Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Roundtable.
You're listening to Roundtable.
I'm Steve, joined today by Yushun and Yushan.
And coming up, forget swiping right.
The most stable relationship of your life might be with the person in the next cubicle.
They've seen your worst PowerPoint presentation.
They've also seen your existential dread, wondering, is this the job for me?
Well, the real purpose of the workplace might be your work yes, but it might also be to find your platonic lifetime bestie.
And if they know that much about you, they're going to stay with you for a long time.
Makes sense, right?
And then after that, We all love salt, but too much can be silently hurting our health.
What really happens when you eat it?
What goes on inside your body?
And is the secret to better health eating less of it or actually eating more of something else?
We have some info that might surprise you.
Our podcast listeners can find us at Roundtable China on Apple Podcasts.
And don't forget, we love hearing from you too.
So send your voice notes our way with any of the thoughts that you may have on any of the issues that we have here online.
Here's how you get in touch.
Roundtable podcast at qqcom.
One more time roundtable podcast at qqcom.
And now, have you ever thought about what if the most stable, enduring relationship you'll ever have is not with a soulmate that you swiped right on, but with the colleague who, who started the same day as you at the company?
We're talking about the workplace childhood friend, that person who saw you through your worst of presentations, your most nervous times before your big client meetings, the first time you messed up in the office, and also that existential dread that I mentioned just a moment ago when you were waiting for your first promotion.
As one viral piece of commentary suggested, these bonds forged in the be more resilient than modern marriages.
In an era where work-life balance is just a joke well, is the true purpose of the workplace actually finding your platonic lifetime partner?
Is it possible or is it not?
We're going to hear about some stories here that maybe prove that it can be true.
Yeah, and some of these ideas I found really, really interesting and a little bit cute, to be honest.
And I have to explain it Also in Chinese, because when we're talking about this workplace, childhood friend, when we call it in Chinese, it's called 职场发小.
And shortly we call it work bestie or work buddy.
Yeah, and childhood in the English term means like from the time you started the work together.
Not your actual childhood.
Not in this case, no.
Yeah, so in that sense, I think it's clearer, you know, because...
Actually, this term specifically refers to colleagues whom young people meet when they first enter the workplace after maybe graduation, or they're just a same batch of people getting into that company.
So they are typically colleagues who joined the same company at the same time, were hired in the same batch or worked together during that initial period.
And that period of time can forge a very, very solid relationship, friendship or relationship, colleagueship.
Yeah and, and it's not just among say, our generation between, like me and yushan, because we kind of entered in around the same time and back then there were a dozen of us joining this organization at the same time.
I was relatively later than everybody else, so i see everybody as my workplace bestie because yeah, how much earlier did you start here before yushan, did you should Around the month?
We're almost the same batch.
Oh, really?
Around a month or two?
Yeah.
Oh, just a month or two.
Yeah.
Okay.
But yeah, that's just something that I found so interesting because, like I mentioned, it's not only with our generation that we see each other as bestie at workplace, similar to how we grew up as classmates in the same class.
But also I was asking my parents if not the earlier generation they also mentioned that if it's the same batch of say back to several decades ago, if it's my grandparents who moved to one factory as workers and worked together there,
And even though all of the workers there the young people back then come from all over China, all work in the same place and they had no knowledge of each other before working together.
They just feel this alignment between each other and build that friendship and bond while working there.
So I guess that qualifies as workplace bestie as well, but in today's term it's more of a, just a cute nickname we give to colleagues of the same age.
Yeah yeah, um.
So i guess some of the you mentioned it kind of the one of the shared characteristics would be a similar age, i suppose, and that would be kind of a kind of a starting place for the bonding to begin, maybe.
You'll have to have that kind of common interests or conversation that you can have between that age group so that it could be a very, very specific and important characteristic for these workplace buddies or besties.
And also they accompany each other through that kind of most confusing and helpless phases, because when you're entering that company as a freshman, as a newbie, it can be quite challenging or a little bit frustrating when you're just getting into a new environment, right.
And that moment when you have a friend, be with you and share the same feeling that could help you to forge a really good relationship.
That may even less longer and even less until you, or some of them, left the company.
Sure.
Did you, did you both have that experience?
That kind of, how did you refer to it?
The helpless phase when you joined here, did you feel like, Oh, I don't know what's going on.
I need somebody to, you had that.
Yeah.
Back then my workplace bestie, let's say is a previous colleague named Rita.
And she's like we.
We were in the same program and doing the exact same jobs, like writing feature stories and sometimes voicing for it, and we've been through projects together that put huge pressures on both of us and that's a time when i learned quite a lot from her, because she's had media working experience before and she taught me a lot, so that must have been very comforting, i know, right back then it's like she's my source of support and also guidance throughout that first one to two years of us working together.
So indeed, if you've got someone like this it, particularly at the very beginning phase of your working experience, especially when it's kind of challenging like what we do here it's really nice and you feel like yeah, you're growing along with that person.
But let me just be a little bit cynical here that this is also a very what did rita do?
No, nothing to do with rita from now on she.
She quit the job and and and perfect time to talk smack about her then, just teasing, of course and pursued a better say um, academic career.
Um, nowadays.
But me being cynical, referring to the phase where two colleagues refer to each other as workplace bestie, is particularly because you are entering this job and there's no, like much of a say job assignment differentiation between you two and, as time goes by, with more of the say um, I don't know, promotion or distribution of work varies between us.
I wouldn't see Workplace Bestie remain as it is, as how it began throughout your career.
I think I see your point that when you start, it's a totally level playing field.
Everything is equal, but then assignments come and go, promotions come and go, and then that competitive spirit disappears or resentment might start to build up within the relationship.
That in turn shows just how cherishable this particular time mean for many of us.
And when we are having these kind of relationship, it is even more precious because I feel like, of course, we have that kind of a period of time or phases when you have different levels of assignments and maybe promotions. but um we are still staying that kind of um status of we can talk to each other but that is uh something i think it is even more uh precious when you are having that kind of friendship that can be developed into a company when you are having when it is something is not that i think um pure anymore as a as an environment then that you need to think about a lot of things right so i'm sorry i'm deviating this chat away from how it begun but i'll be reminded next time not to get a promotion before you shouldn't but anyhow yeah i understand that trust and emotional support that workplace besties can get from one another it's just this emotional value that young colleagues are providing each other it's so valuable in a way that it offers just emotional resonance especially under high pressure and you just have more power to go to work every day sure yeah it makes you makes you feel comfortable in the space when you know at least one person has your back yeah right um so then i said before uh there would be some examples and there are some very specific examples from real people uh share one or two if you don't mind In situations of like shared adversity to entry level colleagues who joined during a company shakeup had to learn like internal processes while constantly being criticized, resulting in a kind of life or death connection because they were going through the same hard time.
And then after that, you will realize that, oh, we survived and we survived it together.
Yeah, right.
Yeah.
That kind of sentiment.
There was also a story of two office besties who had differing personalities.
One of the personalities, one of the people was much more extroverted.
And then one of them was really introverted.
And the benefit of having an extrovert as your office bestie is that they can create a kind of buffer zone.
If you're, if you're right, if you're more on the quiet side, they can help protect you, they can speak up for you in certain instances, and that that was a real story from the internet.
Um, there was a leader a smaller leader advocated for a struggling colleague and stayed late one night to accompany them while they were crying and completing difficult assignments.
Um, There was another story of, during a personal tragedy, one colleague left a handwritten sticky note on their bestie's desk that said the world is still young and everything will happen, and it's waiting for you to arrive.
Yeah, and here's another very interesting story of two interns becoming the best friends and also the best men in each other's weddings over a span of nine years working together.
Another group of five colleagues maintained closeness for decades 20 years, seeing each other eventually rise to leadership positions across different business lines.
So yeah, maybe what I said the adversity of turning besties against each other in practical terms will not happen in some cases.
Let's hope.
Well, let's ask that question then.
I mean, do you think you need a workplace bestie?
Is it a good idea to try to seek one out.
What advice would you give for people entering the workforce now?
People need a workplace besties, because these individuals provide essential support and maybe validation during crucial career phases and making them not just colleagues but irreplaceable friends in life.
But I wouldn't say that is a must-have kind of thing when you're entering a company and also that is a very hard thing to reach.
I would say you know like close five colleagues for 20 years, that is not easy things to maintain.
I would say so um, when you're having this friendship or colleagues, i would say, cherish it.
But if you don't have it, it is just a common thing.
Yeah.
Don't try to force it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's also worth noting that not everybody coming to work is for making friends.
That's true.
That sounds harsh, but it's also very true.
Yeah.
Sometimes people when you see them as bestie, but they actually just care more about how to get a promotion before you.
It's not that I've encountered this person.
I've encountered plenty of these people from my previous work, but They do exist.
It's very practical.
I feel like we should move on to the next topic or we'll be here for another half an hour.
But either way.
I'm teasing again.
Sure.
Yeah, it can be a great place to make a best friend.
There's no doubt about that.
But as you know, we also learned today, maybe learn to keep your guard up at times as well.
You're listening to Roundtable.
And when we come back, how much salt is too much salt?
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I love it.
Do you love it?
We sprinkle it on our French fries, we toss it into pasta water and we use it to make even the blandest vegetables taste more yummy.
But here's the catch.
Too much of that little white crystal can quietly mess with your health in some very, very big ways.
Today we'll dig into the flavor enhancer to look at the benefits of eating less vegetables salt, but we're also going to explore some of the myths, some of the new science and even some surprising twists, like why eating more of one thing might be just as important as eating less salt.
So let's get into it.
Would you describe Chinese food as a salty food?
I guess maybe not all of it, but some of it definitely.
Yes yeah absolutely, and you're totally right.
Some of these dishes can be Salty and sometimes even quietly salty when you're not even realizing it, because when you're adding all of these seasonings and with other taste of the seasonings, you may not even realize there's a lot of salt in there.
And maybe it can be both sweet and salt and maybe numb and salt and spicy and salt.
And when you are having these kind of different flavors together, you may not even realize how much salt the chef has put in.
And under a Chinese context in particular, depending on where you're from, the food might taste saltier.
I heard that people from your hometown, let's say, for example Yushan, they come to Beijing or northeastern China and found the food very oily and salt and that's like a common label they give us, or not?
Yeah, different people from different regions have different taste buds and they may have different ideas on the food, but i would say it's not, of course, a little bit more saltier but uh, some of them are just plain.
But it is kind of a trend now, right?
Consumers, a lot of consumers here in china are preferring foods that are lower in salt and oil and sugar and, with this kind of rise of healthy eating trends, many consumers now prefer foods are in this kind of form and, as a result, these Mainly for these kind of food braised snack brands like Juewei have been struggling, because one example is that in the first half of this year, Juewei Foods revenue fell by more than 15 percent.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
So people it's on their radar now.
I mean, salt is all around us in daily life.
It's in our seasonings and our condiments and soy sauce and chicken essence and fermented beans.
It's in salted meats and pickles and fermented vegetables and packaged snacks like instant.
Instant noodles have a lot of sodium.
Then you've got natural ingredients seafood celery fennel crown, daisy water spinach, all of those things as well.
So it's really all around us all the time.
But it does bring the question, how much salt? are people consuming now?
And is it too much or is it considered a lot?
There's actually a guideline on that.
Currently, the intake is far above, people's intake is far above the recommended level.
But the guideline or the recommended level is that for adults they should have less than five grams of salt per day.
That's a about a beer bottle cap, that kind of amount.
And in reality say Chinese households.
For instance, the average intake of salt is about 93 grams daily.
And that's nearly doubling the guideline standard.
And in some northern regions, it reaches 16 to 18 grams per day.
That's over triple the limit.
So this, of course, brings a lot of health risks.
If you go on with the long-term high salt intake, it will potentially increase risks of heart disease, your body having a stroke or stomach issues, and it can even affect appearance, in some cases causing puffiness and rough skin.
Yeah, if you eat ramen late at night, your face is swollen the next morning.
I didn't know that.
Yeah, that's what people say.
We know the benefits of eating less salt, right?
Your blood pressure is better, which is proven by the World Health Organization.
They estimate that about 19 million deaths every year are linked directly to eating too much sodium.
So cutting down on sodium... is definitely good for you.
But it doesn't necessarily tell the whole story, right?
It's not like all salt is bad.
Yeah, actually we need salt daily.
Sodium is essential for life and it helps our nerves and messages, keeps our muscles contracting and balances fluids in and out of cells.
And without it, we couldn't even survive.
And also too little salt can backfire to your health as well.
When you cut salt down drastically, the body can go into what's basically an emergency mode and releases hormones like renin to just hang on to sodium.
And ironically, this can raise blood pressure or stress the heart.
So in other ways, it's better to balance it than just taking too much less.
Yeah, right.
And here's the little twist that I wanted to share with you.
This is what they say.
Sodium and potassium are like a seesaw.
So the answer yes, you can decrease your salt intake by, But you can also balance things out with eating more potassium.
Things like bananas and potatoes and beans and spinach and oranges.
That helps to balance the sodium problem if you are eating a little bit too much salt.
So don't eliminate it. completely from your diet.
I guess that's the point, right?
Really interesting.
I never knew that fun little factoid before.
All right.
We're going to have to leave it there for round table four today.
Thank you so much for sharing your time with us.
Thank you to Yushan and Yushan.
My name is Steve and we hope to see you again next time.
