We're Here to Help - 289: WEIRD Here To Help: Seance At The Cheesecake Factory & Workplace Whimsy
Episode Date: May 8, 2026Steve & Eric help a caller navigate the aftermath of an unprompted work trip seance at The Cheesecake Factory. Then they pitch some ideas for bringing a little bit of whimsy into the work...place.Want to call in? Email your question to weirdheretohelp@gmail.com.PATREON: https://patreon.com/heretohelppodMERCH: heretohelppod.comINSTAGRAM: @HereToHelpPodIf you’re enjoying the show, make sure to rate We’re Here to Help 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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This is a headgum podcast.
Steve Berg, Eric Edelstein. Now, our last episode, we had a dozy of a problem. No one has ever been
in more need of help than our brother, Steve Berg. Steve, you had a tick on your dick. A lot of
listeners writing in, a lot of people concerned, a lot of amateur advice, a lot of professional
advice. Please give us an update. You look okay. Your color looks good. You seem okay. But a lot of
People wanted you to go get tested for lime.
They wanted you to get on a dose of antibiotics.
They said the bullseye is not always an indicator of Lyme disease.
Please update our good listeners.
Things are good.
We're healed up.
Zero symptoms.
No bullseye.
Should I go to a doctor and get an antibiotic?
Maybe.
Should I go to a doctor in general?
Maybe.
However, I'm choosing the natural path on this one.
A lot of teacher plant, some vitamin D.
Smoking wheat.
Well, I mean, it's medicine.
Okay. Okay.
It's prescribed to me.
But what about all the people?
Like, if you, because I, I've learned so much about ticks since this incident.
I've been reading all the comments on Reddit, on Patreon.
Are they a CIA creation?
I don't know.
Like they know.
You might be.
You might be a side.
Well, I.
Well, there's some interesting articles I found on that, which I won't get into now.
No, we'll get that for another show.
That's for another show.
Yeah.
But a lot of people are saying just go to the doctor immediately if you're bit by a tick and get those antibiotics so it doesn't turn into lime.
Yeah.
You know me.
I am a worrier.
Why didn't you do that?
Oh, sheer laziness, Eric.
I'm a roll the dice kind of guy.
I like to wait until the problem appears and then freak out and go to the doctor.
But, yeah, I didn't, you know, because, I mean, look, look, I've, I like to fly fish.
I'm an outdoor kid.
I've had so many ticks in my life.
I've had one.
And this is the first time I've had one.
I've had one deeper embedded in me.
And I've just never, you know, I've just kind of the school.
Like, hey, man, like it's okay.
Like, people get bitten by ticks.
Also, I will say Nebraska doesn't have a huge lime problem.
Like, we, I think we don't, I know if we have,
is it the deer tick that carries limes a lot?
It hasn't really reached this part.
I mean, like, look, there is limes here.
But it's not like a huge problem like it is in like Pennsylvania and New York and stuff like that.
Because Chris Maloney from Law & Order, his sporess on all the time, and I get scared every time.
I know, I know.
It's not a joke.
And he looks like he's been through hell.
No, I trust Maloney, but, yeah, so far I'm good, and maybe I'll regret it.
Yeah.
Oh, Big Maloney.
Is there, Steve, a mark or a scar on your fallas?
Don't see phallus to me.
God.
You've got a phallis.
You're walking around the phallis, buddy.
and Buzz coming out of the Midwest is you're packing a full lunch, king.
Is your fallace intact?
Is there a mark on?
It's okay.
It's okay.
Yeah, I mean, maybe a slight mark, you know, but I banished up a lot of vitamin E ointment on it and neosporan.
So, no, we're healed up.
We're operational again.
We're open for business.
You're open for business.
Oh, Mike.
Somebody call it a better business bureau.
Eric, I do want to slightly switch gears because.
Please, Steve. Bring us out of this hell.
The one you created.
I admit it.
I admit it.
Yeah, you brought it up.
But you did something truly amazing this week.
I did.
Last weekend, I was invited to speak at Malvern Manor, which is a historically haunted
location in Malvern, Iowa.
And I gave a lecture about anonymous light phenomenon.
Actually, on the Patreon, I made a little mini documentary of that situation, which will be up very soon.
But I what was the the lectures went great the small I love small towns, right?
So to spend a weekend of small towns, it's like I am in heaven.
There's like a thousand people there.
One great diner that everyone was like basically Grand Central Station.
Everyone goes there and the food was so good.
Would you get?
Weirdly, weirdly, I want because I know before I speak, I don't like to go heavy.
So I want to be light and lively.
So I got a Greek salad.
Normally I would not recommend doing that in a small town.
out of a thousand. However, it was incredible.
Lots of, very generous with the
Greeks went everywhere. You can get a
out there. They did. They did.
In fact, I think ethics food is always a good
bet in small towns, in my opinion.
But Eric, what was
really fun and special about this
weekend is I went ghost hunting
in this place at night with
some professional, I mean, I'm using
that in quotes, ghost hunters, ghost investigators.
And it was
genuinely
very scary.
Very, very scary.
Really? You don't get scared much.
I don't get scared much, but this place was vibed out.
People had all kinds of instruments, EMF readers, dousing rods, ghost boxes, and like little things would pop up.
One ghost called me a bitch.
No.
Are you serious?
We went into a room where supposedly doesn't.
I don't know.
They said before, I was like one of the few males on this little thing.
It was mostly these wonderful women.
And they were like, hey, so be warned before we go into this room,
Gracie doesn't like male energy.
And I was like, oh, well, you know, I'm friend-o-female, you know?
Yeah, you spend your life winning over elderly women.
Absolutely.
That's exactly right.
As we've said multiple times, we're in touch with our divine feminine.
But we went in there, they were running instruments,
and then they said something to the effect, some kind of question,
like, what do you think about the man in the room?
And then all of a sudden it goes, bitch.
and so I got called up for being a bitch by a disincarnate voice, which is the first.
Checked out the bucket list.
How many people can say that, though?
Not many.
I'm going to be honest.
I love you, but she had your pegged.
She had me pegged.
I mean, I am a bitch, dude.
Yeah, exactly.
That's why we do the show together, buddy.
I'm catty, you know what I'm saying?
Oh, please.
I'm the Yentive Glossel Park.
Yeah.
Please.
But it was a great experience.
I will say I've always been kind of like a little bit like, I mean, look,
I'm very skeptical about whether we were actually communicating with non-human intelligence.
No, if it called you a bitch, I think you were.
I think you were right.
You think that's the science?
Yeah, I think you just proved ghosts, man.
How else would it have known?
So were the EMF readers going off like in Ghostbusters and the dousing rods?
You know, on the bottom floor, we got like a lot of action.
And the bottom floor is I had been to this place one time during the.
the day on a hot July day, and I was very scared.
During the day of this place.
Very sweaty.
There was not a lot of AC in this house, and insulation is questionable.
But I, there is this one hallway where people, and two people who I know personally,
who I really believe that they experienced this to their knowledge, not saying what it was,
but there is this shadow figure, like a shadow man that chases people out.
And so I actually went down and sat by myself in this dark hallway, couldn't see my hand in
front of my face and sat down there and waited for the shadow person to come and it was the scariest
like four minutes of my life i was terrified did you see anything no i found nothing i find nothing
you know me i would not do that i would not invite it in i'm terrified of shadow figures i used to see
them in my sleep and i thought they were trying to kill me and then my friend tegan told me to not take
uh benedadryl yeah benedroo did benedroo makes the hat man come it truly did it was terrifying
and I had recurring nightmares and night tears and I run around,
then I quit taking Benadryl, and it's the different...
It went away.
Hydramine H-C-I, so thank you, Tegan Quinn.
Yeah, there's like Reddit threads about people taking...
about people reporting their Benadryl experiences.
First off, do not take Benadryl to trip out and see the hat-man, folks.
No, I wasn't.
I'm doing it because I'm the most allergy-ridden soul there is.
Yeah, you're allergic.
Nettles.
But, like, I would see these terrifying shadow figures that were trying to, like,
steal my breath when I slept.
Yeah, you don't want that.
And then finally, Teigen's like, do you take Benadryl?
I'm like, oh, yeah, I'd take it to sleep.
And for allergies and they went away.
But what happened in that house, Steve, that it's so haunted?
It was an old care center.
A lot of people, I think there's been 200 confirmed.
Yeah.
And it used to be, it started out.
There's no way I'd go.
There's no way I would step in there.
Was a fuel parlor in the 1860s.
And then got turned to like a care center for like people with like a psychological
disorders like tuberculosis and stuff but oh what are you doing dude don't you
don't you don't worry that those shadow figures and ghosts will follow you like I would
never walk in there my wife worries about that I don't because I'm like well that would be
great because I could bring it home and then I could study it so oh god no you're so much
braver than I am you're actually not really a bitch that goes well I am I'm thank you
so scared I'd never go back that ghost lied I wouldn't even say anything bad about that ghost
That's how scared I involved.
We really came full circle on this.
You know, at first you thought the ghost was
random money about call me a bitch, and then you saw a reason
and saw that I'm a brave, valiant soldier.
Yeah, much braver than I.
In the world of the paranormal.
Much braver than I. I'm scared of spiders.
Well, my friend, Steve, we got some amazing calls here.
Are you ready to get into it, you little bitch?
Hell yes.
Okay.
Eric, God, dang it.
We'll talk off the air.
Never call me a touch in front of the air.
Sorry, the ghost started, I'm just going to finish it.
But we have some truly incredible calls today.
And we can't wait to get into it.
So without any further ado, it's Weird Here to the Health.
Don't you ever call me a little bitch again.
Sorry, bitch.
Well, my friend, welcome to Weird Here to Help starring Eric Edelstein and your little buddy, Stevenberg.
Could you tell us what your name is, where you're calling from, and your favorite book, movie slash TV show?
and album.
Sure.
Okay.
So my name is Beatrice.
I'm calling from Minnesota.
Where in Minnesota if you don't mind?
I'm just the suburbs of the Twin Cities.
Oh, I love it there.
I love it.
I am a massive Minneapolis fan, St. Paul.
I love it.
Hussker Due, the replacements to my favorite bands of all time.
The people couldn't be nicer.
It's gorgeous.
Great.
You have a lot of Windigo sightings.
Yeah, it's great.
Have you ever had breakfast or lunches?
at French Meadow.
No.
Oh, friend.
It's so good.
And I'm going to say this.
This is going to be controversial
to my brothers and sisters
and thamesers in the northwest.
Minnesota is the friendliest people on the planet.
And it's genuine.
They're the kindest, nicest, best people.
I went there and visited my good buddy
Scott Sayeredas.
Everybody go to Mill City Sound,
his record store.
But when I first went there,
I was so confused by how genuinely
wonderful everyone was there.
And I looked it up.
And I found the prince quote,
The cold keeps the assholes out.
And I sure think that's true.
Yep, that's the match in Minnesota right there.
Oh, yeah.
So Beatrice, first of all, I love your name, beautiful name.
Yeah, what, talk to me about some of your pop culture thingies, you know, book, album, TV, movie, that kind of stuff.
Can do.
So I feel like I should answer Prince, but I'm not going to.
So please don't come for me.
It's okay.
It's okay.
It's okay.
I shook his hand once.
One day I'm going to finally tell the story on our first Unc show.
But yeah, you're allowed to.
You could also say Bob Dillan, he's from Hibbing.
That's true.
I can say all those.
But I'm not going to.
I'm going to say the greatest hits by Abba.
Oh, yeah.
I love Abba out of Bashedly.
They're great.
Yes.
Yes.
Books, this might be cheating, but I'm going to say the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit.
I just have to have them all.
allowed. You're allowed that. This is your world, friend. We're just inhabiting it today.
Love those books. Thank you. Thank you. And then TV show Shitts Creek, hands down.
Okay. So great. Oh, we miss Kauffin-O-Hara. Shitt's Creek. Finally, they let C-Biscuit out of
the stable and let him run the great Chris Elliott, Schitts Creek. More Canadian television,
please. Right. Yeah. More Canada, everything. Minnesota's like Canada adjacent, I feel like.
Like the Northwest is kind of, but there's like a very shared, you know,
it's cold. They're funny. They're legends. We love it. Yeah. Yeah. They're legends. They also,
they also have a signature kind of pocket sandwich called the pasty. Have you ever had a pasty,
Beatrice? No, I feel like you're putting me to shame. That's okay. That's okay. I don't know.
The other Minnesota thing is, what do they call it, Beatrice is a hot plate? Everybody has their own
hot plate and it's like hot dish. Hot dish. Yes. Steve, do you know about hot dish?
Is it like a tater tot situation? It's made,
for you. What's in it, Beatrice? Sell Steve on a hot dish, because I know he'd love it.
If you're going to go for like your classic tater tot hot dish, it's tater tots, usually ground
beef, some kind of vegetable like carrots, peas, et cetera, and then a mystery cream, usually cream
of mushroom. Oh, that sounds good. I'll tell you, would that stick to your ribs, Midwest Fair
right there? I am all about that kind of cuisine. I'm not good at cooking here. I have a little experience,
but boy would I destroy a plate of hot dish right about now.
It might destroy you too, but yeah.
Yeah, it might.
I have a sensitive belly of my own dish.
You had him in mystery cream.
He's yours.
Careful with the mystery cream.
It binds everything together.
The meat, the potatoes, some hot dishes have cheese on top.
Everybody has their version of it.
It's part of what makes Minnesota the best.
Yeah, it really is.
No, no, Beatrice, I'm sure you didn't.
call in to regal us with
the stories of hot dishes
and whatnot. Maybe she did.
Well, if you did, that's fine, too, because we can chat
about that for 20 minutes. No problem.
But, sister, is there an issue that
you think my cohort
double E? And I can help you with that. I've never called you double E.
I like it. It felt good. It felt natural.
You're, you're crushing today, Steve. If I had a gradie, it's an A-plus.
It makes you sound like you're just like
a walking bra. A brazier.
What?
What?
Anyways, never, never mind.
All right.
Let's switch down to 93, Beatrice.
He's plunging.
I have no idea what he's.
You said hot dish and now he can't think of anything else.
Yeah, I know.
Like I'm so, I'm confused right now.
But seriously, uh, Beatrice, how can we hop in today, my friend?
Yeah.
Okay, so let me give you a little context because context is important.
He sure is.
It's a question.
It's key.
Okay.
So one, the first thing to note is that my boss is retiring in about three weeks.
Okay.
Is that good?
Is that good? Off the bat, is that good?
It's great.
It's not listening to the show. I think we're safe here.
Yeah.
We're putting him in the canoe on the river with a bottle of booze and a hot dish and saying,
you've done your job, float off, bye.
And then we find out the boss has one of my calendars on their refrigerator, so, you know,
you never know.
In that case, we love you.
Stop that canoe, come back in.
We're lost without your friend.
We love you, boss.
We need you.
Okay, I'm sorry.
Please continue.
Okay.
So a little bit about the situation.
I was at work travel.
And as part of the work travel, we went out for a dinner because that's what you do as a team.
And we chose the classiest place.
We went to the cheesecake factory in a mall.
Large menu?
Oh.
Everyone wins.
Once blew out my sciatica picking up their menu.
That's right.
Yes.
Yes.
So we sat down.
We're there.
We finished dinner.
We're in between dessert and dinner and dessert.
And my boss says, I would like to practice my medium work.
and she puts her hands out, palms up.
She closes her eyes.
She gets ready to call forth the spirit.
No.
And my coworker that's sitting next to her, her eyes just like explode.
She's a fairly religious person, the coworker.
Her eyes explode.
She looks at me and she's like, hey, can we please like go to the mall just to like get
something for my husband?
And I'm like, sure, let's go.
And so she has to like awkwardly like interrupt my boss, right?
As she's like trying to call down the spirit to scooch past her in the,
in the booth.
No.
So she gets out, we escape into the ball.
We're out there for like maybe 15 minutes.
We come back and my boss is livid.
Like she's pissed.
And I'm like, hey, what's wrong?
Were we gone too long?
And she's like, yes.
And she beelines it for the car.
We all beelined it behind her.
The next two days are really awkward.
It's just silent treatment.
Oh.
We can come.
So then Monday I get called into a meeting with her.
And she proceeds to tell me that my behavior at the work travel
dinner was inappropriate because I left the dinner and I did return time.
And okay, oh, I don't know if I mentioned this.
She's my, she's my HR manager.
So I'm an HR.
She's my HR manager.
She's an HR.
Incredible.
She's an HR manager trying to summon spirits of the cheesecake factory.
You know what?
Long may she run.
I'm seeing why she's retiring.
This is legend behavior, but isn't anything I don't want to be around.
But like, we have to acknowledge we run across.
us a really unique American.
We have to acknowledge the budget behavior.
This is an all-timer.
Like, Beatrice, congrats.
You're already in the top five calls, and we're only eight minutes in.
Like, don't let that glow of your head.
But like, this is amazing, insane behavior.
Right.
It's why corporate America won't have me because I would do the same thing.
But Steve, if you did it, you would make sure everyone around you was comfortable.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, like, because, like, look, when you're, when you're doving into the
the dark arts or seances or occultism or esotericism, it is not, you should never force anyone
or put anyone in a position where they're feeling bad about not participating in a ritual
because that is a sentence is a ritual.
You're all agreeing to do a separate protocols to try to create an event.
Go back to that word, Steve.
You're all agreeing.
Agreed.
Exactly.
And let me just tell you because I'll call a caller out.
I don't care.
you did the most perfect HR thing ever.
You got that person that was uncomfortable out of there.
You took him to Hot Topic, to Foot Locker,
to Cinnibon, probably got him a couple of minibons and a mochalada chill.
And, like, handled that situation with Grace and decorum,
I hope you're taking over your boss's job.
Because out the gates, your behavior was perfect.
And your boss is crazy.
Check her crawl space.
I bet there's at least a couple people up there,
maybe still alive.
I'm going to add a caveat to that.
I'm going to say your boss,
because Eric,
we acknowledge this legend behavior.
Yeah.
And a lot of respects is crazy awesome.
Because like,
like,
here's where the boss
this lady was called her.
Let's call her Meredith for
our cheesecake factory.
Right, right, right.
On its face,
on paper, what Meredith did
is one of the coolest things
I have ever fucking heard of my life.
However, if you are,
If you are going to be mad at someone for not participating in a magical ritual at a public space,
then you probably shouldn't be using mediumship or any kind of magical skills.
Because, like, first off, if you're being selfish, you're forcing people into bending randomness without the consent.
And I don't think that's cool to do.
What she should have done and said, guys, I know you know I'm retiring.
I'm going to try to be a medium.
I'm going all in.
If anybody wants to, you're going to.
you're going to get free dessert right now.
Anyone not?
The mall's right over there.
Go crazy.
Go to foot locker.
But to put that on people,
because I'll say this,
and I know I got a reputation
of being hippie, woo-woo,
I've never done a Ouija board.
I won't go near a Ouija board.
Steve teases me and threatens to bring
Ouija boards to my home,
and I don't want it.
My wife wouldn't even let me use mine.
No.
I'm a wishi board pariah over here.
I had nine years of Catholic,
and it's stuck and I won't go near those things.
And for somebody to do that, and also to ruin, you know, we may make jokes about the large
menu.
I've never had a bad meal at the Cheesecake Factory.
When I was starving, I've never really been starving.
Let's be honest.
When I had no money, my parents had come to town and they would take Derek Waters and I
to the Cheesecake Factory.
And it was every single time, we would put on the calendar and look forward to it so much.
They never should have taken the mile high meatloaf off the menu.
we should do a seance for that.
That was bad.
I love me, Loaf.
But you just, I think you already know, you handle this perfectly.
But what did your boss say to you in that meeting afterward?
Because to me, that should have been an apology being from her and saying, thank you for saving my ass.
But this is someone that's quitting.
It's not afraid about HR.
Yeah.
Right.
So that's my question.
It's like, do I report her, right?
Or do I just let it go under the bridge because she's retiring in three weeks?
Can I ask a question about that?
Can I ask you a question about that?
because that's what I was just thinking about.
It's like you're about ready to move up in the world, right?
And I think you have been kind of dealt a shitty card by this whole situation
because it is a quandary.
Like, what do I do?
I think a lot of times I would be like, you know what,
they're retiring in three weeks?
Maybe they're going through a weird phase and they're panicking
because they don't know what to do with their life and their time after they retire.
Let bygones be bygones.
However, you're in the middle or,
starting your career.
And if you, I mean, like, part of your job is to report inappropriate behavior,
am I right?
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, absolutely.
Ladies and gentlemen, Steve Berg understands what HR is.
By the way, that was a shot in the dark.
I wasn't sure.
I'm glad he got it right.
I'm glad.
You nailed it.
It would have been bad for the pod.
To me, I'm looking after my own.
You're in the middle.
You have a long career ahead of you.
And also, I think the higher-ups are going.
got to respect that you don't fear a boss.
And like, you can even kind of say like, look, here's a reality situation.
Meredith tried to do a say-in-ness with the Chief Trade Factory.
It's just a fun sentence to say.
Which is so fucking fun to say.
I can say it all day, right?
And like, and like we acknowledge, like, the caveat aside, like, this is legend behavior.
On paper, this is one of the coolest things a boss could ever do.
But for you, it's even put in a difficult position.
If I'm you, I report it because if I'm the boss, I feel like, you know what?
Beatrice is not scared of like seniority and stuff like that.
Something inappropriate happened and she had the guts to report it right away.
Like that's just my take.
Here's my take, Steve.
I'm about two things.
I'm about no snitches.
I'm about no narks.
I don't think you need.
But you're an HR, dude.
It doesn't matter.
She's leaving three weeks.
I'm about to offer a solution that on the sum is going to seem insane.
It's going to seem crazy.
And yet, I'm in for it.
And Steve, I'm so sorry.
I think you're going to have to be in for it too.
I think you should go to your boss and say, I'm friends with,
I'm a friend of a program that dowels in the paranormal.
And they would love to have you on to do a seance.
They get big numbers.
There's a whole buzz.
And Beatrice, we will let her come on and cook.
And if she wants to do it remotely from a cheesecake factory, she is welcome to do it.
She can get the southwestern egg rolls and talk to the dead.
And I will thank her.
And, you know.
Yeah, right, Steve?
We'd have her on.
Well, and here's the thing.
Beatrice, we have something in common.
I have also broken bread with a psychic medium.
I'm not joking.
Also, she was very pretty.
And the whole time I was, like, worried that she was thinking, like, oh, is he like,
you know,
anyways,
and we'll get into that.
No,
I want to,
I want to circle back to that,
Beatrice.
You got to,
if you have a minute.
So hold on.
No,
no,
no,
no,
no,
you're stuck in this now.
Congrats.
So you're worried the whole time,
like,
I don't want to think
she's attractive
because she'll know.
Yeah,
so I was like trying to play
my name.
So are you like trying to think
of like a pink elephant,
like don't think she's attracted.
Yes, exactly.
I was like,
think about baseball.
Think about George Brett.
You know,
like,
think about George Brett.
Like,
I think it's highly sexual to think about George Brett.
He inspired the song.
He inspired the song Royals because he's such an erotic, good-looking guy in those powder-blue uniforms.
He really was.
No, we're not leaving this.
Sorry, buddy.
Was there a vibe between you two?
There wasn't.
She was married.
I'm married.
There was two other people there.
But we were having a conversation getting to know each other, blah, blah, blah.
I never met her.
And we were at a big foot conference, of course.
Which is a way I spend my time sometimes.
We're not here to join.
We're not here to judge.
We just offered this lunatic legend of spot on the show.
Steve is getting sweating.
I felt like I was being polygraphed.
Steve, your forehead is sweating underneath that fantastic head of hair.
Well, it's, you know,
my husband will say grandma butt to help him calm down.
Oh, that's a good one.
Steve, take that.
Did you say he'll think about his grandma's butt?
Well, to calm down, yeah.
Yeah, that works.
That will work, Steve.
Is that how you beat a polygraph?
Next time you find yourself insanely attracted to a psychic or a big foot researcher,
you think about your grandma's butt.
You thank Beatrice's husband.
Thank you.
Mr. Beatrice.
This is why we need HR involvement in our show.
Yeah, I don't think we need to tell on her with three weeks left.
I think we need to like keep it clean and like you don't want to create an enemy.
Here's the thing, though.
This could not be a more.
Or if you do it, say it in a funny way.
Okay.
I, Eric, you know what?
Like on paper, I totally agree with you.
The only thing I think about is if I'm just hired someone to do Beatrice's job,
And then they were around a very red flagged, egregious, like, you know, foul in the HR world.
And they didn't report that because there was other employees there.
I mean, it might get back to Jim Bob, who's running the whole company.
And Jim Bob's going to be like, dude, why don't you tell me that, like, Meredith did a seon inside the cheesecake factory?
You know, like, I'm worried about you than I am Meredith.
Meredith is retiring.
She's going to go be a second medium at Casadega and Upstate New York.
and love her life.
But you have a long career head of you in the HR game,
and I think, like, if you start this new position
with overlooking something,
just because it's a superior, I don't know.
Like, I guess if I was Jim Bob and I ran the company,
I'd be like, you know what, that's badass.
You had the guts to come to me about this.
She should not have been trying to summon the dead.
She's got back to them all.
I mean, like, call me crazy.
Call me a stickler to the rules,
but I believe that is in that I believe that's in the bylaws page 42 Z 49 line no seances in chain restaurants.
That's got to be.
That's got to put it in the company.
Yeah, we have to now going forward.
Now here's the question I have because, and I have a million questions.
I could talk to you for an hour about this because it's such legend behavior, which you did.
But did you get a report on how the seance went after you left?
Okay, so I didn't, but here's the thing.
A little backstory.
I've been with this organization for about three years.
The first month I started, we were on a work trip in Chicago,
and she did a one-on-one seance with me.
Just go right on.
She's a freaky rudo.
I love this.
Yeah, Steve's going to have to think about his grandma's butt when we have her on the air.
Yeah.
Yeah.
How did the one-on-one seance go?
Was it real?
Um, well, yeah, so personally, I, I, I, I don't believe anything she said because she seemed to
rehearsed and like she kind of says the same thing and also, it's just, she's a bad medium.
Not even good.
She's not even good.
Not even good.
Not even good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But I just kind of like, hummed and hard my way through it.
Cause I'd only been on with, like, she'd only been my manager at that point for about a month.
Oh.
I was like, what the hell do I do?
That is also a...
Beatrice, it's so great.
It's so fun.
If you saw in a movie, you'd be like,
this is not real.
What was wrong with that writer?
This is my love life.
Unfortunately, I think we've kind of come to this place
where Eric and I are at a bit of a crossroads,
which doesn't happen often.
I am 100% for you.
And like, look, you wouldn't think I'm going to...
Steve, oh, you're the guy who's into the weird stuff.
Snitches get stitches.
But however, I'm looking at your...
But it's HR.
But it's HR.
They're literally the job.
Can you do it in kind of a funny conversational way?
Like, look, we love this legend.
She's leaving.
I think you could soft for it.
I don't want it to be awkward when I'm eating.
I'm assuming she's going to have a goodbye party with hot dish because it's Minnesota.
I don't want that to be awkward for you.
Maybe we can kind of mel the two.
I think Steve's probably right.
And Steve is better at day jobs than I was.
I got a pizza plate by the health department.
You were.
You were good Barnes & Noble employee.
I was pretty good.
What if you did it and like a kind of a whimsical friend?
fun way of like, look, some legend shit went down to the Cheesecake Factor.
I know she's leaving.
But just so you know, because that's also taking care of your religious co-worker
who should feel comfortable at work.
That was a major, major league intrusion, breach, insanity.
And for your boss to get mad that you took her out of the situation, what you did was
perfect HR behavior means your boss is truly crazy and truly, really crazy.
very welcome to come on here for a special episode.
We're actually big fans of this lady.
Yeah, I mean, this is the funniest shit ever.
All just aside, like, if I was writing a screenplay, like, the next thing I ever write,
if I ever write anything again, I will absolutely put that scene in there.
I'm stealing there because it's one of the funniest set up.
But people wouldn't believe it. No, they wouldn't believe it.
It's so crazy. Yeah, it's so crazy.
It's hard to ruin a meal of the cheese.
I do think, I think. With that menu, there's something for everyone.
I agree. I agree. And I think Eric kind of.
nailed it. I think, like, I think you do turn her in, but you soft shoe it and kind of, like,
with a smile and a little bit of a giggle under your breath, like, so this is what happened.
Pam got a little uncomfortable because she's an evangelical or whatever and, like, had to go to
go buy some summer sausage and chill out.
She went to seize candy.
She just got a bunch of fudge.
She got so much fudge.
She let her get extra sample.
I'm actually now turning her in because.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, you don't have, you're not like, you know, the police here.
But like I do think you could do it in a way, kind of like how Eric, Eric was pitching,
where you're kind of giving it a little bit of a soft shoe.
It's like, this funny thing happened, you know, and then I think your boss probably like,
all right, we're going to let it go.
She's gone three weeks, just kind of grin and bear it.
But thank you for telling me, I'm glad I hired the right person.
Oh, that's my take.
I'm a lot like Pock.
I got a big Tupac streak of me.
I don't like snitching, but I think this is the rare time.
I think it helps you.
and it also, your poor co-worker was made to feel very uncomfortable.
Yeah.
And we want to acknowledge and allow anyone's religion, and that is truly insane.
Yeah, she caused satanic panic in the religious co-worker.
I mean, my God.
We want to take care of that person.
So I think for this, I'm going to let my inner Tupac go and say, let's snitch in a funny way.
In a funny way.
Which, Beatrice, you already have such a great way of pitching this.
You do.
And I think you do it with a little wry smile already, and it will all.
work out great. And then just have a giant smile on your face. Bring a nice hot dish for her
going away party. And then let her know if she wants it. She has a place to do a seance right here
with us. And I will have to mute my video to keep from laughing a whole lot because this person
is the next level nut. When I hear about someone like this, I applaud them that they've been able
to survive this long in this crazy world being that insane that it took until three weeks before she
retired to truly go off the deep end.
But retirement's scary.
She might be having weird stuff of retirement.
I'm wondering that too.
I also will think people pass away when they retire because they're not challenged
anymore.
Maybe she's looking for an amazing new challenge.
But I personally do not believe she can summon the dead.
But there's only one way to find out right here on weird here now.
That's right.
Bring her on.
Put your money where your mouth is.
I would say in the interest of science and research, ask the other coworkers who were at the
sands once you left.
What went down?
line by line detail by detail.
If you could find out what actually happened at the sance,
we'd love to have you back on because like,
while the mechanics of us helping you are fun with this call,
the setup for this call is,
I don't know will ever be beat.
I truly, and I mean that, like,
the setup for the sands,
a forced sance by your boss at the cheesecake factory,
on paper is the funniest fucking thing
I've ever heard in my life.
and is such like Guinness book, like legend behavior, like Eric said, that my,
like game, game recognizes game.
And I have a lot of respect to this woman.
However, I think, it's crazy.
Okay, maybe that's what it is.
But please find out what happened.
And if you can report back to us, I'm curious.
We need at least one follow up.
I feel like this could be a whole spinoff.
Yeah.
We need to know what went down to that seance.
It's like crucial to our job.
It really is.
It really is.
So find out what happened there.
And then whatever you decided with, you know, addressing this with your boss, we'd love to know.
So please, like, I think this would be a great one for a follow-up.
So if you wouldn't mind, like, you know, doing what you got to do, you know, get us under your belt, start in your position.
But call back and tell us what actually happened at the sands and then how it went turning her in.
All right.
I'll think about it.
No, no, no.
You don't have to.
That's the HR response.
That's a level of discipline.
Look at that.
Look at that.
Yeah, I like it.
But let us know.
Think about meditate on it.
Think about what you do.
But either way, we need to know what went down at that seance and let her know for her new career as a medium.
She's got a jumping off point on a semi-hit podcast.
We're ready for her.
She'll be thrilled.
Okay.
Done.
I also would love to like, oh, I don't know.
If I'm you, I go so deep into this.
I would like go back to Tuesdaysad directory and try to find the server and go, is this something you've seen before?
Like what was you?
Did you notice the fans was being done, by the way?
Was there an apparition of a weird old man, like, you know, lingering about later in the evening?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
I have to know what happened.
Like, I'm so curious.
And if you don't want to come back on, just write it in an email.
Please, Beatrice.
I'm begging you.
Got to know.
Okay.
Thank you so much for sharing this.
You truly made our day.
Yeah.
This is one of the greatest.
This call is what we're all about.
Yep.
Yep.
Thank you so much, friend.
Glad to you.
here. I aim to please.
All right. Have a go of Beatrice. You rock.
You gave us a gift. All right, Beatrice.
Thanks so much, buddy.
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Caller.
Hello, friend.
You are live on the air.
We're here to help.
We want to help you.
What's your name and where are you calling from?
And if you want to give us a fake name and location, that's fine too.
Hi, I'm Carrie and I'm calling from Philadelphia.
Ooh.
Hi, Carrie.
The city of brotherly love.
We love Philadelphia here.
It's awesome.
It is.
It's a great time.
I've been to shows at the Tower Theater, great food.
The other thing, Carrie, I hate to bust you, Philly folks, some of the friendliest people I've ever met.
I think the whole city of brotherly love thing is real.
Don't they throw batteries on?
No, not, keep it quiet.
We like you.
You showed respect.
But Philadelphia is awesome.
I love going there.
I always say if I got like a long-term gig in New York, I'd live in Philly.
Just take that train, hang out the legends, try to live in the neighborhood where David Lynch's old house is.
Yeah, in the Philly.
They got great uniforms.
I mean, no, there's a lot of good things about it.
My wife went to college there.
She loves Philly.
That's a great ballpark, too.
And Philadelphia fans are amazing.
Kerry Kiske, you a very serious question.
And this question would be, I'm going to need, if you wouldn't mind, telling us, if you
would tell us what your favorite movie slash premium TV show is, favorite book and favorite
album are.
Just so you can get a handle on who you are.
It's a great question, one I was expecting, but that didn't help.
I would say my, well, my favorite, I'm not a big movie person, I'm a TV person, and it shifts all the time.
But right now, I've been doing a lot of American Dad really enjoying it.
I never got into it when I was like, I don't know, a little younger, and it's just, it's so much fun.
So I've had a lot of fun with it.
It's hit now.
I like it.
Respect.
Look, I'm not trying to be that guy and yet I've been dragged into being that guy.
You want to see Mayor Woodside and American Dad?
It's the big guy.
It's me.
I've done about seven or eight episodes.
It is so much fun, and they're the nicest crew in town, but it is a blast.
But, you know, get lost to my episodes of American Dad especially.
I highly encourage me.
That goes for all you listeners out there.
Right?
Yeah.
All right.
We love American Dad because they paid me.
So that's a, you're one for one, friend.
Yeah.
You're one for one.
Now give us an album and a book and preferably involving me too.
I'd be thrilled.
So let me think.
So my book, are you familiar?
with Storyworth. This isn't technically a book, but are you familiar with Storyworth? No.
It's where you give like a grandparent or someone in your life like basically prompts and then it
compiles into a book. Oh. And so I have that like partially completed from my grandma and my
grandfather's working on one now. So that'd probably be one that I would always want to have with
me. Oh, that's sweet. I love that. What a cool idea. And I'm so,
glad my dad did that. He has such good
stories. It's so cool you're having my grandparents
do that. And I kind of
now think every other book that every other
person's given is bullshit second
tier. Because you are going
to carry the love of your elders with you.
And that's awesome. You know we love elders on
this show. We're here to help, but we're here to help is a pro-elder
pro-90-year-old experience.
So we are accepting
story worth from you and applauding it.
And then give us an album.
Yeah. So,
probably
purgatory
Tyler Childers
your failure?
Oh sure.
We like Tyler Chilers here.
Love.
And have you seen him live, friend?
Yes, I saw him here in Philly
and then I'm going to see him
more in like Central Pennsylvania this summer.
Hell yeah.
That's awesome.
We're in Central Pennsylvania.
Hershey?
Oh, the great
Hershey.
Yeah.
I hear Hershey's great.
Hershey's great.
I've been to Hershey many times.
The World International Dog Grooming Convention is in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
And Steve, imagine a town that revolves around chocolate.
Yes, please.
And gets the best live music bands.
Bob Dylan's played there.
But we want to give a big shout out to Barclay, doing incredible things in the world of dogs.
And we love the World Dog Rooming Expo in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
But Hershey, also seeing someone country like Tyler that fights the good fight,
Hershey's a place to go.
You get a little bit out there, you'll get people coming in from the sticks.
And Tyler is amazing.
One of the best live shows in the plane.
I will also add about Central Pennsylvania.
It is a hotbed for UFOs and Bigfoot to be seen in conjunction with each other,
especially in 1973 and 1974.
But, Kerry, that is not what you're calling about, I'm guessing.
Might be.
It might be.
If it is, I can certainly help.
Come on.
Well, Carrie, talk to us, sister.
What's going on?
How can we help you?
Yeah, so I currently work, you know, it's a corporate company.
We're kind of in like consulting.
And I am actually taking on a new role this summer within the company.
So I'm going to be doing our event planning, kind of running some of like the day-to-day
operations in terms of kind of like employee experience.
And we're a pretty small office, like a pretty young small office.
And I just wanted some suggestions or ideas of how to kind of bring
some whimsy back into the nine to five, you know, like I think almost planning some of the big
events are kind of the easier part, you know, when it's like a whole day spent somewhere fun.
But I think just little day to day, you know, like in school you'd have like Spirit Week and
things like that, like just little things that aren't going to take too much time out of someone's
day, but just make the day a little more fun.
I like Stephen, please allow me here because I'm going to do, I'm going to give, I think, an obvious idea.
I've been watching Mad Men.
Oh, yeah.
And in Mad Men, those guys are drinking at the office all day.
All day.
And I think it's a tragedy as a society we've gotten away from that.
Because they were doing great work at Sterling Cooper.
And I think an incredible shortcut to whimsy is a spirit or a beer or wine.
So that would be my first big pitch is, you know, one, okay, maybe not during the day,
but having some off-site activities where people cut loose,
have a couple cocktails.
Everybody stays very appropriate, of course.
This isn't the 50s.
We don't want some of that other dog Draper stuff going on.
But I think, you know, just for afterward,
I think some team bonding like, oh, go to the cheesecake factory,
go to chilies, go to Fridays, like some team bonding for some fun meals.
Like, each chain places.
Go to IHOP and get a chicken crisper and never look that.
I know.
Shout out to the Chili's at the Tulsa Airport.
They're such good people.
I mean, I think first off, you got to start with having people spend some time outside
the office together is so much fun.
One, and then, boy, when I was watching Mad Men, I just can't believe how much booze people
are drinking.
They best work.
Yeah.
And you're looking for, like, little things to, like, generally lift the energy of the office.
So, I hear you.
Like, doing these event days.
like, hey, we're all going to go to play paintball together, you know,
at a Joe's paintball shack down in Shreveport.
That's fun, of course.
But, like, I like Eric's idea of adding, like, maybe once a month.
I would do it also on a Thursday.
Maybe, like, the last, like, you know, just a little bit of work.
Like, you can, you can, like, cut work the last half hour out of the day
and then, like, you know, have some, like margaritas, something like that.
And then, you know, if people want to go to,
you know,
Shawnee O'Hallahan's
down the street afterwards
and keep the party going.
And they do.
And they do.
That would be good.
I would not do it on a Friday
because Friday people want to leave
and go the fuck home.
Yeah.
Oh, that's brilliant.
They're dying at home
get their weekend started.
But Thursday is kind of like that
it's like a spicy Friday.
You know, it's like you're feeling kind of wild.
Like Thursday, like I don't drink a ton anymore,
but Thursday is my favorite day to have beers
if I'm doing that.
There's something about Thursdays.
It's a magical day.
But I'm like.
I think, Steve, I like that idea of Spirit Week.
Like, I think if that's your first idea, I think Spirit Week sounds awesome.
And what if you guys all dressed for like a Phillies game?
Or if it's Friday and the Eagles have a big old game, have everybody do the ultimate casual
Friday.
You come in a Randall Cunningham jersey and never look back.
Yeah.
Like, doesn't that sound?
I mean, I think, you know, sometimes the subconscious.
is an amazing thing. You said Spirit Week. Bring back Spirit Week. That was so fun in high school.
I want to throw something. It's a little angular out there. But what like, look, when I think of Philadelphia,
I'll be honest. I think of Benjamin Franklin. I think of Ben Franklin. What if you held a Benjamin Franklin
like impression contest? One Friday afternoon, maybe, you know, you bring out some,
some, you know, alcoholic celtzers, some high noons or white claws.
whatever, and then everyone, the people who want to participate are going to, like, do, like,
a Benjamin Franklin monologue with, like, the little, like, funny glasses and stuff like that.
That would be fun.
Or even if, like, it was, like, you know, you have to recite something of, like, your favorite
Philly person.
I mean, there's so many.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
I don't know if I could tell a Benjamin Franklin impersonation.
I could hold up a key, but I don't think I would know what to say.
That's good, though.
That's it.
Just don't take it outside because we don't want to.
messing around the electricity too much.
We're not legally binding.
But there's so many incredible Philly legends from Alan Iverson to David Lynch that I think
having a Philadelphia.
So let's get in the weeds a little bit.
What kind of business is this?
Like what are you guys making?
What are you guys doing?
Yeah.
What kind of beeswax is happening here?
Yeah.
I mean, it's kind of like business consulting adjacent.
So I don't know if that helps.
What is that?
What is that mean?
What does that mean?
Like I hear because I'm, like, I'm asking because I'm a, I'm a.
I'm a dumb actor.
I just do make them up for a living.
We will, like, advise, like, other companies are our clients,
and we will advise, like, strategic decision-making
in terms of, like, marketing or, like, talent acquisition.
I got you.
Yeah.
I got you.
I got you.
I got you.
Yeah, it's straight.
That's straight-up beeswax right there.
I want to think of some other, like, I wonder if they're, like, this sounds crazy,
but, like, what if you got, like, a gaming system?
Like, maybe an Xbox or a play.
station and you had some
like dumb games that everyone
could play. Not like John Madden's football.
Yes, exactly. Yes, Mario card,
Golden Eye James Bond. That would be so much fun.
And then you have like prizes
you know like oh my god this guy gets
a gift card or you know this gal
gets like you know something else
but like have like little prizes just like
you know a competition during your lunch break
or and you could like even like have like
a March Manus bracket
and can go through the whole month.
Oh yeah. Create like a bracket and then the grand
It doesn't have to be like a huge monetary thing.
Maybe they get a, get a free day off.
I don't know if you can make that happen, but like.
Well, maybe.
I can try.
Maybe.
I think she can.
That is a good thing.
I think she's being humble.
Yeah.
Or they can just show up for work drunk or like tripping on acid.
It's totally illegal.
Go for that.
Go for that.
We do already have a TV.
So that makes it easier.
You're halfway there.
Well, if you have a carry, if you have a TV, then I think the next great thing you need to do
two words
karaoke lunch
oh brother
with prizes
oh brother
and I think
you know
it doesn't have to be
mandatory
but it kind of should be
everybody has to sing one song
because there's a magic
about seeing people
their most vulnerable
and what they love the most
and that's music
yeah and if you started
doing a karaoke lunch
and I think we can already tell
you have the skills
to emce this
and be the ultimate karaoke host
but all these things
are steering this
onto the path of a very, very fun workplace.
Also, since you do consulting,
it might be a hilarious thing to do, you know,
consulting cosplay, like, okay,
take a nightmare business situation.
How would you consult for Enron in 1994?
Yeah.
Some case studies.
These other companies.
All right, Jack in the Box had a horrible E. coli thing in the 80s.
Everybody give your best pitch for a Jack in the Box,
because they almost closed.
They were saved because of business consulting.
Yeah, the lady who got her left,
And McDonald's by the hot coffee.
Classic.
Yeah.
How do you fight back from the hot coffee?
And you say everyone like, okay, we are representing a company that just had somebody's lap
burned by hot coffee.
Give us your best pitches on Friday.
Winter gets a half day off.
All that kind of stuff.
And then are people mostly coming back into the office to work rather than remotely?
Yeah.
We have a couple days remote.
But for the most part, we're all pretty present.
No.
I would say if you have a remote day,
You do a show and tell where people show their favorite stuff they have at home and we get to meet everybody's pets.
Oh.
You all get to know each other so much better.
You know, Lee the dog makes quite a few appearances ever because he's a very needy poodle terrier mix and he'll cry.
He's 15.
He needs his dad.
But I think people like it when Lee makes an appearance on the pod.
They do.
You know, he has been mean to Steve before.
Yeah.
He doesn't like Steve.
He's trying to poison him.
Yeah.
But like all of a sudden things are a lot more, you know, fun at work.
work if you're like, man, I saw into this guy's soul because he has this cat that he loves so much.
Yeah.
And we're a big pro cat podcast here.
Yeah, we are.
So I think on those remote days, you do old school show and tell.
And just like I think your idea of Spirit Week is so brilliant and you should straight up do Spirit Week for Philly Sports, March Madness, get going Villanova, Temple.
Got some incredible sports teams there.
But like go retro.
Bring it back to Show and Tell, Spirit Week, all that kind of stuff.
And I think even some people that are maybe a little eye-rolly at first,
once they're holding their cat or gerbil,
they're going to be loving life.
I love the pet thing is unique in such a great angle.
And also, that's something everyone can participate in.
And if you don't have an animal, it may inspire them to get one.
I will also just say, I'm not sure what the petty cash situation is at the old business.
You're there.
Send a check to Stephen Burns.
Well, I'm sorry, Eric.
Warren Buffett.
I'm sort of getting there.
But for like an end of the year.
year blowout blast.
I mean, you know, for a Southwest
flight in a shared room in
Philadelphia, you can bring Eric
and I out and we'll do a little in-office show.
Maybe we'll do an act from
True West. You know, do a little
two-handed. That would be so amazing.
Yeah, well, maybe
we're in. We're both, you know,
Eric's a natural baritone. I'm a natural
bass. We harmonize well together.
We come sing some Sinatra
classics.
I'll sing Sammy.
Yeah. Well, we'll
Up. We'll lead everyone in line dancing.
I'm talking about part.
We'll go out with everyone afterwards.
Yeah, Redding Terminal Market.
We can hit it up.
Absolutely.
Oh, yeah.
And I think off-site lunches sounds so fun to me.
Yeah.
Where you just go off-site.
We're going to look the other way of Don from accounting orders a cocktail.
But, like, there's a whole bunch of fun in that.
And I think the thing is as people are going back to work, we all got pretty darn comfortable
at home.
For me right now, it's a massive achievement that I am wearing pants.
And they may not be there for the next collar.
Not by choice.
It's not by choice.
I made him put pants on.
No, but like, if you start doing stuff like this to make coming back to work more fun and free meals and contests and spirit week and show and tell when they are working remotely, I think you're really going to build some team building and you're clearly the right person for this job.
Well, thank you.
Another easy thing you can do
That I honestly think is so fun
And call me like I'm a very Midwest mother like this
But bring a covered dish day
And you have like an appetizer
Like you know
Late afternoon
You know like yeah
Oh you know
Carrie brought her famous Ambrosia salad
Oh look what Toby brought
He brought bruchetta with little crustini's
Like you know like
Yeah
Yeah
Steve a potlock
Love a pot lock
We do a Thanksgiving potluck, but we don't really, we don't really do one anytime else.
We could do like, you know, like Fourth of July.
I feel like that's the time people have potluck.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
That's when you have people dress up like Ben Franklin.
Yeah.
We should have a centennial party.
Is it a centennial?
Is that what it is?
Did it already happen?
That sounds about right.
I think so.
It's 250 years.
What's that called, Steve?
Boy, I'm not.
What's that called?
I'm not a math guy.
It's called something.
I'm sad about these.
of a Kansas degree and a Gonzaga degree that neither Steve is it a sesquitennial maybe that sounds about
right that's a large big swing but yeah you have to do something because Philadelphia is the birthplace
of America and let me also say this we're thinking Ben Franklin uh that guy was deep into the life
he was boozing he was swinging he was having himself a good old time he was also performing
dark magic with a hellfire club is that true I think it is I don't mind a little bit of dark magic
No, I'm pro dark magic.
No, have a Ben Franklin day and be like, this is not the Ben Franklin from grade school.
Leave your kite, leave your key at home.
We're getting really weird.
Yeah, yeah.
We're getting very strange here.
Make Ben weird again.
Yeah, make Ben Franklin weird again.
I don't know why we went away from it, but he was loving life.
He was having a good old time.
Oh, yeah.
Deep in the skin game.
And if he was in the skin train.
Yeah, and like, you know, obviously we're going to have healthy boundaries for all this stuff.
but I think we're really getting an exciting way of all these events to keep stuff going
and keep checking in with us because we have more and more and more ideas.
Yeah.
But I think already we got 10 great ideas here.
And then it's just like fine-tuning, getting stuff cleared for work.
But I think if you start doing Thursdays at these theme days, and I think you started us off at Spirit Week.
It's just you are taking Spirit Week to a new and fun adult workplace.
Yep.
I love it.
I love it.
I mean, no, is there any, are we missing any?
kind of like vibe or tone that you're trying to create.
Like if I know, I know like when you came out and said like, look, the big events are
kind of easy to plan.
It's these little things.
And I feel like we have given you some little things.
Some are a little bigger in scope than others.
But do you feel like you have enough ammunition to get a good start on this?
I do.
I think, you know, in terms of like the vibe, honestly, it is cliche, but it is very like work
hard, play hard.
I don't think anyone takes themselves too seriously.
So I do think there would be a lot of.
of fun. I think my concern is just, I don't want to make it too much of a commitment where it's
like a couple people are really going hardcore and then everyone else is kind of like, I have to
work. You know what I mean? That's why I would, like some of the ideas about like my Ben Franklin
impression contest. That may be for like year two, but like I would start off small with a lot
of these things, you know, like whatever is the most like whatever is the most like everyone,
like player friendly like everyone, like everyone could purchase.
spit in. Like, I do think it's starting slow and then, like, getting people, like, used to, like,
oh, we're doing these kind of weird little things every once in a while.
I really like the video games and I really like the karaoke as well. And actually one of my
co-workers saw a karaoke bus. Have you seen those? No. She saw one of those go by and she was like,
we have to do it. Yeah. Yeah. You could also do like a fun walking tour. I did the tour of
Philadelphia when I was there. I'll tell you what else I did in Philadelphia. That's shockingly fun.
the bus tour. Yes, it's a lot of fun. And you go to all these different Philadelphia spots. And I actually
love doing that. Whatever city I first get into, it's like, let me see the most basic stuff.
Let me be a tourist. I always thought it'd be really funny to do like a dark, bleak, toned Bourdain-style
travel show. Then it's just me getting on those tour buses. But you see a shocking amount of history
in an hour doing the Philadelphia one. And it might be a bunch of fun. And the idea, our secret goal for
this is to bring the quiet folks out of their shell. There it is. To let people into their life
and see who they are, whether it's them showing off their dog at home or getting them on a double
deck or tour bus and seeing where America was born in our 250th anniversary. And I think you've got to go
all in for the 250th. Yeah. Philadelphia birthed America. Let's lead into it, sister. Yes.
Yeah. Yay. I'm excited. Okay, so we feel good? Yeah. Okay. As you know,
you're stuck with us. Any other
tweaking on these ideas? We stand
ready. We're here. Producer
Wendy now has a very vital email
going for Weird Here to Help at gmail.com.
But please keep us involved.
And I know we threw
a lot of fun ideas out of you, but we want
to hear what you're doing, how you're doing. Then you also
clearly can take a nugget
of these ideas from these two big
weirdos and take it to glory.
And we can't wait to see what you do.
Yeah, no, I love it. And it'll be a few
months until I'm, you know, really, really in it.
But I will definitely follow up and send some pictures of some of the events once we get
rolling.
Well, that's perfect.
Like end of summer, you'll be taking over right as autumn starts.
Oh, it could be.
You're lined up for success.
Trust me.
Starting anything new in the fall is a good time to start.
Let me tell you.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
Whimsy unlocked.
Wimsy unlocked.
Carrie God-tier.
Boom.
Boom.
Carrie, well, if you have any pictures, let us know how it goes.
We are definitely curious.
We'd love to have to do a follow-up.
But in the meantime, we're very excited for you.
You are going to be, they hired the right person.
You're going to bring the whimsy back.
Thank you so much.
I really appreciate it.
All right.
Awesome.
And lean into Ben Franklin's weirdness.
We'll do.
Yeah, yeah.
He was a ritual magician.
He was a wildfire club.
Look it up.
Oh, yeah.
Let's go.
Bye, Carrie.
Weird here to help.
It's hosted by Eric Edelstein and Steve Berg.
If you'd like to be on the show,
please email us your question at weird, here to help at gmail.com.
That was a Headgum podcast.
Hi, I am Mandy Moore.
Sterling K. Brown.
And I'm Chris Sullivan.
And we host the podcast, That Was Us, now on HeadGum.
Each episode, we're going to go into a deep dive.
Yeah.
From our show, This Is Us.
That's right.
We're going to go episode by episode.
We're also going to pepper in episodes with different guest stars.
and writers and casting directors.
Are we going to cry?
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A little bit.
Are we going to laugh?
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A whole lot.
That's what I'm hoping, man.
Listen to that was us on your favorite podcast app
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