The Commercial Break - The Bisexual Of The Workplace

Episode Date: November 6, 2024

Episode #631: Bryan reminisces on his Chili’s days, finally answers some Ask TCBs, and tosses his two cents into the Peanut The Squirrel discourse. It’s the day after election day! Chili’s It’s on the rise? TGIFridays Skip downtown ATL, go to the airport We are the Chili’s of podcasting! A new listener Ask TCB Jobs are like relationships The bisexual of the workplace! Hardheaded kids Peanut the squirrel Chimp Crazy Siegfried and Roy Text us or leave us a voicemail: [phone]TCB Follow Us: IG: @thecommercialbreak TikTok: @tcbpodcast YT: youtube.com/thecommercialbreak www.tcbpodcast.com Executive Producer: Bryan Green Hosts: Bryan Green & Krissy Hoadley Producer: Astrid B. Green Producer & Audio Editor: Christina Archer Christina’s Podcast: Apple Podcasts & Spotify To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Toronto. There's another great city that starts with a T. Tampa, Florida. Fly to Tampa on Porter Airlines to see why it's so tea-riffic. On your way there, relax with free beer, wine and snacks. Free fast streaming Wi-Fi and no middle seats. You've never flown to Florida like this before, so you'll land in Tampa ready to explore. Visit flyporter.com and actually enjoy economy.

Let me just ask you a question. What is something that makes you unique and why? What makes me unique is my personality because I'm bubbly, I had to even take medicine for it. Dear Jesus, Joseph and Mary. Addison.. Dear Jesus, Joseph and Mary. Addison. Praise the Lord. On this episode of The Commercial Break.

You have to find a place where you have the ability to spread your wings. You have to be like a multi-positioned player. You know what I'm saying, Chrissy? Switch hitter. That's right, a switch hitter, bisexual of the workplace, if you don't mind. You gotta get out there and you gotta try new things. Sample new sexual objects. The next episode of The Commercial Break starts now.

It's 2.30 in the morning! Oh yeah, cats and kittens, welcome back to The Commercial Break. I'm Brian Green. This is my dear friend and the co-host of this show, Kristin Joy Hoadley. Best of you, Chris- Best of you, Brian. And best of you out there in the Podcast Universe.

If you're still out there in the Podcast Universe. It's a day after Election Day and while we're recording this a day earlier, I just hope we're all still here. That's all I gotta say. Anyway, so welcome back. If you're hearing this 300 years from now you have uncovered my studio Mountains and mountains of nuclear ash dust and sand maybe water I don't know wires everywhere and you've been pulling wires out for decades and eons slowly uncovering with you know Little you know, they use those little paintbrushes

Yeah to get down and down and you finally found my decrepit road caster And you press play and you went this this is why that society went under So welcome day after election day, I hope we know who's president but if we don't then yes I'm stressed out know that I'm just stressed out somewhere stressed out with our good friend Chrissy But here's what's really got me stressed out about the state of America, Chrissy. It's not really the election. What's got me stressed out about the state of America is an article that I read very recently.

You know, it's been no secret here on the commercial break, if you've listened to one of the 750,000 episodes of the commercial break, then you know that I worked at Chili's a long time ago. I was a Chili's guy. I was a Brinker International trainer bartender kids margaritas trainer imagine they had Brian as a trainer I Was buying blow From the other bartender and a kids margarita cup don't come after me exactly the the statue of limitations is way gone

That's right. But yeah, I was a Chili's guy. I started off as a waiter at Chili's and then I became a trainer and then a bartender and then a bartending trainer. I was never very good at any of that. And quite frankly, You were just there long enough. Do you know how many no shows I had at Chili's? Probably 10 a year. Just no shows. No show, no call. And then I would retroactively call with some crazy excuse as to why I didn't show up to work. My car broke down, I'm in the hospital,

I broke my leg again, grandma's dead for the fifth time. All my grandmas are now dead, all five of them. But yeah, it was like the picture of irresponsibility when I worked at Chili's. And I think anybody who worked with me at that time would agree that I was the picture of irresponsibility at that time But Chili's back when I worked there was quite the happening place. Oh god Yeah, so many people loved Chili's the Chili's that I worked at here in suburbia in suburban, Atlanta It was packed every night of the week Oh, yeah, and Friday and Saturday. It would not be unusual for us to be on a 45 minute to hour long wait.

People like sitting outside waiting for their table to be packed. I worked it out back and I remember being on like a two hour wait. I was the hostess. Some days, yeah. So I would, you know, write the names and call the names and deal with everybody. Pissed off human beings. Yes, yes. When? When, how far away am I? Yeah I think those people came after us. Yeah Yeah, you're a 40 top. They're two people. That's why they're going before you. That's right

Yeah, yeah And I mean I can't imagine being like a waitress or a hostess at a restaurant like that in 2024 because it was bad back when I was working there. I'm not even going to tell you what year it was. But Chili's was quite a happening place and it was experiencing expansive growth. There was like a Chili's opening every other day and somewhere in the United States of America. It was quite a happening place to be in.

The bar was too. There was, you know, televisions and bright colored neon signs and margaritas of all different flavors and fashions, the double blueberry, strawberry. A smoking section. Yeah, a smoking section. That's right. There was a smoking section of the restaurant. We sat in the smoking section. My grandmother smoked. My mom smoked. Crazy. You know, actually, I think when I worked at, I worked at like four different chilies. I think the second chilies that I worked at, they actually didn't have smoking anywhere. Like it

was one of the first restaurants in this part of town that decided just to outlaw smoking altogether. You had to go outside to smoke. I say all of this to say that I have been to Chili's since, now, not many times, because I got Chili's out. I have had everything there is to have on that menu. Back to the scene of the crime. Yeah, no. And quite frankly, this brings up bad memories of how irresponsible I really was. I get jittery every time I go into a Chili's. I go into like a cocaine withdrawal, I'm like, ah, ah, ah, ah. And I certainly have never been back to the Chili's that I worked at, that's for sure. But there's Chili's everywhere, and I think we've been once or

twice maybe with the kids, maybe once or twice with Astrid when we first met. And it was a shell of what it used to be. Let's just put it that way. A shell of what it used to be. They now have these computer screens that you like order stuff from. God bless you if you can find a waiter. There's nobody at the bar ever. That just doesn't happen. Like people are, Chili's is not, was not a happening place. The last time I'd been there was during the pandemic. And I'm telling you, if it was a shell of its former self in 2018, during the pandemic, it was just a pure shit show. Disgustingly dirty. The food was terrible. The waitstaff, I think were just overtaxed, but they were terrible. Like we got no service whatsoever.

And we decided, well, we're never going back to a Chili's again. I guess Chili's will be closing their door anytime soon. That is not the case. Chili's is on quite the hot streak, Chrissy, and those double bubble blueberry margarita bullshit that they're advertising now on television, like those dollar margaritas, like the syrupy, color-y, weird neon colored margaritas that they're selling. Which used to be the thing that I wanted to drink the most before I was able to drink. Yes. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I couldn't wait to be old enough to drink these things. When I had no idea what alcohol would do to my body, I absolutely...

Or pure syrupy sugar. That's right. I absolutely wanted a schnazberry, raspberry, double tequila margarita extra large from chilies. But when I learned how to drink, I also learned that anything that looks like that is going to certainly cause you an extra hangover the next day, no matter how good it tastes. And they never tasted good, just to be honest about it. Not to me. They looked good on the advertisement on the table. On the table tents, they looked fantastic. But once you got them into your belly, it was like, I don't know, like instant stomach acid as far as I was concerned.

But I was surprised to learn, and maybe this is because I'm not in that demographic, so I don't get to serve this up, Chili's has become quite the hot commodity amongst the 20-somethings in the United States of America. They are TikToking about it, they are Instagramming about it, they are talking about how delicious the margaritas are, they are talking about how their burgers are fantastic and go there. Millions and millions of views on TikTokers who are not paid by Brinker or Chili's, but TikTokers who are just influencers and who are at Chili's drinking these shitty neon colored margaritas. Now, listen, I was 21 once also, and Chili's was my jam. I was working there. So yes, it was the food I could afford.

And quite frankly, if you took a date to Chili's, like if you all went to Chili's, it wasn't the best place in the world, but you wouldn't be looked at with a side eye to go to a Chili's, right? If you said, hey, let's go to Chili's and get ourselves an awesome blossom and endless chips and fucking Jason. I remember being on dates when I was younger and we went to like Applebee's and Chili's. Crap. Applebee's is another one. Crap Applebee's indeed. Um, but it surprised me to no end to learn that Chili's is on quite the hot streak, like 30% sales growth in same store sales growth year over year. Their social media is trending huge. They are selling margaritas like hotcakes. Their burgers are on fire, literally and figuratively.

Danielle Pletka Going down and coming out. Jared Sarkissian Yes, that's right. Your chit-a-rita, your double bubble schnozberry margarita and your double bubble fart burger is mixing in your stomach to cause quite the scene the next morning. But the kids love it. They are loving it. I say kids, they're not kids, but the youngsters are loving chilies and they're going there en masse.

I can't believe it. And you know, good for chilies. That's all I gotta say, good for Chili's. That's all I got to say. Good for Chili's. I root for you under no circumstances, but I say congratulations to Chili's for apparently turning the ship around. Well, you know, and I think TGI Fridays was kind of in the same mixture of places like that. Yes, but they just filed for bankruptcy yesterday. Yes, I was going to say. Poor TGI Fridays didn't get the same social media love

and now they're filing. Let's be real honest about it though. There is a difference between a Chili's and a TGI Fridays. A TGI Fridays is like dark, smoky woods, still smells like cigarettes because they haven't changed the actual seating, like the actual physical seating of the restaurant since it was just a smoky bar. And TGI Fridays always appealed to a more mature

crowd. Like, when you went to a Chili's, and maybe this is because I worked there, and that was like my scene, my age, my bad cocaine problem. Like, when you worked at it, when you were at a Chili's, it was bright, it was colorful, it was fun. They made those colorful margaritas because they know that the young people like to drink them. That's the only people that like to drink them. No knock on young folks. It's just when you get to be, you know, when you get to be a little older, you'll understand.

Like a bourbon on the rocks or just a light draft beer is going to do the same trick as that syrupy margarita. It's just not going to give you as bad of a hangover at the end of the day. So, but, and it's the food you can afford. When you're only making so much money, you can't pay $250 for a steak and a nice bottle of wine every night, so you go to Chili's. The TGI Fridays, even when I was young, seemed like it was for like 40 somethings. You know what I'm saying? 40 somethings on a blind date or like people who had a bad problem with alcohol. Like that always seemed to me to be the TGI Fridays vibe.

I don't ever think they caught like the youth vibe. It was always like- Well, they were like the anchor in the malls back when malls were even in the- Yeah, yeah. Like Cheesecake Factories are now. Yes. Like Cheesecake Factories are now. Yes. But Cheesecake Factories are doing very well also.

I guess they always have been. And I don't know how they do that. But like Chili's and Cheesecake Factories both have 62 page menus. I mean, how do you do that? Like no wonder those kitchens are so incredibly big because you have to make 62,000 different items. But the one Fridays that I went to on any kind of regular basis, we only went there

when we were like out of other options. Do you know what I'm saying? Like we had been to Houston's, you know, for a really nice dinner. You know, we had been to Chile and we would go, okay, well, I guess let's go to TGI Fridays. And it was this huge TGI Fridays that had clearly been open since the 80s. And it was mainly bar in the middle, like a huge bar that you had to like walk upstairs to get to. So the bar was elevated amongst the other restaurant and they were wearing all that flair. They were wearing the flair and spinning the bottles. You know, we are like the Chili's bartenders always,

I guess we envied the TGI Fridays bartenders a little bit. They were older and they know how to spin bottles and we just knew how to snort cocaine. Yeah, like cocktail. That's right. They learned it. They learned how to do that. It's like a TGI Fridays thing. But I just remember every time I went in there, we never went to the bar, even though we're old enough to drink, because it was like kind of a scary scene It was older single folks And if you got sucked into that vortex who knows what was likely to happen you were outgunned you were outgunned You didn't I know if those people are like in their 40s. What do you do now, right? It was like more of a I want to see a sophisticated vibe It was more of like an old drunk kind of I went to one recently or I would say not recently recently

As well within the past year at the airport that is recently. Oh the airport one Okay, because that's the only one that still allows smoking Not that you smoke but Oh, I thought there was I thought that Friday's had still had smoking No, do, no. Oh, do they have a patio outside where you can smoke or something on that, at that Fridays, I think? I don't know. I think it's like in Gate, Terminal C or something. It just happened

to be the one where I needed a glass of wine. I guess it's the Fridays. Yeah, they. And it was packed. Yeah, you know, that airport is such a weird scene. And they do have a Fridays there that is packed because I think it's a familiar place for people to go. I mean, let's be honest about it. Every place at the airport is a familiar place to go

because they're all chain restaurants. Well, they're getting kind of gourmet. Yeah, there's a couple of gourmet. All right, yeah, there's a couple of gourmet. I'll give you that. There's a couple of gourmet things. Listen, when you go to the Atlanta airport, it's like basically going to downtown. As a matter of fact, skip downtown Atlanta, go to the airport,

get yours, buy a ticket. You're going to spend just as much money as you would at a club in downtown. When we went to that Disney Junior, and let me share this with you. When we went to Disney Junior the other day, we went to the Fox Theater, which is on Peachtree Street. And Fox Theater is legendary in song and in fable. It is a theater that was built- But around since the 20s. Since the 20s, that's right. In the 20s, it's built to look like the inside of an Egyptian town, like a town in Egypt. And I don't even know what to tell you how to explain how beautiful-

It's beautiful. This theater is. It's been renovated many times. It's caught fire multiple times. There's a ceiling with stars and beautiful, just like the night sky. And it looks like you're in an Egyptian town. It looks like something out of Epcot is really what it looks like, but it's quite beautiful. But anyway, it's on Peachtree Street, like in the heart of Atlanta. As a matter of fact, if you Google Atlanta on a map and you see a dot, that's likely where the Fox Theater is. We parked and we had to walk two blocks away. The scene in that two blocks was unbelievable. And there were three bars that we

had to pass. And every, all three of those bars, Sunday afternoon, were empty. And all three had one thing in common, a huge security guard with at least two guns on their hips. And I am not even kidding you. Like to think to yourself that you have to walk into a bar or a restaurant in downtown Atlanta and the security guards need to be armed like that is to me a little bit unnerving. I'm just sharing that. And I know we have very lax gun laws here and those guys, all you have to

do is own a gun and then you can carry it like that. But you could go to the Atlanta airport and the guns are being carried by trained professional police officers and everybody has to be checked before you walk in the door. And there's, and you got all the same bars and restaurants. It's all the same experience. And no matter what time of day or night, those restaurants are packed. That's it. They are. And it's the only place too, you know, where it's completely acceptable to be drinking

at 8 a.m. Oh, fuck yeah. Oh, my God. You would look down upon someone normally in everyday life. What? What? Not you and I. 8 a.m. one beer.

No, not you and I. Not at all. 8 a.m. beer. What? But no, at the airport, totally cool. Totally acceptable. Completely, it's, you're right about that. The airport is the one place in this world where you can still be a raging alcoholic

at any time of day or night, and everyone understands. Everyone else is drinking too. Flying is shitty, and we all need a little bit of booze to get through. Yes. That's right. So Chili's, you know the one thing they don't have at the airport, unbelievably, I don't think anyway, I've never seen it, is the Chili's. But Brinker International having quite the turnaround with their Chili's.

I guess it's just one of those things. If you wait long enough- Power of social media. Power of social media. And if you wait long enough, everything old becomes new again. And by the way, TGI Fridays is not going away. It's just filed for bankruptcy protection and closed 150 of their locations. But TGI Fridays could see a reversal too. That's why I have some hope for this podcast, because if we just do it long enough, then eventually we might be popular. Do you know

what I'm saying? Everybody has their 15 minutes of faith. Exactly. You know, we did a preacher yesterday who was on YouTube, exclusively on YouTube. You can't find him anywhere on cable because he has zero followers with zero views. But I just thought to myself, it really, Andy Warhol really was right. Everybody is going to get their 15 minutes of fame because just to get to that guy, the amount of human beings that I had to scroll through and watch, the amount of people with 200 views, 300 views, all in fancy setups like we have, you

know, and all constructed studios and, you know, high-priced cameras and recording equipment, all this other stuff, everybody trying to do the same thing. And that is amass a following and be famous. But this whole chilly thing made me think about this, made me think about this, like kind of, the iron gets hot because of one or two reasons. Either the iron gets hot because you happen to strike a chord at the exact right moment in time or you've been around long enough that people think you struck the right chord at the exact amount at the right time. Does that make sense to you? It does. It does, yeah. And that goes to show that that's so true like look at some of the bands that are seeing a huge resurgence in popularity.

Limp fucking biscuits. No, I know like it's the bands that are seeing a huge resurgence in popularity. Limp fucking Biscuit. No, I know, like it's the 90s. So cool again. Limp Biscuit is like one of the, it's been touring around now for probably nine months with Corey fucking Feldman nonetheless. Been running around. Fred Durst with his big gray mop head of hair has been running around and has seen a huge

resurgence in popularity. And I can tell you something, if the year was 2012 and you asked who's going to see a huge resurgence in popularity eventually, Limp Bizkit would not be at the top of that list. It just wouldn't. I'm sorry. It would not. But why?

Well, first of all, they happened to be there when they struck while the iron was hot, at the time when it was hot. But then they just waited it out long enough. And now people think the iron was hot. Like, they're just seeing a resurgence because people go, oh, they were cool at one time. So I guess they are again. It's unbelievable, Chrissy. I have hope for us. I really do. I have hope for us. I think around episode 1700, we're going to stand. We're the chilies of podcasting. We always have been. We always have been. Mediocre food at great prices. Mediocre comedy at great prices in a welcoming environment full of neon. There you go.

Yes. What are we liking ourselves to for the Olive Garden? No, the Cheesecake Factory. Cheesecake Factory. No clear direction whatsoever. Huge menu. Yeah, but an interesting name and you can find us everywhere. All right, well, Chrissy, it'll warm the cockles of your heart to know that we have some new fans out there, and always getting new fans, always new people writing in and saying hello,

and one struck a chord with Astrid, so then it struck a chord with me because I had to sit there and listen to Astrid talk about this particular email. No, it's actually a very nice note that was written to us. It's got an Ast-TCB mixed in there. So I thought we'd take some time to read a nice email from a nice young new listener. How do I know they are young? Because they alluded to that fact. This nice young listener will say hello and then we'll shut up. They don't remember a time without Uber.

They probably don't even remember a time without Netflix, if I'm being honest. How old is Netflix now? 20 years old? It's got to be 25 years old? Yeah, it did start off with this DVD. The DVD service was back in Blockbuster. I think the Blockbuster went away in like the late 2000s, I want to say. I remember the early 2000s when Netflix came on the scene. Okay, so I wouldn't want to say 2005 or 2006, something like that. No, earlier. You think like 2001? I think it was 2001.

You think so? I think so. Okay, so then Blockbuster went away pretty quickly after that, 2003 or 2004. Well, there were a few hangers on. You know what? Rather than us just guess about this, I'll look it up over the break,

and then we'll get back to it in just a few moments. Take a listen to these sponsored, and freak with them if you will. One of them is not going to be Chili's, because we have probably talked enough shit about that to make sure that Chili's never advertised with us. We'll be back. Since you clearly haven't had enough of me yet, I am back to yapping your ear and subsequently into your heart to tell you to follow us on Instagram,

at the commercial break and on TikTok at TCD podcast. You've heard these liners enough to know that we are desperate for followers. Instagram, at The Commercial Break, and on TikTok at TCB Podcast. You've heard these liners enough to know that we are desperate for followers, so help a girl out! While you're at it, maybe shoot us a text at 212-433-3TCB or leave us a voicemail spilling your guts and asking for advice. You can also check out our website, tcbpodcast.com, if you feel like perusing our catalog or if you're just bored.

Now, let's listen to some sponsors because they keep me paid. This episode is sponsored in part by Zbiotics, pre-alcohol. Let's face it, most of us are not 21 years old, partying like we used to. We have to make the choice between a great night or a great morning after. At least that's what we thought, Chrissy and I, until we tried pre-alcohol. I don't drink a whole bunch anymore and I was on the fence about this one. But a few weeks ago,

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help the everyday challenges of modern living. So go to zbiotics.com slash commercial to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use that code commercial at checkout. Zbiotics is backed by a 100% money back guarantee, so if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they will refund your money, no questions asked. All you have to do is head to zbiotics.com slash commercial and use that code commercial at checkout for the 15% off. Thank you Zbiotics for being a sponsor of a wonderful morning after drinks and of the commercial break. I'm Jenna Fisher and I'm Angela Kinsey.

We are best friends and together we have the podcast Office Ladies, where we rewatched every single episode of The Office. With insane behind the scenes stories, hilarious guests, and lots of laughs. Every Wednesday we'll be sharing even more exclusive stories from The Office and our friendship with brand new guests, and we'll be digging into our mailbag to answer your questions and comments. So join us for brand new Office Ladies 6.0 episodes every Wednesday. Plus on Mondays we are taking a second drink. You can revisit all the Office Ladies rewatch episodes every Monday with new bonus tidbits

before every episode. Well we can't wait to see you there. Follow and listen to Office Ladies on the free Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts. This winter, take a trip to Tampa on Porter Airlines. Enjoy the warm Tampa Bay temperatures and warm Porter hospitality on your way there. All Porter Fairs include beer, wine, and snacks and free fast-streaming Wi-Fi

on planes with no middle seats. And your Tampa Bay vacation includes good times, relaxation, and great Gulf Coast weather. Visit FlyPorter.com and actually enjoy economy. Netflix founded in 1997. Okay. So you're probably right. Probably 2001 is probably when it started. Catching hold. Yeah, catching hold.

And yeah, no, I doubt this person remembers the blockbuster. They were probably very young. Okay, this is from Sid. Now we tried to reach back out to Sid to find out whether or not we should call him or her a he or she. So, I will refer to them as a her for now, because I just don't know whether or not it's a him or her, and they don't give many identi- or they or them, they don't give much identifying information. But it's a nice email, regardless, and if Sid, if you identify some other way, sorry, what do you want me to do?

I tried to get a hold of you. Someone tried to email you. Okay, ask for a little TCB advice. Sounds silly, but sure, why not? Firstly, I just want to say that I love the podcast. The shit talking, irreverent humor is right up my alley. You folks are always a safe bet for a laugh. Thanks Sid, you're one of the few that think that.

I was looking for something new outside of my old pod rotation, saw yours, and gave it a try between the great chemistry you guys have, the manic personality of Brian who I relate to on many levels, and would probably be in jail with had we known each other or been the same age, and Chrissy's incredible infectious laughter and warm voice. I find myself listening through the catalog nearly every single fucking day. I love that. I think that is so wonderful, Sid. Thank you. That is one of the more heartwarming emails that we've gotten. And trust me, we've gotten a few disheartening emails. Most of them are disheartening. All right, so okay,

enough, enough. Pud pulling and bag fluffing. KS. Speaking of bag fluffing, we just talked about that. BG. We did talk about some bag fluffing and some bag, and some exfoliating, some nut foliating. Okay, so here's the deal. I'm going to truncate this story just a little bit, Sid, just a little bit. So don't, so this is a abbreviated version of what Sid had wrote just for the sake of time and consistency. Okay, I was working at a mom and pop shop for almost five years. I was a damn good employee from my skill set leadership and blah, blah, blah. I worked my ass off for this place.

I was almost in every department picking up slack or doing the things no one else would do. My managers were amazing. They were ground level people who really made the struggle worth it. But the owners of the company were involved and were involved quite a bit and were on the tail end of their careers. They micromanaged like hell and made it difficult to be chipper throughout the week. They would go south for the winter, then back in the spring.

And when they came back, everyone was on edge and stepping on each other. The organization and protocols for projects went wayward and we just had to deal with it. Every time they were here, it seemed like there always had to be an issue with them. They didn't like me from the get because I'm not a pushover and when I say something wrong and when something was wrong, I would say so." Okay, so now let me truncate the story on this part of it. So, Sid is a dedicated, hard worker. But at the end of the day, her and her bosses, the owners, the mom and pop shop, they got into a disagreement about a particular project. She wanted to do it one way, they wanted to do it another way. She thought the way that they were doing it was the wrong way. And so, the door was

open and she left. She went on to a new company. Now the old company has been taken over by new management, new ownership, and she has the opportunity to come back and work for them, but she's wondering if that's the right move or not. So let me share with you that I think jobs are kind of like relationships. It's likely that when you leave them, there's a good reason you left them. Now as a guy who has been back to many broken relationships, I have also gone back to old employees. I've done this, and I've done it a few times in my life, and it never seems to work out. Once you have that bitter taste in your mouth, it almost never washes fully out.

You never get that palate cleanser you're looking for. And it's likely that once you get in there, you're going to see stuff that is wrong, just like it was before, and the new owners are going to have their own way of doing things. And I think that you may butt heads yet again, and you may find it distressful. That all that said, sometimes, like Chrissy's parents, this sixth or seventh time you go back to something, it ends up working out. I mean, it's hard to say. It's like lightning in a bottle. You never really know until you give it a try.

But my personal opinion is, if you've moved on- Once you're done, you're done. Unless where you're at currently is just horrible, and you think that maybe you could make a difference in a new, updated environment at the old place. She does say that she's now working for big corporate. And I don't know how I feel about it. It's a big change for me and I don't care for how the operation is. I feel strapped down to a department and I've lost my freedom a little bit.

So anyway, so that's when that she found out that the old place has now been taken over by new management and there's an opportunity possibly to come back in the door. What kind of a business is this, do we know? Never mention. Because like is it a hardware store or is it a strip club?

Yeah. Oh no. It's in a strip club. I was mopping jizz off the walls. I was on stage A, stage B. I was in the VIPs. I was bartended. No, no, never mentioned, but Mom and Pop shop makes me think of one of two things, like a little store, right? Yeah, that's right.

A store or like a shop, like a machinery shop, something where they manufacture something or do cars or something like that. But it's never really mentioned. You know, it's hard to tell without filling in a lot of details or speaking to you directly. But again, I have to say that I think sometimes jobs are like relationships and you get emotionally invested in them. You do.

And when you do, once you- Especially with a mom and pop place where it is personal. Yes. And once you are kind of, once that trust is broken, once you're kind of ripped apart that first time, it's going to be really hard to go back to it again and feel like, I feel like it's a fresh start now. So it doesn't sound like your new job is really happy, slappy either, but maybe you just need to look outside of that, outside of both of those places for somewhere that fits your mood. You sound like

a Brian Green. Let me share this with you. Never have I ever been to a job from Chili's all the way to Clear Channel. Never have I been to a job where I stay in my lane. Never. I never stay in my lane. I always find a way to work my way into something else. Whether that's on air, I work for the podcast network and I manage to slip my way into every meeting, always for whatever. I'm not that smart. I don't have that much to offer, but I'm just nosy. I like to go into other places and do other things and I get bored really easy. And so I manage to squirrel my way into things. And you know, sometimes I affect change in a positive way and sometimes I'm just disrupting everything that's going on. Sometimes I burn the bridges on the way out the door.

But you very much sound like a Brian Green where it's hard for you to sit still in one position and you when you see something that's wrong or you see something that you're interested in you run toward it, hoping that you can affect some kind of change. That's not a bad attitude to have, but that attitude requires a special kind of workplace, not a big corporation where they're going to tie you down to a cubicle like Clear Channel would. You have to find a place where you have the ability to spread your wings. You have to be like a multi-positioned player. You know what I'm saying, Chrissy? Switch hitter. Yes, right. A switch hitter, bisexual of the workplace, if you don't mind. You got to be like a multi-positioned player. You know what I'm saying, Chrissy? Mm-hmm. Switch hitter. Yes, right. A switch hitter. Bisexual of the workplace, if you don't mind.

You got to get out there and you got to try new things. Sample new sexual objects. And doesn't sound like a big corporate is where you should be working. But I caution against going back to the mom and pop shop and hoping that things are going to be any different than they were before. Because you don't know that to be the truth. Maybe the new owners are just as shitty as the old owners were. That's for sure. Working for a mom in a pop shop, mom in pop shop, working for a place that's someone else's baby, even though that's usually where everybody works for, even if you work at Amazon, you know, it's Jeff Bezos' baby. But Jeff Bezos, he's long since given his baby to many other managers that all then take over their little position.

But working directly for the person whose baby it is, is always going to be a thankless fucking job. It's always going to be a thankless job. And I've worked for some of these people. They have this idea and they start to see it blossom and they need to have their fingers in every piece of the pie and it's always their way or the highway. And partly that is why some of these businesses become very successful is because you have a single-minded visionary who takes control of everything, i.e. the commercial break.

And – commercial break. And, oh, yes, yes. Or you have a single-minded visionary who is just a dipshit and drives everything into the ground, i.e. the commercial break. There you go. Okay. Ask Chrissy, she knows. I'm a position player and my position is on top. You know what I'm saying? I like to smother everybody. You're a top and a bottom. I am. I like to take it in the ass and give it in the ass.

So very nice email, very well written. I really appreciate the nice words, Sid. But that's my advice to you. If you wanted our terrible advice, by the way, life advice, never take it from the commercial break. Look at us. We are literally two people who are desperately trying to get attention by yelling into microphones for fucking days a week.

Okay? You think Smartless is doing that? No, they're not. They actually have success. You see Conan acting like an idiot four days a week? No, he's not. You see Stern? Yeah, Stern's acting like an idiot. Yeah, I think that's the advice that I have to give, Chrissy. I don't- I concur. You concur? Mm-hmm. It's hard to go back and catch that magic that was the beginning where you felt like you were really building something.

And because, you know, it's going to take you a long time to get to the point to where you say, I'm out. Jared Sifton Yeah. Chrissy Lujan You know, because you are emotionally invested in it with a mom and pop type shop. Corporations you can quit easily and nobody knows, you're a number. Jared Sifton Yeah. Chrissy Lujan But with that, yeah, something that you were

working really hard with, you did a little bit of everything, it's going to be hard to go back. Here's what I appreciate about Sid. It's very hard as we know, because we have hired and fired people here at the commercial break sometimes. Well, anyway, I'm not going to get into HR things, but we have hired and fired people in our entrepreneurial lives here at the commercial break. It's very hard to find someone that isn't as invested in the success of the company as you are. And we're lucky to have a few people here that work for us now that are as invested in the success

as we are. So you seem like one of those people who was just as invested in the success of this mom-and-pop shop as they were. You guys just didn't see eye to eye on how to get there. But the problem is if you don't have a true like partnership feel with the mom and pop, then you're always going to be the person who's just trying to be as invested in the success of them. And they're always going to see you as that person, always going to see you as a person who is just an employee. And you want to be a partner in the business. You want to do things to make the

business better and have it be more successful. Well, then you should find someone. Start your own Shack Club. That's right. That's what I was going to say. Start your own Jack Shack. That's what I did. You should find someone who is going to, who's really going to see the value in that partnership, pay you like that, treat you like that, and bring you in like that, like bring you into the conversation like that. It's not always going to mean your way is the best way, but you know, and everybody's got a boss, by the way, everybody has a boss. I keep on telling my kids this.

I have one kid who is so fucking hard-headed, so fucking hard-headed. The other day, kid comes up to me and says, I want candy, I want candy. And I'm like, now I'm just being a jerk like they are to me sometimes. I'm like, no, no. And I say, no, no, no. And then I go to play with another kid and I turn my head and he's eating candy behind my back. What are you doing? Didn't I just tell you not to do that? Now, now. You know, now I'm in the wrong, right? So, we're going back and forth, like this really hard-headed conversation between two really hard-headed people. And I totally forgot. And he won. And he won. And he won. That's the bottom line. That's the point of that story. I forgot why I said to him.

You said everybody's got a boss. Oh, and okay. So I was sharing. And Astrid is our boss. Everybody's got a boss. Yes, and that was the punchline. And Astrid is my boss. And she should be. Kind words, Sid. Thank you for listening to the commercial break. Love you too.

And yeah, and by the way, we do have some more Ask TCBs that are quite a bit old. And we'll get to them later on this week. On Friday, we're going to do an Ask TCB with all the rest of the questions. None of them quite as, like, none of them quite as, I guess, demure as Sid's. People just, I think they just like to write in and hear themselves talk about, you know, basically, I don't believe any of you. That's what I'm trying to say. I don't believe any of this bullshit. Okay?

Not everyone has a 10-foot dick and can't find a girlfriend to take it. Do you know what I'm saying? And three people in a row writing that? Come on, guys. All right, we'll be back. In case you guys were wondering, I am currently trapped in the closet in the studio being forced to record liner after liner and I never get to leave. So help me by following us on Instagram at the commercial break and on TikTok at TCB

podcast and go to our website, tcbpodcast.com for more information about Brian and Chrissy and access to our massive catalog of video and audio episodes. Now please text us at 212-433-3TCB and tell Brian and Chrissy to let me out of the closet. items are recovered and transformed into new products. Recycling right is important and impactful. Let's work together and make a difference because small actions lead to big change for more tips on recycling. Visit toronto.ca slash recycle right. As a squirrel lover and possum hater, Chrissy, it breaks my heart to hear the story of peanut.

Have you heard the story of Peanut? Everybody's talking about Peanut. I only heard about Peanut earlier today. I had no idea there was such a kerfuffle, and then now Peanut's dead. For those of you, I know, now Peanut is no more. I only heard about Peanut today, now he's dead. I didn't know. I didn't know I was wearing tiny top hats. As a guy who spent an entire half an afternoon trying to save the life of a baby squirrel, it makes me really upset to think that all of my work is in vain because in fact,

squirrels are rodents and people want to kill them. Mostly the New York City councilmen or whoever these people are. But Peanut is a squirrel, was a squirrel, Peanut is no longer. Peanut is a was a squirrel. Do da, do da. Peanut was a squirrel, a very famous squirrel, but maybe the most famous squirrel named Peanut ever. if you don't, but maybe the most famous squirrel named Peanut ever. Maybe the most famous. Peanut named squirrel. I'm sorry, Brian, that was funny. Unintentionally funny, Brian, that's a good one. Peanut the squirrel's heartbreaking, this is TMZ here, byline TMZ, where we get all

the good juicy information. Peanut the squirrel's heartbreaking story is tugged at the heartstrings of thousands nationwide after the rodent was seized and euthanized by authorities last week. But a notable New York City Assemblywoman tells us despite it being a sad situation, human lives need to be prioritized. It seems like Peanut was a mass murdering squirrel. I don't know what that even means. What does that even mean? Peanut bit someone.

Oh, he did? Oh, well, if Peanut bit somebody, fuck Peanut. That's what I read, is that they had to euthanize him to see if he had rabies to know if the person was going to have rabies. Oh yeah, you got to like open the squirrel up in order to find out if they have rabies. That's hard to do while they're still alive, trust me. They only do that with your parathyroid. Anyway, the majority whip of the New York State Assembly tells TMZ that while she's an ardent animal rights advocate and sympathizes with peanuts owner Mark Longo, she believes euthanizing peanut was the

only option since the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Investigation Services revealed that the squirrel bit somebody. She explains to us that they had no choice but to put down peanuts so they could test the rodent for rabies, which is deadly for 99% of humans who catch it. Holy shit, really? Yeah. Really? Seriously? Rabies. 99% deadly? Yeah, I know, I've heard that. I've seen, I saw, I saw a raccoon that had rabies one time, and it was like foaming at the mouth. It was really weird.

It was not a, you didn't want to, you don't want that. But I do know, and I have heard of people who have gotten rabies shots before, and apparently that is a terrifyingly painful thing to go through. Like, you have to get them in your heart or something? I don't know, something like that. Or is that a tetanus shot? I can't remember, whatever, cares. Anyway, she also noted that it's well known that there's no approved method for testing animals for rabies while they are still alive. She believes the DEC was just doing its job, noting that the New York state law requires a license for owning a wild animal. So personnel were just sticking to the rules and following up on complaints about peanut not being legally registered.

Who's complaining about peanut? Really? I don't know. Is it the neighbors? I think I thought that was something about the neighbors. Jared Sarkissian Is the fuck the neighbors? Really, you're really that upset about a squirrel running around your apartment- Danielle Pletka Top hat. Jared Sarkissian Yeah, inside and outside your walls with a little top hat and a foaming mouth. Are you really that upset about peanut and his little peanut droppings everywhere in your abode? I mean, come on, it's getting a little insensitive

now. The councilwoman emphasizes she's sensitive about the whole situation and hopes that peanut can rest in peace. This is so funny. This is so unintentionally funny. I'm sorry, I'm with you. I know this must be heartbreaking to Mark and other people, but she even credits Mark for his efforts to legally run an animal refuge, which she describes as incredibly admirable. Well, thank you for that. It's a consolation prize. You're incredibly admirable. As we reported, authorities euthanized Peanut even though there was evidence that he did not have rabies. He had bitten Mark a few times, but Mark had never shown any symptoms. Peanut had half a million followers on Instagram and long ago says anonymous complaints about the squirrel led to the state agency getting a

search warrant to rip the animal from its home and kill it. Yeah, I know, I know. I got the same picture here. That little cowboy hat on. Along with peanut, along with drinking Pinot Noir, the state assembly woman said, fuck peanut. Along with peanut, Fred the raccoon was also. Yeah, I thought they seized someone else. Or another animal. He was also euthanized. Oh, Nick has a terrible track record with his animal refuge. I just have to say.

Nick's refuge seems more like a concentration camp for animals. Do a little dance and then I'm going to euthanize you. Like a concentration camp for him. Do a little dance and then I'm going to euthanize you. Here, dance for likes, little peanut. Dance for likes. You've outlived your usefulness. No more likes for peanut. I know I'm being insensitive, but I saved a squirrel, so I think I get a pass on this one. You do. I know I'm being insensitive, but I saved a squirrel, so I think I get a pass on this one. You do, yeah.

They are in, Peanut Longo and his wife tell us they are in the process of legal action about Peanut because they will not let Peanut die in vain. Okay, all right, let's talk this over as rational human beings. Well, first of all, get a license or whatever you need to do. Start there. Start there. Let's start there. Then start the saving again. Well, first of all, get a license or whatever you need to do. Yeah, you need a license. Start there. Let's start there. Then start the saving again.

Yeah, start saving the animals again, and then let's not get all of our animals in our refuge murdered by the New York State Councilwoman or whatever it is. Listen, Peanut is very cute. I saw Peanut, I saw Peanut's some of Peanut's videos. Peanut is adorable, and I saw Peanut, I saw Peanut's some of Peanut's videos. Peanut is adorable, and Mark is a peanut lover. He's an animal lover, just like I was when I found a little baby squirrel that was clearly in a lot of distress. I saved that, but I also took it to a approved animal sanctuary in some lady's living room in Kennesaw, Georgia. So know that I was on the up and up about this whole

thing. Don't come calling to me, New York State Assemblywoman, whatever your name is. No, I took it to an approved animal, like a person who had been approved by the environmental services to rescue these animals and care for them. You know, she, and so that start there legally, you got to get that. But second of all, I do understand that like, if people are concerned that other people may get bit and get rabies, that's like, you know, you do have to save the people first. All of that said, it's a terrible tragedy. It honestly is for everyone involved in peanuts life, because I met that squirrel. I met peaches for exactly two hours,

and I was in love with Peaches. Like, I would have done anything for Peaches. Of course. No, and something so cute. But you also have to think about, because we just got done watching that show on HBO, what was it, The Chimp Woman? Chimp? Yeah, Chimp Crazy? Chimp Crazy. Yeah, those animals are cute, but they're wild.

They are wild. And they can turn and eat your face. That's right. You need to be approved. You can turn and eat your face at any moment. You need to get some training or some kind of accreditation. Yeah. I mean, listen.

I want to work with these little cuties. Yeah, you really do. And that's the only way to keep everybody safe. But I do see why this is a story that has gained some traction. Sure. Because, you know, just like me, I saved a squirrel. Had I kept the squirrel, you know, I probably would have been in the crosshairs of somebody for having a wild animal that didn't have tests and all that other stuff. And just like that lady on Chimp Crazy, I mean, I think there is a difference

between having a wild chimpanzee in your bathroom, a 500 pound Tonka in your bathroom and having peanut hanging out in your kitchen. But I guess you got to kind of apply the rules evenly to everybody or else then you get this wild things. Because peanut is one thing, but there are some crazy mofos out there that really have crazy wild animals, crazy wild animals, and they shouldn't have them. I told you the story about how one time I went to a party here in Atlanta and they had big cats in cages in the backyard of this mansion. And those big cats were clearly like, this wasn't a zoo.

These were like just people who owned big cats. Like, you know, those guys you see that are in Dubai, that are riding around in their Corvettes with the top down, and they've got like a 3000 pound lion on a chain. I mean, at any moment, at any moment, those things jump out of the car and start mauling people. And that's what happened, and that's the story of Siegfried and Roy,

if I'm being honest. I mean, that story always just made me so creeped out, that story of Siegfried and Roy. To think no one, and I mean no one, in the 25 years plus that they had that show going on in Vegas, and those lions, huge lions and tigers and ligers, were just sitting there, feet from people who had paid $10,000 to sit in the front row. And at any moment, they could have just jumped off stage and started mauling people.

And no one thought to think about that. No one thought to give that a little you know, a little look-see until after Sigfried, was it Sigfried or Roy? I can't remember. I think it was Sigfried. After Sigfried got dragged off stage by one of the tigers, supposedly to defend him, and I don't see how that was the case, but anyway, that's, I'm not an animal psychiatrist, which I was sometimes, because then I could get in the mind of Peanut and understand what was going through his little brain.

Or Blue. Or Blue. Or Blue. But no one thought to talk it over with Siegfried and Roy, whether or not any of these animals could at any moment just jump into the audience and start mauling people. Isn't that crazy? Yeah. Well, I mean, that's like, think about those circuses that used to travel around.

Oh, I went to some when I was a kid. When I was a kid too. Yeah, where they had like elephants and lions and tigers and monkeys and there was no netting. There was no railing or plexiglass or anything. Or chains on the animals. Now they were just hoping they'd run from one side of the arena to the other for a piece of meat.

But at any moment they could have just decided to run for another kind of piece of meat, which was a small child in the audience named Brian. Oh, no! I mean, so, you know, while I do have a big open heart for Mark and Peanut, I do also understand. Kindolences. Kindolences for Peanut. His spirit will live on. His spirit will live on forever on Instagram in a top hat.

And let us not forget the much overlooked Fred the Raccoon, who also had to suffer the same fate. Honorable mention. Honorable mention to Fred, who just died simply because Peanut was biting people. Ha! For that! Ha ha ha ha ha! We have given no sanctimony to this particular story and I'm sorry if you're offended. I'm sorry. We're just a little slap happy.

It's been a long time since we've worked this hard with a bit of vacationing and on morphine and dealing with mana-paws. Surgery! Dealing with mana-paws, as my friend said the other day. Mana-paws! Yeah, he goes, you're dealing with mana-p Yeah, dealing with mana pause as my friend said the other day. Yeah, he goes, you're dealing with mana pause, bro. Yes, I am. Yes, I am. There's a pill for that. There is. I'm taking it. Yes, but I am feeling much better. So yes,

we're so excited. We got, I wish I could remember all the names. Mariana, I think was one of them. Marianne, a lot of other people, all the Marys. Thank you very much. Yeah, I'm feeling better. Last week was not the commercial break at his top form, but I was kind of high. A die-ride hormone. What a ride. But I am feeling much better today and yesterday and all the other episodes you've heard. So there you go. All right. tcbpodcast.com. That's where you go. You find out more information about Chrissy and I, all the audio, all the videos, show notes, links to our sponsors codes, all that good stuff, information about our guests. It's all there. You can also get your free TCB

sticker. Go to the website, hit the contact us button. There's a drop down menu. It says something about a sticker. Click on that one, give us your address. Give us your address and we'll send off a sticker to your location. No muss, no fuss, no money needed. But if you want to send us money, feel free to do that too. Maybe I should start putting our PayPal up there. Drop down menu, I want my PayPal. 212-433-23-TCB. That's 212-433-3822. Questions, comments, concerns, content ideas. We are taking them all right there at that phone number. Text or leave

us a voice message and we will get back to you. I promise. Add the commercial break on Instagram. I haven't checked that. My very year later. Yeah. I haven't checked that phone since I went for surgery. TCB podcast on TikTok and youtube.com slash the commercial break. Okay, Chrissy, I guess that's all I can do for today. I think so. But I'll tell you that I love you. I love you best to you. Best to you out there in the podcast universe. Until next time, Chrissy and I always say, we do say, and we must say,

goodbye, Peanut, we love you. I gotta get some cocaine! Gotta be crazy! It's the season for new styles and you love to shop for jackets and boots. So when you do, always make sure you get cash back from Rakuten. And it's not just clothing and shoes. You can get cash back from over 750 stores on electronics, holiday travel, home decor and more. It's super easy. And before you buy anything, always go to Rakuten first.

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