Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - FULL SHOW: Dear Megan... Should grandparents be paid for babysitting?

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

ON THE SHOW TODAY: I kept the plastic wrap on my dryer for 6 years! Jono's mum is very afraid of an "Or-ghee"... Ben's stressed about his daughter's first attempt at "adulting." Why is Jono's nickname "Two Piccolos"?How much money would it take Megan to pour Starbucks on herself? Can you beat us in the NZ Herald? Facebook: The Hits Breakfast with Jono, Ben & Megan Instagram: THEHITSBREAKFAST  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Jono, Ben and Megan podcast, thanks to HelloFresh, your home advantage for delicious midweek dinners everyone will love. Welcome to the podcast on a Tuesday. We've been talking a lot about leaving plastic on or off on new appliances, new things you have in the house. Megan, a year you've had a fridge. You'll hear that on the podcast. Still got the plastic on. And just looking at a text here, someone's saying, I left the plastic on the microwave popcorn. No one said take it off. They literally said on the packet. It says remove plastic wrapping and then microwave. No one said take it off if you don't read the instructions.

Exactly. No one vocally said it to you. No, true. It's all right when you buy it from the supermarket. They're like, hey, take it off. You know? They leave that in you. You're the adult, right?

The responsible adult to do that. And you're the adult right the responsible adult to do that and you wonder why there's things like don't drink this bleach you're like people don't read instructions yeah

so the podcast today had a fun show today and what what you're calling people as well when you don't know their names weird butt cracks

to the hydrangea lady blue hair cafe lady yellow jacket we'll get to that very shortly on the podcast yeah Jono, Ben and Megan the podcast The hydrangea lady, blue hair, cafe lady, yellow jacket. We'll get to that very shortly on the podcast. John O'Bannon Megan. The podcast.

The hits. Yeah, if you've been listening to the show for a while, you might remember me talking about a leaky fridge almost a year ago. That's right. It rotted the floorboards. It did. So this new fridge came June last year. Comes with plastic on it right To protect the front

And I'm not talking about the little like energy stickers The whole thing is covered in plastic So it doesn't scratch and everything That's for when they're transporting obviously Yeah Fast forward to today And the plastic is still on the fridge You've kept it on for a year

I have You have the willpower of a monk To be fair Where you like open the fridge where the handles are it started to like roll up because it's like I've been on there for so long

so my husband's now like okay we need to take it off because it looks manky it's a bit scratched and it's starting to roll up and I'm like it will stay on there you want to keep it on

I want to keep it on it's not a museum artifact it's just a fridge yeah what do you like you think obviously it protects it again it's protecting it's not like you're playing cricket up against a fridge. Yeah, what are you, like, you think it obviously protects it. It's protecting.

It's not like you're playing cricket up against it or anything like we're used to in the house back in the day. Well, we've got a two-year-old and a four-year-old who are still learning the balls and stuff stay outside when you play with them. And they shove things into the walls and stuff. Always play with your balls outside. That's what the rules are in Megan's household. Yes. So I'm like, keep it on because they might, you know, scratch it or or something and i don't care what it looks like if it's protecting the fridge but it doesn't you want the satisfaction of taking off it's part of getting something new you get the thing but i will have that eventually

this old fridge is yeah you mentally see it as a security blanket now on the fridge but i'm with you ben you get a bloody new remote control and you're like a TV or a computer it's like painting off skin like if someone gets in you something I'm like

can I take the plastic off you know that's a satisfying thing you know he started a website for it too on the dark web plasticpeglers.co.nz

and that's honestly what my husband's saying he's like I've left it on there for as long as I can stand I would have taken it off like if Brandon said we're going to leave it on

as soon as she'd gone out I would have and then she would have gone where's the thing you'd's like, I've left it on there for as long as I can stand. I would have taken it off like if Brandon said we're going to leave it on because as soon as she'd gone out I would have taken it off. And then she would have gone, where's the thing? You'd be like, oh, I took it off. I would be so pissed. Sorry, well,

you try and put it back on. You ever try to Duracell a book? Good luck. You're not coming round to my house. Oh, I'd love to take it off. No, I would be so pissed if you peeled it off. I would be so pissed

if you did it when I was out. I wouldn't do it at your house though but yeah, I'd do it at my own house. Yeah, because you can make those calls in his house. I would be so pissed if he did it when I was out. I wouldn't do it at your house though, but yeah, I'd do it at my own house. Yeah, because you can make those calls in his house. I'd get in trouble for it,

but it's alright. Okay, but some people leave plastic on couches for years too, and I understand that. I don't know about that because you're sitting on it. Yeah,

it'd be very slippery. Oh, now you want the plastic off there. Well, I'm not sitting on the fridge. What about your kids with the fingers and marking and the balls in the house,

you know? I have to sit on it though, and then you have to peel yourself off sitting on the fridge. What about your kids with the fingers and marking and the balls in the house, you know? I have to sit on it though. And then you have to peel yourself off and it's like. What are you still running your plastic cover on?

Yeah. Okay, so we chuck that open. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. We're talking about have you still got the

plastic on something? It's going off. It is going off. Why have we not? How long have we done radio? We've never done this topic and it's blowing up

I don't know why It's giving you such a conniption I'm just like Taking the plastic off But people are still Keeping it on My fridge It's almost a year

That it's had the plastic on It's just starting to like Roll up on the edges And look a bit manky But I'm like Not taking it off You're either in one You know

It's pretty obvious You're either in one camp Or the other aren't you You peel or you don't peel I'm really feeling For this person on the text. They're saying they lived in a flat. They got their fridge, a new fridge delivered.

They weren't there when it arrived. Their mum was. When they came home, the mum had taken the plastic off. They didn't even get the satisfaction. They cried. She was like, had a cry going, she got to take the plastic off. You can't even put it back on and redo it. She thought she was helping.

Obviously, they wanted the satisfaction of taking the plastic off. My mum, 90 years old, has had plastic on her phone for 10 years and has no plans to take it off. I've got plastic on my TV screen, my laptop, keyboard, mouse, remote, you name it, I leave it on. Rebecca, what have you got plastic on? I'm a dryer. How long have you had plastic on the dryer?

This is on the face of the dryer I'm picturing? Oh, it's on the whole thing. Oh, still on there. How old is the dryer? Six years old. Take it off. Take it off. Does it become a bit of a melting hazard being attached to it?

No. My laundry is in an outdoor room because my house is 100 years old and it helps to protect it from going rusty. So you're not taking it off? Yeah, gotcha. No, I'm not. What if Ben Boy snuck in, broke into your outdoor laundry and peeled off the plastic?

Didn't take anything, just peeled off the plastic. Oh, my God. Oh, that's fine. It wouldn't affect me too much, to be honest. Imagine if you got burgled and they just took your plastic off. That would almost piss me off more. We should actually do a bit of a... But you know what?

What? They'd have to climb up a lot of steps. Yeah, like good luck to them. They're not going to be bothered. Yeah, right. We should do Ben Boyce the Plastic Peeler campaign, where you go around peeling plastic off items that have had them on for... Only if it's all right with the person,

because I imagine like Megan, she'd get quite upset, wouldn't she? Or consensual plastic peeling. Okay, take it off, take it off. I'll take it off. Take it off. And we can film it in slow-mo. And the satisfaction on your face, you're like... It's satisfying.

Let's go to Roy. What have you still got the plastic on, Roy? Yeah? Yeah, mate, what have you still got the plastic on roy yeah yeah mate what do you still got the plastic on um my tv how many years four years but that affects how it works is it like cloudy is it bubbled can you still see okay yeah no because it's on the wall and like up high so like from where we sit it's good it's good easily and you know no plans to take it off roy by the sounds of it um well it's getting a bit um well not cloudy but like um it was more because um my wife's short and she couldn't clean it properly and those dirty little flies when you get them in the summer sitting on it. Yeah, right. Would you consent to Ben coming and peeling

it off? It wouldn't worry me. A lot of people aren't overly passionate about it. They'll have kept it on, but now they're like, there you do it, I guess. We'll let Ben Boyce come over. He'll make some strange noises while he's doing it, but anyway.

Have a good one. And we'll get Jodie on. Good morning. Good morning. How are you? What are you still running the we'll get Jodie on. Good morning. Good morning. How are you? What are you still running the plastic on, Jodie? We're still running it on our heat pump display screens in the house. Why? Why is it still on?

I don't know. I'm not sure why. We have two in the house with the ducted heat pump system, and they still have their plastic protective covers on. Again, we're asking everyone, would you consent to Ben Boyce coming around to your house and slowly peeling it off and groaning at the

same time? Probably not. No, Ben. It's a bit of a weird scene, to be honest. Fair enough. You're not in the room at the time. It's just me. He's going to do it while he's staring you dead in the eyes too.

Me and your heat pump. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. White Lotus is up to series three right now. One of the biggest shows that's been streamed and watched right around the world. We're not going to give away any spoilers if you haven't watched this current. I've only seen one, the first episode of this series.

I need to get back. It's been released slowly, right? I was like, I'll just wait till it's all out and watch it. I guess, yeah, drip fed to us. I think we get it, like, what do they call it? Fast-tracked. Very good, though, eh? Straight after America.

So the concept is there's different White Lotus resorts around the world, and each series takes place in a different resort. Someone dies in the first scene, and you don't know who it is, and normally you work out through these usually pretty despicable characters who see what's going on. They're always kind of like rich,

messed up people who go to a resort and then you find out their backstory so it seems like everyone could be the killer. I always thought if I ever pivot out

of this career into the male stripping industry the White Lotus would be a great name, great stage name. You can see it work and it's mysterious so please welcome

the White Lotus. It's kind of creepy, like a pre-mantus. Yeah. Now, my mum, Annie Pryor, huge fan of the White Lotus, and she's been in there since season number one. And she was staying with us, and she's a little apprehensive about an upcoming scene that she's read about in this. Well, because it can get quite full on.

There's often full frontal nudity. Yeah, I'm just thinking of, if you've seen season one, I'm just imagining this one particular moment that everyone will know about in season one if you've watched it that I can't imagine your mum watching. Yeah, well, maybe that caught her off guard. So maybe now she's on tenterhooks with the rest of the series. Yeah, right.

She's read about an upcoming scene, which I guess it involves multiple people who, you know, just physically, they can't deny each other. So they have to get physical and it's all in a big team environment. And Annie's like, I'm really, I don't know what I'm going to do because I love the show, but I don't know how I'm going to watch the Orgy scene. Is that what she's saying, the Orgy scene?

She's calling it the Orgy. She's read about it. She's read about it. Yeah. On paper it reads Orgy, doesn't it? So I didn't correct her. She also says dominoes instead of dominoes. Oh, that sounds fancy.

Yeah. Yeah. So she's like, I wasn't going to re-correct. If she wants to call it an Orgy, she can call it an Orgy. But then I was like, don't going to recreate, if she wants to call an orgy, she can call an orgy. But then I was like, don't worry about it, man.

Like, just fast forward it. Yeah. So it'll look like people have just taken off their coats really quickly and played a game

of Twister and then it's all ended at the same time. There might be an awakening that she needs. Well, she's going to know

it's coming up, right? So yeah, you're right. She could just have her finger on the ready to go as soon as it happens.

I have a feeling, and I don't want to spoil it because I haven't watched the latest, all of the latest episode, but I have a feeling it's ready to go as soon as it happens I have a feeling and I don't want to spoil it because I haven't watched the latest all of the latest episode but I have a feeling it's in the latest episode

the Augie we might need to catch up with Annie and find out how she enjoyed the Augie scene we should call her to when does when's it released

Thursdays last night oh last night okay we'll call her this week yeah we'll get a review of the Augie I like Augie

it sounds like something Shrek would take part in doesn't it? Shrek. The ogre's doing that. With the donkey. John O'Bannon Megan. The podcast.

The hits. Oldest sort of Siena Siona camp at the moment for her health and sport. They're on surf camp for a few days. Oh, surf camp. She's never surfed before, but that's part of it. It's learning how to do it and going away on camp.

And the last few days has been her sort of before she left, just sorting her stuff out, as you do before camp. Question. Yeah. Would this not have been better like a month ago? Yeah. Well, it's been tricky with the weather starting to turn. They're staying in tents and stuff like that.

But surf camp gets a little more affordable in these months. Right. It's discounted prices. Is there anything like Camp Rock where maybe the singing and performing to surfing ratios sort of split 50-50? I don't know. I think there's quite a lot of time they're out there in the water, out there in the elements, learning how to do things, which is cool. It's just you're very excited about it. But packing over the weekends and, you know, I'm kind of like, well, this is where I can help.

I love being organized. I love planning. I love packing packing and my wife kept telling me to stay out of it so sienna needs to learn she's got a list she's doing her thing and i would kind of come in and say to see you know let's go through your stuff let's put it in piles your t-shirts here your things you know i've already started putting it straight in the bag i'm like oh god straight straight in the bag she's going through a list though she's going through a list i'm like, oh, God, straight to the bag. Straight to the bag. She's going through a list, though. She's going through a list. I'm like, I'd like to check it off. Do you like to have a, what, do the insurance check? Yeah. And my animal wife's like, no, this is part of the learning.

You need to stay out of it. So every now and again, I go, oh, insect repellent. Maybe she hasn't thought about it. I put it next to a bag, and then I'd find half an hour later. You can't help yourself. And be in the hallway, you know. Stay out of it. Stay out of it.

So I was like, all right, I'll stay out of it. It's all on Sienna. But you didn't. No, I did. I did. I did. But then she said, oh, can you take me to the supermarket? Part of the camp, which is actually really cool,

is they've got to cook all their own meals, bring everything along. They're in little groups of four. They've got to plan it. They've got a budget. They've got to make all that. It was just great learning. And so they were like, her and a friend were going to buy the food for their group. And she's like, can you take me to the supermarket? All right. Oh, now you want me. It was just great learning. And so they were like, her and her friend were going to buy the food for their group.

And she's like, can you take me to the supermarket? All right. Oh, now you want me. But stay out of it. Yeah, but I had to stay out of it. You're the taxi. But I tell you what, the most frustrating supermarket experience. Because...

Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Ben and Megan. All right, what's today's DM? Okay, this reads, Dear Megan, I love my husband's parents and they adore their grandchildren. But recently they've asked to be paid for looking after them. Okay, this reads, Money has never been part of the equation before. We're not in a particularly comfortable financial position, so now I feel strange about asking them,

should I pay them, try to find another option, or have an awkward conversation about it? What do you think? Hey, I'll front foot and say it's a little unorthodox from the grandos to demand money for hanging out with their children, their grandchildren. Yeah, well, you think that, but then there's no, probably, when you scale it back, there's no obligation. No.

As such, I mean, you do think that all, you know, grandparents would want to be part of their grandkids' lives. But, hey, I can't speak for every family. And we're not grandparents yet, so we don't know what that's like. You probably think, as a grandparent, you've done all that. You've done it. You've raised kids. You've been through it.

You're now in your twilight years. Unless the grandparents had a part in creating the children, which, hey, that'd be unorthodox as well. But there was a lot of follow-up questions on our Facebook page saying they needed more details.

So I did actually go back with some follow-up questions. Oh, good. So people wanted to know if it was an everyday thing. Is it in place of daycare? She said it's not every day. It would be a few times a month,

sometimes for the whole day. Yeah, because you'd think if it was every day, obviously that would be a warranted... Yeah, if it's in place of daycare, then they kind of need some reimbursement,

I would have thought. But this puts them in a position where, okay, they've either got to pay their grandparents money, I'm assuming there's no one else that can do it, or they pay professional money. So if they're going to hand

money over to someone, surely you want to keep it in the family. Nepotism. But that could be the difference between doing what they're doing and not. So they might not pay someone, they might just not do what they wanted to do. So the people also said, like, what's the general

vibe with the parents? They said they've always been happy to in the past. They've never expressed any frustration. And also, how many kids and what age? Two kids, two and five. Bloody hard to survive on the superannuation. Kiwi saver. You know, you've got the gold card, but that doesn't pull you through week to week,

so you've got to get cash where you can. I'm going to sell my body when i'm retired i just i if it's a few times a month i'm just like you know how often parents knock at their kids for like when are you gonna give me grandies when are you gonna get like just hang out with them for a little bit yeah they also love you like just we know where you stand you're saying it's a cashless job, a cashless role of the grandparents. If it was every day in place of daycare, pay them. Otherwise, no. Okay, well, I'm going to take the other end.

I'm going to say I probably deep down agree with you. But right now I'm going to say it's not their obligation. They don't have to do it. But say no then. Well, then they're right to say no or say, hey, if we're going to do it, we'd like to get paid something. They're within their rights to do it. Oh, totally. I do agree with that. But they are within their rights

to do that. That's true. And kids are, you know, kids can sap your energy. So you may as well get rewarded for it financially. Okay, 4487, way on into this one. Is it a clear-cut case? Is Megan speaking the truth that we need to get back to this person on? Or do you have another opinion?

Now, why... Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Slid into your DMs, Megan. So basically, they've got two kids aged two and five, we've found out, and they are asking their grandparents to look after them a few times a month. I think it would work out to be like once a week, it sounds like.

And now the grandparents are asking to be paid. Yeah, they're demanding. How do you feel about that? Demanding an appearance fee to hang out with the kids. And what are they doing when they are looking after the kids? Is YouTube doing a lot of the heavy lifting? Or they're all in? And some of them, it doesn't sound like just nighttime babysitting.

It sounds like some of it's like full day. Right, during the day. Whole day. So it is very split. People are saying they have the right to spend their retirement chilling out. They're not your babysitters. Other people are saying in terms of doing kids and activities, you should be compensating them for things like food.

And if they're going to the zoo or something like that, you need to be compensating your parents. A lot of anger too on the text. Absolutely ridiculous. I'm just putting on a voice. I assume this is how this person's feeling. I feel like they need to explain the rationale for suddenly asking for money. I also agree with Megan.

If it's only a few times a month, they shouldn't need to get paid. It's the family. You look after your family, says this text. Ben Boyce, you're saying you understand. I do understand where they come through. We lean to them particularly when the girls were younger. My mother-in-law, Joyce, is around. She's the one with the same city we live in.

And I would often say, do you want some money for this? And she'd never take it, of course. But at the same time, she said, oh, yeah, I'll take it. I would probably give them money over. So she's not obligated to do it. It's not her child. But, yeah, at the same time, she said, oh, yeah, I'll take them. Oh, we'll probably give them money over. Yeah. So she's not obligated to do it. It's not her child. Yeah.

But then I'm like, say no. Yeah. Just say, like, if you're not available, just say no. Or you don't want to that day. Yeah. Let's get Jimmy in. Welcome, James. Morning.

Lovely to have you on. Your thoughts. Where do you stand on paying grandparents for babysitting? No. It's a big no? Hard no. Hard no from Jimbo. Why is that? Because they're your grandchildren.

Most grandparents love their grandchildren to bits, and they'll do anything for their grandchildren. Yeah. And if you're asking for money for your grandchildren, I just think that's mean. And cruel. That's James' thoughts. I kind of agree with him.

My mum doesn't live in the same city as us. She lives in Nelson and she's texting being like, I would do anything to live near your

children. Apart from move to Auckland. Apart from that. Ray Ray, there's always an option. You know, expensive house prices and

rent, traffic jams, it's all there in the city of Auckland. Assaults, ram raids, you want it, you got it you're really selling it Keely Morena

hi guys where do you sit on this should you have to pay your grandparents for babysitting well in my case I did pay my mother oh you did

I did because you know when I went back to work when I had my kids my kid was only three months old and

I didn't want to put them in daycare. So I asked my mum, who was retired, if she would consider looking after my kids. And it wasn't a huge amount I was paying her. But to me, it was a full-time job because she was looking after my kids almost every day. Yeah, right. That seems like it makes sense.

Four to six hours a day. Yeah. Yeah. And you're probably getting it, as you say, cheaper than it would be if you were putting your child into daycare. Yeah, I get it. Okay, so just what about the one-off babysitting gig?

Okay, I fully understand why you ended up reimbursing it. Sorry, reimbursing. Reimbursing? Did I just make up a word? But, okay, so just a Saturday night, you want to go out for dinner. Are you obligated to pay the grandparents? So if I needed a nice hour and I wanted mum and dad to look after the kids, they wouldn't be paid for that.

No. Okay, well, I guess this is what we're talking about, albeit four times a month. All right, I appreciate your call. Thank you so much for that. Let's conclude this, Megan. What are we going back with? Basically, if it's a few times a month People are saying no generally

But probably need compensation for activities And you need to have a conversation With how much they're expecting To look after them for free I guess Awkward They can set up their own babysitting service too John O'Ben and Megan

The podcast The hits Went out for dinner with the parents Which is lovely You kind of really enjoy those moments You went out for dinner with Kevin Boyce On the weekend. You kind of really enjoy those moments. You went out for dinner with Kevin Boyce on the weekend, didn't you? It was nice.

You do cherish those moments with your parents. But what I would like to bring to the forefront is the boomers' approach to photography, okay, at the table. They want to capture the moment. I understand it, you know? But there's no sort of pre-warning. They're just snap happy, firing off.

In the corner of my eye, I could sort of see Annie, my mum, just, you know, shooting off photos, all sorts of weird angles. Oh, she's taking all that right. Up in the chin. I like them. That's something you'd do, though. Yeah, I probably would. You're right.

I look back on one of the photos. I literally had half a piece of lettuce dangling out of my mouth with both my eyes like kind of shut as well. What is with the like my parents do that? My husband's parents do that. I'm like, just tell me. I can make sure my eyes are open at least. It's in the moment. It's capturing the wrong moment.

That's going to end up in some photo album somewhere. Why do they all need to be like incognito paparazzi shots? I took my dad's credit. It was my dad and my stepmom. They didn't do that. But then the lady who was the waiter, she took a photo for another table. And then my dad went, oh, should we get a photo?

And then the lady was like, yeah. And then another. Honestly, this lady took five photos of five different tables. People were like, oh, there's a photo going on. Oh, can we get one too? Can we get one too? I didn't realise this was a thing. This poor lady had to go around five tables and get the photos.

You've started something here. Yeah. Anyway, I'm just saying, just back off a bit. Let's have a bit of organisation. So we can all prep for the poses. You don't need to remember the moment you had your eyes closed and let us hanging out of your mouth. No, exactly.

John O'Bannon Megan. The podcast. The hits. I had a conversation with my mum. I was trying to get her to move to Auckland to live on my street. I always tell her, I was like, oh, there's houses for sale. Next door is for sale. So, yeah, my next door neighbour's house is up for sale.

They're in Nelson, your parents. My parents are in Nelson. Ray Ray and Wayno. Would they ever move from Nelson? Because that's their ground. Doubtful. Right. But I keep trying.

I keep putting it out there. And that's when she said, which one? Is it the cafe lady? And I said, no, it's the hydrangeas lady. Oh, you've got names for people. You don't know their actual names. Yes. Well, I know their names, but my mum doesn't.

They're not her neighbours. So she needs an identifier as to which neighbour I'm talking about. So it's not Cafe Lady, it's Hydrangeas Lady. She always brings us over lovely hydrangeas from her garden. So I was thinking of like identifiers. Do you live in like Wisteria Lane or somewhere? I live in the burbs. People hand you hydrangeas.

I know. You grow your own figs. I have a lovely neighbourhood. People bring baking and like we share things. That's awesome. It's the kind of neighbourhood where you would go

and ask your neighbour to borrow like a power tool. It's very sweet. Gotcha. But I was thinking about identifiers because then someone, I'll talk about you guys sometimes

and everyone's like, which one is that? And I might be like, it's Ben. He's got the hair. Yeah, no, we've got a simple identity. Is he the bald one? He's got a lot of hair, really, but I've just got more hair than you.

That's the joy of working with a bald guy. Or he's the TikTok one that shames his kids. Big identifier. Yeah, gotcha. We used to have, when I was growing up, we had a regular tradie that would come over. Mum and Dad would use him. And for whatever reason, I don growing up, we had a regular tradie that would come over. Mum and Dad would use him. And for whatever reason, I don't know, he just had his butt crack out the whole time.

And we ended up just calling him Butt Crack. Shall we get Butt Crack over to fix it? I didn't even know the guy's real name. But his wasn't even like if he was bending down to do the work. Oh, really? It was just like on display. I always wonder, do they not feel a breeze? Maybe he likes it. Oh, yeah, okay. Yeah. I mean, it's a new fact. Yeah. I mean,, do they not feel a breeze? Maybe he likes it.

Oh, yeah, okay. Yeah. I mean, it's a new fact. I mean, he wasn't ashamed of it. So, yeah, we just called him Buckrake. Never knew the guy's real name. Never got to learn it. All right.

So what we want this morning is what's your identifier for someone that you know in your life? Yeah. I love the thing that most people who have an identifier wouldn't even know that they are being labelled that. No. Behind their back. Are you going to talk about what the cafe people know you as? Oh, the lady yesterday. Yeah, we go to across the road after the radio show.

She's like, what's your name? I just call you Two Piccolos. Because I order Two Piccolos, two tiny little pretentious coffees every day. I wanted to know if you were going to admit to everyone that's your coffee order. Yeah, exactly. Piccolo. Two Piccolos. John O'Byrne and's your coffee order. Piccolo. Two Piccolos. John O, Ben and Megan.

The podcast. The hits. We're talking about what are the things you identify people as? You could be known as Anaheim Sarah. If you win this competition. Sarah went to Anaheim. She's Anaheim Sarah. You're right.

We have someone in our neighborhood, one of my daughters refers to as the F-bomb guy. Do you swear a lot? He loves to swear. Loves to swear. I know the guy you're talking guy because he loves to swear. Loves to swear. No, the guy you're talking about. He loves to swear. He's a colourful character. He's a hard case.

Yeah, but F-bomb guy. She'd be like, oh, F-bomb guy. And I was like, yeah, he does say quite a lot of F-bombs. Does he know that's his identifier? He doesn't know, but I don't think he'd care at all. He'd be like, yeah, but he embraces the fact. If anything, I agree with it. He did a great prank on Ben's old neighbour with the shoes.

Oh, yeah, he kept throwing shoes over the power line. Outside her house? Yeah. If you know, you know. The council will take it down and then he'll get another pair of shoes. Great prank. They were neighbours at war. Apart from the fact he mowed through about 30 pairs of shoes.

Exactly. All right. 800 of the hits. People identifiers. What do you identify people as? Or maybe you get identified as something. We're going to kick things off with Natasha. How are you? Good, thanks. How are you guys? Oh, we're really well.

It's lovely to have you on the show this morning, Natasha. Are you identified as something, are you? No, it's some of my friends growing up. I had three really close friends, all called Emma. So one was in college and she was the first. So until the others came along, she was the first Until the others came along

She was just Emma But then she started studying And was going to be a doctor So we called her My parents and my friends All knew her as Dr. Emma Dr. Emma Makes sense

Dr. Emma Yep And then I made some new Emma friends When I started working at pubs And one of them There were too many So one of them looked exactly like Baby Spice

From the Spice Girls Oh yeah She was tiny So we called her Baby Spice Emma. And then the third Emma was a lesbian, so we called her Lesbian Emma. Okay, yeah. That makes sense.

It makes sense. It's much easier for my friends and family to know who I was out with. Which Emma are we talking about? Don't forget about Lesbian Emma. What's she being out with again? Oh, Lesbian Emma. But mind you, if you met another heterosexual Emma,

you could be heterosexual Emma. Yeah, exactly. Get your Emma. Keep adding. There's so many Emmas in the world. I appreciate your call this morning can be heterosexual Emma. Heterosexual Emma. Keep adding. There's so many Emmas in the world. I appreciate your call this morning. That's really good. That's really good.

Great text here. I'm known as Flower Girl at the Waikato Hospital. I guess if you know Flower Girl. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah, probably goes around selling flowers, you would assume. Yeah. This morning we've got Belinda on the phone.

Ata Maria, Belinda. Hi. Good, good. Great to have you on. We're just talking about people identifiers. Are you identified as something or you do the identifying? You know, everybody knows us as little Belinda and big Belinda. So we've got a family friend, an older lady, who's Belinda,

and I'm Belinda. So she's big Belinda and I'm little Belinda. It's probably good they haven't gone with old. Everybody knows us as big Belinda and little Belinda. It's probably good you haven't gone with old... Everybody knows us as Big Belinda and Little Belinda. It's probably good you haven't gone with old Belinda and young Belinda because it wouldn't be so good. Some people go, Big Belinda, that's a bit rude.

How does Big Belinda feel about Big Belinda? Yeah, it's just always been that way. We had yesterday on the show, I don't know if you heard, my friend Dave, who's Irish and the only reason we call him Irish Dave is because there's two Daves in the friend group. It's not because we label everyone from where they're from. You can pretty much figure it out for yourself pretty quickly as soon as he starts talking.

Exactly. Well, you a little Billinder? You going to have a great day? I'm a little Billinder. Pass on our regards to big Billinder. Have a good one. Great text here. I go to the same bakery every day

And I'm just known as Well, Sausage Roll I don't know about that one And Mel People identifiers Who are you identifying someone as? My boys have a guy That walks down our street every day

And he always wears a yellow jacket So he just became Yellow Jacket Man Fair enough And every day he would walk past and they would say, oh, it's Yellow Jacket Man, until the five-year-old called out and said, hi, Yellow Jacket Man. Oh, and you're like, you don't say it to his face.

No. And you know what? Yellow Jacket Man never wore a yellow jacket again. Oh, self-conscious. That's the thing about Yellow, because now he's Yellow Hat Man. Don't tell him, don't tell him. He wears a yellow hat every day.

Don't tell him. He likes yellow. He does. Now he whispers it when he goes past me. Oh, that's a great call. You're going to have a great day, Mel. Appreciate it. Can you keep these coming through on the text?

4487 people identified. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Starbucks have had to pay 50 million American dollars, which equates to about $87 million New Zealand dollars to a guy. A truck driver who suffered a very unfortunate incident.

There was a drive-through Starbucks. He ordered a really large size, a venti size hot tea. The lid, from what I understand, wasn't put on properly as he grabbed it. It obviously fell down towards his crotch area, his groin area. Third degree burns right around there, inner thighs. Yes, the area, the area you're thinking could get burnt, got burnt. He's had multiple skin grafts, lived for five years with disfigurement, pain, and psychological harm, he said as well.

So the jury has awarded him $50 million or $87 million New Zealand dollars. Question which we haven't, even though we discussed this at the weekend, I didn't ask this, how old is he? What's that got to do with anything? Because I feel like we were talking about the weekend and you were like well you wouldn't need yours anyway, you've got to take it

you're done. Like you're making my decisions for me. May as well hacksaw it off with a butter knife from the kitchen. Mine's had a good run. You're saying if you've used it for what nature intended it to be used for, then why not? Burn it off. Fire crotch it.

Let's be honest, it's happening less as you get older. Looking at a picture here, not an age, but he's, hey, a hey a few grays uh yeah i would say 50s but yeah okay let's put a price on it if you had to do this but you knew you were going to be compensated what's the lowest you would go the lowest if this is five years of skin grafts and pain and stuff because you initially said to me would you do that would you do it on purpose for 87 and i said absolutely there's not you do it on purpose for 87? And I said, absolutely. There's not much I wouldn't do for $87 million. I mean, this poor guy's gone through a lot.

We're not making light of his thing, but we're just saying the situation for us to come along, it's like... 87 mil? Yeah. Well, yeah, Starbucks have said that's quite excessive, that are disputing the fact that he's getting that amount of money. I don't doubt that he's in pain.

Yeah, and he's gone through a lot. I mean, five years of that is horrible. But also I need to know, is this like an ibuprofen a day or is this more painful than that? Well, skin grafts. So he's all had to get the grande skin graft combo, obviously, and keep going back.

They reckon that was over $200,000. So you're going to have to factor in that cost. Repairs. Obviously, you want to set yourself up for life. Knock off the mortgage. So what are you thinking? Go on a nice holiday somewhere. Tropical islands.

Somewhere with some cool ocean that you can sort of dip your bits into. I'm fire-crouching it for, give me two mil. Two mil? I said five mil at the weekend weekend but yesterday I got some bills I was like I would do that for a mil so like right now

but you've got to do it yourself so that's the other condition I give you the hot cut you've got to tip it straight in there I would do it

for a mil no pants I'm not looking but I'm trusting you he had pants on he wants you trouserless which is unnecessary

I'm not looking but I'm trusting you I'm sure the guy wasn't trouserless Ben's demanding no pants he had pants on if I'm giving up the 2 I'm trusting you. I'm sure the guy wasn't trouserless. Ben's demanding no pants. If I'm giving up the $2 million, now it's my money. I'm like, trouserless. Pants off.

Are the studio curtains, are they shut? Are they open? Yeah, there's no recording of it. There needs to be some evidence. His eyes. No, I can't do it. Female doctors, come in. You're telling the doctor, make sure she's taking those bloody trousers off. His eyes No I can't do it Female doctor Come on She's gonna She's gonna do that

You're telling the doctor Make sure she's taking Those bloody trousers off I don't want any trousers I'm going through with this For a million bucks Okay maybe not trousers I want maximum damage

Alright 4487 on the text How much How much would you do it for What would you do it for Yeah I'll probably with you About two million It would be fun

None of it would be fun I feel sorry for this guy I'd say it would be fun Yeah But like Times are tough. Was he resting it in the crotch? Because that's like using a bloody hedgehog as a stress ball, isn't it?

No, I think it was probably just as it was. I guess as he grabbed it. Oh, just tipped. I'm guessing, but I'm not entirely sure. Yeah, no, I'll say that off air. Okay. Your turn. Tell you what we're going to do.

We're going to start off and give a little page. Okay. Megan Pappas, the trouserless Starbucks stunt after 8 o'clock. I've done some things in my time on radio, but that would take the cake. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. You've been messaging sliding into the Formula One driver Liam Lawson's DMs.

Just wishing words of encouragement. Yeah, I do it often, but it's always like in a nice, like I would never comment anything negative on anyone on social media. I slide into celebrities' DMs and send nice messages. So he's never replied back. He's a busy guy. Nah, he's busy. How many messages have you sent that he hasn't seen?

Like you've just chucked them out to the ether. Four. Oh, yeah. Okay, that's a decent number. And then publicly, like. Oh, yeah, like I commented on everyone's post yesterday, but so did you. Yeah, I did. Yeah, I did.

I didn't slide in. I didn't do any murky shady behind the... No, because he put up a post and he was like, not the result that he wanted. And I was like, the poor guy's getting it. So I wanted to be like every other New Zealander on that post and be like, we're behind you, mate. Because, you know, in your heart of hearts when you're writing this, when you're the author of these things, I've done it before too,

but you know, 99.99% they are not going to see it and or get back to you. But you do it anyway and you chuck it out there. But they're more likely to see a comment

on their post than they are like a private message. Probably a private message, right? If they don't follow you, they're like, oh, another thing.

You're better off chucking a bottle in the ocean with a letter in it. You'll have better results. But 0800, you can text 24487. Have your message to a celebrity

and they've actually got back to you. Because it does happen sometimes. Scott, you heard back from some celebs. Yeah, man.

Well, back in the 80s, so you couldn't, you know, no texting, Instagram and that rubbish. So yeah, I had to go old school.

So you wrote letters? Yeah, so in the States when you graduate from high school, you tend to have a big rubbish. So yeah, I had to go old school. So you wrote letters? Yeah, so in the States, when you graduate from high school, you tend to have a big party. So I had loads of extra invitations. So I went to the library, got this address celebrity book and just started firing them out. There was a book? They published a book with celebrities' addresses?

Yeah, yeah. I don't know if they still make it, but they publish them every year back in the States, yeah. Seems like a huge invasion of privacy. So who did you send letters to? Oh, man, I couldn't even if they still make it, but they publish them every year back in the States. Seems like a huge invasion of privacy. So who did you send our letters to? Oh, man, I couldn't even tell you them all. Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Harrison Ford, the White House. I wanted Bon Jovi to play.

Yeah, I got a formal letter back from Reagan in the White House. Dan Aykroyd sent me a set photo from the Great Outdoors saying, Rule one one have fun yeah I got your your bog standard autographed pictures from Harrison Ford Chevy Chase stuff like that yeah it's incredible and so to Bon Jovi end up playing your graduation party no they they were double booked yeah I'm sure they would have if they had the schedule was free but that's awesome they replied back

yeah their priorities were out of whack they should have taken my giz I'm a big tipper oh Scott you're a good man thank you so much for your call it was very funny

Jono, Ben and Megan the podcast the hits they've sent you a message and they've gone back to you some of your great calls and texts yeah Sam

good morning good morning messaging celebs and them getting back to you. Some of your great calls and texts. Yeah. Sam, good morning. Good morning. Messaging celebs and them getting back to you. I know. I was just messaging one of my favourite celebs recently and no reply. Uh-oh. Who was it? I was their good friend, Megan. Well, not so good friends. Oh, you stitched me up. So was this a direct message or what was this?

Yeah, yeah. I'm a little bit obsessed with her family. So I'm always like, oh, you guys are so cute. Love you, girl. Well, let's get a reply, IRL. What do you want to ask her? What do you want to say? No, so I'm married and I'm a big fan of my husband.

But I've got to say, your husband shows up every other husband out there. I'm like, do you know what Megan's husband did, Dole? Do you know what Megan's husband did? That's quite a catch. I love it how you're like, I'm a big fan of my husband, but I'm a bigger fan of Megan's. Yeah, I'm a big fan of mine, but Andrew, I mean, you can't compete. I had a test run, though.

I'm on my second round. Yeah, true. She got the update, you know, when you update all the things. Yeah, a software update. No, do I need to start sharing the times he annoys me

because he's definitely those. Yeah, maybe you do because I'm like, the expectations are pretty high. Yeah, put a video of you two up bickering on social media

or something. More of that stuff. I'm definitely going to message you back. You have to tell me, we'll offer you what your handle is and we can chat. I'll send you what your handle is And we can chat

I'll send you videos of us bickering Alright Sam Have a good one Sam Thank you Jono, Ben and Megan The podcast The hits We're at question number three

Is it producer Grace? Yes, question number three Alright, chowing down on a big bowl of quiz this morning Now I feel like we wasted a lifeline Because Megan knew the answer. But anyway. I didn't bait myself. That's okay.

So the question was, how tall is Mount Maunganui? 252 metres, 212 or 232? Quite a lot of texts come through all saying 232, Megan. 232. So that's what we'd like to lock in. Amazing. We all got the ding. A bit straddled.

A bit presumptuous me with the ding there. Okay, question number five. Okay. I feel like this is a Ben Boyce question. Great. Love it. The first rugby league match was played in which country? Australia, England, or New Zealand?

You'd have to say England, wouldn't you? Because that's where rugby originated. Yeah, so did they invent rugby league as well or just did they play the first game? Yeah. I'm disappointed that you don't know where rugby league came from. Sorry. You call yourself a rugby league historian.

I wasn't around for the first game. I mean, I'm old, but I'm not that old. It feels because a lot of sports are in the UK. But does the UK play a lot? Yeah, they do. Yeah. It's the working man's game in the UK, you know? Right.

Yeah, the coal miners and things. So what are we putting through, guys? The bleakest parts of the UK. The most depressing. I'm going to go UK, but I might be wrong. New Zealand. England is correct. Hey, there we go.

We are up to question six. Five. Five, wrong. New Zealand. England is correct. Hey, there we go. We are up to question six. Five. Five, sorry. So close. Who wrote the novel The Time Traveller's Wife? Nicholas Sparks, Audrey Nefenegger,

Jodie Picoult. All with question marks at the end of them. Yeah, that was a bit hard. Why do I think Sparks, but maybe I'm wrong. Checking Sparks in. If that's what your gut says, you've got to go with your gut.

Sparks is the romantic. Yeah. Are we feeling Sparks? Yeah. There was a flurry of making his novels into movies. Yeah, that was incorrect. It was the other one. Jodie?

No, the other one. It's gone now. The one with the long name is hard. Just the other one. Can I say Audrey Audrey yeah Audrey yeah Say that last name Ben

No it feels like I'm One step away from a scandal He won't say Arnie's last name He's definitely not going to say that last name Audrey yeah definitely You would have gotten the next question I know you would have Okay out of interest

What type of Pokemon is Pikachu? Water, fire, electric Electric Yeah that's correct Did you not know that? Guys come on, electric. Electric. Yeah, that's correct. Did you not know that? Guys, come on. I was trying to think about that. It's like a lightning bolt for a tail.

Oh, come on. I didn't yell out the wrong answer. I just looked at you like I was contemplating it. Okay, it's falling apart at the seams. John O'Ban and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Our quiz queen, Producer Ellie, is away today.

So the quiz princess. shall we say, from Quiztopia. Producer Grace is coming. Now, you've completed today's daily quiz. Yeah. Do you want to know what I got? Thoughts, feelings, and fears. What have we got? I got three out of ten.

Oh, okay. Wasn't feeling it today. You're smart, too. You've got a lot of science knowledge as well. Not chemistry, though. No. I found that out yesterday. I am.

Okay, so Producer Grace, let's go through it. See if we can get it back to back 10 out of 10 on the Herald Daily Quiz. Okay, ready. No. Which... I'm ready. Which blood type is known as the universal donor? Oh, you know this.

We've had this. Yeah, go take it. It's O. What are the multi-choice? So it's O positive, O negative, AB positive. O positive. You never want to be negative, do you? We're a positive radio show.

Yeah. Let's go O positive. Are you sure you would like to go O positive? Or O negative maybe. Maybe I'm feeling a bit of a negative mood. It is a Tuesday. Yeah, maybe. Are we going O negative?

Yeah. Well, that is correct. Yeah. Oh, jeez. I'm really lucky to get that Tuesday. Yeah, maybe. Are we going all negative? Yeah. Well, that is correct. Oh, jeez. Really lucky to get that one. Thanks, Grace. All right, that's okay. No more leading of us now, but we needed that one. Definitely needed that one.

Who directed Michael Jackson's iconic thriller music video? Martin Scorsese? Oh, Scorsese. That man? John Landis or David Fincher? Oh, jeez. I've heard of Scorsese? That man? John Landis or David Fincher? Oh, jeez. I've heard of Scorsese and Fincher. Yeah, but Fincher feels like he was...

Did he do Fight Club? Yes, I think he did do Fight Club. Scorsese feels like a bit beneath Scorsese. I mean, it was way under... Wouldn't we know if it was Scorsese or even Fincher? Yeah, I yeah I thought so let's just go the middle one

yeah let's go the middle one process of elimination John Landis yeah the guy we have never heard of yeah

that is correct yay good work team this is fun okay are we ready next question how tall is Mount Manganui

252 metres 212 metres 232 metres. 212 metres. 232 metres. I would have no idea. Please. Well, I think this is lifeline. Yeah, this could be our lifeline. Someone will be traipsing up the Mount right now as we speak.

Please, text 4487. Help us out with the New Zealand Herald Daily Quiz. How tall is Mount Manganui? Those options again one more time. 252 metres. 212 metres. or 232 metres. That could be any of those. I think it's 32, but I'm not willing to put them. Okay.

0800 the HATS or 4487. You just text us through. That is our lifeline this morning.