Latest / Literally, the Worst Podcast / 2: Target, Halloween & Spider Traps

Transcript

2: Target, Halloween & Spider Traps · Literally, the Worst Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_01: Hello, I'm Lauren.
0:03
SPEAKER_01: I'm Anna.
0:05
SPEAKER_01: This is literally the worst, and today we're gonna be talking about Target.
0:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, but before we jump into that, uh Anna, how was the week?
0:15
SPEAKER_01: Was there something anything from the week that feels like highlighting before we jump in?
0:22
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: Uh no, well, I don't know if it's like worth highlighting, but I did find it uh concerning slash interesting.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: Oh no.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: But doing Instacart.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: And you know, like it's really hard not to pay attention to what people order.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: Just as like a you can just kind of do because it's like, huh.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: So this morning I'm out doing Instacart, because why not?
0:54
SPEAKER_00: It's Saturday, don't have anything else to do, apparently.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: And uh I see this order pop up for Lowe's, and I can't tell what it is.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: You you can't it's you get this tiny tiny picture of the thing before and so I can tell it's packaged, but I can't tell what it is.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: And so I uh accept it, drive to Lowe's, and it's like, it's in the pest control aisle, and it's eight of all the same item, and it's spider traps.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Oh girl, I'm worried about you.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: Why do you need eight of these?
1:35
SPEAKER_00: There's multiple in each package.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: Why do you need right?
1:40
SPEAKER_00: I was like, are you okay?
1:43
SPEAKER_00: Like, blink twice if you are okay.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: Are you not okay?
1:49
SPEAKER_00: You're you may not be okay.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: But I was like, eight of them?
1:52
SPEAKER_00: Do you just need a backstock?
1:54
SPEAKER_00: Or like I hope that's what it is.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: I hope that's what it was too.
1:58
SPEAKER_00: I didn't ask because I was like, that'd be kind of invasive to ask, but yeah, it's definitely yeah, like hey, do you need to resist?
2:07
SPEAKER_00: Do you need a referral to a pest control?
2:10
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, so eight uh contain packages of spider trap.
2:19
SPEAKER_01: That's terrifying.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I was like, that's a lot of spider traps.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
2:26
SPEAKER_01: I wonder if she I wonder if she killed a spider that had a bunch of babies on it, or like tried to smash it.
2:34
SPEAKER_01: And because that happened that one time we went camping.
2:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I had a spider like just under the edge of my tent, and I tried to brush it away, but I didn't realize it was covered with babies, and it they just went, woof, and I was like, No! It's too late, and I'm too tired, and I'm too dehydrated for this.
2:56
SPEAKER_01: Like, this was the this was the savage golf trip where we were super dehydrated second night.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: I was seeing bears everywhere that weren't actually there.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: If anybody would like us to unpack how uh dangerous, like at the time it was kind of funny.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, looking back, I'm like, oh, maybe not funny.
3:18
SPEAKER_01: No, no, dehydration can be deadly even when you're just a few miles from the car.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: I was like, uh, and they wouldn't really have been a place to helicopter in.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: To that location.
3:33
SPEAKER_00: So nope.
3:34
SPEAKER_01: Nope.
3:34
SPEAKER_01: That would not have been good.
3:36
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
3:37
SPEAKER_01: Nope.
3:38
SPEAKER_01: Well, uh, Godspeed, good luck and godspeed to that gal with her spider traps.
3:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, I can't remember who it was.
3:46
SPEAKER_01: It's not my hairstylist, but somebody that I talked to regularly.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: She used to live in the apartments across the way from Target.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: Um and apparently that they're like up on the hill, and they have a huge problem with brown recluse spiders.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: And she told the story, like one of her neighbors, I think downstairs neighbor, just went away for a weekend and came back, and they were just everywhere in her closet and bedroom.
4:16
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, it was a nightmare.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Well, I'm glad I asked her, I was like, those not not the apartments like where I'm at, and uh she was like, No, no, no, no, these are different ones, and so then I I'm glad she told me that because I almost I almost looked at one of those places.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: They were in my like last three, uh like my top three.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: And uh then I heard that and I said, Nope, I've had enough bug issues.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: Although this apartment, I have termite issues, so I just am destined to deal with termites everywhere.
4:48
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've been cursed.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: I think it's some sort of bug curse.
4:53
SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, this is just how my life is.
4:55
SPEAKER_01: Oh well.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: You they just follow you around.
4:58
SPEAKER_01: And all the bugs love me.
5:01
SPEAKER_01: It's great.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: Like the Pied Piper.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: But for all kinds of insects.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: You just call them to you.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: You have energy.
5:11
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: I'm like just some kind of hither.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: A magnetism for the bugs.
5:16
SPEAKER_02: Like, hello.
5:17
SPEAKER_01: Can we although I think a friend had looked up the spiritual significance of termites, and it was like a bad omen, like spiritual darkness, and I'm like, oh, nope, don't tell me, keep that to yourself.
5:27
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to hear that anymore.
5:28
SPEAKER_01: Don't be good thanks.
5:30
SPEAKER_01: Don't want to know.
5:31
SPEAKER_01: Nope, nope, nope, nope.
5:33
SPEAKER_01: That's bad.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: Well, uh, speaking of something being near Target, that's awful.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: Huh.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: Huh.
5:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
5:43
SPEAKER_01: So Target.
5:45
SPEAKER_01: Um I I feel like we may not win any friends with this one.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh I hope we don't lose friends, but we might.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we might we might lose uh fans, but that's okay because Target has been on, as I've been thinking about this podcast, Target has been on the list the whole time because they just have done such a 180 in the last 18 months in what they said was important and their values.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: Huh.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: And so I wonder, I wonder what that's about.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: I wonder why that might be.
6:20
SPEAKER_01: What changed she related to?
6:23
SPEAKER_01: What changed 18 months ago?
6:25
SPEAKER_00: 18 months ago that would have, I don't know, perhaps given them some incentive to make some policy changes.
6:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what could have happened.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: Uh, administration and something like that.
6:40
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, so they've they've been on the list because of that and things that have happened since then.
6:47
SPEAKER_01: But then I was like, we have to talk about them next because of something that came, I think it came out last week or it was spotted last week, is this super racist kid's Halloween costume.
7:04
SPEAKER_01: And it was making the rounds on social media.
7:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, have you seen it?
7:08
SPEAKER_00: I had not heard the news about it until I think you told me.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: And I looked up the picture and my I think text back to you because my first thought was how many layers of people, humans, from the person doing the photo shoot for the costume to the because it's manufactured in China.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: I don't expect the manufacturer to know.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: But the from that to the merchandising team, who was like, this is a great idea, to the marketing team, to the team that uploads the images on the website, to the team that writes the SEO copy.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: I was just like, because I work in tech, I'm like, I know what it takes to put a product on a on a store page.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: So, like, how many layers of humans did it go through?
8:22
SPEAKER_00: And then it took customers to be like, nope.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: Yep, that's not cool.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
8:29
unknown: Yeah.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: So bad.
8:31
SPEAKER_01: Let me uh if we need to cut this because it's a disaster, we can I can share this for the folks watching on video.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, and we'll post it on in our show notes and on Substack if you're finding it.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, can you see it right now?
8:50
SPEAKER_01: No.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: It's by all the Davis's.
8:52
SPEAKER_01: Or did I nope, I haven't shared yet.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm good at what I'm doing.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: It's fine.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like we don't work in tech.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like it would be, oh yep, yes.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: So even the pose, the pose of the child, that was the other thing.
9:14
SPEAKER_00: I was like, because I grew up in Selma, Alabama.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: So, like, I've seen all the things.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: And so for this, I was just like, e what?
9:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:25
SPEAKER_01: So this poor kid ends up in this costume that basically looks like a blackface minstrel Jim Crow era costume.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: And the images that have been circuit circulating are this side by side.
9:42
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, the the pose, the like um the loud, kind of obnoxious pattern, um, like clown-like essentially, and then all of that is bad.
9:56
SPEAKER_01: And then on top of that, we've got black gloves, black shoes, and then black face actually happening.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: Like they're I think this goes over their head, and you get this like crazy, gaudy smile painted on that again is like what would be on those minstrel um yeah, flyers and everything.
10:18
SPEAKER_01: Yes, it's a nice little costume.
10:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's horrendous.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, the fact that like one, that it got designed in the first place.
10:27
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, somebody was like, Yeah, this is a great idea, let's do this.
10:30
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, uh.
10:31
SPEAKER_01: And then the fact that, like you said, it got through all of those layers of approvals and still made it to the world.
10:42
SPEAKER_01: And the customers had to be like, and I love this screenshot now.
10:45
SPEAKER_01: It says, I am not a very not available.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: It's like, yeah, exactly.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: They target ended up taking it down after all of the backlash, and like this is Viola Davis saying, like, not not good enough.
10:57
SPEAKER_01: Um because it's not a good one.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, so this is what my favorite thing about that screenshot too, sorry.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: No, you're good enough.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: Is two-star rating?
11:09
SPEAKER_00: Like, what?
11:10
SPEAKER_00: Right.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: Why is it a two-star?
11:12
SPEAKER_00: Why is there a two-star rating?
11:14
SPEAKER_00: What is that about?
11:15
SPEAKER_00: Why is it what?
11:19
SPEAKER_00: It's not no stars.
11:21
SPEAKER_00: There's just one, there's a rating, and two, it's two stars.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: Like, why?
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
11:26
SPEAKER_01: And there are seven reviews.
11:30
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, were these purchased?
11:33
SPEAKER_01: Like, is that how we got to these reviews?
11:35
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
11:37
SPEAKER_01: It's bad.
11:39
SPEAKER_01: It's bad.
11:40
SPEAKER_01: So, anyway, this is the situation we're talking about.
11:44
SPEAKER_01: We'll put a link to Viola Davis's post in the show notes uh so that you can take a closer look at it if you want, but it's just an absolute mess.
11:56
SPEAKER_01: Uh there we go.
11:58
SPEAKER_01: So, um, yeah, I guess I'm curious how much do you know about menstrual shows?
12:05
SPEAKER_01: Not menstrual, minstrel.
12:08
SPEAKER_00: I was gonna say a menstrual show.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: That'd be a real mess.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: Uh, don't want that.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: Nope.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: Although I have participated accidentally.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: Not on purpose.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: Uh minstrel shows, though, I believe were a way for white people to dress up in blackface in the 1800s, even into the 1900s, and ridicule the intelligence, primarily, of black men um in particular.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: The costuming was typically, and this is all off the top of my head from what I know about it, so I couldn't just impressive.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: It was more than I knew.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: Correct me if I'm wrong.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: Um but again, grew up in the South.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
13:10
SPEAKER_00: So um yeah, it was primarily a way to ridicule them and make fun of them, and they would dress up in colorful, gaudy patterns, often wearing black gloves.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: They would paint their faces black.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then the primary audience for this was white attendees who were watching a white man impersonate a black person and act very dumb, often interacting with other white men and putting themselves in situations that were incriminating or humiliating to show that they were the lesser race.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you got it.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: I mean, these and the audience for these minstrel shows, especially early on, were usually lower to middle income white men, and it was a very interactive dynamic.
14:18
SPEAKER_01: Like mo like the audience would yell and scream back, they'd boo, or if they wanted to hear a song again, they would chant that, because that's the other part of the minstrel shows is essentially they went and took black um cultural references, music, language, and appropriated it and then made it stupid and made it over the top and exaggerated as a way of yeah, making fun of and basically creating caricatures of black people.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: And it just I I knew I was like minstrel shows weren't good, and I knew blackface was involved, and that was about the extent that I realized, so I ended up doing a little more research than I normally would have.
15:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, they started in minstrel shows started in 1828.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: What was this guy's name?
15:11
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, I called him the turdbag.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: The Civil War.
15:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, before the Civil War.
15:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:16
SPEAKER_01: Which makes sense why they became so popular so quickly was because like there was all of the rising racial tensions in the US, and like it reflected, unfortunately, what a lot of mainstream America thought of black people.
15:33
SPEAKER_01: It's like, oh, this just confirmed what we already thought of black people, and uh yeah, it's ridiculous.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: But I in my notes I wrote a turd bag named Thomas Dartmouth Rice.
15:46
SPEAKER_01: Uh T D.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: Rice, I think he goes by like T Daddy Rice or something, which I'm just like, ew, no.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's such a white name, too.
15:54
SPEAKER_01: I know.
15:55
SPEAKER_01: And the only person I want to call daddy is Pedro Pascal.
15:59
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's the only one.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: Not because he's his daddy.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, that's more appropriately.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: Pedro.
16:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:06
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
16:07
SPEAKER_01: Oh, side note, I turned on The Last of Us the other day to like start to re-watch it, and then I was like, nope, anxiety cannot handle this, and shut it off.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: But I was like, oh Pedro, this would have been a lot of fun to watch you for hours.
16:20
SPEAKER_01: But anyway, uh, so this guy is in, he's an actor from New York, and he's in Louisville for some sort of show, some people that he knows are putting on a show, and he gets the thumbs up to he like takes the story goes, he takes some clothes from a homeless guy in Louisville who is probably black.
16:42
SPEAKER_01: We don't know that for sure, but dresses up in these like raggedy clothes and then goes on and uh dances around to the song Jump Jim Crow and like is making all these exaggerated jumps and movements and just acting ridiculous, and the crowd eats it up, and so then he takes it on tour, and then it starts growing in popularity, and then these other groups start to organize around it.
17:10
SPEAKER_01: Uh, there's one that's more popular called the Virginia Minstrels, which are five or six white men, and they end up like this ends up being the start of the entertainment industry in the US because these minstrel shows are some of the first shows that actually start touring in the US.
17:27
SPEAKER_01: And it's just, I'm just like, of course, it's like everything is rooted in racism or the patriarchy or something like that.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, and they they were all of those white men would dress up in blackface, they would end up with like the semi- the classic semicircle, they'd be playing instruments, and yeah, that's where the character, if you know the Mr.
17:54
SPEAKER_01: Bones character, that's where Mr.
17:56
SPEAKER_01: Bones came from, and just all of these caricatures of mainly black men.
18:01
SPEAKER_01: And then over time, like oh, it's so sad, like actual black individuals were brought on the stage and like forced to play along as like proof of like this is yeah, see, this is what black people really are, and then different acts started being added, so then they became variety shows, and then this is where like people like Bing Crosby and folks like that come into play is like then the variety shows transform, they're suddenly for a different class as different folks come in, but they're still all rooted in the minstrel show, and yes, yeah, it was just I was like, oh my gosh, this is so bad.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: That adds some context to the movie It's not White Christmas, but it's another one that I Holiday Inn?
18:53
SPEAKER_00: Holiday Inn, yeah.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: Where I think it's Bane Crosby is in Blackface.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, and then in White Christmas, they sing the song Mr.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: Bones.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: Um They do.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
19:11
SPEAKER_01: That made me so sad.
19:13
SPEAKER_01: And I went down a rabbit hole on that too.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, because I remember as soon as I was reading about this, there's a line in one of their songs in the variety show that's like, I'd rather see a menstrual show than any other song or than any other show I know.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: And like all the times when things were funny and good and you could laugh at anything.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: I'm just like, oh no, that's terrible.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: And there is no blackface in White Christmas.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: Um, there are some in that um, it's like a two-song set.
19:48
SPEAKER_01: There is some like face like caricature things that are not blackface, but they're like uh what's the word?
19:58
SPEAKER_01: Like distinct like colors, contrasting colors, like high contrasting colors, and like really big gaudy smiles, so it like reminiscent of it, but not actual blackface.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it turns out Irving Berlin was a huge anti-black racist, and I was just like, oh well that makes sense.
20:19
SPEAKER_01: And like White Christmas is basically all his music.
20:23
SPEAKER_01: So anyway, I was like, oh, I'll never watch that scene the same way again.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: I'll still watch White Christmas, but it it will not land the same way.
20:32
SPEAKER_01: And I'm very disappointed in Bing.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, come on, Bing.
20:36
SPEAKER_01: No, dude.
20:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no blackfish.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: It also it also makes me wonder, too, like and I'd have to go look up his influence and the studio.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: Um because I wonder what he willingly participated in and or asked to participate in.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: Versus what the studio was like, yeah, no, this is totally acceptable and this is what we're doing.
21:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
21:05
SPEAKER_00: Versus what the studio said no to.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: Um because yeah, it's I'm just like, yeah, it's not it's not okay.
21:16
SPEAKER_00: No, it's not.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: Because what year did White Christmas come out?
21:20
SPEAKER_00: It was the 40s, right?
21:21
SPEAKER_00: 50s, 40s, I think it was.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: 30s or 40s.
21:24
SPEAKER_00: I can't, I don't think I wrote it down, but it right after First World War.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: So minstrel shows were definitely still happening in the south in the 30s, for sure.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: Maybe not so definitely north.
21:39
SPEAKER_01: North of the Mason Dixon.
21:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: Yup.
21:43
SPEAKER_01: So it just it was like gathering all of that context and history, I'm like, oh, I'm even more disappointed in Target.
21:52
SPEAKER_01: And the weight of just how how inappropriate and how racist that costume is just really sick.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Settled into my gut and as if I needed any other reason to be angry at Target, but it just this is what happens when you stop caring about diversity in your hiring practices, like when you lose diversity in the people that are creating your product, like one, you just get crappier products because you have different um experiences and all of that.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: But then you also uh there was this, there's a psychotherapist on Instagram.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: I think his name, he might also be an author.
22:34
SPEAKER_01: I'll I'll link to the video because I saved it.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: I think his name's Elliot Connie.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: But he was he was talking about this, like, how does this happen?
22:42
SPEAKER_01: How does something like this get to market?
22:44
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Because you don't have the lived experiences of people that like know this history like the back of their hand or have experienced racism, you don't have those people anywhere in the organization anymore, or there's a lot fewer because you've stopped making an effort uh to increase the diversity in your employees.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: And so then nobody thinks, hey, maybe we should, hey, like this is not okay.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: This really shouldn't be going out there.
23:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:18
SPEAKER_01: And it just uh it just yeah, I'm like, that's what happens.
23:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, one of one of the articles that I was reading was um talking about how the DEI hire or the DEI person, the person that is not necessarily the person who was hired to meet some kind of diversity quota, which is kind of what I think a lot of people think when they think of DEI.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: Right.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: But the person who is in the position of running the DEI program is often the person at the table who is calling out the racist behavior.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: Like, hey, this is really racist.
23:57
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you shouldn't have a Halloween costume that looks like that.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: Or like, here's something to consider.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's really racist.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: Here's why.
24:05
SPEAKER_00: Here's the history of that.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: And in actuality, it would have saved Target so much money to keep their DEI program, even if they didn't have a quote unquote quota for DEI hiring, because it would have prevented mistakes and scare quotes from like this from happening, versus this type of thing happening kind of over and over again at Target now.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: Like this isn't the first time this has happened.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: I know that it hasn't happened in the last 18 months, but it's definitely happened before.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: Um and that's previously that was with a DEI program, and so now I'm just like, yeah, you guys, you're gonna have to have somebody in the room who can call you on your stuff.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: Yep, exactly.
25:06
SPEAKER_01: And that's uh and like you say, yeah, they've had mistakes in the past, and the thing is like Target is considered one of the leaders in like the big corporation spaces of or until the last 18 months of like inclusive practices and diversity and sustainability.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: So like in a lot they used to be like leading the way, like I think of the introduction of like gender-neutral bathrooms in 2016 and some of the pride clothing and uh like trans-friendly swimsuits a few years ago.
25:43
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, they they used to be doing more that was better than now, but it's just I'm like, what do you expect when you take away the voices that are gonna help you catch this stuff?
25:58
SPEAKER_01: So it's yeah, it's really disappointing.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: So uh yeah.
26:05
SPEAKER_01: Uh what do you know about the uh the Target boycott that's been going on?
26:12
SPEAKER_00: I have been boycotting Target since 2025 in an effort to get them to reverse some of their policy changes.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: Um I honestly, I was trying to think about it the last couple days.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: I was like, what was the last thing I bought from Target?
26:33
SPEAKER_00: I don't remember, honestly.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: I was like, huh.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: I can't remember the last thing I bought from Target, which is probably telling that I haven't really missed it.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: Um I have maybe been in a Target once in the last year and a half.
26:53
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, since last February or March, whenever the policy change was announced.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
27:00
SPEAKER_00: Um and I know it has cost them money.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how much money I was thinking about looking it up, but I didn't, because why do that when I can rely on my co-host to do the heavy lifting on this episode?
27:17
SPEAKER_01: Thankfully, I did a little research there.
27:20
SPEAKER_01: Oh, hey, look at that.
27:21
SPEAKER_01: Imagine that.
27:23
SPEAKER_01: I did my part.
27:24
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
27:25
SPEAKER_01: And in time, too.
27:26
SPEAKER_01: I'm not Googling it right now in the moment, which also would have been fine, but whatever.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, so for those that don't know, in uh late January of 2025, Target announced that they were going to move in a different direction with their initiatives and that they were going to step back from like$10 billion worth of commitments to black-owned businesses and putting black products in their store.
27:55
SPEAKER_01: What do you fight about?
27:57
SPEAKER_00: That that was in direct response to Trump's executive orders on his first day in office.
28:03
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: Basically saying we don't do DEI in America anymore, quote unquote.
28:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was in the government.
28:11
SPEAKER_01: The executive order was no more DEI programs in the government.
28:16
SPEAKER_01: So stores like Target and or corporations like Target, Walmart, Meta, McDonald's, they all within like days of that announce pulling back their DEI programs or eliminating them entirely, which that has continued throughout industries since that time, which has just been horrendous.
28:37
SPEAKER_01: But then there are places like Costco that like put it to their shareholders like, should we even consider rolling back our DEI policies?
28:44
SPEAKER_01: And Costco shareholders were like, hell no, absolutely not.
28:47
SPEAKER_01: And the board was like, good, we weren't gonna do it anyway.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: We weren't gonna do it.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: That's good.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: So we didn't.
28:54
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:55
SPEAKER_01: So, um, yeah, so in response to Target rolling back their DEI initiatives, so the the things in those initiatives specifically were um they had plans, yeah, 2 billion, not 10 billion, 2 billion dollars, spend$2 billion with black-owned businesses by the end of 2025, um, increase the representation of black employees in their workforce by over 20%.
29:22
SPEAKER_01: And then there was also some additional giving that supported social justice groups.
29:27
SPEAKER_01: I think those were already in progress because the initial, like, see, this is the thing we have to remember about why it just feels so crappy that Target did this.
29:39
SPEAKER_01: So in 2020, George Floyd was murdered, like miles from the Target headquarters in Minneapolis.
29:47
SPEAKER_01: And the CEO at the time, I can't remember what his name is, was like, oh my gosh, that could have been like a Target employee.
29:54
SPEAKER_01: And so they doubled down on DEI, and that was when they pledged 10 million to support these social justice groups and some other initiatives.
30:03
SPEAKER_01: And so for them to like do a complete 180 over the course of less than five years, I'm like, how terrible to go from like we really care about the people in our community that are being oppressed and murdered, to no, we're stepping back on that.
30:20
SPEAKER_01: It's like, what sort of two-faced crap is this?
30:23
SPEAKER_00: And they had multiple black men in Minneapolis that were murdered for Lando Castile within a matter of months, maybe.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: I can't remember.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: I think he was 2019 maybe.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: And it was less public because it was a shooting.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: Um and you could have said, like, well, it was like just cause or whatever, but um no, the Minneapolis Police Department kind of had a problem.
30:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah um in that particular part of town.
30:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
30:58
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
30:59
SPEAKER_01: So Target at that time is like we stand with our community and made all of these pledges.
31:05
SPEAKER_01: So then in 2025, when they rolled all of this back, I think their press release was like January 24th or something, um, it got a lot of attention and pissed a lot of people off, and in particular the black community.
31:20
SPEAKER_01: So there was there were two initiatives um to boycott Target.
31:27
SPEAKER_01: One was an official boycott that started, I think, February 1st or 2nd, and that was started by three women uh in the Minneapolis community, Dr.
31:37
SPEAKER_01: Nakima Levy Armstrong, Monique Cullers Doty, and Jelani Hussein.
31:43
SPEAKER_01: So they are the women that had a press conference out in front of Target headquarters, a protest, and called for a Target boycott.
31:50
SPEAKER_01: And was just like, we're boycotting them until, and they have a list of demands if you check out the Target Boycott website, uh, but it includes reinstituting these programs that they had stepped away from.
32:04
SPEAKER_01: The thing is, a month later, a pastor, I think he's in Atlanta, uh, Pastor Jamal Bryant, called for a I think like a 40-day or something Target fast for his church, which that's all well and good, and that's really when the Target boycott got a lot of steam and a lot of hmm, yeah, and a lot of like uh yeah, social support when it really started making the rounds on social and everything.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: So we give up Target for Lent.
32:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, kind of.
32:38
SPEAKER_01: I'm just like, yeah.
32:39
SPEAKER_01: Cool, cool, cool, cool.
32:41
SPEAKER_01: Okay, but again, like the point was also like reinstituting uh a lot of the policies that they'd stepped away from.
32:48
SPEAKER_01: So anyway, the first six months of the boycott, Target saw, I think, like a 20-something decrease, 20-something percent decrease in foot traffic in their stores.
33:01
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just like, yup.
33:04
SPEAKER_01: And over the course of 2025, there was a Forbes report that said uh Target lost$12.4 billion in value over the course of 2025 because of the boycotts and everything that has followed since then.
33:20
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just like, yep, that's that's an expensive decision that you made.
33:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
33:27
SPEAKER_00: And I think what what kills me is last year, was it the tail end of last year or beginning of this year, the CEO resigned or said he was going to resign in six months.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if he actually ever ended up resigning, but he's he moved up to the board.
33:45
SPEAKER_01: He's the executive of the board for Target.
33:48
SPEAKER_01: So it's more like a promotion.
33:50
SPEAKER_01: It's garbage.
33:53
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, come on.
33:55
SPEAKER_00: That's a joke.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
33:56
SPEAKER_01: I know.
33:58
SPEAKER_01: Cool, cool.
33:59
SPEAKER_00: Anyway.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: I think I think what's interesting about this is this is the first time I have seen a boycott, not immediately within like four weeks' time, because they companies are usually watching their earnings on, especially retail, if you've if you haven't worked in retail, you look at those earning reports on like a daily basis.
34:24
SPEAKER_00: And so usually within a three-week, four-week period of time, you know if there's gonna be an impact to something like this or not, and then you make a change in policy, and it has now been 18 months.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: They still have seen a decrease in foot traffic.
34:45
SPEAKER_00: Foot traffic has not gone back to where it was before, it's not still 20% down, but it's still, I want to say, still at least 10% down last time I checked the numbers, and they haven't made the change.
35:01
SPEAKER_00: And so that's been interesting to me.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think obviously like the current administration plays a factor in that, yeah.
35:09
SPEAKER_00: Um in fear of like, what do I do?
35:13
SPEAKER_00: What do we do if we get punished or investigated or audited from a tax standpoint?
35:20
SPEAKER_00: Because there's a lot that can be done to punish somebody with the IRS.
35:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's also interesting to me that Target is such a Target, Target stuff to Target, because they've previously had these policies in place and put a lot of brand equity into this, where Walmart has not.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: And so nobody cares that Walmart changed their policy.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: Right.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: And it's like Walmart's gonna Walmart, who cares?
35:54
SPEAKER_00: Right.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: It's the same store.
35:55
SPEAKER_00: But you can see and feel the changes in Target's brand because of these changes, and I think because you can feel it in Target's chain like changes that they've made, um, it's been a little bit more palpable and more impactful than some of these other stores where they've made similar changes, but it hasn't had the same level of impact.
36:23
SPEAKER_00: Um and so, yeah, it's interesting to me that that is the case.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: But yeah.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: I do miss the only thing I was thinking about this, it was like, do I miss Target?
36:36
SPEAKER_00: Do I miss Target runs?
36:39
SPEAKER_00: Like my wallet doesn't.
36:41
SPEAKER_00: Not at all.
36:42
SPEAKER_00: My wallet's like, hey girl, this is so much better.
36:46
SPEAKER_00: Because I've also been boycotting Amazon for about the same amount of time, and we can get into that.
36:52
SPEAKER_00: I worked for Amazon.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm happy to spill the tea.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: Um on what that whole thing is like at some point, because we could we could do a whole series on why Amazon is the worst.
37:05
SPEAKER_00: Literally the worst.
37:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, they're they're awful um for so many more reasons than just target.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: Um but one of the things that's interesting about that is I'm like, the only thing I really miss is like the dollar section, where occasionally you'd walk in and you'd be like, man, that's a good find.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: That's a great find for a for three bucks.
37:34
SPEAKER_00: I got whatever.
37:35
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, there were these storage bins, they probably still have them.
37:39
SPEAKER_00: But there were these storage bins up front for a while, and man, they were great.
37:42
SPEAKER_00: They were like these clear bins that came with a lid.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: They came in a two-pack for five bucks.
37:48
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, man, I do miss those.
37:52
SPEAKER_00: I do, I do miss those.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, where do you find them?
37:56
SPEAKER_00: Because what the container store is bankrupt now.
37:59
SPEAKER_01: So that doesn't work.
38:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, uh you have to hunt, I feel like, at thrift stores.
38:07
SPEAKER_01: Or yeah, because if you're not doing Amazon, uh sometimes the Dollar Tree, but even the Dollar Tree is so head and missed and missed store to store.
38:19
SPEAKER_01: And it just depends on when they get their stock in and on the shelves.
38:23
SPEAKER_00: Also, they raised their prices to a dollar twenty-five.
38:28
SPEAKER_00: It is not the dollar tree anymore.
38:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I know! I was like, look, guys, I understand inflation.
38:35
SPEAKER_00: It's a thing.
38:36
SPEAKER_00: A dollar twenty it's not the dollar tree anymore.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: And the dollar twenty-five tree can't call it doesn't roll off the tongue the same way.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: The dollar twenty-five tree.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: What?
38:48
SPEAKER_00: No, you can't do that.
38:50
SPEAKER_00: Um gosh.
38:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
38:52
SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
38:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
38:55
SPEAKER_00: The other thing I'll add to this is like, because I'm like, I'm boycotting Amazon, I'm boycotting in Target.
39:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, I can only do that because I live in a city.
39:09
unknown: Yes.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: And so I have lots of other options.
39:13
SPEAKER_00: And because I live in a city, not only do I have other places to shop here locally in the city, I also can take the time to shop online.
39:25
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so from that I'm pretty privileged.
39:29
SPEAKER_00: There have been times where if I lived somewhere else, I would have to shop at Target or order the thing from Amazon because I just wouldn't have another option.
39:39
SPEAKER_00: Um and so something to consider if you're in that situation and in a position where you can is how do you think about or prioritize harm reduction?
39:56
SPEAKER_00: Which might mean you shop there less.
39:59
SPEAKER_00: You just or you only go once a week.
40:01
SPEAKER_00: If you used to go like three times a week and you picked up multiple items each run, maybe you go once a week and you only get what's on the list, and you don't get the extra little thing from the dollar section, even though the bins are nice.
40:17
SPEAKER_01: That's a great way to think about it.
40:19
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
40:21
SPEAKER_00: Um so that's one option.
40:24
SPEAKER_00: The other option would be to give to an organization like the Equal Justice Initiative, which uh is run by or founded by Brian Stevenson, who does really get great racial justice work in the South.
40:40
SPEAKER_00: You could also look at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
40:43
SPEAKER_00: I know they've been in the work in the news lately and under the thumb of the administration for some of their work, um, but I still think it's an option of a place to give to.
40:57
SPEAKER_00: Um or you might look into your own local organizations that are doing racial justice work, but those are two that I'll throw out as organizations you might consider giving to if you have if you have the ability to.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: Um and I know that right now, if you're Instacarting for a living, you may not.
41:20
SPEAKER_00: So I get it.
41:21
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: I get it.
41:23
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
41:24
SPEAKER_01: No, you bring up such good things because I'm I'm in the same boat.
41:28
SPEAKER_01: I've I've boycotted Target since I think March of last year.
41:34
SPEAKER_01: I didn't hear about it when it was first announced, I heard it when it got more popular.
41:38
SPEAKER_01: Uh actually, I think you might have told me about it initially.
41:41
SPEAKER_01: And to be clear, the boycott is still on.
41:44
SPEAKER_01: So part of the confusion earlier this spring, Pastor uh Jamal Bryant did a press conference and was like, the Target Fast is over.
41:55
SPEAKER_01: And that was in response to some sort of belonging initiative that Target released.
42:00
SPEAKER_01: That created a bunch of confusion, and then Target ran with that, and then got a bunch of influencers to start saying that Target boycott was over.
42:09
SPEAKER_01: It is not.
42:10
SPEAKER_01: Like the people that originally started the boycott have said, like, days after Pastor Bryant muddied the water, they're like, nope, it is still on because the demands have not like there's been no movement in meeting the demands.
42:25
SPEAKER_01: So um it's still on.
42:28
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I'm like, what do I miss about Target?
42:32
SPEAKER_01: I used to on Sundays, I would go after church and I'd get a basket and I'd get a coffee either from church or from the Starbucks in the Target, and I'd just browse for like an hour and a half.
42:44
SPEAKER_01: I just slowly walk around.
42:45
SPEAKER_01: Maybe I had a couple things to get, try on some clothes, look at the jewelry.
42:50
SPEAKER_01: That was probably before the skincare was really all that it is now, because now skincare there at least a year and a half ago was starting to become quite the thing.
43:00
SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, I'm like, I don't I don't miss the money that I would spend there.
43:05
SPEAKER_01: I remember when I was getting out of debt, I was like, I can't go to Target anymore just to browse because I leave a hundred some dollars lighter at least every time for no reason.
43:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yes, every time.
43:17
SPEAKER_00: And you could like get it got to a point where if you were in the beauty section, especially when their skincare got, you could leave with like three or four things and spend a hundred bucks.
43:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
43:27
SPEAKER_00: Easily.
43:28
SPEAKER_01: Easily.
43:29
SPEAKER_01: So I definitely don't miss the the random money spend there.
43:33
SPEAKER_01: I know the last time I shopped at Target because I had a friend coming in town and I realized I didn't have any pillows for her.
43:40
SPEAKER_01: So I did their yeah, I did their two hour because it's just so convenient, and I did their two hour buy online pickup curbside and haven't since then.
43:52
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, yes, it's it's inconvenient to go someplace else, and I've had to develop new habits.
43:59
SPEAKER_01: Um Um, but I have I have the flexibility, I have the time, I have the access, and so it is something that is possible for me to participate in.
44:11
SPEAKER_01: And it not really changed my life a whole bunch, like after I got out of the habit of it.
44:17
SPEAKER_01: Same with Amazon.
44:18
SPEAKER_01: Uh, once I got out of the habit, it became a lot easier to not make that my first stop for all of the different things that I need, like between art supplies or clothing or whatever, which is you know, we can talk about Amazon, we can talk about fast fashion, there's all kinds of stuff we can get into.
44:37
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, that's one thing that I'm cognizant of as we think about like all the stuff that we've been talking about, and like we'll talk about on the podcast.
44:49
SPEAKER_01: There's there's so many things that you can do, and I agree, it's like how do you what does harm reduction look like for you and what's accessible?
45:01
SPEAKER_01: Because I think about somebody, not that we've got 80-year-olds listening to the podcast, but I think about like folks that maybe don't have a car anymore, don't have access to transportation, or their transportation is very limited, like their store, like their uh living facility only drives you to Target.
45:21
SPEAKER_01: They don't drive to any other place.
45:23
SPEAKER_01: It's like, well, then of course, shop for what you need at Target.
45:27
SPEAKER_01: And what are other ways then like that you can give or other types of work that you can do?
45:32
SPEAKER_01: Because yeah, like the stuff we're gonna talk about is chaos.
45:38
SPEAKER_01: And it's like I can't do everything all at once, but I can pick and choose like where where my efforts are gonna go.
45:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
45:45
SPEAKER_01: And again, I have the privilege, financial privilege, I have time privilege to be able to, you know, maybe pay a little bit more for something because I can order directly from the website versus Amazon or Target.
45:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, I would say, like, we're not perfect.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: I still have the occasional thing.
46:08
SPEAKER_00: I know, we're not perfect, believe it or not.
46:10
SPEAKER_00: Uh oh no.
46:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, where a couple weeks ago there was something I was like, the only place I can find this thing is Amazon.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
46:20
SPEAKER_00: And was like, all right, well, I'm gonna order it from Amazon because it's the only place.
46:24
SPEAKER_00: Or there's been places where I have tried for hours to find anywhere else to buy it.
46:29
SPEAKER_00: Literally, it was like a broom thing for dog hair specifically.
46:33
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Oh, they only sell on Amazon, which is dumb for them because Amazon's taking a 30% cut of that sales.
46:42
SPEAKER_00: But oh my gosh.
46:43
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, y'all, y'all it's a is a thing.
46:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, I think there's a lot that we could get into, but like I use AI at work and personally.
46:57
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about AI and how awful it is, but I use it.
47:02
SPEAKER_00: I'm probably not gonna stop using it either.
47:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I also try to do things to offset the harm that I know that it's doing, even when I'm using it.
47:12
SPEAKER_00: Um I used it this morning for something.
47:16
SPEAKER_00: Uh so it really is like a matter of like trade-offs and personal values and and then overthinking all of your choices all of the time.
47:27
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes.
47:28
SPEAKER_00: Which is part of why we have this podcast, because we're inviting you into the overthinking with us.
47:32
SPEAKER_00: Come join us.
47:34
SPEAKER_01: So that you can join our madness.
47:36
SPEAKER_01: It's great.
47:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so that you can be overthinking with us.
47:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
47:41
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to be the only two people overthinking.
47:44
SPEAKER_01: It's amazing.
47:45
SPEAKER_01: The more I tell people how much I overthink, the more I'm like, oh, there's a lot of us out there.
47:50
SPEAKER_01: It's great.
47:51
SPEAKER_01: Oh, there's so many.
47:52
SPEAKER_01: Overthinking, overthinking responsible, anxious.
47:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're all here together.
47:57
SPEAKER_00: We're all here together on this podcast.
47:58
SPEAKER_00: It's great.
47:59
SPEAKER_00: You and my little dread.
48:03
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love him so much.
48:05
SPEAKER_00: My little dread statue.
48:06
SPEAKER_00: If you can't see him, I'll put him I'll try to think put a link in the show notes to the sub stack so you can find him.
48:12
SPEAKER_00: He's so cute.
48:13
SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
48:14
SPEAKER_00: He's cute, but like he he occupies a lot of brain space.
48:18
SPEAKER_00: The dread.
48:20
SPEAKER_00: Yes, the dread.
48:21
SPEAKER_00: Existential and otherwise.
48:24
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
48:24
SPEAKER_00: Yes, all of it.
48:26
SPEAKER_01: All of the above.
48:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
48:28
SPEAKER_01: I haven't Yeah, we did we've done a pretty good job of not going to that toy store constantly.
48:34
SPEAKER_01: Now that Nito isn't available anywhere.
48:37
SPEAKER_01: I'm just like, because that was weekly for a while, or every other week for a while.
48:41
SPEAKER_00: My favorite toy from China is unavailable constantly.
48:47
SPEAKER_00: I can't buy the goop anymore that's overpriced and packaged in this goop balloon.
48:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
48:55
SPEAKER_01: That's so sad.
48:57
unknown: Yeah.
48:58
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
48:58
SPEAKER_01: Nito is a fidget toy, like a squishy fidget toy.
49:02
SPEAKER_01: Yep, Anna's got it in the video.
49:04
SPEAKER_01: And they their main one is it just looks like an ice cube that's probably the size of a baseball, maybe a little smaller.
49:12
SPEAKER_01: And it is just so satisfying because when it's cooler, it's tougher, and then as you are literally kneading it with your hands, uh like squeezing it, it warms up and then it gets softer and squishier.
49:25
SPEAKER_01: And apparently, so we were into these before they were popular, like so before they were cool.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: Two or three years ago, and it was like, oh my gosh, you've got to see this squishy thing because we've been learning about our fidget tendencies and like how do we deal with it.
49:42
SPEAKER_01: And for me, it's like, how do I stop picking my the skin on my fingers and all of that?
49:46
SPEAKER_01: And so Nido became a thing, and then we've there's a local toy store that had them.
49:52
SPEAKER_01: Yes, and there, of course, there's all different kinds of Nido.
49:56
SPEAKER_01: And we went there for the longest time and grew our collection, and then we didn't go for, I don't know, several months.
50:03
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure why.
50:04
SPEAKER_00: Like a couple months, yeah.
50:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then and then we went back.
50:09
SPEAKER_00: And there was no need.
50:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we show up and they're like, Are you guys here for Nido?
50:15
SPEAKER_00: And we're like, Well, yeah.
50:16
SPEAKER_00: And then how do you know that?
50:19
SPEAKER_00: And why are you asking?
50:20
SPEAKER_00: You've never asked before.
50:22
SPEAKER_00: That's weird.
50:24
SPEAKER_00: So they're like, Oh, it all sold out this morning.
50:26
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, What do you mean it all sold out?
50:28
SPEAKER_00: Also, what?
50:30
SPEAKER_00: That's weird.
50:31
SPEAKER_00: They're like, Well, we got a shipment this morning and it all sold out.
50:34
SPEAKER_00: The line was wrapped around the building.
50:36
SPEAKER_00: I was like, What?
50:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
50:39
SPEAKER_00: Ridiculous.
50:40
SPEAKER_00: Is lining up to buy this stuff.
50:44
SPEAKER_00: Turns out, apparently, it went crazy on TikTok, I guess.
50:49
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
50:50
SPEAKER_00: Not the Toy Store, Nito.
50:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, went crazy on TikTok.
50:54
SPEAKER_00: And kids have like it has become a whole thing, apparently.
50:59
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
51:00
SPEAKER_00: Huge thing.
51:01
SPEAKER_00: And it's popular with the youths, and they have basically been buying it faster than it can be made.
51:13
SPEAKER_00: Oh.
51:14
SPEAKER_00: So which I was like, look, I get that you might want to play with it, but I need to play with it.
51:22
SPEAKER_00: This is this is self-care for me.
51:25
SPEAKER_00: Like, if I don't play with it, I can't sit still and have other problems, like looking at my fingernails, and I don't know what it is.
51:38
SPEAKER_00: Paying attention is a challenge.
51:40
SPEAKER_00: Paying attention.
51:41
SPEAKER_00: I was like, I don't know what the other problems were.
51:43
SPEAKER_01: Paying attention.
51:44
SPEAKER_00: That's a yes.
51:45
SPEAKER_01: There are enough problems that I need the needle, and now it's nowhere to be found, oh.
51:51
SPEAKER_00: Because they do the part of the problem is, and you might be able to see it, there's like this seal on the bottom.
51:57
SPEAKER_00: And eventually that wears out and they start to leak.
52:02
SPEAKER_00: And what's inside is sticky.
52:05
SPEAKER_00: It's like a sticky, sugary maltose-based polymer gel.
52:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's gross.
52:14
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you don't want it on you because it's nasty.
52:18
SPEAKER_00: So you yeah.
52:21
SPEAKER_00: The nasty part it starts to leak out.
52:24
SPEAKER_00: So eventually you wear them out, and then you gotta get another one, but you can't right now because they're gone.
52:29
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
52:30
SPEAKER_00: It's a whole problem.
52:30
SPEAKER_01: So then we've had to try different brands, which just they're not the same.
52:36
SPEAKER_01: I the specs one, I don't have it with me, but it's filled with like that iridescent ribbon and goo, and it's textured on the outside.
52:45
SPEAKER_01: That's been probably the closest thing, but I think it's because of all the texture on the outside.
52:51
SPEAKER_01: Uh but it's still not it's not dense enough at the beginning, so it's not the same satisfaction.
52:59
SPEAKER_00: Cause the one the sp the specs b goopy ball thing that you can get, I don't remember what they call them.
53:06
SPEAKER_00: Gump.
53:07
SPEAKER_00: I think it's a gump.
53:09
SPEAKER_00: I think that's what they call it.
53:13
SPEAKER_00: I don't know why.
53:14
SPEAKER_00: I d I'm not making it up, that's what they call it.
53:17
SPEAKER_00: A gump.
53:18
SPEAKER_00: So you get a gump and it just starts leaking really fast.
53:23
SPEAKER_00: Like you you beat it up a couple times and then it leaks.
53:28
SPEAKER_00: But the cube, the neato cube, you can really beat this thing up for like months.
53:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
53:34
SPEAKER_00: And eventually.
53:35
SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
53:37
SPEAKER_01: Much more resilient to my anxious squeezing.
53:41
SPEAKER_00: And then the the specs I'm gonna have to do just a whole episode on fidget toys.
53:47
SPEAKER_00: Fidget toys?
53:48
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, yes.
53:49
SPEAKER_00: We could do a fidget toy review episode where it's just us.
53:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's can we can have we can pepper in like literally the best.
53:58
SPEAKER_00: And literally the best.
54:01
SPEAKER_00: And then it's just like everything we like.
54:05
SPEAKER_00: It's just stuff we like.
54:07
SPEAKER_00: It's our hot guys, we're aware this is a hot takes podcast.
54:11
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
54:11
SPEAKER_00: It's a hot takes podcast.
54:13
SPEAKER_00: Uh but yeah, the specs, little I think they're just specs.
54:19
SPEAKER_00: I think that's what they are.
54:20
SPEAKER_00: These are fine.
54:21
SPEAKER_00: I love them so much.
54:22
SPEAKER_00: Tiny magnetic balls.
54:24
SPEAKER_00: Kind of like kneadem.
54:26
SPEAKER_00: But you kind of have to have two sets for it to be worth it.
54:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's not very one set isn't very satisfying.
54:32
SPEAKER_01: And then I got different, like, I bought two sets, but I got them in different colors.
54:36
SPEAKER_01: And then the color wore off of the one set.
54:40
SPEAKER_01: So now I'm left with like silver and a little bit of royal blue, and then the other set is like lime green, orange, and yellow, which I love that, but I'm like, I don't want to mix these together now.
54:50
SPEAKER_00: No.
54:51
SPEAKER_01: I certainly don't have the patience to mix them together and then split them apart.
54:55
SPEAKER_00: So I have done that.
54:57
SPEAKER_00: I have sorted all of mine into colors.
55:00
SPEAKER_00: Go you.
55:02
SPEAKER_00: During very boring meetings.
55:06
SPEAKER_01: Or meetings where I'm sort of Anna, whatcha doing?
55:08
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorting magnets.
55:10
SPEAKER_01: Don't mind me.
55:12
SPEAKER_00: They're like, okay, weirdo more.
55:16
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
55:17
SPEAKER_00: I didn't say I wasn't.
55:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's the other thing.
55:22
SPEAKER_01: You will, if you don't already know, you will learn how weird we are.
55:26
SPEAKER_01: But I think that doesn't take much to for that to shine through for either of us, at least for me.
55:34
SPEAKER_01: But you're probably already there.
55:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
55:37
SPEAKER_01: It it's not as people would be like, it's not a secret, Lauren.
55:39
SPEAKER_00: It's not a secret.
55:40
SPEAKER_00: You're not hiding it, actually.
55:42
SPEAKER_00: Nope.
55:43
SPEAKER_00: Not.
55:43
SPEAKER_00: Oh gosh.
55:45
SPEAKER_00: Alright, so what was your good thing for this week?
55:51
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so my good thing is I had uh a couple friends.
55:57
SPEAKER_01: So this week is the anniversary of my mom's passing.
56:00
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's been four years, and it's hard to believe, and the week just kicked my butt, and I slept so much like I had to take work off because so exhausted that I couldn't like see straight.
56:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I had a couple different friends send me flowers and a cookie and bagels that my mom loved, and then another friend dropped off iced coffee from Crema, or not iced coffee, oh my god, that's like sacrilege, coffee soda from Crema and some art supplies, and just in the middle of such a crappy week, those were just cute little bright spots to start my day.
56:42
SPEAKER_01: So well, and it was they were really there early in the morning.
56:45
SPEAKER_01: I got them midday when I was able to wake up.
56:49
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it was glorious coffee, soda soup.
56:53
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
56:54
SPEAKER_01: No, it was awesome.
56:55
SPEAKER_01: So uh I just felt so loved, so cared for.
56:58
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then obviously you were checking in too, so I really appreciated that.
57:02
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, the little deliveries.
57:04
SPEAKER_01: Deliveries are always fun.
57:06
SPEAKER_01: What about you?
57:07
SPEAKER_01: What's good for you?
57:09
SPEAKER_00: Oh man, I don't know.
57:10
SPEAKER_00: So last week, guys, I went to the no I went to the stationery store in Nashville called the Gentleman Stationer.
57:23
SPEAKER_00: Which You went without me?
57:26
SPEAKER_00: It's a problem.
57:27
SPEAKER_00: Yes, because I took the day off and I was like, I'm just gonna go.
57:30
SPEAKER_00: Good for you.
57:31
SPEAKER_00: And then I thought I had a doctor's appointment that which I did have, but it was at a different time, and yeah, anyway.
57:38
SPEAKER_00: So I got I got a planner, which I was like, I don't need another planner.
57:45
SPEAKER_00: I have many planners.
57:48
SPEAKER_00: I have many planners.
57:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I got this one, and I'm actually really liking it for the next few weeks until I decide to not use it anymore.
57:57
SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, it's been great.
57:59
SPEAKER_00: It is called The Laconic.
58:03
SPEAKER_00: It is from Japan.
58:06
SPEAKER_00: Ooh.
58:07
SPEAKER_00: And it's just a weekly planner.
58:09
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
58:09
SPEAKER_00: That's all it does.
58:10
SPEAKER_01: It's small too.
58:12
SPEAKER_01: Like it's thin.
58:13
SPEAKER_01: The notebook isn't beefy.
58:15
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
58:16
SPEAKER_00: That's what I so I'm trying to get everything that I carry around to fit in this guy.
58:23
SPEAKER_02: Which I think Yeah.
58:24
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
58:25
SPEAKER_00: For now.
58:26
SPEAKER_00: Until I get tired of that, and then I'll change it, which I do.
58:30
SPEAKER_00: But for now, that's what I'm doing.
58:33
SPEAKER_00: Because I was like, my backpack, when I carry everything around, probably weighs 50 pounds.
58:40
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want it to weigh 50 pounds anymore.
58:43
SPEAKER_00: Nope.
58:44
SPEAKER_00: Because I looked down at my shoulders last weekend after carrying it around for a while, and I have a connective tissue disorder, so this is probably why.
58:53
SPEAKER_00: But I had like pinhole bruising all over my shoulders because it was too heavy.
58:59
SPEAKER_00: So I was like, Alright, we gotta do something to make this lighter.
59:05
SPEAKER_00: So that's the answer.
59:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
59:06
SPEAKER_00: So it all fits, it all fits in here.
59:10
SPEAKER_00: Ooh.
59:11
SPEAKER_00: Appropriate size to fit in here.
59:16
SPEAKER_00: So that's what we're doing for now.
59:17
SPEAKER_00: And then we'll figure something else out when I get done with that.
59:20
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
59:21
SPEAKER_01: You'll have to report back on how you like the planner.
59:24
SPEAKER_01: I will.
59:25
SPEAKER_01: I will report back.
59:26
SPEAKER_00: How long you use it for?
59:27
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
59:28
SPEAKER_00: Approximately my bet is that I use it for approximately twelve weeks.
59:34
SPEAKER_00: But maybe longer.
59:36
SPEAKER_01: That makes it well worth it.
59:37
SPEAKER_01: Three bucks.
59:40
SPEAKER_00: Well, that just means you can come back to it later.
59:43
SPEAKER_00: Right.
59:43
SPEAKER_00: Will I?
59:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
59:44
SPEAKER_00: That remains to be seen.
59:46
SPEAKER_00: But Yeah, that's fair.
59:48
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
59:48
SPEAKER_00: You could you can come back to it.
59:50
SPEAKER_00: Just like you could with a notebook.
59:53
SPEAKER_00: You could come back to a notebook too.
59:55
SPEAKER_01: But I've done a better job of coming back to notebooks.
59:59
SPEAKER_01: But I think that's because I've started getting like just buying better notebooks.
1:00:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:00:05
SPEAKER_00: But that's that's a whole other thing.
1:00:08
SPEAKER_00: Another episode of literally the best.
1:00:11
SPEAKER_00: All of our five hundred different types of notebooks you could get.
1:00:16
SPEAKER_00: And they're all from Japan.
1:00:18
SPEAKER_00: Oh, but Japan makes such good stationery.
1:00:22
SPEAKER_00: I know.
1:00:22
SPEAKER_00: That's why we have to go there sometime.
1:00:25
SPEAKER_01: I know.
1:00:26
SPEAKER_01: I'm that's the plan.
1:00:27
SPEAKER_01: We'll have to hit up all the stationery stores and then get out of the cities and go be around nature because it's just it's gorgeous.
1:00:36
SPEAKER_01: It's gorgeous.
1:00:37
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
1:00:38
SPEAKER_01: But yep.
1:00:40
SPEAKER_00: Alright.
1:00:40
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
1:00:41
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
1:00:42
SPEAKER_00: It's been real.
1:00:43
SPEAKER_00: It's been fun.
1:00:47
SPEAKER_01: We'll talk about something else that's literally the worst.
1:00:50
SPEAKER_00: It's literally the worst.
1:00:52
SPEAKER_00: Alright.
1:00:53
SPEAKER_00: Love it.
1:00:53
SPEAKER_00: Bye.
1:00:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:00:54
SPEAKER_01: Bye.