it. And that's just to share, boy, I'm fucking living in a moment right now. I love it, I can say that. I'm gonna say maybe.

I'm gonna say maybe. Yeah, I'm having a thing, you know? I'm having a day-date with myself. But the power of food in the workplace, right? And so as I shared, I love tacos and a lot of the places that I've worked have loved tacos. And I have unbelievably really a handful of stories about tacos and the drama that tacos have caused,

for me personally as an HR professional and in different departments and in groups, I'm not kidding. One that comes to mind is that in a prior organization, a prior life, long, long time ago, I think I did a TikTok on this to be honest with you because it's just one of those crazy career moments. But in that workplace, we were basically paying a guy to be a taco delivery person.

Now we didn't realize that we didn't realize he's spending six hours out of his day basically taking a company golf cart offsite, miles down the road to a taco place to that after, after spending an hour or two taking everyone's order who was on his order list, then taking that golf cart with multiple coolers miles down the street, driving illegally, of course, with our property to put in that order, then, you know, hanging out there for 30 minutes, 45 minutes, you know, they made the order, it made the order and having it, you know, packaged a certain way. So he knew where he was dropping that shit off

and back in the facility. And again, this was a mile and 25 foot long facility, FYI. Hints the golf cart. Yeah, hints the golf carts and tons of trikes, all that stuff, right? And then he would deliver, come back, have to drive in a golf cart on a real city street and then deliver those tacos.

And he was spending the majority, vast majority of his work day doing that. And, you know, that was a unionized workplace. And when we realized that that was happening, we tried to put a stop to it. We could not put a stop to that. He was totally protected by the union. Yeah. That was a thing.

I mean, that's a great fucking job. That's a great job. He's being the taco guy. Yeah, sign me. Everyone loves you. Well, yes, but that being said, you have to go around and talk to every single person and say, you know, what's your order?

What's your order today? Well, can you hold this, can you hold that? No, that is my worst nightmare. And then going and translating that to the restaurant, I would norm array his job all day long, because that is something I would not want to, he deserves all the protections in the world to deal with people, both the taking of the order

and the delivering of the order. Well, he liked it, right? I mean, you know, it's that. Yeah, I guess that's true. That's why I wouldn't have taken the job. That's fair point. Yeah, he wasn't told probably to do that job. He just adopted that job.

His title wasn't Taco Guy. We wasn't hired for that. I think he just took that upon himself. But no, we couldn't stop it. And then my ass just started ordering from him too. Well, why the fuck not? I know, right? I was saying to Barbara, go.

Look, what's your go-to taco order? It depends, of course. Typical HR. But it's going to depend on what that taco place is known for. So it would not be the same order everywhere. So that's the thing, especially being in San Antonio, we've got places for every single dish, right, that we would go to.

So I'm not gonna get cognizias from everywhere. I'm not gonna get barbacoa from everywhere, right? I've got a chicken cilantro taco place even, you know? But if I'm just doing like a drive-thru taco, like a quickie. Yeah, Taco Bell? No, never Taco Bell. I couldn't even tell you where one was. I'm sorry. You a drive-thru taco, like a quickie? Yeah, Taco Bell? No, never Taco Bell. I couldn't even tell you where one was. I'm sorry.

You should apologize for Taco Bell. From San Antonio, hello. I get it, I get it. I can make tortillas. I don't accept your apology. I love Taco Bell. I am a slut for Taco Bell. Yeah, but that's, you know, we wouldn't,

that's not really pure, I was like, what we would say, you know what I mean? But I'm sure there are Taco Bells in San Antonio. I'm not looking for pure, I'm not looking for my mindset. You're not. You're not. Hey! But if I'm sure there are taco bells in San Antonio. No, I'm looking for delicio. You're not. You're not. But if I am going through like a drive-thru taco place, it's probably just a bacon, egg, cheese,

and refried bean taco. A breakfast burrito or no, that's not all that. Middle of the day? Yeah. That actually does sound delicious. We gotta go to San Antonio. Yes. Please, Sue.

So it's so funny because in San Antonio, you know what we call Mexican food? Food? Yeah. It's just like, this is literally how we eat. I've heard San Antonio, the Riverwalk. I've never been to San Antonio. And so I'm...

You gotta go. Where we're going. We're coming. We're visiting you. We're going. But the power of talk goes right. And then conversely in another organization, just briefly I'll say that I tried to, my bad,

we realized that we weren't starting shift on time. In fact, we were starting shift, And then I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like,

I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like,

I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like,

I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, I'm gonna go to the next one. And I was like, for that and I tried to shut that down and it was I mean I almost had a union campaign and I was like, you know what I just had to tell the leadership team Yeah, we're gonna start an hour. Yeah someone get her some help I guess But see very unique situations based on your region and your little area of the world. You know what I mean? But if you are in central, South Texas, that sounds like a killer job.

Put you in business or out of it. I'm hungry too. That's funny. I was actually about to ask you your Taco Bell order. So my go-to Taco Bell is the cheesy Gordy Crunch. Oh, and a Baja Blass. Okay, Taco Bell, sponsor us. Oh my gosh, don't sponsor me.

No offense. Let's get this meeting kicked off, right? So let's jump and dive into the agenda for today. We're gonna start with our cringe corporate speak. And Jamie is gonna take that one on for us. And then we'll transition to our hot topic today, which is why people make fun of pizza parties, right? So people love to say pizza party in the Instagram and on the TikTok, right?

You see all of those funny videos there. I know I've mentioned it myself, but we're gonna talk a little bit about what that comes from and perhaps why. And then of course, because we have a hard stop, Jamie and Ashley have to go get Taco Bell. We will of course close the meeting out with questions and comments.

And so transitioning from our water cooler talk to cringe corporate speak, take it away, Jamie. Yeah, so actually speaking of tacos, pink tacos, is the cringy corporate speak. I almost can't even not laugh myself. Hell you will. Double click. So obviously I think we know what it means

in a corporate sense, right? Like we're double clicking in into it, we're zooming in, we're expanding, we're gonna explore it more. But this one irks the shit out of me because I think of double clicking your mouse. Your personal mouse, if you got one. No, did you know what that meant?

No. No, I don't. You had a look on your face. No, Lee is so innocent and had no idea. Not even close. We know, we know it's fake. Double-crustinating. We know she's not, but that's the thing.

I'm disappointed in myself. It's not something that I've used. Well, yeah, and once again, it's usually men who use it. No thought or regard to what it may mean slang-wise. But it's just, I like, one, another thing that I'm like, ooh, you said what? Like, don't let's- Like you get the egg.

Yeah, like, let's not do that. Let's not double click into the pink taco. At least right now. Yeah. In this meeting. Maybe later. Oh my gosh. What would you, what would you,

what would you have people say instead, Jamie? Maybe let's explore this a little more, but I feel like that's a lot easier than... Yeah, can we talk about this? Yeah. But it also is cringy. Like, it's like... Yeah, I know.

I'm like... Yeah. And I don't know. And like, what really happens when you double-clip a mouse, right? You go into like the document or the... Something opens up. Yeah, something opens. I think it's the left side of the mouse. Yeah, you do. The right side is what I look at if I'm

trying to sound smart and I find a synonym. Like, I can't remember from the name. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Other words, like what's the, the source, like help me change. Like great. Okay, well, I've said great three times in the sense. So let's get a little more creative. Excellent. I know, right? Wonder, majestic. Majestic. How majestic. That makes sense. Now we've right? Wonder, majestic. Majestic.

How majestic. That makes sense. Now we've got GPT, so it's all. Now we're saved. Now we're saved. You don't have to say double click anymore, Creepers, at the workplace. You can chat GPT, other things for that. Yes, please.

Like now, the thing is now people are going to hear this and they're going to be in a meeting and they're going to hear it and they're like, out loud and we're apologized for the visuals that you're gonna get. And I apologize if you've never heard Double Click. I have not. Not like that. I've celebrated if you've never heard it before. I think that's fantastic.

So hopefully you can keep your streak up. You know what? I'm gonna stop. I'm just gonna. Just celebrate with the Double Clicking. Celebrate or celebrate. I heard sell a bit. I'm just selling a bit. No, you said celebrate.

Oh, my bad. Okay, I heard sell a bit. Sell a bit later tonight with double clicking. Oh my God. Yeah, you know, I have, that's real slang. I believe it. I just never heard it like that. But I don't use double clicking in the office. I don't think, that's not like a thing that I say. I don't think I really heard that a lot. Yeah, I think it, I just never heard it like that. But I don't use double clicking in the office.

I don't think that's not like a thing that I say, I don't think I really heard it out a lot. Yeah, I think it made you a factor, but that's a benefit of working with you. Yeah, but it's tech startups, where everyone double-clicks at everything. It's a lot about that. So we love to zoom in.

Oh, I know, exactly. Of course you do. Teams in. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Ooh, that's a good one. I need to get these visuals out of my head. Can we get going on? Let's try.

But I am gonna try to work in double clicks. But let's go ahead and double click then into the hot topic today. Already used it, you like that? And that is all about why we make fun of pizza parties. If you don't know what we're talking about, you could probably just put into that Instagram or the TikTok search bar, pizza parties and all sorts of videos, some viral, many, many viral ones are

going to come up about employees, really, you know, uh, complaining air quotes about just receiving pizza, right? Because the, the whole gist of it is that people are using pizza instead of bonuses, pizza instead of real compensation, right? Do we need it in lieu of, so we're our thoughts on the pizza parties. We had record-breaking profits in 2023. Here's a pizza party to celebrate our victory. Like, no thanks. And also, you know, it's usually HR who's ordering the stupid pizza And then we're also having to limit people on the number of slices they have they can have I mean I myself have made several videos about pizza parties and and You know, I get it. It is an inexpensive way to celebrate.

Typically, food is an easy way to celebrate employees and bring employees together. Me, as someone who has worked in the hospitality industry, and actually even the healthcare industry that I work now is a 24-7 facility with a kitchen. A lot of times, we like to make sure that employees are fed and fed well, but that also includes those that are preparing it right. So you need to remember them. So one thing we would do a lot in hospitality was bring in food trucks so that the cooks and the chefs didn't have to prepare, you know, the 200 meals for onsite staff. But pizza was easy and it was inexpensive. And when you have zero budget,

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with ease. Visit 650.com slash besties. It's S-I-X-F-I-F-T-Y dot com slash besties and see how 650 makes compliance less complicated. I think that this is really funny because I do believe there is some like regionality, geography like about this because I don't think I've ever ordered pizza. Really? No, because I'm bringing in tacos. Oh, well, yeah.

Differentely as. You know, yeah, and I'm bringing in raspas, like snow cone, snow cone. I've done shaved ice. Yeah, the shave, which is what was raspas like snow cone, snow cone. I've done shaved ice. Yeah, the shave, which is what we, raspas, snow cones, right? Yeah, and so we bring in the shaved ice

because it's hot. Yeah. A lot of times in Texas, right? Hello, right? I wonder if they do like a lobster roll up in. Yeah, that's so yeah. No, for real. I'm just curious.

I mean, that would be pricey. That would be delicious. But I do think, I mean, I think people make fun of it when it's like in lieu of other things. Exactly. And when it's disproportionately. And pizza's cheap is what they're saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pizza's cheap.

But that being said, like, put, if someone's complaining, put that person complaining in charge of getting everyone's taco or other order. For sure. We're gonna, you know, we're gonna, we're gonna call the papa and order the papa and order the papa and we're gonna be done with life and no choices, no substitutions. And so it's not like anything like that and those that are in chefs or those in HR are frequently have the complaints.

You know this, you didn't have this and there's certain things like food allergies and sensitivities. Oh, yeah, vegetarian options. But yeah, like on keto and whatever. Well, gluten free. Yeah, I went through a phase. Well, gluten-free, yeah. I went through a phase when I was in pretty good health

when I was a senior in high school, and I would eat a pizza without cheese. That is like a plate of sadness right there. It was literally like dough and sauce. You still have the sauce on there? Why didn't you have the cheese? Because I was trying to be healthy. But also because also like a teacher, my teacher who had lost all this weight

and I was like, oh, this is great. And I thought that that's what she would get. And I tried it and I convinced myself that was delicious. No, it wasn't delicious. It was a plate of sadness is what it was. I would think the healthiest part would be the cheese. It's got the protein. Probably not the type of pizza we were getting

at DuPont manual high school in the little contact. Okay, okay, there we go. But I think one thing I see that's kind of hard is you have like for a for-profit company that does have record profits. Thank you. These things like you can't, that's not compensation. And so it's one thing to have it in meetings.

But when you look at things like like a school, a nonprofit, government agencies, things like that, they don't have as much budget. And so they're trying to do things. And sometimes that is the best you could do. And so I think it's important in those organizations to say, look, we're trying to do what we can. And this is not in lieu of, you know,

what we're trying to do for you otherwise, but this is the kind of celebration we can do. And the people in those industries often tend to be more service oriented and hopefully get other benefits in terms of lifestyle. Sometimes, yes, sometimes no, but it's more of those like for-profit companies where you see like- Yeah, the Fortune 500, the Fortune 100 companies

that put out- Order the Papa John's order and you're like, really? Well, you're telling the street, like, you know, we've had this, this is our percentage profit or your investors and you're painting this picture, but then when it comes to having that compensation, like, you know, we've had this, this is our percentage profit or your investors and you're painting this picture, but then when it comes to having that compensation, like, well, times are tough. And so it's, that's the frustration

that I think people get is when it's disproportionate. Yeah, no, I would agree with that. And I think it's very important though too, to recognize that unless you are getting paid through pizza, which there are those organizations that are that cheap and the end shouldn't be. Yes, volunteering, you know, do this project on the weekend show. We'll thank everyone with pizza.

Exactly. And that's it. And a class action lawsuit. But it's so more. It should be a bare minimum. You know what I mean? If employees are doing hard work, that should be a bare minimum. And not a celebratory.

No, not necessarily pizza, but I just mean like feeding your staff. Yeah, I don't think pizza generally is like a, is a celebrate is like that much of a celebration. It's like a nice thing. It's a nice thing. It's not expected. It's always expected, but like, especially if you're having a meeting around lunchtime, like, you know, do it.

Yeah, no, but my whole point is what I was saying is, is that it's not about compensating you. It's about bringing you out of your offices. It's about engagement, right? It's about bringing people together and having a meal, at least where I come from. It's a communal activity. And that's the whole purpose of having food in the office

or bringing something in like a snow cone truck or an ice cream truck or whatever it is, the pizza, you know what I mean? So the hope would be that if your organization is throwing pizza parties, right, it's not in lieu of your compensation, a thousand percent, but it is a way to get people out. Now what I would recommend is that why don't you take a quick survey or poll and ask people what they want to eat and mix that shit up. If you're doing pizza all the time, don't.

I mean, I would let the things of that poll, oh my God, you, and then you better be deliver on. No, no, no. Well, it's multiple choice. Yeah. I wouldn't put a text box in that text box, not shit, you know, but if everyone's complained about pizza, y'all only ever have pizza. And then especially if you're not doing bonuses,

just skip that pizza then. And give bonuses. You know what, next time you have a pizza party, give out bonuses. Oh, I know, give everyone a gift card to pop a job for $50 and then go have pizza themselves too on the weekend, you know what I mean? And feed their family.

But just understand, hopefully, or recognize or realize, in some workplaces, the whole point, though, of doing any sort of pizza party or food is it is as a actual engagement activity with the hopes that people are getting together, they're talking, it's bringing people out from their cubes or off the floor or whatever, you know, to actually converse and be a little communal. Yeah. Thinking about this in compensation, again, especially I'm really going to go at for-profit companies here, is that with this in lieu of, there's some organizations that will

literally have policies say, you have to be at this level to be bonus eligible. And I say, what the fuck? But because, like, just you're telling me this group of people, because of the work that they do, and often they're at that level that may be supportive, they're not entitled to any bonus whatsoever. I mean, it's more standard course to have bonuses increase in some of the work that they do, and often it's there at that level that may be supportive, they're not entitled to any bonus whatsoever. I mean, it's more standard course to have bonuses increase in some of the executive, but thinking about that, but to tell certain people, you are not, some are eligible, some are not for any sort, based on your level in this category, I think is a huge driver. And it's that type of feeling that gets beyond just the pizza part. And so you're telling those people, not only is this your thanks, but like they're not

eligible for something that they're likely to contributing to into their boss's goal that is getting those bonuses. And there were, and also for a manager that makes it a really hard sell for people to want to feel engaged to then get you more money when they're not at all eligible. And it's those types of disproportionate policies that sometimes, well, it's motivating to get someone to want to move up the ladder. I don't know, ask them.

Everyone should get a piece of the pie. Pizza pie. Pizza pie. Hey. Everyone should get a piece of the pie. Sometimes you'll also see like leadership team meetings that will have food. And then the scrap to the eggs.

Oh, I know. Take the scrap to the break room. Do you know? I'm in there like a trap and eating that shit though. I'm eating the apples trap. You sent me an email that says free food. I'm the first one fucking there. I'm sprinting down the hallway.

I think for organizations to think about that and if you've never thought about this before, think about if you have it in your whole, nights at their own table leadership meeting, it's all getting free food and you have some scraps and just think about ordering some extra insane as it's delivered to leadership table, having the cafeteria for everybody on this day and think about what that's like because it is much more welcoming than going it. Because same way, I will scrap for food, but then when it's not there, then it's that level

of resentment. Just order enough to have it for people occasionally. And it will be less workers comp claims based on the fight over the last delicious chicken wing. Yeah. I mean, I am one. I do love food in the office. I like picking up food, especially if I'm running late, right? As long as you're bringing donuts or you're bringing tacos, it's totally okay if you're running late, right? You've got to be that person. I do see it as a wonderful way to get to know each other. You know what I mean? And I love, I just love free food too, right? So that, that has not like left me after going to state school and whatnot. There'll always be pizza out for whatever, you know, some companies in and, you know,

Girl is hungry. Yeah, exactly. You know, so I do love the free food and I always love, you know, purchasing that as HR because I just pick the things I want to eat or that I know people want to eat. I ask around, what do y'all want to eat? What do you feel like? That is a very small power that HR sometimes has. It is a very small power. It's the power of choice.

And it's, but it matters. I agree. It does matter. It does matter. But again, that should never be in lieu of actually compensation. Compensation, yeah. People, you know what I mean? Which hopefully folks are not doing out there. And again, actually makes the brilliant point of, hey,

there's some organizations that, I mean, they can't afford the taco trucks of the world, right? And, and we get that. And so they do something and man, let's be grateful for that, right? You know, when you work in a place that that's not for profit. I mean, you know what it means. But be grateful for the efforts, especially probably of the HR organization that's having to coordinate all of that and bring that in and recognize that as an opportunity to engage

and break bread really with others. And please clean up after yourself and don't make HR and the executive assistants clean up after you as a grown-ass adult, please, because that is also rude. So rude, so rude. But yeah, pizza parties in the workplace, again, that meme and that funny thing ain't going anywhere on the internet, people love that shit.

If you want to get a few million views, just paint yourself like a clown and be like, I work for pizza parties and you'll, it's an easy way that people will get some more follows. Exactly. Yeah. So, I mean, you know, the official recommendation for me

is maybe not do the pizza, unless everyone loves pizza in your team, department, workplace, whatever, you know, but get maybe creative with the food choice. Don't stop the food altogether, but definitely don't sub it for any sort of real compensation. My God, you know, but get maybe creative with the food choice. Don't stop the food altogether, but definitely don't sub it for any sort of real compensation, my God, you know? I don't wanna get paid in pizza personally.

Well, maybe like a 1% pizza. 1%? I'll take a 1% taco share. Yeah, for sure. That sounds good. I know now I once, we really are going to San Antonio. Yeah, yeah. I would definitely come to San Antonio and we'll just eat a bunch of tacos.

I got all my places. Yeah, I was gonna say, take us to all your spots. Yeah, we should have an HR Besties meetup in San Antonio. I think that would be fantastic. We actually had our first HR Besties meetup in cold, rainy Atlanta, or Dunwoody, technically, you know, in the suburb of Atlanta, you know. We had a lot of folks out and that was really fun, you know, to be suburb of Atlanta, you know, we had a lot of folks out and that was really fun,

you know, meeting the community and getting to connect with people. Each of you are our VVIPs. We really appreciate it. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun, right? So we'll keep that going. We'll tour around.

As you heard here, the gals are gonna come to San Antonio and we're gonna have a taco tour. Yeah, we have some. That's what I heard. At this point, when this comes out, hopefully we'll going to have a taco tour. Yeah, we have some. We have to say some at this point when this comes out, hopefully we'll have them up on our website. We do have some, some events where you will be able to see HR Besties speaking, perhaps at some conferences. Yes.

So. Out and about. And if you want us at yours, Yeah, just, yeah. And then of course I'm making y'all fuckers come to Nashville. We'll get some hot chicken. Right. Obviously. Hello at HRBesties.com.

If you need a live podcast team at your conference or for your workplace, we'll come and we'll bring tacos. So that sounds fantastic. And now I do recognize we have a hard stop. And again, that is because Jamie and Ashley have to go get some Taco Bell. And so we will end the staff meeting of course with our questions and comments. Does anyone have any questions or any comments? I actually wanted to just a quick comment to circle back on the trash panda.

Double click. Just because you're trash, it doesn't mean you can't do great things. It's called garbage can. Not garbage cannot. I love that. Okay. That's cute. That's really cute. Did you make that up? Yes. I love being a trash panda for food.

I love leftovers. I will, I will just eat your trash. No, I'm literally. No, I'm not good at that. I will sprint down the hallway. I just love to dab sprint. No, I'm not kidding. I love it. I will sprint down the hallway. I just love to dabble. Yeah, or like cake, but the birthday cake. Yeah, it's not for cake.

Like, I'm that girl that will put, like, on my work besties calendar, like, split a cupcake. Oh, yeah. Like, someone had a cake in the bar last night, and we helped ourselves to it. We should have. They invited us. Yeah, they invited us over for a slice. But, yeah, see, but that was someone's trash cake, really. It was leftover cake from someone else's birthday party

and event, and we're just eating that like trash band does. I mean, literally. So question or comment, Ashley. OK, if someone were to get you a food, aside from tacos or pizza or anything, were to get you a food and you were gonna say, oh that made my day, I absolutely crave that. What would it be?

Cheese. Okay. In any form. Really? Yeah. String cheese. No. I mean I still eat a string cheese.

Blue cheese. Yeah. Yeah. Ormonda. What? Ormonda? Oh my God. Y'all don't know go get cheese.

Okay. And clearly. I love Chase. God, I, there is probably, I love Red Currie. Like, I could eat it. Oh, wow, that's really nice. I wasn't picking that. I could probably eat it for every meal of my entire life.

Like, I'm obsessed with it. Oh, wow. If you could do that, you'd probably go viral like on YouTube. Like, you know. Oh yeah, you should do it 30 days doing that. Oh yeah, I had a day. I had a day and I ate for 30 days. I don't think, I don't.

I had a Costco hot dog three times a day. Maybe Donald's every day. But yeah, Red Currie would be for me. Oh, what about you? Movie theater popcorn. Ooh, with extra butter. Yes, ma'am. Oh, damn.

Yes, ma'am. Movie theater butter, some popcorn salt. Give me a cherry Coke. We are good. And a glass of wine, maybe as well. And I will settle down in that comfy theater chair and I will not move. And I will walk up and have popcorn all over myself and have to shake it off and pretend

like it was the person behind me. Exactly, I cleaned this hole in your lap. That is my self care. And it's like when you do that though, like you get that like hurt line of salt over your lips. Like everything's burning. And the top of your mouth is destroyed. It hurts.

Stinging, your hands are glistening. And the salt is in your cuticle. Are you right? I mean, you're just like destroyed after that. Like physically. It was worth it though. Yeah, it was worth it. Well, then like for like, like I'm walking through the house and there's like the little, the little like small pieces

of it. Of course, it's in your hair and shit. Flicking off and that and I'm breaking my teeth on the half pops, you know, the half pop kernels. Oh my God, I can't get enough. Yeah, I'm gonna be dodging dentures. I'm going to get my teeth. Did you know that you can just actually go

and get movie theater popcorn? Like you don't have to buy a ticket. You can just go and get movie theater. Yeah. It's like how, like you're an adult now and you can go buy cake at the store. Like you can just, I buy birthday cakes and just fucking eat them.

Same cookie cakes are on the slipper cake. Yeah, same. And they have to end this meeting. Oh my Mary. I know, like, we really take it a dive. Hope you're not hungry if you're listening. Yeah, public. I will go buy a public cookie cake and just eat it.

Oh, I mean, with my family, like, hold on. That made me sound like. There's nothing wrong. You think we're envisioning you on the couch just like eating. I'm from Matilda. I was like, thank you. Oh, goodness. Yeah, yeah.

Well, I do not have a question, but I do have a quick comment. And that is that I love lunch buddies. And I love being a lunch buddy. So I am one of those sick fucks at the workplace that loves to lunch. Like I'm a diner. Like that's where I do my best work, I'm gonna be honest.

I love having lunch meetings and I love breaking bread with people and connecting with people over lunch. And I love doing the same thing at work dinners. I love a work dinner. Even as an introvert, I love a work dinner. I just do because I just learned so much about people in those dinners and in those in those lunches So I love being a lunch buddy. You are always welcome to invite me to eat

I love that right so I am definitely a foodie in that way, but a shout out to all my lunch buddies globally Of which there are many all the people that I've eaten with across my career my god I sound like such a whore when I say that. I've had so much food with so many people. I know. And like pre-COVID same, I loved a lunch date with my one work bestie. A quick coffee run. Oh, that was my absolute favorite. But you know, truthfully, we have not been able to do it much since post COVID. Yeah, it's true. But you remember those days? Like pre-COVID. we have not been able to do it much since post COVID. Yeah, it's true.

But you remember those days? Yes. Like pre COVID. I don't see, I was, as a lawyer, I would, when I was billing time, I always wanted to, you know, work. And so I never, I mean, I met my desk to this day. I eat at my desk.

Well, yeah. Like, I always eat at my desk. Even when I'm in the office, I eat at the desk. That's one of my goals. I'm going to get out and do more. Yeah. And text my girlfriends and go out more and lunch buddies, even myself, out deep by myself.

That's something that I don't do enough that I like you, but I actually prefer to go to somebody. I'm a pretty big extra for you. But that's one of my... Yeah, get you a taco, girl. Yeah, I'm gonna... But that's one of my HR superpowers is going out to lunch, especially with the leaders that I coach.

Because you really let your guard down. And that's just a way that I build relationships. And I build really strong relationships with the people that I work with. That means a lot to me. And so that's how I do it. I just trick them with food. You trick them and you double click them.

Oh my God. Oh my God. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, what? Whoa, as usual, this meeting has now taken a drastic turn for the worst, but we have to go run and get those tacos. Double click in those tacos. Oh, shit. That's just, I just made it worse though. That was terrible. I apologize for that. But if you're hungry, go get you some food. And if you do have a lunch buddy,

I hope sometimes that you pick up the bill. And I hope sometimes they pick up the bill for you too. I think that's really important. If you don't have a lunch buddy, like totally get you a lunch buddy, like Ashley's making that, that goal for her to get out and feed, at least stand up from your desk. Please don't just eat at your desk all the time. Get you some fresh air. I think that that's important. Just eat at your desk all the time. Get you some fresh air. I think that that's important. Thank you so much for joining us

for yet another episode of HR Besties. We hope that you enjoyed this staff meeting and we look forward to seeing you at the next one.