Episode Transcript
Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.
Use Ctrl + F to search
0:27
Hello, Internet. I'm your husband host Travis
0:29
McElroy. And
0:30
I'm your wife host, Teresa McElroy. And
0:32
you're listening to Shmanners. It's
0:33
extraordinary etiquette. Ordinary
0:35
occasions. Hold on, my love. Hello,
0:36
dear. How are you? I
0:40
think I'm fine.
0:40
Yeah. Getting by getting
0:42
by getting by.
0:44
Yeah. I mean, the biggest thing for me is it's
0:46
that timing year again. Allergy
0:48
season. Oh, okay. I thought you're gonna say,
0:50
like, you know, the days we're
0:52
just counting the days until it's warm
0:54
or whatever. I don't know. With our jobs, I
0:56
was thinking about this because,
0:59
like, seasons mean nothing to
1:01
me other than the weather changing. I work from
1:03
home. Yeah. Yeah. I don't get
1:06
summer breaks. I don't get spring break.
1:08
Teachers are so
1:09
left. He they have it so
1:10
Oh my god. Don't you even? No. Of course.
1:12
Of course. course. course. I'm kidding. Of course, I'm kidding.
1:14
Of course, I'm kidding. But it
1:17
would be nice. No.
1:19
But there is that thing of just, like, the
1:21
one thing is, like, I know what day it
1:23
is based on what we're recording. Okay.
1:26
But it there are often
1:28
days where someone's like, what
1:30
are you doing this
1:31
weekend? And I'm like, well, what is today? And
1:33
I can't tell you.
1:36
And we were just this week, we're talking about retirement
1:38
parties.
1:39
Yes, we are. And before
1:40
we started, we were talking about for your dad's
1:42
second retirement. Yes. Because he
1:44
retired when I was in middle
1:46
school from the air force. Mhmm.
1:49
And then he got a civilian job
1:51
because he had to continue to make
1:53
money. To feed your children.
1:55
Well, we'll talk about that too in a second. But
1:58
And so he retired again
2:00
from his civilian job. And we gave him
2:02
very nice clock Like, one of the it's a
2:05
mental thing, which is a very traditional,
2:07
that and, like, watches and stuff. It's like a very
2:09
traditional thing, which you pointed out, and I
2:11
never really thought about. It's weird to be
2:12
like, hey. Now that you don't have anywhere to be
2:15
or anything to do. Right. So you know
2:17
what time it is? Yeah. Here's
2:19
this very fancy timepiece. To
2:21
tell you about what you used
2:23
to
2:23
do. It's kinda See, I thought you were going to say
2:25
it's kind of cruel because you're, like, think of all
2:27
the time you lost market.
2:30
Won't get that back. Here's the clock.
2:32
I don't know if I've seen that clock. What did he
2:34
do with it?
2:34
He probably burned it.
2:37
It was one of those ones that has like
2:39
glass case on it. And it I
2:40
think it's called, like, a retirement clock or an anniversary
2:43
clock. It has, like, this Like,
2:44
three mini things.
2:45
On the bottom, And it's like yeah. I think
2:47
it's called like an anniversary clock. My
2:49
mom also retired recently.
2:53
Just like, last
2:54
year. Right? Yeah. But once
2:55
again, I think it was more of, like, a second.
2:57
It was a second retirement because her
3:00
first career was as a nurse.
3:03
Where she was what
3:06
did it? A neonatal? She
3:09
was like a NICU.
3:10
A NICU nurse. Yeah. So
3:12
she retired ish from that, although
3:14
I do believe for a while she was keeping
3:17
her RN, which you can
3:19
do by continuing education and
3:21
and taking the the tests and stuff like
3:24
that. Just
3:24
once again, nurses have it so easily.
3:26
Oh my god. Don't even start. And then
3:28
she was a substitute teacher for a while
3:30
and then retired from that because teaching
3:32
is
3:33
hard. Well, I think the thing about
3:35
retirement parties that's interesting now is
3:37
I think they're probably a lot fewer
3:40
and far far or betweener. Because
3:44
it used to be so easy
3:46
to retire. And I think that
3:48
we see more and more these days of, like,
3:51
yeah, you were tired from your, like, your main
3:53
job that you did, you know, nine to five
3:55
for, like, forty five years or whatever. But
3:57
you do need to get another job as like
3:59
cashier at a supermarket or whatever because you
4:01
still have
4:02
to, like, pay bills and it still cost money
4:04
to do you think And I tell you, it has
4:06
never been easy to retire. What?
4:10
So let's define
4:12
it first.
4:13
Okay.
4:13
It's the practice of leaving one's job
4:16
or ceasing to work after reaching a certain
4:18
age. Okay.
4:20
You know, people have always done this because
4:22
eventually, you cannot move your
4:24
body enough to work. Okay.
4:27
Whether it's from old age
4:29
or disease or sickness or whatever
4:32
it
4:32
is. Right? Eventually, you cannot physically
4:36
work anymore. And it's time to get
4:38
uploaded to the matrix.
4:41
But starting back in the Roman
4:43
empire, the nation
4:45
states would provide pensions to those who had
4:48
served in the military, right, which makes
4:50
sense because military
4:52
service especially back then
4:55
was very physical. Right? And at some
4:57
point, you are not capable of
4:59
continuing your military career.
5:02
And the idea was they had
5:04
served their their country. And
5:06
so they received a pension Wow.
5:09
Can you imagine if we just, like, took care
5:11
of the people who did the job we don't wanna do
5:13
and, like, served their country. And
5:16
then after They were done working
5:18
for the country. The country was like, now let us
5:20
work for
5:21
you. Mhmm. Can you imagine? Can you
5:23
imagine? But other than
5:25
that, like, retiring wasn't really something
5:27
that people did, right,
5:29
especially the working class. Now
5:31
they're they're in the upper crusts
5:34
right of society. There was a time
5:36
where you transferred your assets,
5:39
maybe before you died. But
5:43
Other than that, like, if you asked
5:45
him an evil peasant about
5:46
retirement, they'd be like, what?
5:48
Yeah. They'd burn you with the say for for witchcraft.
5:51
Exactly
5:51
because you work on the farm every day and
5:53
until you don't because you're dead.
5:56
Yeah. So until the eighteenth
5:58
century, People didn't really
6:00
start talking about retirement as
6:02
an idea, and it wasn't even
6:04
government policy anywhere until
6:07
the nineteenth century. And so
6:10
there was someone in
6:12
government
6:13
who introduced the idea, Otto
6:15
Von Bismarck.
6:16
Oh, wait. I've heard about him. He was a conservative
6:19
minister president of Prussia, and
6:22
he presented this as kind of
6:24
a radical idea at the time. Like,
6:27
radical. I mean, kind of.
6:29
He proposed that the government should run
6:32
a financial support program for older
6:34
members of society. Which
6:36
is a little bit like social security these
6:39
days. Right? Yeah. But social
6:41
security, first of all, don't get me started
6:44
because that is your money. Right?
6:46
You in Social
6:47
Security, you you contribute from
6:49
your paycheck.
6:51
Yeah. You're investing in your retirement.
6:53
And then you get that money back. When
6:55
you can't work anymore? Hypothetically. Yes. Hypothetically.
6:58
So his claim was, those
7:02
who are disabled from work by age and
7:04
invalidity have a well grounded
7:06
claim to care from the state, which
7:09
was radical at the time especially considering
7:13
that he was
7:16
a conservative leader. Right?
7:18
Which isn't, you know, isn't renowned
7:20
for social programs. He
7:23
was his nickname was the iron
7:25
chancellor. Man, I wish
7:27
I could have a nickname to talk about how, like,
7:29
cool and hard ass I guys. It's
7:32
like the iron podcast that We
7:34
say that on this film. But, like, the iron podcast
7:36
that I would take or even just, like,
7:38
the thick cardboard podcaster.
7:41
Like, thick cardboard with rough edges
7:43
podcaster. So he seems like
7:46
an unlikely candidate. Right? But
7:48
playing in the space with me. Hey. Playing in
7:50
the same what would you wanna what kind would
7:52
you wanna
7:52
be? One space. One space.
7:55
That heavy duty. Think this is. My
7:57
brother my brother is the heavy duty
7:59
aluminum foil podcaster. You
8:03
could be, like, the four ply toilet
8:05
paper podcaster
8:06
real tough stuff
8:07
over here. Real tough stuff tough
8:09
and soft. Yeah. That's
8:11
too soft and strong. You're you're a
8:13
ten ply toilet paper, babe. You
8:16
got ripples and patterns. Hey, why did you
8:18
tell our kids that I don't like pattern toilet
8:20
paper? Because
8:21
you told me that at some point. Did
8:23
I yes. I don't remember this.
8:25
Okay. When you're
8:26
we've been having this fight for weeks. It's not even
8:29
a fight. For me now, it's more of a philosophical
8:31
rumination. Because when you
8:33
have kids, you try teaching things. And it
8:35
it always goes in one year and out the other. But
8:37
there will be things that your kids are like, I've decided
8:39
to latch onto this. It's so very
8:42
like, when you see vines crawling up a wall. You're
8:44
like, how are you hanging out of that wall? That's
8:46
my children
8:46
with, like, daddy, why don't you like parents on toilet paper?
8:49
And I'm like, I don't know, man. I don't remember saying that.
8:51
You told me at some
8:52
point that you didn't like the embossed toilet
8:55
paper, that you didn't mind if it was
8:57
like completely flat or if it had
8:59
like ripples whatever
9:01
Sure. I mean
9:02
But you didn't like the embossed kind.
9:04
Oh, sometimes I say things like the rock
9:06
hard opinions that I have, but it's
9:08
really just a fleeting thought in that moment that I have
9:10
no commitment
9:11
whatsoever.
9:11
Well, when I have two children in the cart
9:13
with me at Kroger -- Yeah. --
9:15
and I say, which toilet paper should we get?
9:17
And they say, the one with flowers,
9:20
and I go, I don't think that's
9:22
the one that your dad
9:23
likes, and they go, oh, whoa.
9:25
Yeah. Meanwhile, they're like, I'm gonna eat
9:27
these toys. And you're like, what? Can
9:29
you can remember the thing about toilet
9:30
paper? Okay. They don't eat toys anymore. Well,
9:33
they're not good. Well, Okay.
9:37
So bismarck. In
9:40
fact, suggested this
9:42
social program
9:44
because he was under immense pressure
9:47
from his socialist opponents at the time.
9:49
Right. Pressure. Yes.
9:52
Because he's from pressure. I was like,
9:54
Prashanth. I got it. I got Prashanth.
9:57
And so he would do
9:59
this to kind
10:00
of, like, bolster the working class
10:03
Yeah, man. And make
10:04
himself look good.
10:05
Yeah.
10:05
That. Right? Hey,
10:06
you know who you really need on board if you wanna
10:08
win elections and stuff? The working class.
10:10
Yeah. So it would take eight years,
10:12
but by the end of the eighteen eighties, the German
10:15
government would create a retirement system that
10:17
provided benefits to citizens over
10:19
the age of seventy. Oh, man.
10:21
He's in eighties. I would not have guessed that early.
10:24
But -- But -- But -- --
10:26
their retirement age just so
10:28
happened to align with the average
10:30
life expectancy at the
10:32
time. Sure. Sure. Sure. So
10:34
even with these benefits people
10:36
usually continued to work until
10:38
they died if they were able. Right?
10:40
Uh-huh. And it's also worth noting
10:43
that the participation in the retirement system
10:45
was mandatory and contributions toward
10:48
these retirement and disability benefits came
10:50
from the employee, the employer, and
10:52
the government. Right? So just like our Social
10:55
Security programs
10:56
today, it's not free
10:57
money. No. It was just another
10:59
thing America shares with eighteen eighties
11:01
Russia.
11:02
I opposed at german school.
11:03
Prussia. Shit. Yeah. That one. Yeah.
11:07
Then the the idea
11:09
of retirement started
11:12
spreading, and the United States
11:14
had already test run this idea starting
11:16
in the mid eighteen hundreds. Certain
11:19
municipal employees like firefighters
11:22
and cops and teachers began
11:24
receiving public pensions but
11:26
really only if you lived in a big
11:28
city. Right? It
11:30
was a start. And so by eighteen
11:33
seventy five, the American Express Company
11:35
began offering private pensions to
11:37
their workers. And by the nineteen twenties,
11:40
a variety of other industries
11:43
like railroads and banking and
11:45
other things were promising their workers something
11:48
of the sort of retirement benefits
11:51
once they aged out of their own workforce.
11:53
Okay. I can't wait to learn
11:55
more about this because I feel like we're
11:57
on the cusp of some exciting developments. But
12:00
first, how about a word and a thank
12:02
you for our sponsor. This
12:09
week, Guna, say thank you to Zola. Thank you for sponsoring
12:11
the show, but also thank you for making
12:13
the entire wedding experience from
12:16
nose to tail. Toe
12:18
to tip. Toe to tip. Not a wedding. Yeah.
12:21
That's a wedding. That's a wedding right there.
12:23
Because you know what? When you attend wedding,
12:25
I was about to say sometimes you think it just
12:27
happened. But I maybe if you've been living under
12:29
a rock or your child don't
12:30
think that anybody these days thinks that
12:32
any even like a courthouse wedding,
12:35
just happens? No. There's so much
12:37
stress, anxiety, and that's
12:39
just in finding a partner. Let
12:40
alone. So Zulu's
12:43
alone
12:43
trapping them for eternity. Think what?
12:45
What? Okay. Zulu's free planning
12:47
tools are there for you on all of the important
12:50
days, showing you where to start and help you
12:52
plan every step of the way. Zola
12:55
also has venues and vendors, save the
12:57
dates and invites, free wedding websites, and
12:59
an amazing registry, all designed by wedding
13:01
experts for couples like you.
13:04
I've assumed listener. If you're
13:06
worried about throwing a wedding, then
13:08
there's at least more than one of you.
13:10
Unless I don't know. I heard this Pablo Norrudeo
13:12
poem recently about someone who threw a wedding
13:14
for themselves. I believe it was. And
13:17
they married a mirror and everybody in a dentist
13:19
was like, totally on board with that. Yeah.
13:21
Anywho? That's a tough topic. This
13:23
is a little community that you're pleased to share,
13:26
celebrate, and vent with other engaged couples.
13:28
Who know exactly what you're going through.
13:30
And if you need expert help, there's team
13:33
z. Zola's wedding advisers ready
13:35
to answer any questions. So
13:37
From just engage to the only thing
13:39
left to do is say I do. Zola
13:42
is here for all the days along the way.
13:44
Just go to zola dot com Shmanners,
13:47
that's Z0LA dot com
13:49
slash shmanners.
13:53
Since the dawn of time, man is dreamed
13:56
of bringing life back from the dead.
13:58
From Orpheus and Eurydice to Frankenstein's
14:00
monster, resurrection has long
14:02
been merely the stuff of myth. Fiction
14:05
and fairy tale until now.
14:08
Actually, we still can't bring people back from
14:10
the dead. That would be crazy.
14:12
But the Dead Pilot Society podcast
14:15
has found a way to resurrect great Dead comedy
14:17
pilots from Hollywood's finest writers.
14:19
Every month, Dead Pilot Society brings
14:22
you a reading of comedy pilot that was sold
14:24
and developed but never produced, performed
14:26
by the funniest actors from film and television.
14:29
How does dead pilot society achieve this
14:31
miracle? The answer can only be found
14:33
at maximum fund dot org.
14:38
Hello, dreamers. This is Evelyn Denton.
14:41
CEO of the only world class fully
14:43
immersive theme resort, Stifel Chase.
14:45
You know, I've been seeing more and more reports on the
14:47
blogs that our beloved park simply
14:49
isn't safe anymore. Murder
14:51
them? I'm gonna wreck it. They
14:53
say they got mugged by brigands in the fantasy
14:55
kingdom of Afemra or hijacked by space
14:57
pirates and infant item. I mean, I could have a
14:59
knife. My papa said that I needed
15:02
to do a crime.
15:03
Friends, I'm here to reassure you that it's
15:05
all part of the show. These
15:08
criminals were really just overzealous staff
15:10
trying to make things a little more magical for
15:12
our guests. We're just as safe
15:14
as we've always been. This is an accounting
15:17
fair dreamers. This is steeple
15:19
Chase, the adventure zone.
15:21
Every Thursday, maximum fund dot org.
15:26
So the thing about this,
15:28
right? And I mentioned that at the time
15:31
of its inception, seventy
15:35
was considered the retirement age. Yes.
15:37
But but why? Again, why?
15:39
One would hope that the
15:42
age would be of an
15:44
age where one could actually enjoy
15:46
the benefit. Well, you would have a retirement
15:49
without staring in
15:51
mortality in the face. Right?
15:54
In mortality
15:55
or mortality? Mortality. Okay. Either
15:57
one of those is a bummer though. But immortality
15:59
seems like a good thing, but it would just breed
16:01
any story where someone becomes immortal and they're
16:03
always
16:04
like, sigh. This is now incredibly boring.
16:06
So most pension programs
16:10
said age sixty five, which
16:13
had less to do with health and
16:15
medical information and more to do with
16:17
economics. There
16:20
was a little bit of research at the time
16:23
documenting a mental decline
16:25
around age sixty and
16:28
conventional wisdom at the time
16:30
held that by sixty A man
16:32
had done his work and should step aside
16:34
to let the younger generation
16:37
take take hold.
16:38
Unless they're a podcast or which way it's forty.
16:41
Max.
16:43
Max.
16:43
After that
16:44
Or because the
16:45
mental decline.
16:46
The mental decline, you're just not as good
16:48
and as bet in esports, it's twenty five.
16:50
At twenty five, you're over the hill.
16:53
YouTube, I believe it's thirty one. You're
16:55
over the hill. It's rough. Rough stuff
16:57
out here for content creators.
16:59
Eventually, the United States
17:01
agreed on sixty five, and
17:04
the Social Security Act was passed
17:07
in nineteen thirty five, listing sixty
17:09
five as the official retirement
17:12
age. Which
17:14
again is interesting because at the time
17:16
fifty eight years old was considered the
17:19
American Life
17:20
expectancy. Yeah. But they've talked about it on
17:22
the sawburn. So I think we've talked about it here too.
17:24
We're when you're talking about average life is
17:26
expectancy.
17:27
Right. Infant mortality. Definitely
17:29
factors in. But again,
17:32
retirement kind of implies
17:35
that you have a little while to enjoy
17:37
the fruits of your lay
17:38
her. Right? Instead of continuing to toil.
17:40
But I I mean, as the person who likes their
17:42
job, I would also see where someone
17:45
would be like, I don't want I would rather not
17:47
retire. Thank you very much. I enjoy my job.
17:49
I don't know. I see it both way. That I don't
17:51
think anyone should have to work longer than they
17:53
need to to make enough money to live.
17:56
But I also think that no one should be
17:58
forced out of their job due to age
18:00
because that's also not cool. Okay.
18:03
Alright. I mean Are you saying that, please
18:04
don't fire me because I'm gonna turn forty.
18:07
I'm really worried.
18:09
I am not in charge of hiring. So you're
18:11
safe. That wasn't a no. That wasn't
18:13
that was like, hey, it's not my don't know what
18:15
to tell you, man, not my
18:16
job. I
18:17
wouldn't wanna replace you. So Thank
18:20
you.
18:21
I think.
18:21
Yeah. Once
18:21
again, now I was emphatic because I would've would
18:24
never I don't want to currently replace
18:26
it. I
18:29
I don't don't know where to go from here. On there.
18:31
But so the idea,
18:33
I think, of throwing a party
18:36
is any excuse to throw a party. Mhmm.
18:39
And so now it is commonplace that
18:42
when people retire, even if they move
18:44
on to a second career, another
18:46
job, grocery, bagging
18:48
at the at the grocery store, any of
18:50
that. Right? Whether or not they continue
18:53
to earn money is irrelevant.
18:55
Once you leave a job, it
18:58
is customary these days to
19:00
have a retirement party. Okay. Like
19:03
we said, we've been to both
19:05
both my parents retirement
19:06
parties. Might that
19:07
retired, but it was not like a
19:10
fun retirement.
19:10
Yeah. It was a very quiet. Thing.
19:13
He got pushed out of his job by
19:16
some virus. Well, it's it's
19:18
just a slow conglomerate buying
19:20
up radio stations and everything and
19:23
bad contracts offered and everything. And
19:25
then he was like, you know what? I get supported
19:27
so well by Max Fund listeners doing
19:30
Max Fund Drive and the Adventure Zone.
19:32
I don't need to order a job where I'm not appreciated
19:34
anymore. That doesn't make me happy that stressful and
19:36
he was able to retire quit,
19:38
I guess, would be the way to look at it
19:40
and and just come work on adventures
19:42
on full
19:43
time, which is one of the reasons the graphic
19:45
novels exist. So thank you Max, upon
19:47
listeners. And then at
19:49
my mom's retirement, it
19:51
was a bunch of teachers that retired at the
19:54
same time. Her let's
19:57
see, it was herself and a couple of
19:59
other substitute teachers, but
20:01
also one of my teachers
20:04
that I had when I was younger who was
20:06
still working, but also retired
20:08
at her retirement party. It was wild.
20:12
Because I didn't I've talked about this before.
20:14
I didn't know what to call her. Do you call them
20:16
by their last name? Because they were
20:18
-- Just teach them how deeply. -- or do
20:20
you or do you you call them
20:22
by their first name? Because you're I'm
20:25
high up
20:25
here. I would have to teach her now.
20:27
If you don't have reached retirement an age as
20:29
a teacher, you're probably more used
20:31
to answering to your last
20:33
name with some kind of, like, suffix
20:36
or thing before it. Than you are answering
20:38
your first name. Right? You would spend eight
20:40
hours a
20:41
day, five days a week being called, like,
20:43
missus McElroy.
20:44
She doesn't listen to this. So
20:47
my
20:47
I you know. I mean, because my
20:49
teacher, missus Burnett, I was like,
20:52
I don't know. Get missus
20:53
Burnett, And her
20:55
You could say, hey, teach. Her name is Celine.
20:57
Her name is Celine. And
21:00
I was like, there's no way I can call someone
21:02
Celine. I don't
21:04
deserve it.
21:06
Wow. I think that's a there's a lot to
21:08
dive into it.
21:08
There's lot to dive into it anyway. What
21:11
did we give my mom for her retirement?
21:13
Grandkids. Oh. No. I don't
21:15
I don't know. No. I think that we gave her
21:18
a very heartfelt card.
21:20
We gave her something. And I
21:23
it was, like, a gift certificate. And a gift certificate?
21:25
No. It was. It was. Like a spa day
21:27
gift certificate? Yes. Yes. In the spa day give
21:29
certificate. Which, many ways? Biren
21:32
a clock.
21:32
I I think so too. I think we really did
21:34
did a better job with her. Clock feels
21:37
more appropriate, but
21:40
only on the surface. Only on the
21:41
surface.
21:42
Okay. So if you Give me a wacky
21:44
clock or, like, explains backwards and says it's
21:46
five o'clock somewhere on it, that's a
21:48
fitting retirement
21:49
party. I mean, there there is there
21:51
is a a place for that, I think. If
21:54
you are throwing or
21:56
attending a retirement party,
21:58
do try and figure out the dress code. Right? Because
22:01
a lot of these parties are often thrown
22:03
at work. Right? And if you work in an office
22:05
space, normally, you
22:07
would just wear clothes that you would normally wear to an
22:09
office. But if it's a more casual thing.
22:11
Like, my mom's took place at a at
22:13
a -- Brewery. --
22:14
brewery. But
22:15
your dad's was like a fancy restaurant. Yes.
22:17
It's the vibe. Yeah. Right. So figure
22:19
that out. And because,
22:22
you know, it'll probably be pretty obvious
22:24
on the invitation, where it takes place and what
22:26
you should wear. But it still
22:28
goes to show that you should not
22:31
show up at the party ready to talk
22:33
smack about your work. Or the retiring
22:36
coworker. Right? Because it is
22:38
it's not within the culture of
22:41
leaving work to, like, RAS
22:44
the person leaving. Right? Thank
22:46
gosh, you're leaving. That kind of
22:47
stuff. Right?
22:48
I mean, unless once again it's specific
22:50
Lee. Like, we're doing a roast of old
22:52
Tom or whatever like Right. But that's a specific
22:54
thing. Yeah. Don't assume that just because
22:56
Tom is hiring that you get to roast
22:59
him.
22:59
Yes. Or
22:59
that you get to roast your boss. Right.
23:03
And that is something that
23:05
you can ask the person
23:06
retiring. If that's what we
23:08
needed to like. Can I make fun of you?
23:12
Maybe they have an idea in their
23:14
mind of of what they would prefer if they wanted
23:16
at fancy restaurant, if they want it in somebody's
23:19
backyard, if they want it at the office, you
23:21
know.
23:21
No. They wanna be belittled. At four o'clock
23:23
on a Friday, and they just rather walking
23:25
out into the sunset, never talking to anybody
23:28
ever again. And
23:30
try not to use it as a time to
23:32
network because it's not the time. Right?
23:34
We are celebrating a person and their contributions.
23:38
And so, you
23:39
know, find another time to Rebekah's
23:42
and Hop knob with the boss. And
23:45
a retirement gift is
23:49
appropriate? Encouraged.
23:52
Is customary. We
23:54
got that. No. Maybe
23:57
it's me.
23:58
It's me? Hi.
24:01
Okay. So
24:03
if you like we said,
24:06
you could tailor it to the person
24:08
leaving or if
24:10
you want to do like a group gift,
24:13
getting together with the rest of your coworkers
24:15
for that. We gave my
24:17
mom the the spa day gift card,
24:20
but you could easily distribute that
24:22
expense amongst the co
24:24
workers. I would say that the thing if
24:27
it is a professional gift like the office
24:29
got together and got you this or the business got
24:31
together and got you this. Right? Mhmm. think
24:33
if that's the case, it needs to be reflective of
24:36
that level
24:37
where it is like a really nice
24:39
watch with engraved backing
24:42
or something. Right?
24:42
Right. I don't think it should be like, hey, you've been working
24:44
here, you know, for you worked here
24:46
for forty five years. It's a two hundred percent
24:49
company. We all chipped in and got
24:51
you this twenty five dollar gas card for
24:53
like, that's not yeah.
24:55
Quite up to the level of, like,
24:58
what that moment feels like, you know,
25:00
mean. Mhmm. So I think that you
25:02
want to think of it in terms of, like, does
25:05
this reflect how much we
25:06
appreciate, you know, sometimes decades
25:09
of work that this person put into this company.
25:11
Which means that also if it's a very
25:14
small office, like maybe there's four
25:16
or five of
25:16
you, sometimes just a really heartfelt
25:19
card signed by everyone. Right. Or like
25:21
a smart photo if you have one of those. Something
25:23
because I think the two ways you can go is like, oh my
25:25
god, this is so nice.
25:27
Or sentiment. Or this
25:29
is so thoughtful. Right? Right. Yeah. Exactly.
25:32
So also, make
25:35
sure that everyone from the
25:37
workplace is invited. Obviously,
25:40
they don't have to show up even if it's if it's
25:42
like after hours, if it's from somewhere
25:44
else, but you don't want to single
25:46
out someone by leaving them out
25:48
because that only makes
25:50
the rest of the the office
25:52
time together awkward. Right? Here's
25:54
a good okay. Think of gifts. Right?
25:56
You could get them like a thousand dollar
25:58
watch. Right? Okay. Great.
26:00
Cool. Maybe they love that. I don't know. But if
26:03
it's like, oh, this guy loves fishing. We know during
26:05
his
26:05
retirement, he's gonna go fishing.
26:06
Great idea. You've got him, like, a really
26:09
nice, like, seventy five dollar tackle box or
26:11
something. It's like, yeah, that's gonna probably mean
26:13
more to him -- Mhmm. -- than a thousand dollar watch.
26:15
Whatever. Right? So I think that that is
26:18
more the goal than just like we spend a ton of
26:20
money on
26:20
this. And whenever you think about gifts, the
26:22
more it can be specific to the person and
26:24
better.
26:25
Right. It is also customary
26:28
for a speech to be gay. That
26:29
said, I would love a thousand dollar watch and I would talk
26:31
from podcasting. I'm just saying, I don't know.
26:34
I'm a material girl. It
26:36
is customary for a speech. To be
26:39
given either by the retiree or
26:41
by someone who is very who
26:43
worked very closely with them kind of like a
26:45
toast. Yeah. Right? But if you are retiring.
26:48
Not a roast. Not a roast. If you are retiring
26:50
and you would like to give that speech, you're
26:53
you're more than welcome to let the people
26:55
who who you've worked with, let them
26:57
know how special your time has been
26:59
there. And if you wanna use that time to tell
27:01
everybody off, wait till after you get the watch.
27:03
Get the watch first. And then
27:06
go on a tirade and then say peace
27:08
out, throw them, like, put on the ground, walk it in
27:10
the sunset and never talk to anybody that's
27:12
your prerogative, but it's not
27:14
Do it after you get the watch, I can't stress
27:16
this enough.
27:17
It's not too. Sure.
27:19
K? To brag about how happy you'll be working.
27:21
didn't say brag. It's not about brag about happy.
27:23
It's just like, I didn't I never said forty five years
27:25
and never said this. You all can
27:27
take a
27:28
hike, and then you say, no, I'm gonna go take
27:30
a hike, but really, because I'm retired by e.
27:32
And this is an event that
27:34
one would want to send. Thank you notes. For.
27:38
Hard to do that after the speech I just gave.
27:40
Yeah. Exactly. Okay. If
27:42
it is a group gift, a group thank you.
27:45
Addressed to the office is perfectly
27:47
acceptable. Yeah. With a picture of you sitting in
27:49
my thighs on the bench while they're working.
27:52
I suppose.
27:53
So that let's retire from this episode.
27:55
Okay.
27:56
But not the show, please. Not
27:57
No. We're not we're not retiring. We're still
27:59
doing the show, please. Don't. Please don't. We have
28:01
to feed our children. Please. But
28:04
we don't have to feed you. I don't know what
28:06
that means. I'm so sorry, everyone. I'm looking
28:08
for the copy that it's supposed to read and
28:11
I I panicked, and I said that we don't have
28:13
to feed you. And I'm sorry. But
28:15
our graphic novel, the Venture Zone graphic novel,
28:18
book five, The eleventh hour came
28:20
out on Tuesday. It's available
28:22
now. It's called the eleventh hour.
28:24
You can go get it wherever fine
28:26
books are sold. And please
28:29
please get it. It's very good.
28:31
I think you'll really like it. It's our best one
28:33
yet. And if you don't have the other
28:34
four, buy those two. I buy a lot of copies
28:37
of him. They're really good. Give
28:38
him out his gifts to people retiring.
28:41
Oh. Now they have time to read graphic
28:43
print. I love hey, you know how you've always been a
28:45
nerd, but you haven't had time. Enjoy my
28:47
dad. I'm also gonna check out
28:49
all the merch at macraemerge dot com. We got twenty
28:52
seven c stickers designed by Lucas Hastenhide.
28:54
We've got the that space baby sticker
28:56
designed by Cedric Wolf and ten percent of
28:58
all merch proceeds this month go
29:01
to the foundation for black women's wellness. So go
29:03
check all that out at macri emerge dot com. Of
29:05
course, we always say thank you to
29:07
our researcher, Alex, without whom we would not
29:09
be building the show. Thank you to our editor,
29:12
Rachel, without whom we would not be able to make this
29:14
show. And thank you to you for listening. You know what? We
29:16
really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Yeah.
29:18
What else, Theresa? Well, we wanna thank Brent rental
29:20
floss black for writing our theme music which is
29:22
available as a ringtone where those are found.
29:25
Thank you to Brewhub Eddie Pinup photography
29:27
For the cover picture of our fan run Facebook
29:30
Shmanners fanners. If you love
29:32
to get and give excellent advice
29:34
from other fans, go ahead and join that
29:36
group today. As always,
29:38
we are taking topic submissions.
29:41
We are taking
29:41
questions. We are taking idioms
29:44
even. Oh,
29:44
we haven't done one of those in a while. Not a while.
29:46
You're right. Send those to
29:50
at gmail dot com and say hi
29:52
to Alex because she reads
29:53
everyone. And
29:54
that's gonna do a fresh, so choose again next week.
29:56
No RSVP required. You've
29:58
been listening to Shmanners. Manners. Shmanners.
30:01
Get in.
30:23
Maximum fun dot org, comedy
30:26
and culture, artists owned, audience
30:28
supported,
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More