Toxic Tearoom
The tea is piping hot! Get ready to clutch your pearls! This is the podcast where you can bring your break room whispers to the world!
This is a safe space to share stories of bossholes and bitchiness, of toxicity and drama, all while understanding the underlying issues that feed these toxic environments. You will laugh. You will relate. You will understand- and you will survive. You are not alone!
Your hosts are two dynamic executives who take the issues seriously- but not themselves. Join them and a variety of top-tier guests as we discuss the brutality of these issues in an honest, raw, funny, and inclusive way.
Send your stories to
TheTeabag@ToxicTearoom.com. We promise to protect the innocent and will purposefully keep all stories anonymous.
Toxic Tearoom
Santa's Naughty List
In this second installment of holiday parties, your hosts are joined by Robert Bain, a veteran of the transportation industry, husband, father, and, oh, one of the strongest human beings in the USA- and the Strongest Man in Logistics.
Do you think you are stronger than Bain (as he likes to be called)? Bring receipts or it didn't happen. Bain has squatted over 1,000 pounds (or 453kg for our international audience)! Bain has also seen many questionable things happen at holiday parties, some of which he shares in this episode.
Dancing on tables past 2 AM? Check. Hookups? Check. Bad gift exchanges? Yes! All this and more as we cover the behavior that will get you fired and behavior that should get you on Santa's Naughty List at the bare minimum.
Spotify Playlist- NSFW
HireMyMom- Use code TOXICTEAROOM at checkout to save 15% on job listings!
Escatena
Robert Bain- Strongest Man in Logistics (Interview)
Bad Santa Syndrome- 10 Things That Will Get You Fired (Forbes)
Save Money with Freebies and Discounts! Perfect for that White Elephant Gift
Check out our blog at toxictearoom.com/blog
Send in your stories, gripes, scandals, all the tea that is fit to spill! theteabag@toxictearoom.com
Thanks for listening to Toxic Tearoom! Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X and Patreon. Are you in a toxic workplace? Tell us about it at TheTeabag@ToxicTearoom.com. We promise anonymity, empathy, and a healthy dose of humor.
The Toxic Tea Room podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Neither Toxic Tea Room nor its parent, that one, Booth Productions, LLC, is responsible for the statements or opinions of its guests, submissions, or content derived from publicly available sources. Content should not be interpreted as targeting specific companies, organizations or individuals. The Toxic Tea Room podcast and that one, Booth Productions, LLC, are not responsible for any actions taken by individuals as a result of content produced on this podcast. Listeners are encouraged to add any recommendations with certified professional personnel. For more information on our disclaimer and to read our blog with fun Easter eggs throughout, visit our website ww dot toxictv.com. Boom. I'm Roberta.
>> Speaker B:And I'm, Stella. Welcome to the Toxic Tea Room.
>> Speaker A:I feel odly comfortable comforted today, though. Really?
>> Speaker B:Yeah, me too.
>> Speaker A:Yeah.
>> Speaker B:it could be due to our special guest. We are joined today by Robert Bain. Something about the strongest man in logistics.
>> Speaker A:Tell me more.
>> Speaker B:Robert Bain. Robert Bain is a veteran of the transportation and logistics industry with nearly two decades of work in the space. He has worked across both asset and non asset applications, startering brokerages, and working alongside some of the biggest names in the sector, such as FedEx, Uber and Bluegrace. His passion is developing people as a leader and designing solutions for clients that lead to immediate impact as well as sustainable results. Robert and his wife Nicole, live in Chicagoland area with their four children, Austin, Lily, Nolan, and Ella. Three cats, Eris, Zeus, and Magnus. I hope I said that right. And their dog, Ginger. In his spare time, Robert is involved in strength sports, lending to the title of the Strongest man in logistics. Welcome, Robert.
>> Speaker C:Oh, hi. How's it going?
>> Speaker B:Glad to have you.
>> Speaker C:It's so weird when I hear, like, an intro of myself, because I'm like, did I really do all this shit? I guess I did.
>> Speaker A:You did. And you do all this shit?
>> Speaker B:Yes.
>> Speaker A:So I need to be careful around you, Bane. Oh, and I should say, you go by Bane as an affectionate.
>> Speaker B:I like that.
>> Speaker A:I like it too.
>> Speaker B:It's like, personally, I think of.
>> Speaker A:Yeah, I was going to say it's like, odly criminal, but it's, not. It's fun.
>> Speaker C:No one cares who I was, so I put on the beard.
>> Speaker A:I need to be careful around you, Bane, because saying something like, I could use a, pick me up means something totally different with you, seeing as you like to pick very heavy things up. So let's start off with some insight into what could get someone on the naughty list this year, particularly when we're interacting with each other in a quasisocial way. As Stella shared last week, over 40% of people feel alcohol is necessary to make office parties bearable. I concur. but here's what else I learned via a recent Forbes poll. 21% of respondents said alcohol and drugs were necessary. Yet back to office trends are somehow still a good idea. Nevertheless, that same poll provided a list of behaviors exhibited at those parties that would get you fired. And this is fun for me. Okay, we're going to play a quick game with the three of us as to which one of these have you guys done? Don't raise your hand because remember, we're a podcast. But I will ask each of you to quickly say yay or nay. Dancing with a coworker.
>> Speaker C:Yay.
>> Speaker B:So is this like just at a.
>> Speaker A:Party or at the holiday party? No, I've danced with a coworker. Never got fired for it, but I have now.
>> Speaker C:Caveat. The coworker was my fiance at the time, not my wife.
>> Speaker A:That's kind of like, fine, but, I get the technicality there. The coworker I danced with was several as we were doing line dancing to the electric slide, which I'm going to take as still counts. Slashing someone. And here's the fun thing.
>> Speaker B:I don't want to scare anyone.
>> Speaker A:I'll just tell you right now I haven't. But here's the fun thing, Bain, you flash anyone at holiday party. Okay, not a holiday party. 12% of the respondents of this Forbes poll said that they have.
>> Speaker C:Wow.
>> Speaker A:Okay. Kissing a client. No, can't say that I have. Okay.
>> Speaker B:No.
>> Speaker A:Making inappropriate jokes. Yes, probably. No.
>> Speaker B:I don't know.
>> Speaker A:You don't know any inappropriate jokes? I'd call bullshit kissing. a coworker, that was your fiance. So I'll give that to you, Nino.
>> Speaker B:Not at a holiday party.
>> Speaker A:flirting with your boss. First of all, my bosses. Ew. But I'll defer to the panel. No. Okay.
>> Speaker B:No.
>> Speaker A:All right.
>> Speaker C:No.
>> Speaker A:hooking up with a client. No, absolutely not. That's a big no.
>> Speaker B:No.
>> Speaker A:Dancing with a client. Well, if dancing with a coworker gets you fired, then surely dancing with a client should get you fired.
>> Speaker C:I've, done it.
>> Speaker A:I've also done it. But it was never, ever inappropriate. It was just dancing at a holiday party with several hundred other people. Flirting with a coworker.
>> Speaker C:Yeah. I don't know.
>> Speaker B:M not at a holiday party.
>> Speaker A:I just look at Stella. She's always like, let me qualify this just a little bit. and this is my favorite, tripping on LSD or other hallucinogens first of all, to answer, no. Everybody. Yeah. At a holiday party. Good for you. I have to remind everybody, this is a Forbes poll. This is not like a TMZ poll. This is a Forbes poll. I escalated quickly.
>> Speaker C:Now, to be fair, I will tell you this. Most people think that THC edibles are hallucinogens and they're not. but they just lump all those into it. Now, that said, I wasn't on THC hallucinogen.
>> Speaker A:You almost had me. You took me down this road. Like, in fairness, th see, edibles some people consider to be hallucinogens. But we're not talking about that like, I had.
>> Speaker C:LSD. I'm talking about other stuff, which I've absolutely done mushroom.
>> Speaker B:So I'm sitting here trying to decide if I want to put that on my bucket list right now.
>> Speaker A:What is going on? We were not even two minutes into this podcast. What is happening?
>> Speaker C:It was a virtual holiday party. And so this worked for me because.
>> Speaker A:It was a safe. Okay.
>> Speaker C:The last thing you want to do is go to a holiday party because you can micro dose and kind of get that or you can decide to go to the moon and that's not what you want to do with a holiday.
>> Speaker A:I'm not tripping balls in front of coworkers. ThouGht this was PG 13 for Christmas. No, it's not anymore. Fuck it. All right, Bain, you've shared with, us some of your fun times. I have a feeling you have another naughty story or two in.
>> Speaker C:Do I?
>> Speaker A:Do I give you the.
>> Speaker C:There's a few that I can think of. What? I always hearken back to one of my first holiday parties as a professional. and it actually has a happy ending, no pun intended. Guy meets girl and his girl on her first day. Guy's been to the company for a couple of years and he is immediately smitten. Girl has boyfriend, cool. He's respectful. He doesn't do anything dumb. Get to the holiday party and girl bring his boyfriend. Boyfriend is. He's not with it. He's not feeling it. He is not a party guy. And it's interesting when you see those folks where a couple, one is the party person, one is the introvert. And this is very much, he is farm boy. I want nothing to do with any of this. like, Rockford is too city for him, so he can't really mess with this. And she's getting it in. He dips at about
10:00 p.m. And she stays with the crew
by 02:00 p.m. She is standing on a bar, trying to take her clothes off, Kyrie style. and Guy, who is smitten, simply ensures she gets back to her hotel. Never makes it back to his hotel, as you will. but the happy ending is, shortly thereafter, they break up, and Guy and girl are now married and just had their first kid. give me the river.
>> Speaker A:So dirty hookup turned into romantic love story.
>> Speaker C:It did. It's kind of nice. But also, 90% of the office definitely saw, at least for top.
>> Speaker A:Yeah, I'm trying to think of an analogy where it's like you find something, really, if you're out there digging in garbage and you happen to find a, 20 that somebody accidentally threw out. That's kind of what that sounds like to me.
>> Speaker C:It's like a fan made Hallmark movie.
>> Speaker A:It's kind of screwed up, but like a wish version of a Hallmark movie. Yeah, I like that. but as much as I think that's great, I have a feeling, though, that, Stella may have a story to tell that, I think she can articulate.
>> Speaker B:Yeah, I'm going to try to stay away from poop stories episode, Roberta. Anyway, okay. this is a story from Direct Report. so this was a few years ago, back at my toxic job. Morale was fairly low, but we got an email for an all hands afternoon meeting. Said email looked like an invite, had festive red and green, and was in an invitational type of font, so we all assumed it was a holiday get together. I'm sorry, what's an invitational type of font?
>> Speaker A:But anyway, it's not times New Roman. It's like the little ones that have little swirlies or whatever, like papyrus or some shit like that. Definitely not standard office fare is how.
>> Speaker C:I would interpret that.
>> Speaker B:Okay, so they all assumed it was a holiday get together. No, it was a meeting to determine why morale was so low, with managers basically sitting there and asking us to start telling them the problems. Since most of the problems were due to horrible management, everyone just sat there in awkward silence until management begrudgingly left the room. So then we spent a couple hours that we thought would involve snacks and socializing, detailing all our issues with management, workflow, et cetera. Good times. It became known as the Christmas Party. That wasn't.
>> Speaker C:Okay, this sounds like episode. I'm not going to lie.
>> Speaker A:Like a. What episode?
>> Speaker B:It sounds like what?
>> Speaker C:It sounds like an episode of the Office.
>> Speaker A:It does. It certainly could be an episode of the Office.
>> Speaker C:That is a Michael Scott move right there, for sure.
>> Speaker A:Except that Michael liked a party. This would almost be like, Jan's coming in for a meeting, tells Michael to get everyone together. Nobody wants to, so he does this guise of a holiday party. So everybody stays at the office for Jan, is how I see that playing out in the office.
>> Speaker C:the beatings continue to improve.
>> Speaker A:The meetings will continue until morale improves.
>> Speaker B:Note to this management, if you have to pull together a mock invitation Christmas thing or holiday thing just to find out what the problems are, there's a.
>> Speaker A:Lot bigger issues coming from inside the house.
>> Speaker C:Yes.
>> Speaker A:Wow. It's almost like that company went out of their way to make morale even worse. You won't see those employers working with our friends at hire my mom. Hire my mom has matched their top tier talent to worthwhile, toxic free employers since the 90s, which, I'm sorry, as a Gen Xers, the 90s still feel like yesterday. And, yes, I'm well aware that it was a long ass time ago. No one needs to remind me. But that's just.
>> Speaker C:You mean 19 hundreds?
>> Speaker A:Yeah, like a whole century ago. as a quick aside, and this just goes again for longevity, hire my mom has been there, and it's awesome. But for those of you that go on TikTok, which I think is a requirement now for everybody, and every now and then, Bain's like, no, every now and then, there is somebody that talks about how I'm one of the older people on TikTok because I was born in 2001. And if I could drop kick a human being virtually through an app, that's what I would be doing, drop kicking them through an app, and then somebody else will come on, say, so you think you're old because you were born in 2001. I was born in 1998. Again, drop to the kick. So I once stitched one of those. Stitching is when you take the whole video and everyone's adding on, and then I add on, I go, yeah. So, Go take a nap. Okay. I was born in 1970. Go take a nap. Don't talk. Don't talk. Just go have your snack. Go take a nap. Stop talking right now.
>> Speaker C:My good friend Dan Bell said it best. Fuck.
>> Speaker A:Fuck them kids. Sorry. Hire my mom. Sorry. But so the 90s were a long time ago with hire my mom. Your company has provided personalized service that AI resume readers won't. Plus, they work with serious job seekers, so no one is wasting their time, because time is the one resource, ladies and gentlemen, that you can't get back once it's spent. All right, visit, hire my mom today to learn more and get 15% off job listings at, checkout with code toxic tea room. There it is. So I have a story. I have a story, stell from. Don't worry, I've got room for you, sir. I have room for you, strong Santa. So I have a story from Ranker that definitely deserves a spot on the naughty list. All right, this starts off with a white elephant gift exchange. Now, I think these have gone. You love those. I hate those.
>> Speaker B:They're such a disaster.
>> Speaker A:And, I think they are going out of Vogue. I think they're not really a thing anymore. And this could be a reason why. This person said we had a white elephant gift exchange. Pretty much every gift was a bottle of alcohol or gift card. One person selected their gift and opened it, and it was just a four pack of toilet paper. He tried to laugh, but was obviously annoyed, acted like a brat. Every gift opening, after someone gets a gift card, he says, oh, want to trade? Or lucky you, the last gift is open. And he goes on a rant about how unfair it is that everyone got a decent gift and he stuck with toilet paper. He demanded to know who was the cheapskate who couldn't be bothered enough to buy a decent gift but was gladly going home with something someone else bought. A shy girl from another department raised her hand, and quietly said, I bought the gift. Did you look on the bottom? Sure enough, he flips the toilet paper over, and there are two tickets to an NBA game taped to the bottom. The guy turned red, quietly apologized, and sat down. He left, like, two minutes later without a goodbye to anyone. But with those tickets, though, you little bitch. With those tickets, though, dag off.
>> Speaker C:And guess what. That office in Joaquin, Illinois, that was a Bulls Bucks game. Because I was at.
>> Speaker A:Were you really? That's amazing. No kidding.
>> Speaker C:I remember this. God, I was reading the notes. I'm like, no.
>> Speaker A:Okay, so I need more deets. I need more Deets. Tell me more.
>> Speaker C:He was so mad. This puts it nicely.
>> Speaker A:Oh, my God.
>> Speaker C:Because it wasn't lucky you. It was just cussing up a storm every time. And I, was already done. And I actually leaned over to my buddy, and I'm like, dude, when you get called, you should walk over there and look at the toilet paper. Like, I told. Like, I Told him to pick it up and look at it. He's like, oh, dude, now, definitely, you should have.
>> Speaker A:Oh, my God. I cannot believe that you were at this party. And bulls buck tickets. Seriously? Fuck that guy.
>> Speaker C:Yeah.
>> Speaker A:Oh, my God.
>> Speaker C:Both teams weren't that great, but still, I think it was an NBA game. They were 100 levels, so these things cost a couple of $100.
>> Speaker A:What an asshole.
>> Speaker B:Damn.
>> Speaker A:But I love that he quietly apologizes. But you loudly bitched. Yeah, it's always those people.
>> Speaker C:He didn't last very much longer after that.
>> Speaker A:I'll say that I wouldn't show my face at the office after looking like that much of a schmuck.
>> Speaker C:I love white. They are so much fun. For that exact reason. I did this one where I had an enormous box, like the 36 inch, my 24 inch, and kept putting smaller and smaller boxes into it. People were annoyed as hell. Going through it, going through it, and even, like, everybody else. Why? Like, dude, how many fucking boxes is this?
>> Speaker B:Right?
>> Speaker C:But there were two $250 gift cards in there because I was the GM, so I'm going to have some fun. And this was like, I had drivers, and so they're like, okay, this is actually cool. We fuck with this. So those ports got passed around a whole bunch.
>> Speaker A:I love those. I think the reason I hate them is because somebody is always unhappy. And if you know who it is you're buying for and you tailor it to them, it gets to be fun. Like, if it's somebody to your point, you're going to make it really fun. I'm m going to annoy the shit out of you, and I'm going to make you open twelve boxes. But it'll be worth it. But you're going to be noid in the meantime. That's funny. But when people don't put any effort into it, and I think, Stella, don't you have something like a white elephant gift that you still have, and you have no idea what to do with it to this day. And I don't know why anyone would buy this particular gift for you, but maybe you could mention what it is.
>> Speaker B:it's a picture frame that's for golfers. Like, it has a golf guy. And I'm like, okay, I never golfed my life. No, I have golfed once. but even if I did golf, I wouldn't use this frame, so that's fine. But I do think that it was exchanged. Like, you know how you're the next person that opens and someone even worse.
>> Speaker A:I think, when you get regifted at a white elephant thing.
>> Speaker B:All right, well, that toilet paper was the appropriate gift for someone so shitty. And what a nice surprise at the end of it all with those game tickets. You know what is shitty and not a nice surprise? Having no sustainability strategy. If you think scope one, two, three are variants of mouthwash, and ESG is a spice added to Asian cuisine. Then you definitely need to reach out to Escatenna today. Escatenna is a proud member of the Sustainability Affiliates Initiatives Alliance, a network of providers, consultants and technology partners that can get your company on its sustainability journey or accelerate it. Reach out to Escatena today to unearth uncommon results. Unleash@escategenna.net or visit escategenna. Net for more.
>> Speaker A:How do you spell escatenna?
>> Speaker B:Thank you, Escatena. Net. So, Bain, tell us some more of your stories. Have you been on a naughty list yourself or.
>> Speaker C:I'll get that naughty list in a second. I got to check this one, though.
>> Speaker B:Okay, great.
>> Speaker C:We go to the holiday. The holiday party is M at the aux. I think that's the stupidest thing ever. I really don't like that. you already spend 50 plus hours away. Let's be real statistics. You're spending a lot of time there, so to go party there really sucks. And also, by the way, it opens up to huge liability issues. So we're there, and the leadership team arrives a little late with their spouses. Cool. About an hour into the party, the leaders leave with not their spouses. All of them, like six individuals. Shortly, they're after their spouses leave with not their spouses. Yes. Look at this. Od.
>> Speaker B:What?
>> Speaker C:So none of the leaders are here. We all kind of finish the party and we leave. Now. As one of the middle management folks, I had access to a lot of different pieces of equipment. And also I was the one who typically got the alerts if the cameras were triggered.
At about 02:00 in the morning, the in office camera was triggered, and I saw what the real party was.
>> Speaker C:Leaders and their spouses and their friends, and significant m lack of clothing.
>> Speaker A:Was there a candy dish at the reception desk that had been emptied out and there were keys in it, by chance, or was this just a melee free for all?
>> Speaker C:There was not. That, probably would have been awful. However, when we got to the office on Monday, one, I grabbed Lysol wipes and wiped out my entire desk.
>> Speaker A:Totally agree.
>> Speaker C:And that is when I finally noticed the upside down pineapple.
>> Speaker A:I was going to ask if there.
>> Speaker C:Was a pineapple involved in our CEO's, office.
>> Speaker A:Now I get disgusting. I mean, I'm not condemning. Look, people's lifestyles are their business, but.
>> Speaker C:Why at work and why in the office?
>> Speaker A:Yeah.
>> Speaker C:I've heard a few stories since that. Your, reaction to that? If you're invited to the after party is typically one of the first steps towards either your exit or your promotion.
>> Speaker A:That's even grosser.
>> Speaker C:It's so gross. And so.
>> Speaker B:Does.
>> Speaker C:There's my girl. Yeah. as David from today. Ew.
>> Speaker A:ew.
>> Speaker C:Think, Alexis. You asked about the naughty list.
>> Speaker A:Yeah, I have been on the naughty.
>> Speaker C:So many, many moons ago. Working, in dispatch, working overnight, and for, those who know specific roads. Donner pass coming from Northern California to Nevada. It, gets shut down during inclinate weather because it is dangerous. It's dangerous with no inclinate weather. So it got shut down for two days. And when our driver arrived towards the entrance of Donner Pass, see, it shut down parks and let us know. Hey, Donner shut down. Great. I go and I pull all the information from, Nevada and California Dot. Everything checks, and I send a message to client, say, hey, FYI, there is chance this load gets delayed, and be late because shut down our pass. I get a phone call no less than two minutes later screaming at me and telling me that I've ruined Christmas.
>> Speaker B:How's that?
>> Speaker C:Because the load is going to be late. M. And I just was in shock. How have I ruined Christmas? I mean, I get it three days before, but we just gave you the heads up. You have other trucks on the road. What is the problem? This one had one specific order that I guess was for someone important. And I'm like, okay, we can send a courier out there. I'll try to make it work for you. but again, Donner shut down, so cars can't even go on it. I don't know what you want me to do. The day after Christmas, this customer showed up at our office specifically to yell at me and once again, tell me that I ruined Christmas.
>> Speaker A:Well, first of all, let's just get this out of the way, you selfish bastard. But second of all.
>> Speaker C:Listen, if it was Christmas gifts on there, I already said it once. Fucking solid callback, Joker. You guys would enjoy hanging out with my powerhouse team friends. We don't filter a lot of stuff.
>> Speaker A:We don't even know. We barely filter coffee. Dude, I don't know what you mean.
>> Speaker C:Yeah, we have a lot of fun. And that's a big catchphrase right now.
>> Speaker A:I think anyone can relate to some of even the awkwardness. My least favorite parties are the ones that are just held in the break room during workday.
>> Speaker C:I will comment on that. So, I used to live in Cedar Rabbits, Iowa. those are familiar. Decent sized town in eastern Iowa. but it is the founding headquarters of GoDaddy, so familiar with GoDaddy web of site, and they are notorious for absolute mind blowing holiday parties. So their two headquarters are Cedar Rapids and Phoenix, Arizona. So what they will do is they will fly the other office to the other one.
>> Speaker A:Every other.
>> Speaker C:Large hall with enough space to do a private concert. And some of the past, stars have been Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Nelly, has done concerts. all types of major, major music stars have done these holiday parties for them. And somehow stories like we just talked about never happen when you've got all these money, everything's open bar, but again, notorious for just these amazing holiday parties that somehow go off without a hitch.
>> Speaker B:Wow. So if I could Bain, since we have you, and I don't mean to put you on the spot, but on a more serious note, what do you think are some of the more toxic things that companies do around the holidays? Because, for example, I know a lot of companies that black out the calendar, which limits your ability to take more time with family. To me, that's just very archaic. I know you have to have coverage, but, what do you think are some of the more toxic things around the holidays that companies do?
>> Speaker C:definitely the blackouts are one. And the reason I say blackouts are one, because I agree you have to have coverage. It's the lack of communication around them.
>> Speaker B:Exactly.
>> Speaker C:that's one thing. separations outside of actual firings, like you've got a legal reason or something like that. separating the people around the holidays is rough. even if you give them severance, and this isn't a knock on any individual organization, I've just seen tons of that. Mass layoffs around holidays is huge. Honestly, you think it's going to happen? Do it in September and get it out of the way. you certainly can't judge if business is going to close around the holidays. That happens. but again, that's one of the hugely toxic things that I've seen. and honestly, these holiday parties are. And making holiday parties mandatory.
>> Speaker B:Yeah, perfect.
>> Speaker C:I've been a part of organizations that if you are a leader above, then so again, you're a team lead on a line. You're expected to be in the holiday party. I appreciate that because obviously they're investing money into that and it's supposed to be full morale. The, idea that you have no other life outside of work and so you have to do this is a challenge for me. and then the idea that people are then judged on their attendance and their duration of attendance is hugely toxic.
>> Speaker A:let me pivot the conversation quickly, Bane. I'm going to ask you to wow our audience with your weightlifting prowess. We're going to play a game of true or false?
>> Speaker C:M.
>> Speaker A:Is it true that you are literally one of the strongest men in America?
>> Speaker C:True.
>> Speaker A:Impressive. Is it true that you also coach weightlifting?
>> Speaker C:True.
>> Speaker A:Is it true that you can lift over 1000 pounds?
>> Speaker C:True.
>> Speaker A:Deadlift.
>> Speaker C:squat.
>> Speaker A:First of all, let me pause as if that makes a damn bit of difference for someone like me. I can't lift 1000 pounds.
>> Speaker C:I take nothing away from the deadlifts. I love a good deadlift. And there are some thousand pound deadlifters out there. to pick an object from a static position and lift it to a locked out position, with ankles, knees, hips and shoulders all in line. Anything over 400 pounds is you are in the top 1% of 1% of 1%.
>> Speaker A:Insane.
>> Speaker C:There, however, is something about a squat because you have to actually get under that stupid bar. A deadlift you can drop if things go wrong. You can't do that with a squat. and so there is something about standing up with weight that absolutely should kill you and squatting down to legal depth and they come back up with it. We joked earlier about the hallucinogens. I've done a lot of drugs in my life, and there's no better high.
>> Speaker A:Than that, I would bet. Yeah. What's the most you've ever?
>> Speaker C:in training, I squatted 1100 pounds. And then this past weekend, as of this recording, I squatted 1063, which is the biggest ever done in the meet. And I took a swing at 1113. we identified some issues with my scap and my shoulders that inhibited, the day, unfortunately, which sucked. I'm in one piece, but I'm healthy. That's good. And, this happens occasionally because your blood pressure gets high or whatever. And I was pretty amped up, but I stood up with the squat. And I'll use some vernacular in the lifting world as I broke my hips and began, the descent. The only way I can explain it is imagine, you've got, two pieces of cardboard that stick out about 6ft from your, side of your head. And the wider open they get, the bigger your field of vision. Looks like somebody took both ends and just drew them together immediately. And the only Thing I could see is Roberta here in the middle, and all sound is gone. I can't hear anything. And so I was like, okay. I shook my head and had him take it. sound was going to end badly.
>> Speaker A:No kidding.
>> Speaker C:but it's rare error.
>> Speaker B:Sorry. How many people did it take to take it off? Like, can two people take off 1100 pounds?
>> Speaker C:So we have anything over 500 pounds at a meet. We have, five people spotting, two on each side and one back spotter.
>> Speaker B:Wow.
>> Speaker C:I also am a very seasoned spotter. a lot of nice things have been said about my platform management, and I won't get into all that stuff, but, the guys up there were people that I've trained personally, so I trusted them, which is awesome. but again, I mentioned it's rare air. One, thousand pound squat, less than 400 people ever done this in competition, ever. and that's across the whole breadth of humanity. So, dead or alive, and 1100 pounds, even more, rare air there, it's less than 100. They've ever successfully done that to me.
>> Speaker A:I find that fascinating. But I will say, when you say broke hips, I think that's a much different definition than at your prior employer's party where I bet a whole lot of hips were broken and backs and everything else.
>> Speaker B:Really, Roberta?
>> Speaker A:What?
>> Speaker C:It's a very different.
>> Speaker A:What?
>> Speaker B:You were going to talk about childbirth for no reason?
>> Speaker A:No, I'm talking about the party. We have a theme to this episode. Stella. Look at you getting high and hiding with me, lady. you're like, how dare you, Roberta?
>> Speaker C:I'll say that again. I will spot 1100 pounds. That will happen. I'll bench over 700. I'll pull over eight. I'll do all those things in my career. I'm going to tell you what. My wife is still the stronger of the two adults in this house.
>> Speaker A:Wow.
>> Speaker C:She squeezed out four of my health spawns so that no way I'm stronger than her.
>> Speaker A:Well, we all know women are stronger anyway. That's just a general rule. But, man, I think that about ruins this holiday season for me. I'm not going to lie. I don't know what to think about some of this stuff Right now. I don't know. Not the weightlifting stuff. That's fabulous. Yeah, that stuff is, again, at least you didn't break your back, unlike that party that was at your workplace with your CEO and everybody.
>> Speaker C:There is a lot. well, they were broken. They were definitely blown out, but they're broken, so.
>> Speaker A:Oh, my God. I want to thank our extraordinarily gracious and extraordinarily funny guest, Robert Bain, the strongest man in logistics, both physically and in character, for joining us today. Bain, any last holiday wishes or warnings other than fuck them kids. For our audience.
>> Speaker C:Yeah, fuck them kids. the only thing I'll say is, as you go into the holiday season, every one of us, when we screw up, we beg for grace. And so be very ready to give that to your providers, to your people. certainly hold them accountable. But understand that. And here's the thing. I can guarantee you this. The person that came to yell at me this was 13 years ago about ruining Christmas. They don't remember that. They don't. Nobody remembers that shipment. No one knows. I couldn't tell you what product was on it. If it doesn't matter in five years, it doesn't matter now. So understand that as you deal with the problem at hand, you got to deal with it. You got to be a professional. But know that and know there's another human either on the end of the video, on the end of the call and treat them like that. because there's enough bullshit around the world. Be a less shitty person. A lot easier to do that.
>> Speaker A:That is amazing.
>> Speaker B:I love that.
>> Speaker A:I love that.
>> Speaker C:I do.
>> Speaker A:I mean, that should just be on a Christmas card, candidly, just merry Christmas. Be a less shittier person.
>> Speaker C:I have an entire training module. When I train, people called don't be an asshole.
>> Speaker A:We had a former guest on and Catherine, and Catherine said, don't be a dick. That's the name of the book that people. Which destroyed me when she said it because she just said it so flippantly and I just wasn't prepared. I was laughing hysterically. Those are very wise, wise words. And Just so everyone understands, I would probably intentionally forget something that I said to Bain if I was yelling at him, like, you ruined Christmas. And then realized I was talking to one of the strongest men in America. I would never. That wasn't you, sir. You didn't ruin Christmas. I was talking about the weatherman. He ruined Christmas because he shut down Donner path. Not you. Mr. Bain? Can I get you something, Mr. Bain? Are you thirsty? Do you need a snack? Are you comfortable? I'm glad we're friends. Bane. That's all I've got to say. I'm glad that we're on the right side of Bane.
>> Speaker C:I'm a peaceful man. I just have to be capable of breaking.
>> Speaker A:I know you're a peaceful man. I get it. I get you're a peaceful man. I have no intention of being on the wrong side of Bane anyway, because what was that story you told me? What was that story? The gentleman who, so rich is a.
>> Speaker C:He's a bad motherfucker. There is no other way to describe this man. so his job now, post military, is he has his dog. And Jasmine and him go to major sporting events around Chicago, within 150 miles of Chicago. And Jasmine is a bomb sniffing dog. Jasmine has successfully identified almost 1000, IEDs during their various tours over in Afghanistan, Iraq, around that. Rich himself has over 40 confirmed kills. Again, this is a bad dude. But you meet the man, and he is the nicest guy you will ever meet. I know people talk about, oh, yeah, Big Teddy bear. Like, no, Rich is the nicest guy you will ever meet in your life. He does not yell. Even if he is getting you fired up. It's always very quiet. He's just a very different man. But you look in his eyes, I'm like, you've watched a man die. M you've seen people die in front of you, and not by accident. They're at your hands. And so it's a different type of strength. And he's a very strong man, too. so he has that, but yeah, so his job is that. And then he also. I, don't think I mentioned this to you, Roberta. He helps to rehabilitate dogs when they come back.
>> Speaker A:Oh, my.
>> Speaker C:JasmIne is. Jasmine is a full alpha. so he helps, along with her, rehabilitate dogs to more civilianized life. They typically do still do these types of jobs, whether either drug or bomb sniffing. Dogs usually bomb stiffing because that's rich's expertise. And Jasmine helps them transition back to civilian life.
>> Speaker A:That's incredible. Super cool.
>> Speaker C:And very often the dogs all come to the gym. And so we get to. And it's awesome because they're all trained in finish. And so you can't give them necessarily English commands. You give them some, but all of a sudden, Rich will just rattle off different commands and finish. And the dogs, it's amazing to watch.
>> Speaker A:That is so cool. That is so cool. Thank you for that. I was trying to remember his name, so I was going to share that story with my husband because I thought it was so cool. And again, everyone looks at the big guys and they're like, he's a big guy. I wouldn't want to cross that guy. And by the way, audience, you still, like, you still shouldn't.
>> Speaker B:Well, that's what I was going to say. I was going to say haters. We know a guy.
>> Speaker A:We know a guy.
>> Speaker C:It's always interesting when I go places with my coach because Sean and I are about the same height, about five foot eight ish. I typically walk around between 260 to 270 and Sean walks around between 280 and 290. And Sean is covered from head to toe, literally from head to toe in tattoos.
>> Speaker A:Freaking love it.
>> Speaker C:face tatoos. Got a huge four one four run his neck. yeah, I mean, just everywhere. And typically where people see us if we're stationary, is in first class on an airplane, and the looks we get are just phenomenal.
>> Speaker A:I think that's incredible. In the meantime, somebody in the back thinks he's part of that Mexican cartel. What is that? m something. They're thinking that guy is MS 13 and he's sitting in first class. Oh, my God.
>> Speaker C:Are you guys rappers?
>> Speaker A:Rappers?
>> Speaker C:He's got a big chain. It looks like, a king chess piece. he's got his Rolex. He owns like, four or five different businesses up in Milwaukee, so he makes very good money for himself. But he's a large man. It's like I am. He's had it up. my favorite was we were asked by the Girls United counter in at O'Hare, are you guys wrestlers? And neither one of us hesitated. We said, in said looks we get when we say stuff like mind blowing. What do you say to that?
>> Speaker A:First of all, I love that. I love that. Because everyone's like, there's nothing I'm going to say. keep my damn opinion to my damn self.
>> Speaker C:We've said that before. And same thing. Someone didn't hesitate at all. They just turned and go, you need a third.
>> Speaker B:Wow.
>> Speaker C:We'll make it as weird as you want. It was great. He had a different flight, but we all end up sitting at Goose island at O'Hare, just drinking and having freaking awesome.
>> Speaker A:That is so much fun. Oh, great.
>> Speaker C:I anticipate we'll have a similar story tomorrow because Sean and I fly to Hartford.
>> Speaker A:You're going to have to update us on that. You have to let us know how that goes. Oh, my gosh. Bain, thank you so much for being with. I'm really, really happy that we were able to carve out this time. I know your schedule is insane right now. I'm so grateful that you were on sharing some of these stories. I'm still tripping. Not literally tripping, everybody. Not tripping over my feet, not tripping balls like Stella over here. But, I'm literally tripping on the fact that the story that we plucked out is one party you were actually at because that was not intentional. Very serendipitous. That is absolutely insane. That's just proof. That is affirmation from the universe that all of this was destined to occur. You were destined to be on this podcast with us to discuss that story. That's amazing. Thank you so much.
>> Speaker C:I'm honored. I appreciate it. I don't take it lightly. If people ever want to hear things I have to say. So thank you for having me on. I'm truly honored.
>> Speaker A:You're so welcome.
>> Speaker B:Yes, thank you so much. So much. It was such a pleasure. and just for our audience, our blog, like usual, will have links to some unique and amazing affiliates for great gift ideas. So be sure to check them out if you're still looking for that perfect gift.
>> Speaker A:I want a boss hole mug. That's what I want. I want a boss hole mug for Christmas.
>> Speaker B:And as we close this episode, please stay safe and sane. As hard as I can be at ah, those office parties. Take videos, send them in, send us gifts. We take bribes.
>> Speaker C:Yeah.
>> Speaker A:if you're having these parties and you don't write us about it and don't take video, unsubscribe, we have no time for you. I kid. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Patreon, Facebook, whatever the Donner pass. Follow us to go. We're going to be everywhere. Appreciate everybody joining. have a great week. I think we have one more episode before the year closes. I think we have one more. So I don't know if we have time for your stories to be submitted yet, but give it a whirl. if anything, we'll carry it over into New Year's episode where our resolutions are going to be so much fun next year, but, with that, bye.
%20-%20Edited%20-%20Edited.png)