Hi, welcome back to Eat Your Cress Podcast. I'm G-Soo.
I'm Crystal.
And I'm Jen.
Before we get started on our topic today, we have a fun Gen Z word to talk about.
I think this is like, low-key a made-up word.
Because I never actually looked up if it's like a dictionary word or not, but the word is
muing.
And I feel like this has a lot of context in addition to it as well.
Because when I first brought it up to G-Soo, she was like, oh my god, there's like all this
other shit tied to muing as well.
And it's just like super interesting and also hilarious.
So muing is basically you kind of like suck on your tongue.
And then it like makes your jaw line look better.
I guess it's like you're flexing your tongue slash throat.
So then like everything kind of lifts a bit.
And so your jaw line looks better and your neck looks leaner.
And for some reason, it was just like popping off on TikTok.
People were like, how to mue.
What is muing?
But I was like, why is the word muing?
That's true.
Dude, I feel like I saw one tick talk about it where someone was like, oh, an industry
insider tip to looking good in photos.
And they described the muing technique.
And then after that, everyone was obsessed with muing.
So then now I think it became this whole meme where if someone is looking really snatched
on the red carpet and their jaw line looks really good, all the comments will be like,
oh, bros muing.
She's muing right now.
And it's so funny to me.
The diagrams are hella funny too, this person with very exaggerated double chin or something.
And then they're like muing arrow to like someone with like an extremely defined jaw and
like looking so much better.
This huge transformation.
And I think those diagrams also just add to the absurdity and like exaggeration of it
all.
And it's pretty funny to see.
Okay.
When you guys said muing in the beginning, I had no idea what you're talking about.
But like after hearing the description, isn't that like the Bella Hadid technique or whatever
to like look snatched?
And I don't know.
I've definitely seen it on TikTok, but I just didn't know it was called muing.
And that's just such a random way to describe it.
Like I thought this was going to be like a cat thing.
Yeah.
But yes, I think you're right.
I think Bella Hadid was like one of the first sources, I guess, of like, oh, Bella Hadid
does this on the red carpet or something.
But yeah, and then all these TikTok started popping up that's like, this is how you mue.
I think I tried it once.
I was looking at the mirror and I was like, I don't know if I'm doing this right.
I don't know if this is working.
Dude.
So I also tried it, right?
And I was looking at my side profile in the mirror.
And for some reason, every time I mue, I think it pushes out everything that's supposed
to be getting sucked in.
So it has the opposite effect for me.
And I went down this entire rabbit hole because I was like, why can't I mue?
It turns out it's because I have a tongue tie.
So my tongue tie is slightly really close to the back of my bottom teeth.
So I can only lift my tongue like a really limited amount.
And that's why I can't mue.
So my god.
A sad story.
Wait, what's the tongue?
It's like this thing.
Can you see it?
Oh, that.
Uh huh.
Yeah.
I mean, you don't have one.
Whoa.
I kinda do.
I find it.
So for our listeners.
Come tie is basically, I guess it's like the piece of flesh that kind of connects your
tongue to the bottom of your mouth.
But then some people have it closer all the way to the tip of their tongue.
That ties it down essentially.
I think I have the middle of you too.
So I think Jen doesn't have one or like very minimal, which is good.
And then I have like kind of the middle.
Right.
Oh, okay.
And then Gisoo has like a tie that's closer to the tip of her tongue.
So someone needs to invent a fucking technique for muing that tongue tied people can also
do.
Shout out to all my tongue tied people out there.
But do I love this muing meme because I feel like it's just evolved from a photography
modeling technique to almost like a variation of the virgin Chad meme.
I saw like a picture of Travis Kelsey yelling at the.
Oh my god.
And under Travis Kelsey, there was like some meme where it's like a kind of insell looking
meme.
And then under Andy Reed, it was like the muing diagram.
The Chad Andy Reed basically and I was like, holy shit, this is so funny.
Wait, oh my god.
Okay, after watching this Super Bowl last weekend, I think I could totally be a sports girl.
Dude, I have never watched a full game of football before in my life.
So like it was four girls, one gay guy and then one straight guy.
And then the four girls were like trying to figure out the rules of a ball.
The straight guy knew the rules.
Right.
And we were like fucking crush.
How disappointing.
We like got into it and we were like kind of making up rules and then we're like, wow,
we understand the whole.
And then after the Super Bowl, I proceeded to watch like four hours of TikTok about football.
Oh my god.
I could totally be a sports girl.
Wait, I can't believe that person didn't answer your questions.
Wait, yeah.
Dude, yeah, because at the time it was like end of the game over time or OT as the fans
call it.
I like asked him and I was like, wait, do you know the rules?
And he's like, yeah, I know the rules.
That's like what the fuck am I even doing this entire game?
He's like, he was funny to like see you guys trying to figure out.
And I'm just like, like, eating.
Do you know what football rules are complicated?
I feel like every time I watch a game, I'm just having James explain literally the same
rules, same questions over and over to me.
I feel that too.
I was watching the Super Bowl this time as well.
And it was also my first time watching like a full Super Bowl game and I was like, okay,
I know some of the rules, but like some of the shit that's happening, please explain
like what's going on.
And I think I was asking stupid questions to like, oh, why don't they just pass it to
the open person?
You know, like, I don't see why they're just running into this wall of defense.
The boys are just like, yes, I guess that's right.
Like, no, I'm with you though.
A lot of the times they could have just run the ball.
Obviously, no, the strategy.
I was watching one game.
No, I literally had the same exact comment.
I was like, why don't they just run it down?
Like, why did they keep ramming themselves into the defense?
Yeah, and like, why can't they just catch the ball?
Like, could it really be that lower?
Okay, wait.
So like, how sad are your friends about the Niners losing?
Because I tried to text my friend that I was like, oh, yeah, I want to learn football.
Like, we're going to hang out.
You can tell me about football.
And he was like, I don't want to talk about football.
Like, I'm going to get right there.
And then I had therapy and my therapist is also a 40 guy.
Oh, no.
And then I was like, oh, yeah, I watched a full game of football.
It was really fun.
Are you sad that the Niners lost?
And he's like, I don't want to talk about it.
Apparently, you guys get really upset.
And then you're just like, this is super cool.
One of my friends friends, they said that someone took a mental health day the next day
from work.
Okay, that's so funny.
I was like, oh, my God.
I guess I could see how it was very sad because there was hope throughout the game and
then at the end it got crushed.
But yeah, it seemed like extra heartbreaking for a lot of people.
We have a friend who is like a huge 49ers fan.
And during the Super Bowl, towards the end, we're like, oh, I'm kind of scared to like
say stuff in the group chat.
The group chat got so quiet after they lost.
Yeah.
Dude.
That's so sad.
But you're right.
I was also thinking about that.
It's like, damn, these people get really invested in sports.
And it's a lot of feelings.
Maybe that's where they channel all their feelings.
Yeah, I think so.
And then for boys have their feelings.
Like, sports team.
Weeped to James get sad.
He's a bad laugh.
He doesn't really get like super emotional.
He'll just be like, oh, that really sucks.
And then he's like, over it really quickly.
Actually on the ride home, he was like, aren't you glad that I'm not the type to get super
salty after like my team loses?
And I was like, actually, yeah.
I feel like James is more, he'll get hyped when something good happens, but then when
something sad happens related to sports at least, he's just like, whatever.
Mm, that's true.
Yeah.
He celebrates big on the wins and the losses he's like, whatever.
Yeah, let's move on.
Yeah.
Don't lose only.
Well, enough about the Super Bowl.
We actually wanted to talk about work flexibility, working remotely and working from home and
that kind of flexibility in our lives.
So I guess to start us off, how flexible is your current day job in terms of like work
locations, working from home, working from anywhere?
Yeah.
So I work fully remote and my company has a policy where you can work 30 days away from
home.
So I've used this policy to work in like Europe in 2022 and then also in Asia last year as
well.
I like it a lot.
I usually do maybe like four weeks of working abroad and then I'll do like a two week vacation
afterwards.
Wow.
So just gives me like an extended period of time to be in a different location.
That's not so fun.
I guess for me, I need a little bit of consistency in my life though.
So then I feel like six weeks away from home would feel a little bit overwhelming for me.
Do you think you had any feelings like that or was it more just like, oh, this is like
a nice six weeks away from home?
Yeah.
So at least when I did it in 2020, I did my four weeks of working in Sweden, which is
where I did my masters.
I had a lot of friends there.
So I kind of just like transitioned back into that life and that was really cool.
Luckily, my company has a UK location.
So I just worked UK hours when I was in Europe.
And I think I worked like 10 to 6, which isn't too bad.
Then four weeks working, pretty regular hours hanging out with friends after work and then
on the weekends, then two weeks vacation.
So it wasn't too much of a transition, I would say.
It's just like a different location, but it was still a familiar location because I had
lived there for two years beforehand.
So is it easy to work on like different time zones?
Do you have to move meetings a lot or is it like pretty easy to adapt to the new time
zone?
I think if I'm working UK hours, it's not too bad because there is one person on my team
who is working UK hours.
So a lot of the meetings are earlier in the morning.
My company is actually based in New York.
So then those meetings are earlier with like stakeholders and stuff too.
If I just have like one-on-ones, I'll just move them until like earlier in the day for
me.
So more at the end of my work day instead of the beginning of my work day here.
Here a lot of my meetings are before noon.
And then if I work from a different location, a lot of my meetings will just like be after
in the afternoon.
If you're fully remote, are you still able to like go into the office as well?
Because I always feel like sometimes it is nice to go in the office, but like having
the flexibility of course is like the ultimate goal.
Yeah, so my office is in New York.
So I don't usually go into the office unless they like fly me out.
At the end of my Europe trip in 2022, I was actually planning quotes planning to move
to New York afterwards.
So I spent like 10 days there and I went into the office and stuff.
That was like pretty chill, but usually I don't have the option.
But I do want the option too.
Maybe in the future I would like consider having a remote role with like an optional office
location close by.
So I could choose to go and if I want to.
I feel like that makes a lot of sense because I think hybrid is not too bad, but I think
the fact that people are like you have to be in the office like this many days, it like
takes away your autonomy I guess.
And you know how it's like whenever someone says you have to do something suddenly you're
like, okay, like there's no way I want to do that now, right?
I've actually never worked in office because I started working in mid January 2020 and then
I like work for two weeks, one on two weeks vacation came back a month later.
It was like we're all working from home.
So I think it would be actually kind of interesting to work in office more regularly, but maybe
for the future.
You know, I've been kind of reminiscing on like pre-COVID work life lately.
And there was something special about being in office five days a week before COVID that
I feel like we'll just never come back ever again.
Because I think back then when you were truly seeing your co-workers like five times a
week every single day, they were almost like family.
And now even though you go in I guess for you Jen, never, but for myself in crystal like
two to three times a week.
I mean, still see co-workers that often.
I feel like it's just not the same.
It's less so like a part of your daily routine.
It's more like, oh, it's nice to see them sometimes or if not, it's also fine.
Ooh, that's a good point.
The other day actually one of my co-workers was like, oh, hey, crystal like I haven't seen
you in the office recently.
I was like, oh, I've been here, but I guess I've just been running around a lot.
So my desk is empty.
I guess like, oh, I see like busy doing whatever like you need to get done I guess, but yeah,
that really plays into what you just said as well.
How like it's way easier to just not see people.
Even if you are going into office, maybe you miss them because they weren't in the office
that day or you know, you're busy running errands in the office and then you like don't
really bump into people because there's only so many days that you go in and have the
possibility of seeing other people.
I always feel bad when I like go into the office maybe to like pick something up and then
like go home and I see someone and they're like, oh, hey, what's up?
And I'm like, hey, my backpack is on and I'm like getting ready to leave, you know, and
this is like the first time I've seen them all week.
I'm like, oh, hey.
Yeah, it's interesting.
I feel like there's so much more intentionality sort of of going into the office now at least
that's the way it feels like for me.
And our company specifically, we don't have a ton of desks.
So I don't have like a permanent desk anymore and I feel like that's just so sad.
Oh, wow.
That is kind of sad.
Yeah.
But I don't know how you guys feel about this, but I feel like at least having a permanent
desk or a specific spot that I consistently work at is very important for me.
So I've noticed that even in the house, I am definitely the most productive when I'm
sitting at my desk and sometimes I'll like, you know, take my laptop and like go to
different spots or whatnot, but I just feel like there's that one spot that hits in
terms of productivity.
Do you guys feel the same way?
Yeah, I think so.
I actually work the best when it's like really quiet around me and like I don't have,
I don't know, the pressure of everyone's eyes potentially falling on me.
So in my ideal world, I could work in a cubicle, but I have an open floor plan.
But at the same time, it's like once you make your desk really comfortable and like sit
down in it, you recognize everything.
It feels very familiar.
It is easier.
I've noticed to like get into the rhythm of things quicker, get into the zone, I guess.
Yeah, that makes sense.
I feel like for me, I am very picky about my environment.
So I feel like that's also why I wouldn't enjoy working in an office that much because
I'm really sensitive to noise and I get easily destructive.
Usually at home, I just have like one office space kind of with like my desk, my full set
of whatever.
And then like once I sit down, I barely get up and I just like try and do as much as I
can.
And then when it's finally time to get up, I'm like, okay, now I will go to my other
space to like relax and whatever.
So I think I'm lucky that I don't have to work in my room because I don't think I could,
I think I need that separation of spaces and like energy basically.
Yeah, for sure.
Honestly, during COVID for like a section of the time, I was living in New York and so
I was just like, you know, like New York apartments are small.
So I was just like working in my bedroom and every time I would kind of like turn around
and look at my bed and be like, wow, working in a room with a bed is so like destructive.
I'm just thinking about like crawling into bed and like putting, pulling up some shows
or something and like definitely not being productive.
You're right.
I think having that separation is definitely helpful.
I feel like something that I've also noticed is I think anyone who has ever lived with
me or like visited my spaces knows that I can be like a really messy person.
So I noticed that when my desk is messy, it's like my brain also feels unorganized.
I do this thing where, you know, how you have like a clothes chair.
Yeah.
So I'll try on stuff and the closet and actually my desk is in the same room as where I keep
a lot of my clothes.
You know, when I'm trying to put my outfit together in the morning, I'm like trying stuff
on and taking it off and then I'll pile it all onto like my desk chair and then sometimes
I think it does affect my productivity.
So I was kind of thinking about it and I was like, I need to make this space a little bit
more organized.
Otherwise I like can't maximize my productivity in here.
I kind of use that like clothes chair, but like my clothes chair is my floor.
I just got it everywhere on my floor.
And then once I clean it up, I'm like, okay, my head is clear and I can like lift my
life.
I agree.
When there's like so much glitter, you're like, oh, fuck.
This is a sign.
Wait, life is getting too hectic right now.
But I do wonder, have you all worked while traveling before?
I guess Jen, you said you did work remotely abroad for a couple weeks before taking a
couple weeks vacation.
But then is it like kind of hard to find the right spot to like get work done?
Yeah, I would say so.
When I was in Europe, I got like a studio Airbnb and I would work at the kitchen table
or like the dining table and it was just harder to get focused and stuff.
I do not like working from hotel rooms, I only done that for like one day and it was
super unproductive.
But usually I think if I like stay with someone and someone else is working, then like having
an extra person working in the room is really helpful actually.
So like I'll work on the couch and my friend is like sitting out there desk, but just like
having someone working next to me makes me more focused.
The pure pressure.
Yeah, I feel like one of the things that I experience when I work while traveling is sometimes
I feel like because I'm traveling, my priority in that moment feels like travel and not work.
So then if I have like meetings and stuff on like a day where I'm working from like a different
location, I feel like it's getting in the way of my life even though it's fully like within
work hours.
So that's the one thing.
I feel like my attitude does change a little bit.
Yeah, I think that's fair because you're kind of like, oh, I'm in a new spot, like new
place, I should definitely be enjoying it or trying to see the new things.
Right.
Do you all have like the weirdest place that you were working before while traveling or maybe
like the most inconvenient moment if you can remember if you can remember one.
So for me, a story does come to mind.
I guess it wasn't like the most inconvenient location, but I had visited my parents in
New Jersey when they were living there.
And I was going from their house to an Airbnb in Brooklyn that we got with a bunch of
our friends.
So they were actually driving myself and James over to our friends Airbnb.
So we were like literally on the bridge and I had to take this meeting where it wasn't
just like a phone call and like conversation meeting.
It was like a look at the spreadsheet together and like look at the numbers kind of meeting.
And I was taking it on my phone like literally zooming into the screen to like look at the
cells and it was like the worst meeting I've ever taken because I was getting so car sick.
And the traffic was fucking crazy too.
And everyone else in the cars forced to be like sitting in silence because I'm on this
call as well.
So after that, I was just like, okay, I've never been doing that ever again.
Oh my god, that sounds horrible.
That reminds me of this one trip I took.
So I like flew to St. Louis for a wedding and I was staying with my friend who lives in
St. Louis because she like goes to med school there.
At the time there were no direct flights from the Bay Area to St. Louis.
So I had to do like a layover in Las Vegas.
Most of my stakeholders and my team are on the east coast.
So like if I have to do a late afternoon flight, it's not the biggest deal.
So I was flying from San Jose to Las Vegas having a layover and then flying from Las
Vegas to St. Louis.
I just got switched to a new stakeholder team.
Apparently this thing had come up where they like wanted to run some sort of experiment.
They needed data input on how to run the experiment.
And this was like super last minute and I was like so confused.
Anyways, I get on the flight from San Jose.
My calendar is booked as like please do not bother me for like an hour or two.
And then the flight is only like maybe an hour.
So like in this hour I've gotten like three or four pings from this department.
I'm like okay, can we talk about this?
Oh, I can actually meet at 6 p.m.
my time or like whatever.
And basically I get off the plane.
I've missed this impromptu meeting and I have like, yeah, I'm this person that I haven't
worked with before being like, oh sorry, I missed this.
Can we actually do right now?
Anyways, we get on the call.
I only have like a 30, 45 minute layover.
I have to like mute myself in between talking because of the airline announcement and stuff.
And then we both know that I'm at the airport.
So I'm just like, yeah, smiling.
I mute myself because of stuff.
And you just like, okay.
See, that was brilliant.
Oh my god, speaking of airports, I had a kind of similar experience of just taking a call
there.
And I think I was like waiting to get on my flight and I was like, oh shit, like I have
a team meeting or something.
I was like, oh, I shouldn't miss this.
So I like hop on and I put on a virtual background.
But you know how like the camera tries to recognize faces.
So if people are like walking behind me, they like show for a second through the like virtual
background.
So you know, we're in the meeting, blah, blah.
And then someone's like, oh, Crystal, they said something about like being in the office.
So I guess they assumed I was in the office because people were walking behind me.
So they're like, oh, if you're in the office, can you like ask this person about like whatever?
And I was like, oh, I'm not in the office.
But I didn't know if I should say I was at the airport or not.
I was just like, oh, yeah, actually not in the office.
So I don't think I could do that.
They're like, oh, okay.
I just could see like the gears turning in their head like, oh, then where is she?
Like why are they walking around?
Oh my God.
Actually, now that I think about it, there was a time where I did a little bit of work in
Korea.
And I had to fucking wake about 5 a.m. to dial into meetings.
And I was like, I'm never doing that ever again.
See, that sounds horrible.
Yeah.
I was working in Taiwan, so I did a trip for a wedding.
It was in Bali and then I sent a week in Bali, a week in Vietnam, and then a week in
Taiwan.
But like my body was so slayed during the first two weeks of the trip.
I got me poisoning twice.
Oh my God.
Once in Bali, once in Vietnam, the day that I landed in Taiwan, I was just instantly ill.
And I was supposed to work for like a week in Taiwan, work my hours or whatever.
Luckily, I got to work UK hours, so like I got to the stop at 12.
But I remember the next day I woke up and I was just like, I cannot do anything right
now.
I am just so, my body is shutting down.
Yeah.
Yeah, that was horrible.
Oh my God.
Did you take a sick day?
Yeah, like I tried to work and then it got to 10 p.m. when I actually had meetings and
stuff and I was just like, I cannot today.
Like everything to a computer.
But luckily it wasn't too bad.
We have a Slack stand-up bot and because it was the beginning of the day for most people
and I had put that I was sick.
And they assumed that I was on the West Coast, I guess.
They just thought I was sick the whole day.
I was like, no, I've been trying to be here.
I'm just signing up clearly.
And then someone did like stand-up bot's cap, Jen, sick.
And I was just like, brah.
I have been here.
Do you ever block out your calendar for when you're traveling?
And if you do, how do you label it?
Oh, I do.
So I got this from my coworker because he was working in Japan for a month and then
people kept booking him for East Coast meetings.
So he would just have calendar blocks every day that said like unavailable.
Please do not book.
Unavailable in all caps and brackets and then please do not book as like regular.
So then usually if I have to do something, I'll just be like unavailable, please do not
book or I'll just say busy, whatever I need to have them not talk to me.
But luckily I don't have to be in a lot of meetings most of the time.
So like my schedule is pretty flexible except the bigger meetings and then everything else
is mostly just one-on-ones.
Well, that's pretty good.
I feel like I also picked that up from a coworker where I was trying to schedule something
on their calendar and then I saw they had these blocks that were just like DNS and I was
like, what does this even mean?
I looked it up, I was like, oh my god, this means do not schedule.
Like that is genius.
So I started putting hello like DNS blocks on my calendar.
I remember like one time I was taking a train.
I think I was like training from maybe Boston to New York or something like that.
I blocked out part of the calendar but then someone scheduled like a meeting and it was
my skip so I was like, okay, I'll attend this meeting.
But like the train is training in like the middle of nowhere.
So I'm like setting up hotspot on my phone to like, you know, call in on the call and
then at one point my skip is just like, you know, you keep cutting out.
So why don't we just end this meeting and then you can update me offline because it seems
like everything's fine.
I was like, oh my god, thank god.
Like why didn't you just cancel this meeting?
I had a similar experience.
I guess it's not so much a meeting which definitely makes it a lot worse.
But I did try to do work on a flight once.
It was kind of like 70% spreadsheet stuff and then the other 30% I actually needed internet
access.
This flight did have Wi-Fi.
But the Wi-Fi was so fucking slow.
So I was just like trying to download all this data and it's like downloading out kilobytes
per second, not even at the megawatt level.
And I just remember it took maybe like two or three times longer than it normally would
have with like regular Wi-Fi.
So I was kind of like, I don't know if working on a flight is worth it.
Dude, it's not.
Once I was flying to New York for work and then it was a Monday and I needed to get some
stuff done on the plane.
But the Wi-Fi was so bad.
They even said over the announcements and everything like, we're sorry that the Wi-Fi is bad.
We're going to like reset it and hopefully it'll be better.
None of my dashboards were loading.
Nothing was loading for me.
I was looking at other people's screens.
All of their shit was loading and I'm like, why do they hate me?
And then like we hit turbulence and stuff.
Literally nothing is working.
I'm just going to shut my laptop anyways.
Like this is a travel day.
Like they don't have to get anything done.
Whatever.
Oh my god, I feel like working through like turbulence or like car, like bumpy roads
is the worst thing ever.
True.
Dude, but I at least I don't get emotions like this.
I'm not going to wood.
Some people get emotions like this and being on an airplane or in a car is like dying
for them.
So I'm glad I'm not.
Yeah, dude, I get super car sick.
So anytime I try to take a meeting and the car, it's just not the move.
There was this one time where I can't remember why we did it like this, but James had to
take a work call when we were driving somewhere.
So I was driving.
And then for some reason I remember he like connected the audio to like the car speaker.
Oh my god.
So we were just both listening to the meeting together.
And later I was like, huh, I feel like you could use AirPods or something.
But in the moment we were both just like nodding through the meeting and the car.
You're like, wow, this is a great podcast.
I'm like, what's the tea in this company?
Wait, that's so funny.
But I am kind of curious since we've mentioned working in these different locations and working
while traveling.
I think another big thing that could be an important point is equipment.
So anything like a wireless keyboard, a wireless mouse, a webcam sometimes or even monitors
and things like that, to what extent do you guys try to bring your equipment around when
you know you're going to be working from a different location?
It bring me a laptop and that's it.
Oh.
Lowkey same though.
I'll like sometimes bring a mouse because I have this mouse that like side scrolls which
is super useful.
But it's kind of big.
So I'm like, okay, maybe I can just you know, deal with the trackpad.
But I have seen a friend travel with like an external monitor.
Do you know those ones that are like the portable monitors that are just like basically a laptop
screen size and then they're kind of like a tablet and then you just go in.
So I've seen some people travel with that and I was like, whoa, real dedication.
Dude, yeah.
I can't imagine like putting more stuff in my suitcase for work aside from my work laptop.
I think for the most part, I also only bring my laptop, but the exception is when I go
to visit my parents in Dallas, they have like a little desk setup.
So then I'll always bring my webcam because I can place that on top of the monitor that
I use and I'll bring my keyboard and mouse.
Wait, what if crazy idea, but what if your parents kept a set of keyboard and mice for
you at the place?
I mean, nuts.
That's true.
I mean, I guess I just don't want to spend like personal money on it.
You don't need it.
Yeah.
Wait, I have an extra keyboard, really?
Yeah, like an Apple one from my old company.
Do you want it?
No, that's fine.
I actually don't mind bringing around my keyboard.
And when you're visiting home, I'm not trying to bring like, you know, I don't have like
a ton of space saving stuff.
So it's okay.
That's so nice though.
I opened your random shit from my old company because I left and I was like, I'm not giving
any of this stuff.
I feel like that's such a classic thing.
One of my old coworkers at like a previous job was like, yeah, if you're leaving just
like the stuff that you got from work, just keep it, you know?
Dude, yeah, I took my desk chair.
What?
I was just trying to bring it back.
Because it was during COVID and then it was like, oh, if you need anything, just go
into the office and grab it.
And like when I was in the office, I was like, should I take my monitor?
Should I take this standing desk?
Like the standing desk is crazy.
No, it was like an attachment.
So it was not like a full desk.
It was something that went on top of that.
I was like, damn, you're strong as hell.
I was like, she really pulled up in a U-Haul.
Honestly though, the funny thing to me about like this whole remote work situation is
everyone kind of dials into these calls from their house, right?
So then I feel like you can kind of get a sense for how people's desk setups are from
like the angle of their camera.
Do you know what I'm talking about?
And you can totally tell when people are dialing in not from their like regular location.
So I'm like always kind of like over-analysing like, oh, I wonder where she's like calling
in from.
We're like, oh, she's not at her desk right now, you know?
Dude, wait, that would, I would hate for you to be in my meetings because, because,
okay, so I usually schedule my therapy like around lunchtime on weekdays because it's
closer to work than home.
So I'll like drive over from work.
But for some reason, like the past, I don't know, like two or three times this year, someone
scheduled a meeting like right before therapy.
So there's like no like time, right?
So what I end up doing is I drive all the way to therapy and I sit in my car and I dial
in from my car and then like the moment the meeting ends, I'm like slamming my laptop
down like running into therapy like one minute late or something.
Normally I never have like a virtual background, but because I'm like literally in my car, I'm
like, okay, I need to like, you know, put some kind of virtual background here.
So I always wonder when I dial in in those situations like, is everyone wondering where
I am?
You know, like, why does crystal have a virtual background today?
Like where could you be?
Do they're definitely thinking that I would?
I've literally never thought of that.
My mind is blown.
Oh my god.
Yeah, actually people do comment like, oh, where are you?
Like you're different.
I guess they never registered into my brain.
So people are not working.
So people are nosy.
Do people are nosy?
Yeah.
I mean, I'm not going to lie.
I sometimes wonder too, like, oh, this person has a background for some reason when normally
they don't.
One of my friends has a remote job and they were going to be working in a location that
wasn't their home for like an extended period of time.
So like leading up to it, they just started using the virtual background like more regularly,
like a couple months leading up to wherever they were going.
And then what would it be seen as weird that they started using this virtual background?
That's clever.
They were planning in advance.
Well, yeah, planning.
Yeah, he's probably wondering, like, where are they?
He's probably one of those, he's the extra caution.
That's true.
If you're the type to judge, then you know how to combat these things.
Yeah.
But our company, it's actually really, really common to use a virtual background.
Like I feel like, at least at my meetings, most people have one up.
Dude, I look, he be nosy as hell.
I look, he even be looking at people's, like, the graininess of people's cameras.
I'm like, oh, the, like, lighting looks interesting today.
Like, I wonder where they are.
Oh my God.
Well, you know, it's so funny.
When I take my calls from my car, like, outside of therapy, the lighting is like amazing.
You're like, I look so fucking good at this meeting.
I'm like, dude, I'm so clear.
You're skin is glowing.
So I'm like, wow, I wonder her, like, what this looks like to other people, you know,
because actually when I'm at home, my camera is like really grainy and dark because I'm
like, oh, sitting in like a dark corner of my room.
And then it's like outside of therapy.
So like the best lighting ever, I'm like super clear.
So it's a pretty funny contrast.
They're like, oh, she opened her window.
Glaskin who?
Once I had a 730 AM analytics all hands meeting, and I had to like talk during it because we
have these like quiz breaks or whatever.
And first of all, I was like, I do not want to go to 730 AM meeting.
And then because I had to talk, I had to see like what the lighting situation would be
like, but it was still dark outside.
So I had to like start moving lamps over.
So it looked crazy.
Yeah, because like at my place, most the time during the day, I don't have any lights
on because I face a whole wall of windows.
And so I don't have like lamp set up in that area.
So I had to bring this random like table lamp and lamp from my freaking bedroom.
And then I was considering bringing this like standing lamp.
And then I have outlets only in specific areas.
I was like, I'm only getting light from this angle.
I was so annoying.
Oh my god.
I think I've definitely done that as well where I'm like, maybe traveling and I didn't
really say anything.
But it's like dark on my end.
So I'm like, oh fuck, I need to like pretend it's West Coast time right now.
Like, need it to look super bright.
But I also noticed, I think my manager has like caught on to some of my, I don't know,
I guess like not the best calling in on meeting habits because sometimes if I'm running
late, I'll just like call into a meeting while I'm driving.
And then I go camera off and like mute usually.
But normally, you know, I always have my camera on.
So then one time it was like our little mini TV meeting and I was driving.
And then you know, I even like unmuted to talk and everything.
And then towards the end of the meeting, she was like, all right, well, sounds good everyone.
I know.
So I was like, I'm driving.
So let's just let's just end the meeting here and then see you later.
And I was like, fuck, my heart would drop.
I was like, she knows.
It is so funny.
Dude, I actually have a similar story to that the other day, I went to the gym and I had
a meeting that I thought I would make it back home for.
But it turned out that I was still like a five minute drive away from home.
So I was like, fuck it, whatever.
I was just like dial in from my phone and drive home, right?
I like dialed in and it was just me and this one guy on the call.
So we were like kind of making small talk, right?
Which I was like, fuck, because if it's like a bigger meeting, then you can kind of get
away with it.
But when you actually have to talk, it's like more engagement.
So I was kind of like still parked, but like getting ready to drive making small talk.
And I was driving James's car, you know, like the Tesla sounds like, you know, how it makes
noises.
It's like ding, you know, like the Tesla sound.
Oh, yeah.
Like when the green light comes up.
Yeah.
I was like, making that sound and I was like, holy fuck.
And I was like, oh, I'm going to like go on mute for a little bit.
But other people dial in soon and I speed up.
So I was like, how much more fucking obvious can it be that I'm in a car?
Dude.
I think ultimately though, I'm pretty grateful that like my team is pretty chill about
everything.
So to a lot of them, it's like, oh, as long as you show up and you know, you're like
doing the work and everything.
It's not really a huge issue if I guess you're like calling in from the car or you know,
taking meetings in odd places.
So I think that trust and flexibility is something that I appreciate a lot from my team.
That's true.
And I think it's something that I like kind of grapple with and I actually wanted to
pose the question here as well.
I feel like the flexibility for work and being able to work remotely from all these different
places is a privilege.
But also kind of a right at the same time.
Like I don't know which side I lean towards more because to an extent, I feel like it is
something that we're lucky to have.
But also at the end of the day, like we have our own lives and stuff.
So I also feel like it could be more of a right than a privilege.
What do you guys think?
I think that's interesting.
I mean, I definitely think it's a privilege that we can do it with so much flexibility.
I also think that like remote work was a thing even before COVID.
At least at my old company, there were definitely people that worked remotely.
But it was mostly something reserved for people in high enough positions that they've
like proved their worth to be able to work remotely.
So I guess in the sense of it being a privilege, like it's a privilege that people who are
lower-leveled now get to do it with like this much flexibility.
For sure.
I think like COVID kind of changed the game a little bit because I don't know if it's
like a lack of trust that was there before or like the unknown maybe that it was like,
oh, I don't know if someone's going to be productive still at home.
But then it was basically proven that we can be productive still and a lot of us are like,
get our shit done, especially if you give us the flexibility.
So I feel like that was nice to see that like there was more trust gained on both sides
from like managers and their direct reports and stuff.
In that sense, I can say like maybe it feels more like a, I don't know if it's necessarily
a right but it almost feels like we earned the right through trust, right?
But I guess I can't really say much about you know the overall like corporate opinion on
it.
So I think I think I work way better at home than I would in an office even though I don't
really know.
But I've always had a hard time focusing in like larger spaces.
So being at home, being in like a quiet environment really helps me to do like my most focused
work at least.
Yeah.
Honestly I think if anything flexibility and remote work has shown me at least that like
so many people have different optimal working situations.
So I think you're right Jen like I'm kind of similar to you where sometimes at home I'm
way more productive just because it's like so much quieter.
I can like close the door in a room and just like really focus.
But then also on the other hand, it's like sometimes being in the offices nice because
you can like chat and brainstorm with your co-workers.
I guess it's kind of like different situations call for different working environments almost.
I think that makes sense and just like different people work best in different environments.
I think honestly too what I really appreciate is being able to work while traveling.
I mean what is just fun and nice to kind of switch up the environment from time to time.
Sometimes it's just logistically more convenient that way.
But I think also knowing that your team and your manager trust you to the point where
they're fine with you working from some remote location for a little bit is just nice
and I think it makes me more happy to work.
Yeah, I think that makes sense.
I think also with being able to work remotely it gives you the opportunity to like fly in
maybe on a Thursday and then work remotely on a Friday fly out a Monday or Tuesday.
So it gives you more time in whatever location that you're in.
And then also if you're visiting friends it gives you the chance to just be in each other's
presence, working together kind of like when we were in college or when we were in a high
school and that just gives you like a different feeling I guess that just going out to like
hang out and do specific activities.
I think it's really nice just like in general to be able to work remotely and it gives you
the opportunity to have different experiences with your friends that maybe we don't get
the chance to anymore.
I really like what you brought up about sometimes it's just nice to like say with friends and
you know everyone just focuses on their work, guess you done and then you're like okay cool
we can go out and like party after.
It's like a nice reward.
I think I agree with what you both said.
It's just really nice to like feel that trust and you're right it does kind of encourage
you to work harder like oh yeah these people trust me so let me show them that they can
continue to trust me.
But I do think a lot of this like work stuff most of the relationships that matter at work
are like with your peers slash manager slash like co-workers so I feel like as long as
that pod is like really you know good vibes then it's like manageable.
I think for me because I haven't had the whole office working experience this is the type
of environment that I kind of came into and then this is the type of environment that I
want to continue to exist in.
For future jobs something that I definitely look for is like the flexible working location
and I know like specific companies have added that as a benefit.
I think more companies at least tech companies should be doing that.
I don't know if I would want to work a non remote job.
I feel like I'd want to work a non remote job for the experience.
The office girly experience that then after I've done that for a year I can go back to
being a developer.
Yeah that makes total sense.
Yeah I feel like when a company adds that benefit I know it's just kind of like a HR
thing but it does make me feel like they actually give a shit about their employees.
For a really long time I feel like it was expected that people were living to work sort
of in the post-COVID world I do feel like people are kind of trying to at least pretend
like they want their employees to work to live.
So I think it's a good sign when a company does have that.
All right well thank you Jen for joining us on this episode today.
I thought it was pretty funny to talk about the weird places that we've been working and
like the odd struggles we have dialing into meetings.
And so for our listeners out there if you have any funny stories of dialing in on a meeting
at the most inconvenient time or inconvenient place feel free to share that with us.
You can find us on social media at EatYourCrossPod and we also have email eatyourcrosspod.com
And if you'd like to catch our other episodes then don't forget to follow us on Spotify,
Apple Podcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday morning.
Thanks for listening.
And don't forget to eat your crust.
