Episode 3
S1E3: Beaver Attack, Caught on Camera, Quadruplets Surprise
Episode 3 of I Used To Work There delivers a full lineup of unforgettable Day Shift stories that prove the workplace is anything but predictable. From a wild jobsite encounter that turns into a full-on beaver chase, to a moment caught on camera that no one saw coming, these stories bring the kind of chaos, humor, and “you can’t make this up” energy that defines the show. Along the way, you’ll hear about workplace bets gone wrong, jobsite challenges that push people to their limits, and the kind of everyday moments that somehow turn into lifelong stories.
But this episode doesn’t just stay in the chaos. It balances the laughter with a powerful, feel-good story of a community rallying around a family with identical quadruplets, showing the human side of work and life. And just when you think you’ve heard it all, the episode closes with a story about losing a job that takes an unexpected and unforgettable turn, reminding us that even in the toughest moments, there’s always room for perspective, humor, and a story worth telling.
Got a story from your job you’ve never told out loud? Submit it to hr@iusedtoworkthere.com
Transcript
So I surveyed the situation and I started a little song.
Speaker A:I just lost my job I got no money they said come clean out your desk tomorrow's the last newspaper.
Speaker A:You're losing your job don't take that stapler you got the newspaper blues you're losing your job.
Speaker B:Welcome everyone to episode three three of I used to work there.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for tuning in to our new show today.
Speaker B:We have a bunch of day shift stories for you.
Speaker B:So if you're looking for something uplifting, inspiring, funny, today's episode is for you.
Speaker B:And if you're just new to the show, we do orient the show in day shift and night shift.
Speaker B:So day shift is your funny, inspiring feel good stories and night shift or your darker, scarier, not so great stories.
Speaker B:And we love both on this show.
Speaker B:So if you have a story and it happened to you at work, please, H r. I used to work there.com with no further ado, let's get into it.
Speaker B:We're starting the show today with a wild animal story, one that you would not expect.
Speaker B:It is my pleasure to welcome Patrick to the show.
Speaker C:Thanks, Kelly.
Speaker C:Good to be here.
Speaker C:Good to be here.
Speaker B:You have, you have a couple incredible stories for us today.
Speaker B:But let's start with the first one.
Speaker B:What happened?
Speaker C:What happened?
Speaker C: here, but back in like early: Speaker C:It's actually called the graffiti bridge.
Speaker C:People call it the graffiti bridge on the hendaye.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:Beautiful structure, Amazing structure.
Speaker C: t summer, this was like early: Speaker C:We had some heavy rainfalls that year.
Speaker C:And what we didn't realize is up, up, like we were spanning a little creek and up ahead there was this mass of like, I'm not going to call it a lake, but it was a beaver made lake and the beaver dam was creating this lake.
Speaker C:Well, during these heavy storm falls, the beaver dam broke free.
Speaker B:Oh, no.
Speaker C:And so I mean flooded our site, the whole nine yards.
Speaker C:It was just a mucky mess down there.
Speaker C:And after about two, three days, we decided, okay, we're going to go in there and start cleaning up.
Speaker C:So the crews kind of shut down production and we're cleaning everything up.
Speaker C:And I was on night shift at the time.
Speaker C:And so, you know, you kind of got limited lights.
Speaker C:We had enough lights, but you're limited.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker C:And so I'm cruising around and I'm cleaning up all this wood debris with a loader and a skid steer.
Speaker C:And we're just kind of working away.
Speaker C:And I kind of seen this little glisten, right?
Speaker C:I didn't think anything else.
Speaker C:I jumped out of my, out of my loader and our piece of equipment at the time.
Speaker C:And I walk over to it and I see this beaver, right?
Speaker C:And I.
Speaker C:It's laying there.
Speaker C:So I'm thinking, okay, it's dead because yeah, whatever man, that's happened.
Speaker C:So poor little beaver.
Speaker C:So I grab a stick, like poke, poke, while this beaver wakes up, stands up and if you've ever seen a beaver stand up on its hind legs, they're pretty big, man.
Speaker C:I don't know the exact height, but let's just say it scared the shit out of me, right?
Speaker C:So beaver.
Speaker C:And it hisses too, like oh no.
Speaker C:And holy.
Speaker C:So here's this beaver and me in the standoff.
Speaker C:I'm kind of in the corner of the structure because I had to walk around.
Speaker C:So I'm in the corner of the structure.
Speaker C:So it's got me pinned in this corner, right?
Speaker C:So I'm like doing these juke moves like a football player.
Speaker C:Fake left spin, go right, any mud boot, you know, and gumboots.
Speaker C:I'm running in the mud, this beaver's chasing me.
Speaker C:I did about a lap and a half around the loader and then finally jumped up onto the loader out of the way.
Speaker C:And the beaver was sitting there at the bottom and it started to slap its tail in the mu.
Speaker C:Oh my God, that was so funny.
Speaker C:I know it's a quick story, but it was the funniest thing I've ever seen.
Speaker C:Being chased by a beaver.
Speaker C:And for all the young guys listening, not the beaver that you expect to be chased by.
Speaker B:I have heard a lot of stories in my time, Patrick.
Speaker B:I have never heard anybody being chased by a beaver before.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker C:And I grew up.
Speaker C:See, I grew up in.
Speaker C:In a small town in the West Cooneys.
Speaker C:And our property, my parents property, it went through a creek called Beaver Creek.
Speaker C:And so I learned how to fish there.
Speaker C:And we would see beavers, you know, you'd be casting your on, the beaver would swim by like nothing.
Speaker C:You're just like, oh, no big deal, cute little beaver, right?
Speaker C:And then when you see one of those suckers stand up and hiss at you, that beaver ain't cute anymore.
Speaker B:Well, there you have it, everyone.
Speaker B:You know, safe warning.
Speaker B:Stay away from beavers.
Speaker B:They're more scary than you might think.
Speaker C:And use a stick to poke something.
Speaker C:Even if it looked dead, it may be sleeping, so make sure.
Speaker C:I'm so happy I didn't Use my hand.
Speaker C:Like, oh, my goodness.
Speaker B:Yes, yes.
Speaker B:That is the last thing you need.
Speaker B:They chew trees.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:Thank you, Patrick, for an incredible Canadian story.
Speaker C:Yeah, it is a beautiful Canadian story.
Speaker C:To this day, I don't even like nickels.
Speaker C:I'd rather have five pennies.
Speaker B:Those things are getting kind of hard to find these days.
Speaker C:Keep the change then.
Speaker C:Keep the change.
Speaker B:And Patrick was not done yet.
Speaker B:He was absolutely full of great stories and we were laughing so hard we had to do a back to back.
Speaker B:Welcome, Patrick, back to the show.
Speaker B:You have another incredible story for us.
Speaker B:What the heck happened?
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker C:Well, this is another animal related story.
Speaker C:And so about 10 years ago, the last company I worked for, we used to do bridge work and we did bridge rehab projects and we had a contract with Parks Canada down in Banff National Parks and we were fixing some bridges, doing a bunch of work, and they were quite a bit of a distance apart.
Speaker C:So every week we had to sit with the environmental consultant from Parks Canada and just do a report on any wildlife spottings, any spills, any of that kind of stuff.
Speaker C:And so we, and I would always, I would always have it with a barbecue.
Speaker C:So I'd bring a barbecue, we'd have, you know, eat, have the whole nine yards.
Speaker C:And so one time I, we had the barbecue, we had the meeting, everything's going good.
Speaker C:I probably ate too many hot dogs, but who doesn't on a barbecue?
Speaker B:Who doesn't?
Speaker C:So I'm driving, I get in my truck and I gotta go check out another site.
Speaker C:And it's about, I don't know, 30, 40k down the road.
Speaker C:And one thing I did learn at Banff is I never sped through there because it's just so beautiful.
Speaker C:I just would take my time, look around, and this time I started to speed a little.
Speaker C:So all of a sudden I'm driving and I'm like, oh my God, I gotta go to the bathroom.
Speaker C:My stomach starts turning here.
Speaker C:I'm like, okay, no problem.
Speaker C:I know there's a, there's those little porta potties or outhouses.
Speaker C:And I keep driving along, driving along.
Speaker C:I'm like, I don't think I'm gonna make it.
Speaker C:Like, it's growling at me.
Speaker C:So I'm like, okay, I'm not gonna make it.
Speaker C:I see a animal overpass, I'm thinking, okay, this will be perfect.
Speaker C:I'll just park over to the side, grab my toilet paper, go.
Speaker C:Do you know what sometimes you have to do?
Speaker C:You know, go into the bush.
Speaker C:So I climb down the bank and looking around, okay, nobody Sees me.
Speaker C:This is awesome.
Speaker C:I do my business.
Speaker C:I won't get into detail on that one.
Speaker C:Do my business.
Speaker C:Everything's all right.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker C:Go up the bank, go to the next job.
Speaker C:A week later, we have our same meeting.
Speaker C:And so the environmental consultant, he comes up and he goes, so we had a rare animal sighting at one of the overpasses.
Speaker C:I'm like, awesome.
Speaker C:Did we see a cougar?
Speaker C:Yeah, a grizzly.
Speaker C:Like, what did we see?
Speaker C:Because I love seeing the pictures.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:So he pulls up a picture of somebody taking a crap, and it's me.
Speaker C:So I had no idea.
Speaker C:In the heat of the moment, I had to go to the bathroom.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Apparently, I went to the bathroom right at a camera, a game camera.
Speaker C:I didn't even know I was there.
Speaker C:I'm looking up, like, nothing's going on.
Speaker C:Like, everything's awesome.
Speaker C:Like, what a great place to go.
Speaker C:Look at all the pain you drink.
Speaker C:Yeah, we had a great laugh over that one.
Speaker C:And, I mean, you know, the beautiful part about it is everybody took it in stride.
Speaker C:Like, it was front of my crews.
Speaker C:Like, I was one of the owners of this company.
Speaker C:So here I am.
Speaker A:I got this.
Speaker C:My crews are laughing.
Speaker C:Everybody's laughing.
Speaker C:I'm supposed to be standing.
Speaker C:Great example.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Sorry, guys.
Speaker C:Well, here it is.
Speaker C:There's a rare sighting of the homo sapien.
Speaker B:What is absolutely hilarious about this story, Patrick, is the fact that, like, anybody else could have done that and would have.
Speaker B:Like, they wouldn't have known somebody caught them on camera.
Speaker B:The simple fact that it was you, and you actually met with the consultant, and they're like, hey, is this you?
Speaker C:He knew who it was right away.
Speaker C:As soon as that camera came up, like.
Speaker C:Like, he was like, oh, my God, there's Patrick.
Speaker C:Because we've been there for a couple of years, had these contracts ongoing, right?
Speaker C:And it was just gold, like.
Speaker C:And it was.
Speaker C:It was so good because of the relationship we built with everybody, right?
Speaker C:So there was no, like, aftermath or, you know, I'm getting fined or nothing.
Speaker C:It was just a good laugh.
Speaker C:Everybody shared, you know, And.
Speaker C:And it was.
Speaker C:Yeah, it was funny.
Speaker B:You know what's funny, Patrick?
Speaker B:I'm actually going to share these stories.
Speaker B:You've left us two stories.
Speaker B:I'm literally going to share them back to back, because if people laugh as hard as I did, their face is going to hurt.
Speaker B:And I think we all need that today.
Speaker C:Hey, we all need a little face clapping once in a while, right,.
Speaker B:Patrick?
Speaker B:This was incredible.
Speaker B:Please do call back.
Speaker B:Give us more stories.
Speaker B:Like I said, Be like, Patrick, tell us your crazy stories.
Speaker B:Thanks again.
Speaker C:Yeah, no problem.
Speaker C:My pleasure telling it.
Speaker B:Thank you, Kelly, for my international listeners who maybe have never heard of Banff, Alberta, Canada.
Speaker B:Look it up.
Speaker B:It is probably one of the most beautiful places in the world, let alone Canada.
Speaker B:It is amazing.
Speaker B:And those animal highway crossings he's talking about are actual land bridges that go over the highways to protect wildlife.
Speaker B:It's pretty cool.
Speaker B:If you're ever going to Canada, make sure that you take a stop in Banff if you get a chance.
Speaker B:Our next story is all about the brighter sides of life.
Speaker B:Remember, not all stories on I used to work there are dark.
Speaker B:And we want your light stories as well.
Speaker B:We want your inspiring stories as well.
Speaker B:And this is a great shining example of that.
Speaker B:Today it is my absolute pleasure to welcome Carmen from Edmonton to the show.
Speaker B:Carmen, you have a story for us.
Speaker B:Tell us what happened.
Speaker D:Do I ever.
Speaker D:Thanks so much for having me and congrats on this podcast.
Speaker D:I'm loving it so far.
Speaker D:Kelly.
Speaker D:Okay, so I'll give a bit of context.
Speaker D:I worked for a major Canadian broadcasting company.
Speaker D:I worked in.
Speaker D:In a newsroom for almost 20 years of my.
Speaker D:Of my life.
Speaker D:And I had many, many roles and I worked in some small markets and mainly in Edmonton.
Speaker D:But so I have a lot of other stories that maybe I'll have to call back time, Kelly, anytime.
Speaker D:Okay, I'll hold you to that.
Speaker D:But yeah, I started out as a writer in the newsroom and then I became a video journalist.
Speaker D:So I had the camera on my shoulder doing the interviews, tons of wild scenarios, being a general assignment reporter in that role.
Speaker D:But from there I became a health reporter.
Speaker D:I was in charge of reporting, producing and anchoring about a four minute health segment.
Speaker D:Four minutes doesn't sound very long, but actually four minutes of like health content news every night was quite a lot.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Well, you would know, running 12.
Speaker B:I understand content time.
Speaker D:Yeah, you would for sure.
Speaker D:I did that for a couple of years.
Speaker D:Loved it.
Speaker D:And then from there I became a news anchor.
Speaker D:I anchored the 5pm newscast for CTV Edmonton.
Speaker D:And many people ask me, you know, what was your favorite job in the newsroom?
Speaker D:And I think they expect me to say being a news anchor.
Speaker D:Actually, my answer is I loved being a health reporter.
Speaker D:I got to meet such inspirational people.
Speaker D:I mean, interviewing surgeons in their surgical suites in the depths of the hospital that nobody gets to go into, or really cool researchers looking into fascinating topics and inspirational families.
Speaker D:Kelly.
Speaker D:I even actually got to interview Wayne Gretzky.
Speaker D:And it wasn't a hockey Story.
Speaker E:It.
Speaker D:Was because his dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and they were Walter Gretzky, and they were opening up a huge research wing at the U.
Speaker D:Of A.
Speaker D:So I got to interview Wayne and his dad, Walter about what that was like and what life has been like with this disease and the research and all of that.
Speaker D:That was really cool.
Speaker D:However, today I want to take you about five hours northwest of Edmonton to a tiny village called Hythe, Alberta.
Speaker D:And I traveled to that small community because a young couple there had four identical quadruplet baby girls.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker D:I know you're a parent and you have a busy household.
Speaker D:Could you imagine four identical babies?
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh, I could.
Speaker B:But as of this recording, I have a seven month old and a two and a half year old and they are keeping me very busy.
Speaker D:So we heard about identical quadruplet babies being born at a hospital in Edmonton, and it's extremely rare.
Speaker D:First of all, quadruplets, that's rare.
Speaker D:But identical quadruplets is extra.
Speaker D:And so I did a bit of research and a bit of digging to connect with this family and I did.
Speaker D:And I said, would you be interested in letting us come with a camera and share your story?
Speaker D:We'd love to meet you.
Speaker D:We'd love to come see the babies.
Speaker D:And of course, they could say no and we would respect that in their privacy, but they said yes.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker D:And I was so excited.
Speaker D:So a camera guy and I, we hopped in the truck and we drove, like I say, about five hours outside of Edmonton and we went to.
Speaker D:Hi.
Speaker D:And I'll never forget walking into that house and seeing four teeny little baby girls laying on this blanket.
Speaker D:Just the tiniest, sweetest little identical bundles.
Speaker D:It was adorable.
Speaker D:And the dad, they were quite a young couple.
Speaker D:And the dad, his eyes were just like bulging out of his head.
Speaker D:He was like, this is surreal.
Speaker D:I can't believe I have four baby girls.
Speaker D:He even was talking about how in the future in the interview he said this too.
Speaker D:He's like, I can only imagine what my life is going to be like when I have four teenagers.
Speaker D:He's like, I'm never gonna get the bathroom.
Speaker B:No kidding.
Speaker D:But they were such a lovely couple and they were so open to sharing, I guess, their shock and their excitement and their joy.
Speaker D:And they were super honest in saying they were even having a hard time telling them apart, the four babies.
Speaker D:And they put a different color of nail polish on each of their toes to see.
Speaker D:See who it was.
Speaker D:So cute.
Speaker D:But so the story kind of had a number of different components to it, seeing the four babies, amazing hearing from this couple and how their life has totally changed.
Speaker D:But the other element, and I didn't know that this was going to be a part of the story, but that community came together.
Speaker D:The community stepped up in huge ways for this family.
Speaker D:Like, as we were there for a couple of hours, people would walk in and be like, hey, it's my time for the feeding.
Speaker D:It's my time to change the babies.
Speaker D:Just people, they really.
Speaker D:It takes a village, right?
Speaker D:And we witnessed that.
Speaker D:And another thing, when we were there, they would get packages to the door from strangers around the world who had heard they had these babies.
Speaker D:And we were with the dad when he opened up a box, a package, a huge box from someone they didn't know in New York who, who sent them clothes and things.
Speaker D:They had diaper boxes piled high.
Speaker D:And so just the element of how people came in amazing ways to support this family.
Speaker D:And that story actually made national news.
Speaker D:So it was seen across the country.
Speaker D:And I even heard from viewers and people in newsrooms across the country too, being like, oh, my gosh, I love those heights babies.
Speaker D:You got to meet them.
Speaker D:I have a picture of me holding all four of them at once.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker D:But we followed up with them a little bit later.
Speaker D:So I went to their first birthday as a journalist and I got to kind of see where they were at.
Speaker D:And they went back to the hospital where they were born to meet the doctors and nurses again, saying, you know, showing, look, we're one now.
Speaker D:They were even on the.
Speaker D:Do you remember the Ellen show?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker D:So there is a YouTube video of them, of them just going from one sister to the other, hugging each other nonstop.
Speaker D:Just, I'm hugging this one sister now.
Speaker D:I'm going to hug for minutes and minutes.
Speaker D:It has millions of views.
Speaker D:And Ellen showed them on her show, which got everybody pretty excited.
Speaker D:But yeah, being a health reporter, obviously I got to cover or I had to cover some difficult stories, but the ones that really stand out, well, this one especially.
Speaker D:But I felt like I got to also share some really great, like, human interest type pieces that just warm your heart.
Speaker D:And yeah, the quad babies, I will never forget.
Speaker D:They're 10 now.
Speaker D:I'd love to see where they're at.
Speaker B:You know what would be cool is if, like, in like seven or eight years, they find this show and they listen to this exact episode.
Speaker D:I hope they do.
Speaker D:And if you guys do.
Speaker D:Hi.
Speaker D:I have a great picture holding all four of you.
Speaker B:No, this is awesome.
Speaker B:And thank you for this story, specifically this story.
Speaker B:Most of the stories that we've been getting on this show so far have been the crazy things, the scary things, the paranormal things, like everything you can imagine.
Speaker B:The bank robberies.
Speaker B:We've had some stuff so far.
Speaker D:Oh, I heard that one.
Speaker B:But I think it's important and I want all of our listeners to know that these stories are welcome too.
Speaker B:We also want the stuff that just, you know, lifts people's hearts and stuck with you.
Speaker B:There's a lot of things that happen at work and some of them are pretty awesome.
Speaker B:So we want those too.
Speaker D:And I want to hear, I want to hear them all too.
Speaker D:I want to hear the bank robber stories and I want to hear the paranormal.
Speaker D:I heard those ones on your last episode.
Speaker D:It was awesome.
Speaker D:But the ones that kind of make you smile and warm your heart a little bit, we need to sprinkle those into.
Speaker B:Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker B:Thank you, Carmen.
Speaker B:This is an incredible story and I do hope you come back.
Speaker B:I know you have many, many more stories.
Speaker B:Stories.
Speaker D:I do.
Speaker D:I'm just getting warmed up.
Speaker D:I wanted to start with a heartwarming one.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker B:Amazing.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker D:Okay, thanks, Kelly.
Speaker B:For our next story, it is my pleasure to welcome Gordon from Alberta.
Speaker B:Gordon, you have a story for us.
Speaker F:Yeah, it's one of those ones that takes me back a long ways.
Speaker F:I worked in a corporate stretch there for quite a while.
Speaker F:And in early days, in that 10 year stretch, I was just an employee.
Speaker F:And one of my worst nightmares during that time was the weekly staff updates meeting.
Speaker F:I just was.
Speaker F:So I was probably the worst participant in it because it was never an agenda, it was never structured, There was favoritism, there was some sexism throwing in, depending on the guy that is the guy that was running it at the time.
Speaker F:And I just remember not.
Speaker F:I just, I couldn't handle it because I really felt it was not a good use of all of our time to get there.
Speaker F:And again, just sort of say what we're, you know, some people got ready, some people didn't.
Speaker F:And it really, it's just such a nightmare for a long time.
Speaker F:And I remember thinking at the time, boy, if I ever get a chance, I'm sure gonna make a difference.
Speaker F:And I'm gonna take that hour and a half and I'm gonna make it super efficient.
Speaker F:Well, lo and behold, careful what you wish for.
Speaker F:Because about somewhere in there was about 09ish sort of thing in there.
Speaker F:And I got promoted from employee to manager.
Speaker F:So with that same, you know, at that time with that group of people about nine People in a room.
Speaker F:I walked into my first weekly staff updates meeting, and I did that thing in nine minutes.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker F:Because I was determined.
Speaker F:I was like.
Speaker F:But it wasn't like I needed other people in the room because I was all full of myself.
Speaker F:Like, the lesson was such a brutal, brutal lesson because I went and I sure was efficient.
Speaker F:And I went to one person and we did to them in a minute.
Speaker F:Bam, bam, bam.
Speaker F:I moved around the room.
Speaker F:I lost their trust as a new manager for three months.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker F:It was brutal.
Speaker F:Like, it was one of those ones of, like, again, you think you're making it better.
Speaker F:But I should have had some mentorship.
Speaker F:I should have respected the process that had been there before, from the style that was there before.
Speaker F:But what a hard, hard way to learn.
Speaker F:Because these poor people, you know, they were used to it being a certain way.
Speaker F:And then this happened, and then I had to, funny enough, I had to go back to conversational style because the purpose of the meeting really was about them getting along, hearing each other.
Speaker F:It wasn't about my efficient management style that I wanted to implement as a new manager.
Speaker F:So it really made me get a hard lesson in what does it take?
Speaker F:And how do you be sensitive to the people that are around you so that you can help them get the most out of a situation?
Speaker F:And then also as a leadership lesson, it was a really tough one to get through because I thought I knew, and I thought I knew it was going to be better.
Speaker F:And then I had to have that lived experience.
Speaker F:And those months afterwards, you know, there's other things going on too, but it took a while to get around to that.
Speaker F:So that was a huge lesson in terms of, you know, somewhere where I worked and I had to go through that process.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:No, that's amazing.
Speaker B:I used to have many of those weekly, weekly meetings in a former organization.
Speaker B:And I totally get what you're saying.
Speaker B:It was almost as much about the.
Speaker B:The social aspect of it as it was about everybody else giving those weekly updates.
Speaker B:But believe me, I've sat in my fair share of hour, hour and a half long meetings where I was like, can this end?
Speaker B:So I understand where you're coming from as well.
Speaker F:Yeah, it was a crazy thing.
Speaker F:And it's funny, looking back now.
Speaker F:It was all kind of my own ego, I think, in the situation.
Speaker F:And if I had to sort of unpack it and go, you know, how can I avoid doing that one?
Speaker F:I should have been asking somebody, hey, what.
Speaker F:What do you think the best way forward would be as opposed to Thinking that I knew and then really underestimating the, you know, the importance of what to do at the right time.
Speaker F:So we were transitioning, you know, for me, as the new manager and not really respecting that.
Speaker F:And there's a.
Speaker F:There's a, you know, there's a way to onboard yourself in a sense that I simply didn't have the experience to know the difference.
Speaker F:So I just had no idea that would be the way to learn.
Speaker F:But it was painful, and I hope I'm saying it out loud so that nobody else ever has to go through that type of transition again and they can help their own leadership journey learn from me.
Speaker B:Some of the best lessons, Gordon, and I'm sure we're gonna learn this on this show, are really learned the hard way.
Speaker F:That's exactly right.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for calling in with your story.
Speaker B:I don't know about you guys, but I have definitely gone into situations thinking I know best only to be humbled later.
Speaker B:So Gordon is absolute not alone in that one.
Speaker B:For our next story, we are heading to the great oil sands of Alberta.
Speaker B:It is my pleasure to welcome back to the show Stephanie.
Speaker G:Thanks, Kelly.
Speaker G:Yeah.
Speaker G:So many stories to share.
Speaker G:Working up in oil and gas and being a young woman, I was in, my gosh.
Speaker G:Yeah, I was in my mid-20s when I was working up there, so there was always some good stories working with those guys.
Speaker G:They were.
Speaker G:Yeah, it's pretty fun.
Speaker G:So I was working in document control, and it was my first job.
Speaker G:I was there on a temporary job placement and through, like, a temp agency.
Speaker G:And I didn't really know these guys very well, but they knew each other really, really well.
Speaker G:Like, they were buddies.
Speaker D:They.
Speaker G:You know, there was the name hires, and.
Speaker G:And they all worked together in different crews.
Speaker G:It was an electrical and things.
Speaker G:And there's this one guy, and he.
Speaker G:He was a nice guy, and he.
Speaker G:He wanted to elevate his status.
Speaker G:He really wanted to be the boss.
Speaker G:So sometimes he got a little bossy when he maybe shouldn't have.
Speaker G:Anyway, so the guys, they started on the radio, his last name was Bader.
Speaker G:And then they slowly started to integrate, calling him Master.
Speaker G:They just called him Master.
Speaker G:And then they brought it in.
Speaker G:It took him like, it was like all of them together.
Speaker G:Like, the whole crew started calling him Masturbator on radio and, like, we're talking open mic with the entire site.
Speaker G:Did hear what was happening.
Speaker G:Right.
Speaker G:And, yeah, for months, he never picked up on it that they're calling him Masturbator on the radio.
Speaker D:It was months.
Speaker G:It was freaking.
Speaker B:No way.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker G:Like, it wasn't just like once or twice.
Speaker D:Like, that was his name.
Speaker G:And he was so proud.
Speaker G:He was so.
Speaker G:Because they were calling him a master spread.
Speaker B:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker B:My goodness.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And for those of you listening, this is oil and gas construction.
Speaker B:This is a different kind of world.
Speaker B:We're not condoning it, but we're definitely saying that there was a different time.
Speaker B:I think that's always important.
Speaker G: This is like: Speaker G:And.
Speaker G:And.
Speaker G:And I hesitated to share the story, Kelly, because I'm like, this is going to age like spoiled milk.
Speaker G:But, you know, it.
Speaker G:It was pretty funny.
Speaker B:You know what?
Speaker B:And that is completely.
Speaker B:Okay, here's the thing.
Speaker B:I think that's what's important is that a lot of these things, stories, they are going to age like spoiled milk.
Speaker B:This isn't.
Speaker B:This isn't the PG show.
Speaker B:This is the tell us how it was show.
Speaker B:So I appreciate that greatly.
Speaker B:Thanks for your candid share, Stephanie.
Speaker B:And yes, we don't condone that at all, but that absolutely has happened in the past, and that's exactly what this show is here for.
Speaker G:So, you know, and sometimes when guys busting balls on work site, I mean, that's the camaraderie.
Speaker B:Not uncommon.
Speaker B:No, no.
Speaker B:I think they're.
Speaker B:Especially in construction, especially in the oil and gas world.
Speaker B:No, what.
Speaker B:What's important is that it sounds like the guy wasn't incredibly distraught.
Speaker H:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker G:I. I don't know even know why we went.
Speaker G:I don't know if they told him in the end or they just like, it got to be not funny because he never got on.
Speaker G:But, yeah, I think about every now and again.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you for another great story, Stephanie.
Speaker B:And to those people out there working hard in the oil and gas field, we appreciate you.
Speaker B:We are absolutely looking for more stories from the trades.
Speaker B:So if you work in oil and gas, if you work in construction, we want to hear from you.
Speaker B:Tell us your crazy, wild it happened to me at work stories.
Speaker B:Our next guest is calling from Alberta and they want to stay anonymous, but the story they have is.
Speaker B:Is awesome.
Speaker B:And welcome to the show.
Speaker H:Thanks, Kelly.
Speaker H:Thanks so much for having me on the show.
Speaker H:Yeah, no, I got a pretty good one from a number of years back, but at the time, I was working as a laborer on a crew, and we were.
Speaker H:We were tasked with cleaning up, you know, an industrial yard of sorts.
Speaker H:And it really was everything you'd expect.
Speaker H:I mean, it was weed whacking, moving old supplies, cleaning out an Old warehouse, the whole deal.
Speaker H:And at the time, most of us were.
Speaker H:We were students taking summer jobs through university, just trying to make some extra money and, you know, for what it was, was a really great gig.
Speaker H:The crew got along well.
Speaker H:We made the most of our days kind of by bantering and, you know, going back and forth with each other through the tedious parts.
Speaker H:And, you know, one coworker in particular, he was.
Speaker H:He was a true character.
Speaker H:And always remember working with him, he was, you know, he's hilarious.
Speaker H:He.
Speaker H:He worked hard most of the time, and he always had that.
Speaker H:That ability to say, you know, the perfect thing and the perfect moment just to lift the mood.
Speaker H:So we'll call him X.
Speaker H:And so, you know, X wasn't just funny.
Speaker H:He.
Speaker H:He also had one of the most confusing athletic builds I think I've ever seen.
Speaker H:He was about 6 foot 4 or 6 foot 5, and, you know, probably 260 on a good day.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker H:But yet he was, you know, somehow faster than everyone on our crew, which we discovered after making what we thought was a, you know, a sure bet, you know, so, X, for a little bit of context here, he described himself as a bit of a, you know, leaner, meaner.
Speaker H:Dustin Buff will.
Speaker H:And if.
Speaker H:If any of you follow hockey, you'll.
Speaker H:You'll get what I'm referring to.
Speaker H:And, you know, honestly, credit where it's due.
Speaker H:You know, he did have a ridiculous set of athletic abilities, and he definitely wasn't sure, sorry, shy of, you know, reminding you of those, you know, he could throw a football about 70 yards and bench press 315, both of which you confirmed with, you know, further bets that surely didn't cash.
Speaker H:And, you know, he was just a remarkable guy in a lot of different ways.
Speaker H:So, you know, after losing about, I don't know, probably about $100 to him, another co worker and I were sitting around after work just, you know, dumbfounded at how this kept happening.
Speaker H:All these sure bets that, you know, didn't cash.
Speaker H:And, you know, we had no answer.
Speaker H:But as we were sitting there, you know, we were kind of eating the donuts that remained in the break room after work, and each of us had gotten through about three of them, and there was.
Speaker H:There's two left sitting on the table.
Speaker H:And, you know, both of us were just kind of looking at them like, hey, you know, we should finish these.
Speaker H:And, you know, at that moment, it kind of hit us.
Speaker H:We were like, no kidding, we can't eat any more sugar.
Speaker H:And, you know, we.
Speaker H:We looked at each other and we're like, you know, surely X couldn't eat a dozen donuts, right?
Speaker H:And I think at that moment we kind of grinned and looked each other.
Speaker H:We were like, this is exactly what we're going to do.
Speaker H:So the next morning we showed up and, you know, we started talking about food before the day started.
Speaker H:And, you know, right on cue, X jumped in with how much he could eat.
Speaker H:And, you know, at that point, I think we knew we got him.
Speaker H:So we.
Speaker H:We offered him a bet that he wouldn't be able to eat a dozen donuts in one sitting.
Speaker H:So at lunch, we went out and we bought a dozen donuts of our choosing and we brought them back.
Speaker H:And, you know, in the drive through, it was.
Speaker H:It was funny.
Speaker H:We had a pretty good conversation going about what we were going to select.
Speaker H:And.
Speaker H:And I think we settled on just maximum sugar, limited time donuts, Boston creams, anything that felt like it would be kind of difficult to get down.
Speaker H:So when we got back, the challenge started and, you know, it was 1, 2, 3, gone within a minute.
Speaker H:And a few minutes later, we're past the halfway mark, and our buddy X looks up at us and says, you know, this is the easiest hundred dollars I've ever made.
Speaker H:And for a second, I think that, you know, both of us genuinely believed it.
Speaker H:But somewhere around seven or eight, he stopped and he asked us for water.
Speaker H:And so that water break, you know, it went from what should have been 10, 20 seconds to about two minutes.
Speaker H:And, you know, after that, the pace notably kind of changed a little bit.
Speaker H:And from that point, it took him another couple minutes just to get through the next donut.
Speaker H:And so, and so, so forth.
Speaker H:You know, progress had stalled, he started sweating.
Speaker H:And I think at that moment, we knew we had him.
Speaker H:You know, as we.
Speaker H:He bought.
Speaker H:Halfway through the 10th donut, he jumps up and, you know, he looks at us with kind of, you know, equal parts kind of disgust and terror and just ran out of the room.
Speaker H:About, you know, I'd say probably about a half an hour later, he came back and he was.
Speaker H:He was looking sick as a dog.
Speaker H:He said he had a massive headache, pale the whole deal.
Speaker H:And so he was done for the day, needed to go home.
Speaker H:And I. I just remember me and my buddy, you know, we.
Speaker H:We were a little bit conflicted because, you know, on one hand we were.
Speaker H:We were really excited that we had won the bet, but, you know, at the same time, we were kind of pretty genuinely worried about our friend.
Speaker H:You know, we.
Speaker H:We knew he'd be okay, but it was you know, it was just one of those things.
Speaker H:Wanted to make sure he was all right.
Speaker H:So, you know, the next morning he comes in and it was, it was pretty funny and, you know, pretty on point as well.
Speaker H:He didn't even acknowledge the bet for a couple, couple hours.
Speaker H:And, you know, when he, when he finally did, he gave us a pretty good one liner.
Speaker H:He told us that, you know, the hundred dollars that we won would simply be applied as credit to the next bet that we were inevitably going to lose.
Speaker H:So, you know, while we hated it at the time, you know, it was moments like these that kind of really pulled us together and, you know, very appreciative of, you know, stories like these looking back throughout the years.
Speaker H:Right, great.
Speaker H:So, yeah, just wanted to share that story.
Speaker H:It stuck with me and yeah, thanks for having me on, Kelly.
Speaker B:That's amazing.
Speaker B:You know, one question that I do have though, before we wrap it up is, did you stay in contact with X over the years?
Speaker A:Not as much as I would have liked.
Speaker H:You know, I think life pulls you in all sorts of different directions, but definitely still someone I would consider to be a friend.
Speaker H:And, you know, when I see him, we definitely.
Speaker H:It's one of those things where you just pick up right where you left off.
Speaker B:That's amazing.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for the story and lesson for everybody.
Speaker B:Don't try to eat 12 donuts in one sitting.
Speaker B:And as luck would have it, we're moving from one bet to another.
Speaker B:It is my pleasure to welcome Daveed from Edmonton to the show.
Speaker E:Oh, man.
Speaker E:Again, thank you, Kelly, for inviting me to this podcast.
Speaker E:You're doing great job out there and I love all the stories that are coming out.
Speaker E:It's just amazing and it's, it's crazy.
Speaker E:I'm connecting to them.
Speaker E:I'm like, oh, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker E:The police chase was an interesting story, by the way.
Speaker E:That one was like, wow.
Speaker E:And the, and the yacht, I was like, yep, yep, I can relate to that one too.
Speaker B:We all need more random yacht appearances.
Speaker E:100%.
Speaker E:Oh, so you're going to get a lot of stories from people.
Speaker E:I hope you do.
Speaker E:So this one challenging the co worker.
Speaker E:Yeah, it's this horse.
Speaker E:This happened again.
Speaker E:Not to put a label on how old I am, but years ago, years ago I was on the Tools as an electrician and we were working on a massive, massive warehouse in West End.
Speaker E:So it's about a million square foot facility.
Speaker E:Just massive facility here in Edmonton out of all places.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:And there's no concrete on the floor.
Speaker E:There's nothing There.
Speaker E:And as tradespeople, we like to challenge each other constantly.
Speaker E:From picking up heavy material to digging faster to who can ignore who the longest kind of thing.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:It was just a challenge.
Speaker E:It's always a challenge.
Speaker E:Keeps the atmosphere in the work site.
Speaker E:Very fun.
Speaker E:Right?
Speaker E:And this, this happened before.
Speaker E:Oh, and S existed too.
Speaker E:So just FYI.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker E:So here we are.
Speaker E:We have to install a whole bunch of lights.
Speaker E:Just massive amount of lights throughout this warehouse.
Speaker E:Think about it like this.
Speaker E:The Home Depot, they have about 76 high bay lights, the original setup.
Speaker E:And it will take you about, if you're good, really good, two guys one day to install like, wow.
Speaker E:Going like that's going, right?
Speaker E:So how do you stay focused?
Speaker E:How do you stay committed?
Speaker E:And how do you become an estimator?
Speaker E:Have everything that you need.
Speaker E:All right, so I'm going to picture draw a picture for you here on how the site looks.
Speaker E:It's pitch black.
Speaker E:We're electricians, right?
Speaker E:We work in the dark.
Speaker B:You're there before the lights turn on.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker E:I got told by clients many times, electricians are like cockroaches, we disappear once the lights turn on.
Speaker E:So here we are.
Speaker E:So this site is just a mud pile.
Speaker E:Just a mud pile.
Speaker E:There's no concrete on the floor, just mud everywhere.
Speaker E:We have these man lifts, big, big man lifts, four by four going through these things like monster trucks, like through the mud.
Speaker E:And we have about 20 lights on this man lift.
Speaker E:So this just picture the man lift about 30ft long, about 20ft wide, and one man moving it around.
Speaker E:And there's like eight of us just going, they're like, yeah, let's go.
Speaker E:Diesel operated things.
Speaker E:The fumes, it just smelled like, like, we're ready to race or something, right?
Speaker E:It was just like, rev, rev, rev.
Speaker E:But here we are just installing, installing these lights.
Speaker E:Was it 80ft off the ground?
Speaker E:So we're going up and down, up and down, pitch black, setting up these lights.
Speaker E:And one guy, like, he's right beside me, he's one aisle over.
Speaker E:Basically based on the layout, right.
Speaker E:Of a facility.
Speaker E:So he's one aisle over, he looks over, he's like, oh, I'm gonna challenge you on what?
Speaker E:And he goes, I have no idea how you're going faster than me, but I want to know you right here, right now.
Speaker E:And we're gonna go for it and I'm gonna call it.
Speaker E:I'm like, you do you?
Speaker E:Here's the difference.
Speaker E:He had everything set up beautifully on this man lift.
Speaker E:He had the lights, the junction box, the marettes his tools were around his waist.
Speaker E:Everything was great.
Speaker E:Like, it looked like he.
Speaker E:He was going to beat me.
Speaker E:He was a well organized guy.
Speaker E:And here I am.
Speaker E:I got lights all over the place.
Speaker E:My tools, I don't even know where they are.
Speaker E:I think I left on the other beam.
Speaker E:It didn't matter to me.
Speaker E:Let's see what happens.
Speaker E:Having fun.
Speaker E:To really focus mentality, Right.
Speaker E:And he wanted to know why I was ahead of him.
Speaker E:Okay, well, let's do this.
Speaker E:And he sounds the alarm going, okay, start, Go.
Speaker E:So I. I didn't go.
Speaker E:I started whistling.
Speaker E:I started just enjoying my time, enjoying my.
Speaker E:My peace, my calm, right.
Speaker E:My Zen.
Speaker E:This is my Zen zone, Right?
Speaker E:And so off we go.
Speaker E:I got that light up pretty fast.
Speaker E:He got a little bit angry.
Speaker E:Just.
Speaker E:Just a little bit.
Speaker E:And he.
Speaker E:I went down from the man lift all the way down, because that's the safety operation part of it.
Speaker E:And moved to the second installation and just kept going, going, going, going.
Speaker E:Finished it.
Speaker E:Finished it.
Speaker E:And for some odd reason, our foreman knew.
Speaker E:He knew we were challenging each other.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker E:And our foreman, he's a character himself.
Speaker E:He has a look that you wouldn't believe.
Speaker E:He's got the curly mustache.
Speaker E:He's got a hard hat that's like Civil War style.
Speaker E:And he has this.
Speaker E:How do you call it?
Speaker E:His tool pouch was in the shape of a holster, like, gun holster.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:He was like.
Speaker E:He was a character himself.
Speaker E:And he was just standing there watching, just ready to like, who's gonna win here?
Speaker E:Right?
Speaker E:Well, I beat this guy by three lights.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker E:He was not impressed with me at all.
Speaker E:Like, he comes down.
Speaker E:I don't understand.
Speaker E:You're whistling.
Speaker E:You're whistling.
Speaker E:Got annoying.
Speaker E:This and that.
Speaker E:I was the point.
Speaker B:Excuses.
Speaker E:That's the point, Right?
Speaker E:It was like, challenge a cowork.
Speaker E:See where it goes, right?
Speaker E:Me and that guy and that foreman, we stuck together for probably six years after that.
Speaker E:And what was really interesting, that every project we ended up on, we were ahead of the game, we were ahead of process.
Speaker E:We were.
Speaker E:Because we're constantly challenging each other.
Speaker E:We constantly pushed, right?
Speaker E:And we even ended up at the.
Speaker E:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker E:The fourth for Saskatchewan Rec Center.
Speaker E:The dao.
Speaker E:The Dao center there.
Speaker E:And it was the same thing.
Speaker E:We were challenging each other.
Speaker E:Challenging.
Speaker E:And we were ahead.
Speaker E:We reduced the man hours by a drastic amount, and we always got a little extra bonus at the end of the job, and that's what kept us going.
Speaker E:Challenging your coworker was a good thing.
Speaker E:It turned out to be a great thing, Right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker E:We still talk to the day, by the way.
Speaker B:That's amazing.
Speaker B:It's so funny because I'm not sure if it'll be in this episode, but we had another caller call in and talk about challenging other employees to tasks on the job, which is hilarious.
Speaker B:Also, working in the trades, that one has a really funny ending.
Speaker B:Maybe not so funny, but funny.
Speaker B:Funny as in, he did get the last laugh, I think, on at least one of those challenges.
Speaker B:But it's funny that it's come up twice in.
Speaker B:Let's call it a handful of recordings.
Speaker E:The best one, Skelly is like.
Speaker E:I had one guy ask me, he's like, oh, I want to put this wall sconce up at the same time you do.
Speaker E:It's like, yeah, sure, let's do it.
Speaker E:We're right.
Speaker E:He's around the corner.
Speaker E:I'm around the corner, and I'm talking to him.
Speaker E:Just around the corner.
Speaker E:Yeah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker E:Again, my talents, right?
Speaker E:I got the light off, and then I'm like, standing beside him, watching him, you know, put it in.
Speaker E:And I'm like, you're doing good, man.
Speaker E:And he's like, why don't you go focus on your light?
Speaker E:I'm like, my light's done.
Speaker B:And he was like, why did he.
Speaker E:He stopped.
Speaker E:He went around the corner, looked.
Speaker E:He was like, no, right, But.
Speaker E:But it was really interesting to even know your own abilities because there's some others trade people that are even faster than you.
Speaker E:That guy with the holster, he was the fastest.
Speaker E:We knew he had.
Speaker E:He had.
Speaker E:I don't know what he had, but it was like it was already done before he got up there.
Speaker E:I was like, no, that's not fair.
Speaker B:Sounds like a true Albertan.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:And shout out to all of our tradespeople out there, if you have stories like this, submit them.
Speaker B:HR used to work there.com DaveEd you have more stories, so we will see you on the next one.
Speaker E:All right?
Speaker B:And with that, we finally lead into our eighth and final story of the evening.
Speaker B:Many of you out there have been laid off before.
Speaker B:We all hate it.
Speaker B:Losing your job sucks.
Speaker B:But did you make the front page of the newspaper with what you did about it?
Speaker B:This next story might be the best layoff story I have ever heard.
Speaker B:It is my pleasure to welcome Joel calling in from Texas to the show.
Speaker A:Kelly, great to be here.
Speaker A:This story involves a magic harmonica, which I have the actual magic harmonica.
Speaker F:This is not.
Speaker B:You can tell because.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, there would.
Speaker A:There should be a kind Of a.
Speaker A:Every time, you know, it's a lot like Excalibur.
Speaker A:I got a phone call.
Speaker A:I was working at a newspaper in Dallas, Texas.
Speaker A:That's where I live.
Speaker A:Working at the Dallas Times Herald.
Speaker A:I had just moved to Dallas six months prior.
Speaker A:I'm living in a one bedroom apartment.
Speaker A:I don't have any.
Speaker A:Hardly any furniture.
Speaker A:So six months.
Speaker A:I moved across the country for this job.
Speaker A:Six months later, phone rings, it's on a Sunday.
Speaker A:They said, tomorrow's the last paper.
Speaker A:We're closing down.
Speaker A:Come clean out your desk.
Speaker A:Oh, wow.
Speaker A:So I lost my job six months after I joined.
Speaker A:Now, this job was very difficult.
Speaker A:There was.
Speaker A:You knew you were on board the Titanic.
Speaker A:Like the people on the Titanic probably didn't know they were on the Titanic.
Speaker A:I was fully aware that I was on the Titanic.
Speaker A:Is that too soon, by the way?
Speaker A:Are we.
Speaker B:No, no, no.
Speaker B:The Titanic happened like well over 100 years ago.
Speaker B:So I don't think anyone's going to be offended.
Speaker A:I think everybody's over it.
Speaker G:Okay.
Speaker A:So my wife took me, by the way, to a Titanic exhibition.
Speaker A:It was awesome.
Speaker A:Anyway, that's probably why I'm mentioning that I'm on the Titanic.
Speaker A:So I know we're going to hit the iceberg.
Speaker A:I just don't know when.
Speaker A:And you knew.
Speaker A:So it was a tough situation.
Speaker A:So Sunday, they call me, come clean out your desk.
Speaker A:And so I actually felt a weight had lifted off my shoulders.
Speaker A:I felt an amazing energy.
Speaker A:And I say this was one of the best days of my life.
Speaker A:I say this in my book.
Speaker A:In fact, I wrote, this is chapter two of my book.
Speaker A:Make the right choice, Lead with passion.
Speaker B:Can you shout out your book for our listeners?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Make the right choice.
Speaker A:Lead with passion.
Speaker A:Elevate your team and unleash the fun at work.
Speaker A:Available Amazon, Barnes and Noble, wherever you purchase books.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker A:That's the advertising.
Speaker A:So this is my favorite chapter.
Speaker A:And I say this is one of my best days of my life.
Speaker A:With the birth of my two children, I'm contractually obligated to say the day I got married.
Speaker A:So those are all the best days of my life.
Speaker A:And so when they said, come clean at your desk, you know, this was a tough situation, tough job situation.
Speaker A:So this weight had been.
Speaker A:And as I'm leaving my one bedroom apartment, I grabbed this harmonica.
Speaker A:This is not a usual occurrence.
Speaker A:I don't play the harmonica.
Speaker A:I'm actually tone deaf.
Speaker A:I don't have a musical ability, but I had this magic harmonica and I didn't walk out the door all the time.
Speaker A:Grabbing the harmonica.
Speaker A:This didn't happen.
Speaker A:I don't know why I did this.
Speaker A:And so I grabbed the harmonica and I purchased this back in college, believe it or not, I went to a lecture.
Speaker A:I lost that memory.
Speaker A:I'm guessing it was a famous harmonica player.
Speaker A:I'm guessing.
Speaker A:So I go down to the newspaper.
Speaker A:You know, everybody's cleaning out their desks.
Speaker A:And there's a range of emotions.
Speaker A:You know, when you lose your job, people are angry, confused, sad, disappointed.
Speaker A:There's just a range of emotions.
Speaker A:And I, and I'm young.
Speaker A:This is my second job out of school, so I'm in my early 20s.
Speaker A:And I, you know, I kind of look around and, you know, I'm grabbing a three hole punch that I still have today, by the way.
Speaker A:You know, that's my, that's what I got to take.
Speaker B:That was your screw you.
Speaker B:You're like, I'm taking this punch.
Speaker A:I'm shaking the three ring punch.
Speaker A:And I think I took a stapler.
Speaker A:I swear to you, that's all I walked out.
Speaker B:Rebel.
Speaker A:People are walking out with carts full of books.
Speaker A:People are taking like the newspaper, you know, the newspaper boxes.
Speaker A:They're taking those people.
Speaker A:You know, there were huge artwork of like photos that won the Pulitzer.
Speaker A:People are ripping them off the wall.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker B:Yeah, it was a shit show.
Speaker A:It was as close to a looting as I've ever been to.
Speaker A:And so I'm walking out and I'm just walking, you know, I'm, I'm like the new guy.
Speaker A:I'm like, you know, I just start, I'm, I'm walking out.
Speaker A:I'm just gonna take my three whole pots in the snake.
Speaker A:That's all I need.
Speaker B:You guys could take the Pulitzer photos.
Speaker A:Frankly, I didn't have the confidence or the, the balls to like just grab stuff off the wall and just, you know, take the coffee machine or whatever.
Speaker A:Seriously, I just didn't have that.
Speaker A:I was early 20s.
Speaker B:That seems like a reasonable choice.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker E:So.
Speaker A:But here's what I did.
Speaker A:So I found myself on the back loading dock and the back load.
Speaker A:And I don't know why I said, oh, I'm gonna go to the back loading dock.
Speaker A:I really have lost that memory.
Speaker A:And so back there was the media that was covering the demise of the paper, the radio stations, TV stations, the other newspapers.
Speaker A:I mean, it's a big deal.
Speaker A:When a major metropolitan newspaper back in the early 90s closed, that's a big deal.
Speaker A:A lot of jobs, you know, it's a big part of the community.
Speaker A:And so I found myself on the backloading dock and I took out my magic harmonica and I played a little song.
Speaker A:Now, remember, I don't have any musical ability, but harmonicas are funny instruments.
Speaker A:You can play a little bit and people think, oh, he might know.
Speaker B:He might know what he's doing, what.
Speaker A:He's doing for a moment.
Speaker A:And then you go, no, not really.
Speaker A:And I can do one blues note.
Speaker A:Let's see how it's working.
Speaker A:How's it sound?
Speaker B:Sounds great.
Speaker A:So that's.
Speaker A:I had that one note.
Speaker A:So I surveyed the situation and I started a little song.
Speaker A:I just lost my job.
Speaker A:I got no money.
Speaker A:They said, come clean out your desk.
Speaker A:Tomorrow's the last newspaper.
Speaker A:You're losing your job.
Speaker A:Don't take that stapler.
Speaker A:You got the newspaper blues.
Speaker A:You're losing your job.
Speaker A:So I did that.
Speaker A:I got a little spittle on my.
Speaker A:So I did that for a few minutes.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker A:And you know, this is not what people expect when you lose your job.
Speaker A:So what happened?
Speaker A:It was like the cameras, you could actually.
Speaker A:If this was like a movie, you could see the camera focusing.
Speaker A:You know, people were like, if the camera was.
Speaker A:Was pointing this way, it was now pointing directly to me.
Speaker A:And they're like, what?
Speaker A:You know, this is gold to them because it's not something normal, it's unique.
Speaker A:And so of course they want.
Speaker A:The camera wants that.
Speaker A:And so I kept going.
Speaker A:I got no money, I got no prospects.
Speaker B:I just moved to this town.
Speaker A:I'm living in a one bedroom apartment with no furniture, and I'm singing in the newspaper blue.
Speaker A:So that went on and I don't know why, I don't know why I did that.
Speaker A:But two things happened.
Speaker A:One, first, someone grabbed my elbow and they said these direct this exact quote.
Speaker A:They said, you will never work in this town again.
Speaker A:It was like a film noir movie.
Speaker A:And it was awesome for someone to say that to me.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh, you're good.
Speaker B:I don't want to.
Speaker A:Yeah, you know you've made it.
Speaker A:When someone says, and I don't know if it was a man or a woman, I can't even see that face.
Speaker A:I just.
Speaker A:Someone grabbed my elbow, told me to stop, and said, you'll never work in this town again.
Speaker A:Well, they were wrong.
Speaker A:I worked in that town a million times and so forgot about it.
Speaker A:Later that night, we're at a wake at somebody's apartment.
Speaker A:You know, all the, like 40, 50 people.
Speaker B:Wow, that's a really bad day.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker B:Losing your job and going to a wake?
Speaker A:No, the wake was the wake of losing your job.
Speaker C:Kelly.
Speaker A:Hey, guys, I gotta stop cleaning out my desk.
Speaker A:I gotta go to the funeral.
Speaker A:No, the wake of we all lost our job.
Speaker A:So it was the wake of losing our job.
Speaker A:Are you, Are you with me?
Speaker B:I'm with you.
Speaker A:Was there, Was there something.
Speaker B:I got a little.
Speaker B:I got a little mixed up.
Speaker B:I'm thinking like, Matt, this must be like Joel's worst day ever.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker A:You lost a job and had to go to a funeral.
Speaker A:I love you.
Speaker A:I love you, man.
Speaker A:All right, so I'm at the job, the wake for we all lost our job, the death of the newspaper.
Speaker A:And the news comes on, and they start the news broadcast with this young twenties, stupid kid playing the harmonica, talking about a newspaper.
Speaker A:I don't know, it was like, you know, whatever, 150 years old, 130 years old, whatever.
Speaker A:Over a century of history and the demise is this young twenties, something kid singing the harmonica, singing on the harmonica, Portly.
Speaker A:And everyone at the party just kind of looked at me, kind of did a side eye everybody's head kind of looked at me like, what did you do?
Speaker A:Because I didn't tell anybody.
Speaker A:I didn't think it was gonna be anything.
Speaker A:It was just me being young and stupid.
Speaker A:And so two, actually, two of the local stations had me playing the harmonica the next day.
Speaker A:There was a huge picture of me, a photograph, a huge photo of me in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, another major metropolitan newspaper of me playing the harmonica.
Speaker A:As the paper is closing, everyone's losing their job.
Speaker A:And then people were calling me and like, you know, this is pre Internet, pre social media, this is early 90s, and people are calling me from around the country and they go, did I see you play the harmonica on the news?
Speaker A:Because people would pick up, you know, stations would pick up the story.
Speaker A:And so this was viral before viral and under reflection, you know, and I write about it in my book, is that that moment was really important.
Speaker A:And it was really important because it taught me several things.
Speaker A:I wasn't just acting out and doing this.
Speaker A:I mean, yeah, I wanted just to have fun, but there was a lot going on.
Speaker A:I. I just lost my job.
Speaker A:And so playing this magic harmonica, what it did was it one reduced my stress.
Speaker A:That's probably why I did it.
Speaker A:Number one, you know, I don't know what I'm going to do.
Speaker A:I don't know if I'm going to stay in town.
Speaker A:You know, I don't have a lot of money.
Speaker A:You know, I'm basically living paycheck to paycheck and so, you know, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do next.
Speaker A:And so this exercise reduced my stress, number one.
Speaker A:Number two, it created confidence.
Speaker A:It gave me confidence in who I am, what I'm doing, my skills.
Speaker A:I didn't lose my.
Speaker A:I lost my job.
Speaker A:I didn't lose my skills.
Speaker A:And so that was important to kind of understand and realize.
Speaker A:And I think it really taught me to be who I am.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And it was me really putting myself, taking myself, getting out of the comfort zone, putting myself out there, doing something different.
Speaker A:And that's really what my whole career is about as a speaker, as an author, as a performer.
Speaker A:And so it really was the beginning of kind of putting yourself out there.
Speaker A:And so that.
Speaker A:That was huge.
Speaker A:And there was.
Speaker A:There was.
Speaker A:It just taught me a lot in that moment, you know, of reducing stress and building confidence and believing who you are and knowing that you have these skills and being flexible to what is happening and embracing this moment, embracing this change, embracing this disruption, and realizing it's not the.
Speaker A:It is an end, but it's also a beginning.
Speaker A:So it taught me a lot.
Speaker A:That's why it's probably my favorite chapter.
Speaker A:This silly little moment was really an important moment in my career, in my life, and it just was all because of this magic harmonica.
Speaker A:And so sometimes when I talk on other podcasts or sometimes in my keynotes, and I talk to the audience and I say, what is your magic harmonica moment?
Speaker A:What is your moment where, you know, you're gonna step up, where you're gonna take a stand, where you're going to realize that, you know, believe in yourself, you know, realize that belief, realize that confidence, take that step and put yourself out there.
Speaker A:When is.
Speaker A:What is your magic harmonica moment?
Speaker A:And so it kind of became something.
Speaker A:Something special.
Speaker A:And that.
Speaker A:That story.
Speaker A:People love me when I tell the story because I get to play the harmonica.
Speaker B:That is an amazing story, Joel.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
Speaker B:You know, just out of curiosity, what are.
Speaker B:I don't want to ask what was.
Speaker A:The newspaper, but sure, it was the Dallas Times Herald.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:That's where I work.
Speaker A:The Dallas Times Herald, the other paper in town, the Dallas Morning News, bought the Times Herald out.
Speaker A:Bought it out, you know, to reduce the competition.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And they literally tore the building down.
Speaker B:Oh, wow.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:And so nobody.
Speaker A:And so nobody could.
Speaker A:Nobody could move in and buy the printing press and the resources and start another paper.
Speaker A:They destroyed.
Speaker A:Tore the paper down.
Speaker A:So there was no competition.
Speaker A:And so, you know, it was very difficult situation and I was out of work for probably six months.
Speaker B:Well, that's not.
Speaker B:You'll never work in this town again.
Speaker A:No, no.
Speaker A:It took me about six months to get a full time job.
Speaker A:I mean, I was doing freelance and different things and that really.
Speaker A:The other really exciting thing that happened and you just don't know when these things are happening, you know, is obviously I had a lot of free time.
Speaker A:Kelly, when you lose your job, you tend to have a lot of free time.
Speaker A:The calendar opens up.
Speaker A:And so I started doing stand up.
Speaker A:That's when I started doing standup.
Speaker A:That's when I took some more improv workshops, auditioned, got in an improv troupe.
Speaker A:But I started my journey on comedy, stand up and improv, which, you know, I did start work.
Speaker A:I worked at a PR agency and ad agency and then I went on my own.
Speaker A:But that stand up and improv journey is where I am today.
Speaker A:Using improv, using that humor in my keynote to talk about leadership and teamwork and change and passion.
Speaker A:So this was the beginning.
Speaker A:This moment was huge in my life because it put me on a different path.
Speaker A:If the paper didn't close, how long would I have worked there?
Speaker A:Or would I have continued being a journalist?
Speaker A:Would I have just moved to a different newspaper if this moment didn't happen?
Speaker A:Would I have never started doing standup?
Speaker A:Going to open micro nights, taking more improv workshops, auditioning for the, for the group?
Speaker A:All this happened because I had more time, more focus.
Speaker A:I was kind of, you know, finding what I really was going to make me happy.
Speaker A:And all this because I lost my job.
Speaker A:So sometimes those terrible things happen and another door opens.
Speaker A:It's pretty awesome.
Speaker B:And with that, the end of our show has arrived.
Speaker B:If you've enjoyed this episode, please follow us wherever you're listening, Listening, Apple, Spotify or anywhere else.
Speaker B:If you have a work story that is absolutely unbelievable, wild, inspiring, scary, paranormal or something else, we would love to hear it.
Speaker B:Let me know hristoworkthere.com and we will get you on the show.
Speaker B:Until next time.
Speaker B:See you next ship.
Speaker C:Sam.
