A new analysis from the Economic Innovation Group finds that the cities that were once employment superpowers no longer hold that title. Instead, “for the first time since the Great Recession, the richest metros are no longer creating the majority of new jobs in the U.S.,” noted August Benzow, research director at EIG and author of the report.

While coastal centers like San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Boston used to create jobs at a much faster rate, Sunbelt metros like Gainesville, Georgia and Hilton Head Island in South Carolina are now leading the way in job creation.

Cities in the Midwest and inland Northeast, including Wenatchee, Washington, and Lansing, Michigan, are also experiencing stable job growth rates, in part due to their relatively cheap real estate prices, the EIG analysis found.

The trend is only about a year old, but it is part of a shift that began with the pandemic's geographical realignment and has only continued as the cost of living rises in the most expensive cities. And it shows once again how the American economy is moving south and center – away from the previously dominant coasts.

The analysis found that cities with the lowest average wages are seeing the fastest job growth. This is partly because the cost of living in these cities is lower due to lower housing costs as large coastal cities have become increasingly unaffordable.

“Employers track where people want to live and where they can afford it,” Benzow said. However, he added that some employers are proactively moving to cheaper regions, not only to follow the workforce but also to save money on office space and take advantage of other financial incentives.

A slowdown in the tech sector is helping drive this job reallocation, according to EIG. But a similar shift is occurring across a variety of industries. “These sectors tend to be pretty closely linked. If you have more professional services jobs in one place, you tend to get more retail and other service jobs,” Benzow said. The job data is based on the employer's location and not the employee's place of residence. Therefore, this data does not capture remote workers who live in one location but are technically employed in another location.

The EIG analysis is the latest data point to show how the hiring market is changing as 2020 progresses. A Gusto analysis of over 30,000 small and medium-sized businesses using its payroll platform found that between the pre-pandemic period, that is, from January 2018 to March 2020, and more recently, from April 2022 to As of December 2023, hiring rates in smaller and medium-sized cities have increased. At the same time, major coastal cities such as New York City, Los Angeles and Seattle saw their hiring shares decline. This is another sign that the aftereffects of the pandemic's major economic and geographical reordering are still being felt.

“Some of it is justified, some of it is not, but I think they are no longer viewed as the most desirable places in the country in the same way that they were before the pandemic,” Benzow said.

The post Transfer over, New York and San Francisco, the US’s main job hubs at the moment are cities like Charleston and Hilton Head, South Carolina appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

• U.S. job creation is shifting from wealthy coastal cities to the Sun Belt and Midwest.

• The shift is due in large part to skyrocketing housing costs in coastal cities.

• Cities with the lowest average wages are seeing the fastest job growth.

Americans are moving south – and with them their jobs.

A new analysis from the Economic Innovation Group finds that the cities that were once employment superpowers no longer hold that title. Instead, “for the first time since the Great Recession, the richest metros are no longer creating the majority of new jobs in the U.S.,” noted August Benzow, research director at EIG and author of the report.

While coastal centers like San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Boston used to create jobs at a much faster rate, Sunbelt metros like Gainesville, Georgia and Hilton Head Island in South Carolina are now leading the way in job creation.

Cities in the Midwest and inland Northeast, including Wenatchee, Washington, and Lansing, Michigan, are also experiencing stable job growth rates, in part due to their relatively cheap real estate prices, the EIG analysis found.

The trend is only about a year old, but it is part of a shift that began with the pandemic's geographical realignment and has only continued as the cost of living rises in the most expensive cities. And it shows once again how the American economy is moving south and center – away from the previously dominant coasts.

The analysis found that cities with the lowest average wages are seeing the fastest job growth. This is partly because the cost of living in these cities is lower due to lower housing costs as large coastal cities have become increasingly unaffordable.

“Employers track where people want to live and where they can afford it,” Benzow said. However, he added that some employers are proactively moving to cheaper regions, not only to follow the workforce but also to save money on office space and take advantage of other financial incentives.

A slowdown in the tech sector is helping drive this job reallocation, according to EIG. But a similar shift is occurring across a variety of industries. “These sectors tend to be pretty closely linked. If you have more professional services jobs in one place, you tend to get more retail and other service jobs,” Benzow said. The job data is based on the employer's location and not the employee's place of residence. Therefore, this data does not capture remote workers who live in one location but are technically employed in another location.

The EIG analysis is the latest data point to show how the hiring market is changing as 2020 progresses. A Gusto analysis of over 30,000 small and medium-sized businesses using its payroll platform found that between the pre-pandemic period, that is, from January 2018 to March 2020, and more recently, from April 2022 to As of December 2023, hiring rates in smaller and medium-sized cities have increased. At the same time, major coastal cities such as New York City, Los Angeles and Seattle saw their hiring shares decline. This is another sign that the aftereffects of the pandemic's major economic and geographical reordering are still being felt.

Even the richest coastal cities suffer from negative perceptions of security and public order, and this reputation likely also plays a role in the migration of people.

“Some of it is justified, some of it is not, but I think they are no longer viewed as the most desirable places in the country in the same way that they were before the pandemic,” Benzow said.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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Rigorous screening limits candidates, who are groomed for union apprenticeships

The good news: San Francisco offers a free 18-week training course through City College that takes low-skill, out-of-work city residents and sets them on the path to construction trade careers.

The not-so-good news: While the instructors try hard to be inclusive, some city residents who need the program do not satisfy the minimum qualifications, including a high school equivalency degree.

Each year, neighborhood organizations direct candidates to CityBuild Academy from the low-income communities they serve. From there, unions are able to find job placements for 85 percent of graduates. It helps that San Francisco is experiencing a massive construction boom that has raised demand for trade laborers to levels not seen in a decade.

Since CityBuild began in 2006, its organizers have sought out workers who are “economically disadvantaged” — those who have had interactions with the criminal justice system, lived in public housing, used a substance-abuse treatment program or received welfare or financial aid. The theory is that construction is ideal for people whose backgrounds exclude them from other labor sectors.

But applicants must possess a few basic requirements: a valid California driver’s license, a high school diploma or GED, and the ability to pass a drug test. A background check is not part of the process.

Even these minimum standards disqualify some San Francisco residents who could benefit from construction work the most, say some job training experts and advocates for workers from poor neighborhoods.

“CityBuild is not inclusive to those in the community, based on the prerequisites,” said Jamie Brewster, the employment training center site manager for Asian Neighborhood Design, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that offers a pre-apprenticeship program in solar panel installation. Ethnic minority workers are disproportionately affected by the program’s union-based criteria, he said.

Brewster’s organization channels its graduates into jobs that do not require union certification. “When they brought the unions into the mix, they have their own standards,” he said.

But Michael Theriault, secretary-treasurer of the San Francisco Building Trades Council, said unions can absorb only so much responsibility for placing workers with multiple barriers into stable careers in construction. From its inception, Theriault said, CityBuild “was intended to be a feeder to apprenticeships with unions. The requirements answer to the realities of the industry.”

THOROUGH TRAINING

No more than 100 students will make it into the academy this year. CityBuild runs two courses a year, accepting 40 to 50 applicants per cycle. Meanwhile, the number of applicants is growing: 250 are expected in the next cycle, up from fewer than 100 in the program’s early days.

The city spent $2.7 million on the training course in fiscal year 2012-13, city records showed, making the average annual cost over the last five years $33,296 per job.

The academy provides students with all the supplies they need for the 18-week program — boots, helmets, tools, even transportation and grocery vouchers. They also get college credit.

In mid-August, CityBuild students learned plumbing at City College of San Francisco’s Evans Campus in the Bayview. They got experience soldering, joining copper pipes to forge the handle of their own toolboxes. When one student expressed nervousness about the assignment, the instructor replied: “The thing is to learn from the mistakes.”

Some CityBuild students already have jobs but are looking to move into better-paying careers.

“I figured that if I’m going to bust my back at work, doing this for $12.65, I might as well actually go and bust my back and make $25 an hour,” said Donald Williams, who left his job refueling airplanes to retrain for construction with CityBuild. During the plumbing exercise, an independent contractor was on site, instructing students and scouting for talent; Williams pocketed his business card enthusiastically.

“When you start to actually learn these things — hands on — then I can look at a site, I can analyze it and I can tell, OK, this is what the plumbers are doing, this is what the electricians are doing, this is what the glazers are doing,” he said. “The carpenters are building this framing, the ironworkers are laying this in the raw patch.”

RIGOROUS SCREENING?

But CityBuild is small compared with the ranks of unemployed manual laborers. The program is “relatively competitive,” said Jacqueline Flin, executive director of the San Francisco chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, a nonprofit group that does training and community organizing with minorities and public housing residents. “There are only a certain number of slots per cycle,” she said, “and we need to make sure we are screening the right folks.”

Many of the candidates she refers to CityBuild are rejected. Sometimes the prospects are clearly irresponsible — they miss a meeting or neglect to answer the phone. All she can do is help them to reapply. But Flin said CityBuild needs to take care not to exclude workers who can take advantage of a hand up, adding that the APRI considers what additional resources, such as childcare, might be needed.

Those who meet the minimum program application requirements must attend five days of “job-readiness training,” beginning at 7 a.m. — a schedule that filters out undisciplined workers. Then students are interviewed and undergo physical fitness training, which continues throughout the 18 weeks of the academy.

“CityBuild provides a polished product,” said David De La Torre, business manager of the Northern California District Council of Laborers. He said the academy provides students with simple life skills, such as getting up early and arriving at work 15 minutes ahead of time.

The program’s director, Patrick Mulligan, said students are filtered, and only those likely to follow through are selected. Otherwise they will graduate from the program without a real chance at apprenticing with a union, which is the impetus of the entire training. “We don’t want to bring people into our program and not be able to help them,” he said. “We want to set them up for success.”

CityBuild was originally designed to provide minority communities with good jobs, said Terry Anders, founder of the Anders & Anders Foundation, a San Francisco workforce training organization focusing on preventing criminal recidivism and drug abuse. But he said that CityBuild and unions should be helping larger numbers of disadvantaged workers.

“If you’re not trying to include someone, then you are excluding them,” Anders said. “Why should a hundred people out of a community of a thousand be able to say that we work?”

ON-SITE RECRUITING

Experienced contractors and trade workers supply instruction and are paid through the program, but they donate materials for the classes. They also scout for promising apprentices.

“Contractors come to City College and as part of their community outreach, to give back, they bring back people who have gone through the program, and they bring supplies,” said Miquel Penn, project manager for the Mission Hiring Hall, which helps recruit for the academy.

The partnership with contractors is two-sided. It exposes students to 26 construction trades and prepares them for union jobs. It also eliminates the uncertainty for employers in hiring inexperienced workers.

“The thing with CityBuild is you take a lot of the risk away,” said Chris Iglesias, the first director of the academy.

Use of the City College facilities allows access to federal financial aid for the intensive 18 weeks of hands-on training. After their apprenticeships, usually lasting five years, construction workers reach journeyman status. Construction offers higher wages — $20 or more an hour, basically middle-class work — than entry-level positions in other industries, as well as health insurance and a pension. Ironworkers tend to make the most.

But City College is now facing the loss of its accreditation next summer over management and financial issues. Mulligan said that in that circumstance, CityBuild would have to reevaluate its programming. “We try to measure the pulse daily,” Mulligan said. “I can’t say definitively where that’s going to go.” There has also been talk of moving to another school.

ALTERNATIVE PATHS TO JOBS

Not everyone in the industry is impressed by CityBuild’s results. Brian Colombo, apprenticeship coordinator for Ironworkers Local 377, said graduates do cultivate a better understanding of what’s required in the workplace, but that does not guarantee success. “It’s been a mixed bag of results,” he said. “There are some that do fairly well and some that bomb.”

And the slim prospect of steady union jobs only disappoints those hundreds of hopeful workers who are not selected for the program.

Brewster of Asian Neighborhood Design said one of CityBuild’s original aims was to help residents of Bayview-Hunters Point, but few applicants from the neighborhood get in. “It’s a double-edged sword,” he said of the academy. “They’ve done a lot. They’ve put a lot of people to work, but now they are neglecting the southeast sector.”

Brewster’s own agency, which trains workers who need more help with basic life skills, closed in October as government funding dried up, but he hopes to reopen it in early 2014. He said he worries that the city’s workforce development infrastructure is missing the chance to bring the long-term unemployed into productive and stable careers. “We work with people CityBuild won’t touch,” Brewster said. “Who’s going to take them when our funding is getting cut?”

Photo by Tearsa Joy Hammock | San Francisco Public Press.

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Chayne Hampton is the manager at Santa Cruz Plumbing Inc., operating the company’s residential plumbing department.

Plumbing was prominent in Hampton’s life growing up in Santa Cruz. His father has been working for the UA Local 38 Plumbers & Pipefitters union in San Francisco since Hampton was born. Around age 20, Hampton began to work alongside his father. But that soon ended because of what Hampton calls “bad life choices.” Hampton struggled with a drug addiction that ultimately led him in 2016 to serve three years at San Quentin State Prison for burglary. After his release in 2019, he entered rehab and sought employment. He reached out to Santa Cruz Plumbing owner Jason Allison, who gave Hampton a chance. He started out as a shop hand, eventually working his way up to manager.

Transitioning from incarceration to the workforce is no easy feat. Hampton says people “have to learn how to operate in a world that’s not the world that you’ve been in.” Many will pass judgment, he says, but if someone is a hard worker their past shouldn’t hold them back. Hampton relishes the simplicities of life, having gone through losing his freedom while in prison. He prides himself on maintaining a job long term, something he struggled with in the past. He enjoys what he describes as “normal-people stuff,” like traveling, working out and spending time with his wife.

Hampton also shared stories on the “Ear Hustle” podcast, as well as narrating parts of the audio version of the book “This is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life” by Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods. He hopes to be able to progress in his career, either growing the residential plumbing sector or working for himself and beginning a family business.

Education:

• San Lorenzo Valley High School
• Cabrillo College: construction estimating, plumbing code, blueprint reading

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz

Lookout: Can you walk me through how you became involved in the plumbing industry?

Chayne Hampton: My dad’s a plumber and he works for the [plumbing] union in San Francisco, and he’s worked there since before I was born. When I turned 20-something, I tried to join the union and I ended up getting in. I was commuting over the hill with my dad and that commute was just kind of a nightmare. I can see it now in retrospect how draining that drive is and just working in the city in general. They would pay you a lot but it’s a lot of time off your life. But that’s not why I left the union — I made some bad life choices that ended my career there.

I went to jail two times before I went to prison. Just little six-month stint[s]. I thought that would be the end of it, they would never send me away because I was such a petty criminal. The judge looked at what I was doing and saw that it was gradually getting worse and worse. I was taking bigger and bigger risks and that got me a prison sentence. I ended up going to prison for a little bit and when I got out I was in a rehab, New Life on the Westside.

I turned in an application [to] Anne Keating, who’s our HR person [at Santa Cruz Plumbing]; [she] got my application, showed it to [company owner] Jason [Allison]. One of my past employment [experiences] was at San Quentin, [at] the waste management plant. I was trying to make it look pretty without saying I’d been to prison. Jason, not being an idiot, put it together and gave me a call and he said, “I’m very empathetic to a guy in your position. Where are you at? I’m going to come talk to you.” So he came to where I was at. He was like, “All right dude, we’re going to start you at this [wage],” which in retrospect was exactly how much money I needed to make at that time. Now I make twice that.

I had minimal experience, at that point I think I was a [shop hand]. [Jason said,] “All right, we’ll get you digging some holes.” So that’s where I started, digging a little bit [and] organizing the truck, nothing too complicated because, I mean, I was like a baby. After a while, slowly more responsibilities [were] put on my lap. Jason is pretty hands-on and he saw where I had some strength, which was mostly relatability with people, deescalating situations [with] customers [or] other contractors, just general customer-service skills. My employment took a bit of a shift to more management, so I have guys working under me. I’ve been doing this now for about a year.

Lookout: What does a typical day look like for you?

Hampton: For me, I just started checking my emails. [But] whenever I get started I get parts [and] lay [it out for the] guys, like, “This is the job we’re doing today.” Then I’ll go to the job with them and get a material list for them so that they don’t have to drive back and forth to the supply house, kind of streamline things. [I’ll] check in with the customer to make sure they’re doing OK, no one is making a mess, everyone is parking where they should be parking, let them know if the water is going [to] be off. From there, I head back to the office [to] follow up on quotes that I had written and then from time to time I [find] myself in the field tying up loose ends, [like if] a customer needs to be walked through how their new tankless water heater works, then that’s the last thing I’ll do in the day.

Lookout: What was the experience of transitioning from prison back to the workforce?

Hampton: I mean, I didn’t think I had a snowball’s chance in hell. I’ve got tattoos. Even before going to prison I lived in a prison of my own making. Through lifestyle choices I created a very small world for myself, [it was] very limiting. I [could] never be too far away from the action. My life was confined to six or seven blocks in each direction. I was crippled by drugs and addiction, mentally and physically.

I didn’t have any proper skills. But Jason, once again, I [have] to give this guy all the props in the world. I don’t know what he saw in me, maybe he thought I’d only last a week or a year. I’ve never done anything [for work] for five years [and now] someone just took a shot on me. I have buddies who are in the same situation as me, and [it’s] “I can’t find work” and this and that. It’s not easy for a lot of dudes with tattoos on their face and a rough background or a record, but it’s not impossible. I also have a ton of friends who brought themselves into unions. You’ve just got to be willing to start from the bottom. I was trying to be very humble about it: You want me to dig holes? I’ll dig holes.

Lookout: What was it like working in the sewage treatment plant at San Quentin?

Hampton: So my sewage treatment job, when I first got it, I was like, “Cool, sewage treatment, I’m going [to have] a breaker and some chemicals, maybe some goggles.” Yeah, I had goggles, but my tools were a pitchfork and a hose. I would go into this thing they called the pit where all the sewage travels through it. I would have to unclog these drains with the pitchfork and the hose. When you make food in prison you make it in a spread bag [a plastic bag] and when you’re done with it guys will just tie it and then flush it. So when I’d be in there spraying off sewage, sometimes I’d hit one of those bags, it’d ricochet into my face. That’s why I was going to have the goggles and that’s when I stopped having a beard.

They tell you this is your job then you show up for it and if you [try] to refuse it, it’s going to be bad. There’s this weird illusion of free will [that] people think is so necessary, but after being incarcerated, I’ll tell you what, I miss sometimes having someone tell me when to do things. Like, sure, you’re free, but at the same time, that’s a lot of thinking, decision-making, responsibility [and] accountability.

When I applied for the job [at Santa Cruz Plumbing], of course with Jason I was all-in. I was in the union but I don’t necessarily want to tell this guy I’ve been to prison. I’m just going to be honest, but also say, I worked in the sewage treatment plant in San Quentin. San Quentin is not just a prison, I’m pretty sure it’s a town. He took one look at that and was like, “mm-hmm.” So he figured it out.

Lookout: What do you love most about your job?

Hampton: I like interacting with people. I like getting people set up and stoked. Maybe changing the narrative a little bit that you can’t trust your mechanic, you can’t trust your plumber. Everybody is trying to sell you something extra. It’s like no, man, I’m really not. You just have this active water leak I’m trying to get taken care of. My wife called me from the mechanic and she’s just, “Oh, they’re trying to sell me this fluid. I don’t know if I need it.” I was like, “Maybe you need it.” Everyone’s so scared and I get it. One of the things I like doing is [to] just surprise people by giving them what they want and maybe telling them what they need.

I’ve been able to hire guys too, Jason has allowed me to have that responsibility. There’s been guys that were like me, I’m like, “Let’s give you a chance.” Not all of them have worked out but like one of them did, [and] that’s great. Who doesn’t like a comeback story?

Lookout: What have been your biggest challenges in your career?

Hampton: Realizing what a lack of proper education I had going into this, whether it’s spelling, mathematics, writing an email properly, talking to people [professionally]. Those are these huge hurdles I’m working on every day. Those are things I’ve had to adapt to. Also being kind of a self-starter, my days aren’t always laid out for me. I’ve got to keep myself busy and productive.

Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz

Lookout: What advice would you give to someone who is interested in this type of career?

Hampton: Just be humble and ready to show up. I mean, just because you got paid $25 an hour under the table by Jimmy Jams Plumbing in Boulder Creek doesn’t mean you’re necessarily going to get that somewhere else. And that’s OK, then you go and you learn. I’ve taken classes at Cabrillo that correlate with my career: construction estimating, plumbing code, blueprint reading. Those weren’t things I asked my boss to pay for, either. It’s not his responsibility, it’s your responsibility. If you want to get paid more, be worth more. I know that’s a tough thing. The trades are riddled with guys that have problems showing up on time or attitudes. Just be stoked you got a job, show up a little early, stay a little late. Don’t look [at] your time clock, [or write] every email like, “I actually [finished] work at 3:05, [so] I should get paid for those five minutes.” You should get paid for those five minutes but my dad always told me, “If you got to stay a little late to fix your mistake, don’t make Jason pay for it.”

Lookout: Who is the best person suited for the job?

Hampton: I mean, anybody. Man, women, [or] whoever, a worker [is] a worker. Maybe you’re working with a guy who doesn’t speak any English, but plumbing’s like a universal language, like mathematics. You watch YouTube videos on silent on how to cook things, you could watch a plumbing tutorial in Spanish while you only speak English and still learn something. Just bust ass, move fast and don’t make too big of a mess.

You have to be able to work with dispatch, guys who are ordering parts and you have to have some degree of communication skills and traveling up on your own. It’s a team effort.

Lookout: What can someone expect to be paid when they’re going into this career field?

Hampton: I don’t know, maybe $20-ish if you have a license? You’re not only getting a job but you’re also getting hands-on training that translates to other places. You could probably get a job for more starting at a restaurant, for example. It’s like, what’s your intention?

If you’re really good you can make like $75 an hour. If you’re doing your own thing you could charge $125 an hour, you could charge whatever you feel like you’re worth, as long as you’re being fair with the customer and honest. If you’re new to a company but you’ve done plumbing for 15 years, they may start you off at a certain dollar amount and then once you’re able to prove yourself then your price will go up.

Lookout: What’s the difference between a union and non-union plumbing?

Hampton: A lot, it’s a big question. [In a] union, there’s guaranteed work. It’s hard to say, because some people prefer the union, but you have to pay dues to the union. You’re not allowed to really strike out on your own, like your knowledge is essentially theirs. Prevailing wages, some projects are only union, like this is a union plumber job and it’s prevailing wage. That could be upwards of $75 an hour, but that prevailing wage job doesn’t necessarily last forever.

Lookout: What is something that most people misunderstand about your job?

Hampton: There’s a lot more to it than you think. It’s not just unclogging toilets, it’s also opening up walls, installing new plumbing systems [and] knowing how hot water works. I understand it’s just water, but [it’s] temperatures, also gas and gas pressure. Like what size should your gas line be if it’s servicing these three different fixtures? I’ve got to find out what’s on the fixtures and this degree of math to size something correctly because it’s going to go underground. I don’t think it’s a trade you would see depicted in a movie. Like I’m Mario and Luigi and we just got these plungers. There’s a lot to it. There’s a complement of electrical and HVAC [heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems]. They all culminate into one.

Lookout: What kind of jobs do you think there will be out there in the plumbing field?

Hampton: I think the technology around plumbing is always changing, new applications, making it so jobs can be done quicker. There’s all kinds of routes that you want to take [because] plumbing is not just water and poop. It’s also gas [appliances]. There’s new water heaters that are electric — in California, we’re trying to go in that electric direction. That means your old gas water heaters have to go, and your new electric ones have to go in.

Lookout: What does the trajectory of your job look like?

Hampton: For me, I would like to grow [into] the service department and have more guys. Jason, the owner, is responsible for over 100 guys. If I could have my little department where I’m doing that in my own way, that’s the goal. Maybe one day be competent enough to do something on my own or have my dad involved and keep it in the family. Jason started his company from the ground up, out of his garage. I do more residential stuff at people’s houses, if I were able to grow that. Right now we have five guys. When we have 10 guys, we’d really have a thriving service department along with [a] thriving construction side.

Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz

Lookout: What would be your advice to someone who is getting out of jail or in a position where they ask, “What’s my next step?”

Hampton: Apply, apply, apply. Just apply and be forthcoming. I genuinely believe there are business owners out there [who] want to be that person that gave that dude [a] chance and he just crushed it. Understand though, too, other guys have come before you and they let people down. Understand that people are going to pass judgment. Don’t lie, be forthcoming. The bottom line is, none of that [stuff] will matter if you’re a really good plumber or you’re a really good hand [or] worker.

Lookout: What motivates you every single day to continue on considering all the hurdles you’ve gone through?

Hampton: Personally, it’s the security of having something to do every day. I know that idle hands [are] like the devil’s playground. Too much idle time, either you’re just on social media or you’re distracting yourself in one shape or form. At least this way, I’m driving around on this side of the hill. That’s the great part. I could be on the Westside, in Aptos or Felton all in the same day and that just keeps me busy. I also have a wife now, she works here cleaning vacation rentals. We’re a DINK [couple], dual income, no kids. So we like to go out to dinner, travel or whatever and those things cost money.

Lookout: What does the future look like for you?

Hampton: I would like to get a dog. Me and my wife want to go to Italy. It’s a lot of normal-people stuff that maybe to the average person is like, “Yeah, that [stuff] is cool.” But understand I came from a place where, like I said, I’ve never done anything for five years. I don’t know how else to describe it, I’ve had a job for five years, like I’ve been fired from everywhere I ever worked. The second I got off drugs and started trying, I was able to keep things. I think that was a pretty big constant in my life before, I was always losing things. Whether it was something as simple as losing the money I had in my pocket for the drugs, losing this and losing that, and losing my freedom. Now I try, and I genuinely put in the effort. It’s just my belief that when you put in the effort you get gifts.

The post How I Received My Job: After spending time in jail, plumbing supervisor Chayne Hampton discovered goal in a profession within the trades appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

There’s a mismatch between job openings and seekers, with about 121,000 open jobs and 106,000 unemployed people in Colorado. The new Education to Employment Alliance thinks they might have the solution. 

The group, made up of business and education-oriented organizations such as the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, Colorado Succeeds and Colorado Thrives, released a report last month with five recommendations to better match workers with open positions, including adjusting the skills taught in school to better match the needs of employers. The idea being: Companies tell educators what skills are lacking, educators teach those skills to students and everyone goes home happy. 

For many businesses and lawmakers, this isn’t new. Federal and state governments have provided funding for vocational programs through the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act from 2014. The SyncUp Colorado competition in 2021 asked organizations to develop programs for this purpose, with support from the state government, Colorado Succeeds and Colorado Thrives. 

“There have been a ton of them, but they’re very siloed,” said Ed Sealover, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Colorado Chamber of Commerce. He believes these programs are already getting more students interested, and coordinating to scale them up will help meet job demand.

Take construction, one of the industries with a consistently high demand for middle-skills workers — which require certification beyond a high school diploma, but not a four-year degree — according to the Colorado Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 and 2023 surveys. 

The Colorado River Board of Cooperative Educational Services won $350,000 from the SyncUp competition to fund high school classes where students build 200-square-foot houses. That includes framing, windows and doors, flooring, siding, plumbing, electricity, roofing, installing cabinets and more. 

It’s the kind of career-connecting program that the alliance will work to implement more consistently across Colorado, Sealover said. He believes giving students a clear idea of how to pursue those jobs and what their salaries will look like will get them interested.

“I don’t know that there’s one main barrier (to entering middle-skills jobs), but I definitely think social perception is one of them,” Sealover said. “Lack of knowledge as well. We need to remind people that these are good, sustainable careers that the students can get into with far less debt.”

John Fisher agrees. He’s both a general contractor and the teacher for Aspen High School’s tiny homes program, which is a subset of Fisher’s larger woodworking class. 

In his 55 years of teaching, he’s seen a decline in the construction, architecture and engineering classes that show students what career paths are available, Fisher said. To cut costs, schools did away with them altogether or moved them to vocational schools.

Aspen High School sophomore Ryley Benson constructs a tiny home during woodworking class on the school campus. The school’s tiny homes woodworking program is the kind of career-connecting class that the Education to Employment Alliance wants to implement more consistently across the state. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)

“Once the kids get exposed to it, just like the ones that I have that are working, they’re highly motivated, and they’re very much interested,” Fisher said. 

But he may be overestimating that interest. Last year’s project involved just eight students, and of the ones he says are most likely to go into construction, some now say they’ve never considered it — which suggests there are other factors, beyond lack of exposure, that are discouraging them. 

Junior Max Sherman said he’s always wanted to go into real estate. He plans to follow in his dad’s footsteps, going into a real estate internship after graduating high school. Eventually, he wants to open a hotel business in a big city, somewhere like Los Angeles or San Francisco. 

Sherman likes the stability of that path. “I feel like real estate will always be more or less a safe job,” he said. “There’s a lot of industries popping up right now which could either blow up or they could go away. So I’d rather do a safer choice than gamble it all.”

He’s never really considered other career paths and took woodworking not as a career interest, but because he thought being able to make things like desks and chairs would be a useful life skill. He feels like he got what he wanted out of the class, and he enjoyed it. But he pointed to the physical exertion as a reason he wouldn’t go into construction. “I don’t know if it’s something I want to do five days a week for, you know, 20 years consecutively,” he said.

It seems like great preparation for a construction career, and if he was interested, he could get guidance from Fisher on how to pursue that, Sherman said. He’s just not.

Fisher doesn’t see the physical toll or the pay as drawbacks for the right worker. “They’ll start out at, you know, maybe 25, 30 bucks an hour. Right now, most all laborers are getting 25 bucks an hour,” he said. “They see the potential to make more money by working up to that.”

The Colorado Chamber of Commerce represents business interests, and Sealover said he doesn’t track information on the employee side: what jobs currently unemployed people are looking for, and what’s worked for getting current middle-skills workers into their jobs. 

The alliance isn’t concerned with getting a specific number of students into open jobs, and they’re not expecting big changes anytime soon. But classes like Fisher’s will at least show students their options in middle-skills career paths, where the cost of education is much lower, Sealovers said. From there, he expects more and more of them to pursue those jobs.

“You just have to make students aware of the opportunities and figure that some of them are going to choose their own path,” Sealover said.

The post Colorado enterprise teams provide concepts to fulfill middle-skills job demand appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

• Americans taking new jobs moved to Boston and Portland, OR, at a higher rate than any other city.
• Many workers reported cost of living as the most significant reason for moving states for a new job.
• Cities including San Francisco and Miami saw net population losses in the third quarter of 2023.

Many Americans starting new jobs are shipping up to Boston — and Oregon. It might be paying off for them.

New data from the Bank of America Institute looks at where job switchers are moving for those new roles, and which cities are increasingly luring in more new workers. Among those who moved to Boston in the third quarter of 2023, 14.2% changed jobs after the move. Portland was also at 14%, while Chicago was slightly below 14%.

Though many see New York City as a top destination for taking a new job, just over 11% of movers to the city started a new position.

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San Francisco had one of the lowest shares of job changers moving in at under 11%. This was only slightly ahead of Miami and Los Angeles. Bank of America wrote this may be due to people returning to the office after working remotely, so they’re not actually job changers.

Data was pulled from roughly 45 million Bank of America customers with accounts open for every quarter between fourth quarter 2018 and third quarter 2023. Some people who moved in the last month of the quarter may not be reflected.

The top reason that would motivate workers to move was cost of living, according to Bank of America. But 44% of respondents in their Homebuyer Insights Report said that their career or job would motivate them to take the plunge in a new state.

And with job switchers in some states racking up big wage gains, migrations could show a new chapter in the post-2020 remote recovery: Workers realizing that the best way to get a raise is to move to where work is. It’s a pretty stark contrast to those who would rather quit or take a pay cut than lose the ability to stay remote. And those moves and raises come as the share of workers moving for a new role sits near record lows.

Though Boston had the highest percentage of movers, the city still experienced net losses since the start of 2020, particularly among millennials. Gen Zers have stayed at comparably higher rates in Boston.

On the whole, Columbus and a handful of Sun Belt cities had the largest third-quarter population inflows, particularly in Austin, San Antonio, Las Vegas, and Tampa. For many of these cities, Bank of America found population change and job growth went hand-in-hand. Austin, for example, had quarter-over-quarter population growth of 0.2% and job growth of 0.9% over the same period.

Larger cities such as San Francisco, Miami, and Los Angeles saw net population loss for the third quarter. Bank of America data shows Miami has had a net population loss for seven straight quarters.

Bank of America also compared raises for those who moved into cities. Interestingly, even while Boston saw the greatest movers, it isn’t the best place to move for a raise — although Bostonians who stayed put saw their median pay go down.

Instead, workers who moved into Seattle saw a 15% median year-over-year increase in pay, followed by just over 12% for new San Franciscans. Those pay bumps for new residents come as tech firms increasingly try to lure workers back into the office — and with those raises, workers might find it worth their while to make the move.

Have you recently moved to a new state for work? Reach out to these reporters at nsheidlower@insider.com and jkaplan@insider.com.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The following program was taped in front of an audience of real, live people.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

BILL KURTIS: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME, the NPR news quiz. I’m the disembodied voice with a disembody that just won’t quit…

(LAUGHTER)

KURTIS: …Bill Kurtis. And here is your host at the Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Ill., Peter Sagal.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Bill.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Thanks, everybody. Thank you all so much. We really do – you are not going to be disappointed. We have a great show for you today. Later on, we’re going to be joined by Golda Rosheuvel, who plays Queen Charlotte in “Bridgerton” and the new prequel show “Queen Charlotte.” Now, if you’re not familiar with it, “Bridgerton” is the show famous for showing British aristocrats having steamy sex after spending 45 minutes unbuttoning their costumes.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: But it just takes a second to give us a call and play our games. The number is 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That’s 1-888-924-8924. Now let’s welcome our first listener contestant.

Hi. You are on WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME.

JENNY: Hi. My name is Jenny (ph). I’m calling from Rutland, Vt.

SAGAL: Rutland, Vt. I know I always say this, but I’ve been to Rutland, and it’s really nice. What do you do there?

JENNY: Oh, well, thank you. I’m actually – I work in refugee resettlement. I – so we’re in an office in Rutland, and we have an office in Colchester, but our headquarters is in Virginia.

SAGAL: In Virginia. OK. And so you get refugees from…

JENNY: Yeah.

SAGAL: …Around the world, I assume, places that are in trouble, and you resettle them. How do they deal with Vermont winters?

(LAUGHTER)

JENNY: It’s really funny you should say that. One of the requirements that we have when we pick people up at the airport is, please bring winter jackets. And in fact, over the last couple days, we went from 80 one day to 35 last night, and it happened to be the day one of our furnaces kicked off in one of the homes of our families. So I was pretending that I knew how to fix the furnace at 7:30 last night because, you know, middle of May, 30 degrees – that makes sense for Vermont.

SAGAL: Right. And do you ever get a call at times like that where somebody says, I’d like to go back to my war-torn land?

(LAUGHTER)

JENNY: No, but they do say, wow, we probably should have just gone to California.

SAGAL: Yeah, I know.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Jenny, welcome to our show. Let me introduce you to our panel this week. First up, a comedian you can see at McGuire’s in Bohemia, N.Y., on May 26 – it’s Adam Burke.

ADAM BURKE: Hi, Jenny.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Next, the host of the podcast “Fake The Nation,” where you can now get “Succession” recaps – oh, it’s fun. It’s Negin Farsad.

NEGIN FARSAD: Hello.

(APPLAUSE)

JENNY: Hey, Negin.

SAGAL: And the host of the daily podcast “TBTL” and the public radio variety show “Live Wire,” which will be live back at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland, Ore., on June 8, it’s Luke Burbank.

LUKE BURBANK: Hey, Jenny.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Jenny, welcome to the show. Of course, you know this. You’re going to play Who’s Bill This Time. As always, Bill will start us off with three quotations from the week’s news. Your job – correctly identify or explain just two of them – 2 out of 3. Do that – you win any voice from our show you might choose for your voicemail. Ready to do it?

JENNY: Let’s go.

SAGAL: Let’s go. All right. Here’s your first quote.

KURTIS: “I’m not a hairy person, but I got a complete body wax.”

SAGAL: That was somebody talking about how she got ready to be the cover model for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue out this week. Who was it?

JENNY: She looked good, by the way.

(LAUGHTER)

JENNY: Martha Stewart.

SAGAL: Martha Stewart.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Yes.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Isn’t it great that there is an 81-year-old woman, Martha Stewart, on the cover of the swimsuit issue?

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Now octogenarian women have an unrealistic body image they have to aspire to.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: I know. Peter, you’re like, isn’t it great? And, like, it’s not great. I was looking forward to letting it all go.

SAGAL: I know.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: I don’t want to do – I don’t want to look hot. I mean, this is – I’m so upset. She literally looks hot.

SAGAL: I have to say, I agree with you. Ms. Stewart looked great with her sly come-hither and help-me-get-up look.

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: With her come-to-stairlift eyes.

SAGAL: Yes, exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: Well, there’s two things. There’s – first of all, clearly, this is – Sports Illustrated have done this because 81-year-olds are the only people who know what a magazine is…

SAGAL: Exactly right.

BURKE: …Anymore.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

BURKE: And secondly, everyone started talking – she is a role model. And I think she is a role model for – partially for this but mainly because she’s the CEO of a company who committed malfeasance and actually did her time.

SAGAL: Right.

BURKE: You know what I mean? It’s like…

SAGAL: She’s the first 80-year-old and the first felon…

(APPLAUSE)

BURKE: Yeah.

SAGAL: …To appear.

FARSAD: Well, and that’s why…

SAGAL: Although…

FARSAD: She’s got that prison body. That’s why she’s…

BURKE: Yeah.

FARSAD: …So hot.

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: Her tats – she’s all tatted up.

FARSAD: Yeah.

SAGAL: I’m just imagining her in the yard, you know, doing the pull-ups on the bars.

BURBANK: I noticed she did have one teardrop.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She had to pick sides. Yeah.

SAGAL: Yeah. All right, Jenny. Your next quote is from an office worker who told NPR this week how he’s going to play hooky from his job.

KURTIS: “I just got to play it cool and say I’ve got a stomach ache or something.”

SAGAL: He was one of many, many people who took time off work and other obligations this week just to play what new video game?

JENNY: Oh, Zelda.

SAGAL: Yes, Zelda.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

JENNY: Yeah.

SAGAL: The new video game Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a massive hit. It sold 10 million copies in just three days. That many people haven’t stayed home from work since that game COVID-19 dropped.

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: It’s one of those games, too – isn’t it? – where, like, there’s, like, lots – there’s loads of side quests.

SAGAL: Yes.

BURKE: You have to – crafting…

SAGAL: Open world.

BURKE: …And – it’s such the perfect game for now because everyone’s got a main task they want to do and 17 side hustles where it’s just like…

SAGAL: Right. Exactly. It’s, like, you’re trying to save the princess, slay the dragon and also drive Uber at night.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: You know, it’s – I don’t know. Maybe people don’t know it, even – it’s very popular. It’s this very popular, 30-year-old by now game franchise where you, the player, are Link, an elf whose mission is to save Princess Zelda. And you have to complete a long series of quests while spending hundreds of hours of time working to acquire resources and skills. It’s very involving. A lot of people like to take relaxing breaks from the game by going back to their actual jobs.

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: It is…

FARSAD: Is Princess Elf, like, 80 now?

SAGAL: Princess Zelda.

FARSAD: Or Princess Zelda.

BURKE: And she looks amazing.

FARSAD: Is she…

SAGAL: She looks amazing.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Sometimes, people are like, well, you know, video games – what’s the big deal? They’re just, like, video games for nerds. No, it sold 10 million copies in less than a week. For comparison, Prince Harry’s memoir, which is one of the best-selling books of all time, sold 3 million copies in its first week. And he was trying to destroy a kingdom. So…

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: This one’s called Tears of the Kingdom. The last one was called Breath of the Wild.

SAGAL: Yeah.

BURKE: They’re clearly meant for stoners.

SAGAL: Yes.

BURKE: I mean, if you guys are real quiet, you can hear the wild breathing…

BURBANK: Right.

BURKE: …Man.

BURBANK: Right.

FARSAD: Is it one of those games – ’cause my – I have somewhere in my memory the notion that people get so into them that they just keep jars of urine, like, next to them so they don’t have to go to the bathroom.

BURKE: It’s called Mountain Dew.

FARSAD: OK.

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: It’s called, you better hope that’s Mountain Dew.

SAGAL: Negin, I don’t know. But I’m guessing that somebody just really didn’t want you to come over while they were playing video games.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Oh, no, Negin. Yeah. You don’t want to be around us. We pee in jars. Really, it’s…

BURKE: Hey.

FARSAD: I know.

BURKE: Hey. What’s that in the jar? Oh, that’s just the tears of the kingdom.

SAGAL: Yeah.

BURKE: That’s what that is.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: All right, Jenny. Here is your last quote.

KURTIS: “People in winter coats were standing next to people in shorts.”

SAGAL: That was from a New York Times style reporter talking about how this year, just like every year at this time, people have no idea how to dress for what?

JENNY: Every single day I wake up.

(LAUGHTER)

JENNY: Spring.

SAGAL: Yes, spring, of course.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: The New York Times, paper of record…

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: …Gray Lady – they finally said out loud what we’re all thinking – spring is just impossible to dress for. This is what we get for trusting a groundhog to tell us what to wear.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: The reporter said that in the streets of New York, he saw people on the same day, same time, wearing anything from shorts to winter coats, some carrying umbrellas while others carried their own broken pieces of furniture to burn for heat.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Is this something that resonates with you guys? Is this a problem you have?

BURKE: I wear what I wear every spring, just a tub full of Benadryl over my head.

SAGAL: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Why do people worry about this? I mean, it’s not like spring will hurt you. Nobody dies of mild bite. Nobody passes out from breeze stroke.

FARSAD: All right.

SAGAL: All right.

(LAUGHTER)

BURBANK: There had to be a third one.

BURKE: Yeah. Yeah. The – I will say one of my favorite phrases about the weather is – like, is an Irish phrase – you know the Irish phrase. We’ll talk about it being fierce mild.

SAGAL: No, is that a thing?

BURKE: Yeah, like, how is it out there? Oh, it’s fierce mild.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: I – you could look me in the eye and tell me anything about, like…

BURKE: (Laughter).

SAGAL: The Irish or their sayings…

FARSAD: Yeah.

SAGAL: …And I would believe it.

BURKE: Yeah.

SAGAL: You know – oh yeah, you know what they say in Ireland – a day like this, the flying bananas are out.

BURBANK: Right.

BURKE: Hey…

FARSAD: What…

BURKE: …You leave the flying bananas out of this.

BURBANK: Speaking of flying bananas, fierce mild is how my lovemaking has been described.

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: That’s a – it’s a great name for a cologne, isn’t it?

SAGAL: Bill, how did Jenny do on our quiz?

KURTIS: Jenny, you can warm up with a perfect score.

SAGAL: Congratulations, Jenny.

FARSAD: Yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: And thank you for the good work that you do.

JENNY: Thank you.

SAGAL: Take care. Bye-bye.

JENNY: Bye.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SAGAL: Right now, panel, it is time, of course, for you to answer some questions about this week’s news. Adam, according to a story in The Guardian, members of Gen Z are now relieving their daily stress simply by doing what?

BURKE: Gen Z has daily stress?

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: And by the way, I should – I know.

FARSAD: They don’t know what to wear. It’s spring.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Yeah. I should specify, by the way, these are American members of Gen Z.

BURKE: Can I get a clue?

SAGAL: Yeah. Oh, just going to pop round the chip shop, guv’nor.

BURBANK: Father?

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: Don’t make me homesick. Do they put on accents?

SAGAL: Yes. They put on a fake British accent…

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: …To feel better.

BURKE: Really?

SAGAL: Yeah. This started as a TikTok trend, became a big deal – all these young Americans demonstrating how they use fake British accents in moments of stress.

FARSAD: What?

SAGAL: One person told The Guardian that she had to ask her boss for help with dealing with stress on the job by saying to him – and I quote her, “It’s affecting me mental health, innit.”

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: And then she said…

BURBANK: In fairness, she was working as a chimney sweep.

SAGAL: There you are.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: And then she said, quote, “The tougher the conversation, the more Cockney I become,” unquote.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Which, by the way, happens to be a great way to guarantee you will get help for your mental health.

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: Is this why Dick Van Dyke is consistently the most relaxed man on the planet?

SAGAL: Exactly.

FARSAD: (Laughter).

SAGAL: It does make perfect sense because the one thing you know about the people with real British accents – they’re one laid-back group of people, right?

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Adam, you’re Irish. I’m sure you’re soothed by the sound of a British accent.

BURKE: (Laughter) Yeah, I use it to go to sleep. It’s the whitest noise.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CHIM CHIM CHER-EE”)

DICK VAN DYKE: (As Bert, singing) Chim chiminey, chim chiminey, chim chim cher-ee.

SAGAL: Coming up, your next binge watch may surprise you. It’s our Bluff the Listener game. Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to play. We’ll be back in a minute with more of WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME from NPR.

KURTIS: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME, the NPR news quiz. I’m Bill Kurtis. We are playing this week with Negin Farsad, Luke Burbank and Adam Burke. And here again is your host at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Ill., Peter Sagal.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Thank you so much, Bill. Right now, it is time for the WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME Bluff the Listener game. Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to play our game on the air. Hi. You are on WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME.

JACK WALSH: Hello. This is Jack Walsh (ph) from Farmingdale, N.J.

SAGAL: Hey, how are things in my home state of New Jersey?

WALSH: Um, you know…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Now, hold on. That is the official answer.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: In fact, that is the state motto of New Jersey.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Ready? Here it goes. New Jersey – um.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Jack, welcome to the show. You’re going to play the game in which you have to tell truth from fiction. Bill, what is Jack’s topic?

KURTIS: Must-see TV.

SAGAL: With the strike of television writers going on without an end, it’s quite possible that soon, all your favorite TV shows will just be very attractive people grunting at each other. So we were excited this week when we found out about a really amazing hit TV show coming from an unexpected place. Each of our panelists are going to tell you about that show. Only one of them is telling the truth. Your job – figure that out. Ready to go?

WALSH: All righty. Let’s get moving.

SAGAL: All right. First, let’s hear from Adam Burke.

BURKE: Britain’s Open University has offered free televised college lectures on the BBC since 1969. They basically walked so that Phoenix Online could run. And these old educational shows were a fixture of U.K. daytime TV for decades. However, these dusty courses from the ’70s are experiencing a brand-new lease of life thanks to a fervent Gen Z fandom in South Korea, where some of these teachers are becoming fashion icons, cult figures and, in some cases, sex symbols. I first heard about this from my granddaughter, said Malcolm Branforth (ph), a retired physics lecturer from Barnsley. She said, Grandad, you’re blowing up on TikTok. Well, once I had deciphered most of the words in that sentence, I was quite surprised to see what a big deal we all were. The hushed, measured tones of the programs combined with the far-out threads of the era seems to have made the videos a hit for different reasons. My friends like to use Introduction to Trigonometry: Level 4 as ASMR, explained Suh Young Boon (ph) a 20-year-old from Daegu. But I just find professor Brian Pilkington (ph) to be dreamy. And those sideburns.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Old BBC college lectures from the ’70s becoming a cult hit in Korea. Your next story of television with vision comes from Negin Farsad.

FARSAD: Marley Trenton (ph) was a happily married homemaker in Wilmette, Ill., a suburb of Skokie, a town that does not require a suburb.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: Marley had a side hustle as a seamstress who loved and collected buttons. In fact, she had a YouTube show all about buttons – two-hole, four-hole, shank, toggle and even the occasional snap. Her tens of viewers could only be described…

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: …As retired home ec teachers from the 1960s and sociopaths that YouTube’s algorithm can’t figure out.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: Nevertheless, she continued her deeply unpopular show until one day, she announced that she was getting a divorce because, yes, Harry had cheated with the pediatric dentist they used to take the kids to in Skokie, a town that barely merits a pediatric dentist.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: What ensued was a YouTube series in which she talked revenge, set up a Hinge dating profile and let viewers choose who she would date. Viewers were addicted to the voting power. She was changed by it all, too. You would find her saying things like, I’d like him to put a needle through my button hole.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: And oh, yeah, no matter how saucy her dating life gets, she still talks about buttons. Needless to say, this is the No. 1 button-based divorcee audience-voted dating show on YouTube.

(LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: A seamstress becomes a romantic heroine on YouTube. And your last story of something new to watch comes from Luke Burbank.

BURBANK: Move over, “Succession.” There’s a new hit show that’s become mandatory viewing for its fans. And we mean that literally because it’s actually mandatory viewing if you’re one of the 220,000 people who work for Microsoft. We’re talking, of course, of the employee training video series “Trust Code.” As the Wall Street Journal recently explained, the series follows a character named Nelson, played by Devin Badoo, who gets up to all kinds of non-Microsoft-approved hijinks, such as feeding customer data into AI and stealing intellectual property. There are watch parties and T-shirts with Nelson’s face on them. Here is a real tweet featured in the Wall Street Journal article. Current status – #sobbing while watching #MicrosoftStandardsOfBusinessConduct.”

(LAUGHTER)

BURBANK: Badoo says he gets one of two reactions when he sets foot on Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., campus – employees either freaking out upon meeting their version of Brad Pitt or people saying, hi, Nelson; what building do you work in? – showing their deep misunderstanding of how acting works…

(LAUGHTER)

BURBANK: …And indicating they should really go back and retake the training videos.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: All right.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: So one of these surprise hits created their own little mini golden age of television. Was it from Adam Burke, old BBC college lectures becoming a cult hit in South Korea; from Negin, a seamstress from the lovely town of Skokie becomes a romantic heroine as viewers enjoy her dating life; or from Luke, a Microsoft training video series becomes a huge hit with Microsoft employees? Which of these is the real story of a television hit?

WALSH: You know, my choice is the wonderful story that came out of Microsoft’s training videos.

SAGAL: All right. You’re going to choose Luke’s story.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: We – to bring you the correct answer, we spoke to the reporter who broke this story, at least for us.

DYLAN TOKAR: Microsoft wanted to sort of revamp their compliance training and make it more entertaining, and it turned into such a huge thing that they’re now going into their seventh season.

SAGAL: That’s true. That was Dylan Tokar, the reporter for The Wall Street Journal who brought us this story of Microsoft’s “Trust Code,” which, I guess if they don’t resolve the strike, you’ll be able to see on HBO next year?

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Congratulations, Jack. You got it right. Well done.

(APPLAUSE)

WALSH: Thank you. Take care.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “57 CHANNELS (AND NOTHIN’ ON)”)

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: (Singing) Well, now, home entertainment was my baby’s wish, so I hopped into town for a satellite dish.

SAGAL: And now the game where we ask accomplished people to accomplish one more little thing. It’s called Not My Job. The Netflix show “Bridgerton” debuted in 2020 and became an immediate sensation, depicting a version of Regency England populated by incredibly attractive and often naked people of all races and backgrounds. The most beloved character on that show quickly became Queen Charlotte, played by the veteran theater actress Golda Rosheuvel – so much so that that character now has her own spinoff, “Queen Charlotte,” the name of the show. Golda Rosheuvel, welcome to WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME.

(APPLAUSE)

GOLDA ROSHEUVEL: Thank you. Thank you.

SAGAL: We’re so delighted to talk to you. And I’ve been watching your shows all week. Now, out of all the characters in “Bridgerton” – and there are a lot of wonderful characters, why do you think that it was your character, played by you the whole three seasons, who got the spinoff show?

ROSHEUVEL: I have no idea. It’s a puzzlement. But the fans have really loved this character and have really kind of connected with her, which is fabulous. And it’s really great that Shonda and Netflix kind of wanted to do a deeper dive and find out a little bit more about her.

SAGAL: She is an amazing character, but I think we all need to say that one of the reasons the people love you are the wigs, which are…

ROSHEUVEL: Yes, the wigs and the costumes. They’re iconic, aren’t they?

SAGAL: Oh, they’re amazing. And for those who haven’t seen it, your first entrance in Episode 1 is not, in fact, an entrance – your first appearance – and you’re there in this magnificent gown and a hairpiece, a wig that must be two feet wide by three feet high. This is an astonishing thing.

ROSHEUVEL: (Laughter) Yes.

SAGAL: And I’m like, of course, people are coming to her because she is the regal queen. And also…

ROSHEUVEL: And she cannot move.

SAGAL: …She cannot move. Right.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Is that true? I imagine that a lot of times, you’re sort of staged, certainly in “Bridgerton,” in that regal way because you literally can’t move wearing that getup. Is that true?

ROSHEUVEL: It is difficult on occasions, yeah, the kind of balance. Balancing and walking and talking and sitting can be quite difficult. But it’s real fun. I love it. I love it. I love the challenge.

SAGAL: The first time they showed you one of those wigs, were you like, am I supposed to wear that on my head or climb inside it?

ROSHEUVEL: (Laughter) Yeah, exactly. Is there a little house in there for me to reside in?

(LAUGHTER)

ROSHEUVEL: Yeah.

SAGAL: Do the other actors who are also dressed, but they don’t have those amazing wigs – do they all, like, make fun of you, like, between takes? Like, oh, we’re going to walk around and go to the bathroom with no problem. You’re just going to have to sit there.

ROSHEUVEL: Yeah, exactly. I – yes, I have a helper that takes me to the bathroom.

SAGAL: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: I imagine, like, you have to have a retinue like the real Queen Charlotte just to hold your head up.

ROSHEUVEL: Yeah, well, the lovely, lovely crew members made me a brace – a neck brace.

SAGAL: Oh, wow. Really?

FARSAD: Oh, my God.

SAGAL: So you can hold up your head.

ROSHEUVEL: Yeah. True story. True story. So I can, yeah, hold my head and balance my chin on the neck brace to kind of keep the weight off the back of my neck.

SAGAL: Yeah.

BURKE: Can I ask, do the wigs get larger as the character ages? Like, does it start off with a small wig? And are the neck braces…

ROSHEUVEL: Yeah, I don’t know whether it’s aging, but they did certainly age me, Golda.

(LAUGHTER)

ROSHEUVEL: But they do get bigger and bigger. Yeah. I think in “Queen Charlotte,” there’s a record-breaking wig, so – I’m ashamed to say I never weighed it.

SAGAL: I imagine, though – I haven’t gotten it to yet, but I imagine in “Queen Charlotte” when she gets her first enormous wig, it’s like Luke getting his lightsaber. Everybody’s like, oh.

ROSHEUVEL: Yeah (laughter).

SAGAL: He comes into his own. We were wondering – people talk about the Shondaverse, which is the world of all her TV shows. Is “Bridgerton” part of it? Like, is it possible that one of the Featherington girls might marry McSteamy?

(LAUGHTER)

ROSHEUVEL: Ooh, I’m sure one of the Feathering girls would love that. That would be a cool crossover.

SAGAL: It would be.

ROSHEUVEL: We should do that. We should pitch that, Peter.

SAGAL: Yeah.

ROSHEUVEL: We should pitch that to Shonda.

SAGAL: Let’s do it.

ROSHEUVEL: I think she’d be up for that, mate.

SAGAL: Yeah. Suck on that, “Infinity War.” The greatest crossover event of all time.

(LAUGHTER)

ROSHEUVEL: Yeah.

SAGAL: I have to ask this one last question before we move on to the game, which is – “Bridgerton” is famous for a lot of things and beloved for a lot of things, but it is also known for its sex scenes, which happen quite a bit. When you least expect it…

ROSHEUVEL: Yes.

SAGAL: …You’re thinking, oh, it’s a Jane Austen novel, and the next thing you know, the corsets are flying, and…

ROSHEUVEL: Yes.

SAGAL: …Everybody’s naked. Are – how relieved are you that you haven’t had to do one of those?

ROSHEUVEL: Listen.

(LAUGHTER)

ROSHEUVEL: Listen. So…

(LAUGHTER)

ROSHEUVEL: So there is a world where I’m slightly jealous. You know, you kind of think, why not me?

SAGAL: Right.

(LAUGHTER)

ROSHEUVEL: And…

SAGAL: When it comes to – speaking of…

ROSHEUVEL: …Then you kind of – then you actually see the show, and you go, oh, that’s why not me.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: Wait. Can I say, Golda, that I watched Season 1 of “Bridgerton” with my parents…

ROSHEUVEL: Ooh.

FARSAD: …Not knowing?

SAGAL: Yeah, you were like, oh, it’s a costume drama. How lovely. What’s the worst they can do?

FARSAD: Literally just thought they were going to have corsets on the whole time.

ROSHEUVEL: Yeah.

FARSAD: Is…

ROSHEUVEL: Were you making lots of coffee or lots of tea – going out to make lots of – yeah.

FARSAD: Oh, I constantly had to go pee.

ROSHEUVEL: (Laughter).

FARSAD: It was a nightmare. They seemed completely fine and super into it. And I was like…

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: …I want to kill myself. But…

SAGAL: That makes it worse, of course.

FARSAD: I haven’t dipped into “Queen Charlotte” yet. I’m assuming this is an also no-parent-in-the-room show.

SAGAL: Yes.

FARSAD: Yes, OK.

SAGAL: That would be true.

ROSHEUVEL: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: Just checking.

ROSHEUVEL: Yes.

SAGAL: That would be true.

ROSHEUVEL: Yeah. Well, Golda Rosheuvel, it’s a joy to watch you on TV, but it’s also a pleasure to have you here. And we have invited you here to play a game that we’re calling…

KURTIS: Queen Charlotte, meet Dairy Queen.

SAGAL: You play…

ROSHEUVEL: Oh.

SAGAL: …The English monarch, the English queen.

ROSHEUVEL: Yes.

SAGAL: So we thought we’d ask you about Dairy Queen. That is a chain…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: …Of restaurants here in America and else…

ROSHEUVEL: Yes.

SAGAL: …And other places around the world that specialize in soft serve ice cream. Answer two out of 3 questions and you will win our prize for one of our contestants, the voice of anyone they might choose. Bill, who is Golda playing for?

KURTIS: Kyle Evans (ph) of Cleveland, Ohio.

SAGAL: All right.

ROSHEUVEL: OK, Kyle. Let’s do it, bro.

SAGAL: There you go, man.

ROSHEUVEL: I’m going to do it. Come on, Kyle. I’m doing it for Kyle.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: First question – people love Dairy Queen. They do. But you can, in fact, love it too much as when a man in Canada did what in 2021? A, he remodeled his home into an exact replica of a Dairy Queen franchise, forcing him to move out to avoid all the frustrated customers, B, he landed a helicopter in a Dairy Queen parking lot just to pick up an ice cream cake, or C, blew up his house trying to recreate the secret DQ recipe in his basement?

ROSHEUVEL: Let’s say B, helicopter.

SAGAL: That’s right, Golda.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: That’s what he did.

(APPLAUSE)

ROSHEUVEL: We’re getting it, Kyle. We’re doing it, Kyle.

SAGAL: He got one charge of illegal operation of an aircraft and, of course, one ice cream cake. All right. Next question. Dairy Queen tells its employees to show off how thick their blizzard milkshakes are by flipping the cup upside down before handing it to the customer. That practice, as charming as it is, has caused some problems like what? Is it A, Some customers think they have to eat it while holding it upside down…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: …Resulting in neck strain, B, every 1,000th or so time it’s done, the ice cream does drop out and break someone’s toe, or C, one employee couldn’t shake that habit when they moved on to another fast food job and kept dumping things onto the floor.

(LAUGHTER)

ROSHEUVEL: (Laughter) Oh, I want it to be C, please.

SAGAL: It is C. This was…

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

ROSHEUVEL: Yeah.

SAGAL: …Of course…

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: …Captured on social media like everything is these days. The employee in question handed a soda to a customer in her new job. But of course, before, as she had always done at Dairy Queen, turned it over and dumped the entire thing.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: All right. If you get this, you will be as perfect in real life as you are on your television shows. Last question – there was a Dairy Queen in Atlanta with a celebrated regular customer. Who was it? A, the actor, director and producer Tyler Perry, who paid Dairy Queen the equivalent of a day’s worth of sales every day just so that he could be the only customer and not wait in line, B, an orangutan who loved their food and knew how to get there from the zoo, or C, a bank robber who came by every day, finally got arrested, and then broke out of prison to come by one more time.

ROSHEUVEL: Ah, Tyler Perry.

SAGAL: You’re going to go with Tyler Perry. I believe Tyler Perry would do that. But to my knowledge, he hasn’t. It was the orangutan.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: His name was Chantek the orangutan. He lived at the Atlanta Zoo for many years, and he loved outings. He loved Dairy Queen, and he knew how to get there. You could get in the car with him, and he’d point that way. Dairy Queen.

ROSHEUVEL: Wow. Cool. Good. Good boy.

SAGAL: Yeah.

ROSHEUVEL: I like it.

SAGAL: Good…

BURKE: What?

SAGAL: It’s true.

BURKE: What do you mean you could get in the car with him?

SAGAL: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: What? You just breezed by that…

SAGAL: Yeah.

BURKE: …Like we all know about orangutan field trips from the zoo.

SAGAL: Exactly. Well, how do you think they get to…

ROSHEUVEL: Was he driving?

BURKE: (Laughter).

SAGAL: How do you think – Adam, how do you think they get to the zoo from home?

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Bill, how did Golda do on our quiz?

KURTIS: My Queen…

(LAUGHTER)

KURTIS: …You won two out of three, which is a win. That means you can still have the jewels.

(APPLAUSE)

ROSHEUVEL: Thank you. Thank you. Tipping my bowler. Thank you.

SAGAL: Oh, no, ma’am. We do that for you. Golda Rosheuvel is the titular queen in Netflix’s “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.” It’s streaming now. Golda Rosheuvel, what a joy to talk to you in real life.

ROSHEUVEL: Mwah.

SAGAL: Thank you so much for joining us…

(APPLAUSE)

ROSHEUVEL: Thank you.

SAGAL: …On WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME. Take care.

ROSHEUVEL: Much love. Bye.

SAGAL: Bye-bye.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SAGAL: In just a minute, why you just can’t seem to burp. It’s our Listener Limerick challenge. Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to join us on the air. We’ll be back in a minute with more of WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME from NPR.

KURTIS: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME! the NPR news quiz. I’m Bill Kurtis. We are playing this week with Negin Farsad, Luke Burbank and Adam Burke.

(APPLAUSE)

KURTIS: And here again is your host at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Ill., Peter Sagal.

SAGAL: Thank you so much, Bill.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: In just a minute, Bill asks, have you rhymed with us before? Well, we do things a little bit differently here. If you’d like to play, give us a call at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That’s 1-888-924-8924. Right now, panel, time for some more questions for you from the week’s news. Luke, a self-styled anti-capitalist cafe in Toronto that let customers pay what they can for their coffee has closed. Why?

(LAUGHTER)

BURBANK: I mean, a few theories come to mind.

SAGAL: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

BURBANK: I’m guessing it was not profitable enough to continue.

SAGAL: Yes. They didn’t make enough money.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: It was called the Anarchist Coffee Shop. They described itself as, quote, “an anti-capitalist, anti-colonial cafe shop and radical community space on stolen land.” I guess there wasn’t enough space on the sign for polyamorous, but you know they tried.

(LAUGHTER)

BURBANK: If I ever ran for president, it would be on this platform. If there’s more than four people in line at the coffee shop, your new order is black coffee, right?

SAGAL: Right.

BURBANK: Like, I just feel there should be a separate line – I would have gone to this cafe if they would have let you pay – like, you know those tolls where it’s just, like, electronic? – if you could just skip to the front of the line and get your black coffee, ’cause that’s all I drink.

SAGAL: Yeah.

BURKE: Well, surely you should be allowed to jump to the head of the line ’cause it’s an anarchist…

SAGAL: Yeah, exactly.

BURKE: …Coffee shop.

SAGAL: There’s no order.

FARSAD: Yeah, there’s no…

SAGAL: It’s self-organizing.

BURKE: Maybe it’s so anarchic that what’s in the cup isn’t coffee. Like, I just open up, and it’s bees. And it’s like, well…

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: …Read the sign.

SAGAL: Negin, question for you – Taco Bell and the less well-known chain Taco John’s are in a heated legal dispute right now over who gets to use what phrase?

FARSAD: Something at the border. What is – what was it?

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: First of all, never heard of Taco John’s. I need a hint.

SAGAL: Right. Well, it’s something you’d expect Taco Bell to want to say once a week.

FARSAD: Once a week…

SAGAL: For example, on Tuesdays.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: Right. Like, OK, Taco Bell, because it’s Taco Tuesdays.

SAGAL: Yes. Taco Tuesday is the phrase.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: It turns out that the restaurant Taco John’s trademarked the phrase Taco Tuesday back in 1989. But Taco Bell has filed to get that trademark lifted so they can use it, too, right? Taco Tuesday – it’s a natural. They’re just mad because all of their trademark days never caught on. What were they thinking with Taco Holocaust Remembrance Day?

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: I got to say, if I’m going to put a man’s name after the word taco to let people know I make really good tacos, I’m not going with John.

SAGAL: Yeah, I – like you…

BURKE: Was Taco Clarence taken?

(LAUGHTER)

BURBANK: Where’d you get food from? Taco Eugene’s.

SAGAL: No, Taco John’s – I have never heard of it either. It doesn’t sound like a different restaurant than Taco Bell. It sounds like something you say as you are leaving Taco Bell. Hey, guys, be right with you. I got to hit the taco john.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Adam, this week CNBC reported on the travel agency Discover Africa – do a lot of African trips and safaris. They repeatedly have to tell clients that no, they cannot do what while they’re on safari?

BURKE: Take an orangutan to Dairy Queen.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Even if the orangutan wants to go, you can’t do it.

BURKE: You can’t recreate the opening to “The Lion King.” You can’t hold a cub over the thing…

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: …While a bunch of people sing. I was so – I was actually kind of sure that was going to be the right answer.

FARSAD: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that sounds right.

BURKE: Can I get a clue?

SAGAL: It does involve a lion. They’re like, do you see any saddles?

BURKE: Oh, you can’t – oh, yeah. You can’t ride a lion.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: They have to tell people you cannot ride a lion while on safari. This week, Discover Africa revealed some of the most ridiculous questions they get asked by clients, with the No. 1 being, hey, can my kid go ride a lion?

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: The answer is obviously no, which is a shame, because the No. 1 question the lions have been asking is, hey, can we go eat that kid?

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: To be clear, riding a lion should only ever be used as a euphemism for snorting Adderall.

SAGAL: Exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: They say they get a lot of ridiculous requests from clients, which they blame partially on social media influencers who make everything on their trips seem perfect, and also on the fact that people are terrible.

BURKE: (Laughter).

SAGAL: This is true. One person who goes on an African safari demanded that on their bed – on his bed, that he has a foam pillow on the left side and a feather pillow on the right. And one night in the middle of the night, he called the company and said, the pillows are on the wrong sides.

BURBANK: Sir, can we offer you a free lion ride?

SAGAL: Exactly.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT”)

THE TOKENS: (Vocalizing).

SAGAL: Coming up, it’s Lightning Fill in the Blank. But first, it’s the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you’d like to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That’s 1-888-924-8924. Or you can catch us live here most weeks at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago. And we will be in New Orleans with special guest John Goodman next week on May 25. We’ll be in Portland, Ore., on July 20 and in Ann Arbor, Mich., on August 31. Hi. You’re on WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME.

LYNN: Hi, my name is Lynn (ph). And I’m calling from Bellingham, Wash.

SAGAL: Bellingham, Wash. That’s great. Right near Seattle, right?

LYNN: It’s about an hour and a half up the 5, but yeah, close enough.

SAGAL: Close enough.

(LAUGHTER)

BURBANK: Lynn, I used to live in Bellingham.

LYNN: Yeah, I believe I’ve heard that before.

BURBANK: OK, sorry. I’ll get a new story.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Well, Lynn, welcome to the show. Bill Kurtis is going to read you three news-related limericks with the last word or phrase missing from each. If you can fill in that last word or phrase correctly in two of the limericks, you’ll be a winner. You ready to play?

LYNN: Absolutely.

SAGAL: Here is your first limerick.

KURTIS: When I drink fizzy drinks or I slurp, my gut is an unhelpful twerp. The gases increase, but I get no release because I’m simply unable to…

LYNN: Burp?

SAGAL: Yes. Very good.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL, APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: A Reddit forum is bringing together sufferers of so-called no burp syndrome, the complete inability to burp. It is a real medical condition known as retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction, or RCPD. Basically, if you think it’s embarrassing to burp in public, try an awkward silence that lasts your whole life.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: And here’s the thing. There’s now a cure. Doctors inject Botox into a muscle in your throat that allows the muscle to relax and work properly. Plus, your esophagus looks years younger.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: All right. Here is your next limerick.

KURTIS: The open front sweater’s a star again. The love for this look is bipartisan. Brad Pitt knows it’s better. Wear Fred Rogers’ sweater. Yes, everyone’s loving a…

LYNN: Cardigan?

SAGAL: Cardigan. Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: You are good at this.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: The cardigan sweater, originally, you know, known from Mr. Rogers and your grandma in case it gets chilly, is now a cozy status symbol for the rich and famous. According to The Guardian, cardigan sales have skyrocketed after main characters in TV shows like “Beef” and “Succession” have worn them. Some think that these cardigans make these people look, quote, “unthreatening” and, quote, “relatable” because there’s nothing like seeing somebody in a $400 cashmere cardigan that makes you say, huh. All of a sudden, I want Rupert Murdoch to read me a bedtime story.

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: Do you think this is Putin’s next move? Just, like…

(LAUGHTER)

BURKE: …Bare-chested with a little…

SAGAL: Cardigan. Everybody likes him again.

BURBANK: Riding a lion.

SAGAL: No, it’s all part…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Also wearing a cardigan. Here is your last limerick, Lynn.

KURTIS: The crab walks and bear crawls look funny. They pack quite a punch for my money. Animal flow is the new way to go. To get fit, I will hop like a…

LYNN: Bunny?

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: The latest look in fitness circles is jacked bunny rabbit. Gyms and teachers around the country are now offering, quote, “animal flow” workouts based on the movements of animals, like bunny hopping, crab crawling, clam digging and being eaten by a fox.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: This is the demise of empire that we are witnessing.

SAGAL: It really is.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: I mean, at this point, we’re so into our latter days. Why can’t it just end? It’s true.

BURBANK: I’m moving like a 14-year-old dachshund.

(LAUGHTER)

BURBANK: That’s the animal flow that I choose…

SAGAL: Yeah.

BURBANK: …To follow for my personal path. Put a cardigan on, lay down and stare at my belly.

FARSAD: And take a nap.

SAGAL: If all of those animal workouts sound too taxing, you can start with the opossum, where you fall over and pretend to be dead until they carry you out of the gym.

BURKE: Wait. Did they say one of the – you’re supposed to look like a jacked bunny? Is that what they say?

SAGAL: Yeah. Well, the idea is you’re supposed – the…

BURKE: But jacked rabbit is right there.

SAGAL: Dang.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Bill, how did Lynn do on our quiz?

KURTIS: Lynn did us proud. She got every one right.

SAGAL: Congratulations, Lynn.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Lynn, thank you so much for playing. Take care.

LYNN: Bye.

SAGAL: Bye-bye.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “TITI ME PREGUNTO”)

BAD BUNNY: (Singing in Spanish).

SAGAL: It’s now time for our final game, Lightning Fill in the Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill-in-the-blank questions as they can – each correct answer now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the score?

KURTIS: We have a three-way tie.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Three-way tie. All right. We’re just going to go down the table. I’m going to pick Adam to go first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank, Adam. On Wednesday, President Biden said that a deal on the blank could happen as early as next week.

BURKE: Debt ceiling.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: On Wednesday, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said they had gotten in a near-catastrophic car chase with blank.

BURKE: Paparazzi.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: As the G-7 summit begins, the U.S. announced plans to expand sanctions on blank.

BURKE: Russia?

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: On Tuesday, Colorado Congressperson Blank filed for divorce from her husband.

BURKE: Is that Marjorie Taylor Greene?

SAGAL: No, she’s from Georgia. This is Lauren Boebert. Although I understand why you confused them.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: On Wednesday, clinical trials of a universal blank vaccine began.

BURKE: COVID?

SAGAL: Flu, actually. This week, a man in Colorado who was pulled over for reckless driving…

(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)

SAGAL: …Attempted to avoid arrest by blanking.

BURKE: Would it be, by any chance, Peter…

SAGAL: Yes, Adam.

BURKE: …Did he try to switch places with his dog and make it look like the dog was driving the car?

SAGAL: Why, Adam, it was that.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: That’s what happened.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Police said they could clearly see the man put his dog in the driver’s seat and jump over to the passenger seat…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: …As they approached the car.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Would’ve worked, though, except the dog was also totally smashed.

BURKE: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

FARSAD: Oh, I love that story.

SAGAL: Bill, how did Adam do in our quiz?

KURTIS: Four right. Eight more points, 11, and he enjoys the lead.

SAGAL: There you are. All right. Next up is Negin. Negin, please fill in the blank. On Wednesday, the governor of Montana signed a law banning social media site blank.

FARSAD: TikTok.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: On Thursday, Russia launched its ninth wave of missile attacks against blank.

FARSAD: Ukraine?

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay over $75 million to the victims of blank.

FARSAD: Donald Trump.

SAGAL: Ah, no.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Jeffrey Epstein. According to new data, blank prices have dropped to their lowest point in 11 years.

FARSAD: Gas?

SAGAL: Home prices. Proving that people can change their ways, a Chicago man on probation for selling fake White Sox tickets blanked this week.

FARSAD: Sold more fake White Sox tickets.

SAGAL: No. He got busted for selling fake Cubs hats.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: On Tuesday, two poultry workers in England tested positive for the new strain of blank flu.

FARSAD: Bird flu?

SAGAL: Yes. On Thursday…

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: YouTube announced plans to add 30-second unskippable blank to its app.

FARSAD: Unskippable ads.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week, sports legend Bo Jackson revealed…

(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)

SAGAL: …He’d recently tried to get rid of his chronic hiccups by blanking.

FARSAD: Farting.

SAGAL: No, by smelling a porcupine’s butt.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Bo Jackson, who was famously an all-star in football, baseball and porcupine intimacy, has been suffering…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: …From hiccups for over a year and has tried everything to cure them, and we mean everything. While sniffing a porcupine’s butt did not stop his hiccups, it did lead to the Lincoln Park Zoo getting the weirdest five-star review of all time.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Bill, how did Negin do on our quiz?

KURTIS: Pretty good. Four right, eight more points, and her 11 ties her right now with Adam. Very close.

SAGAL: Wow. So that means that Luke needs how many to win?

KURTIS: Five to win.

SAGAL: All right, Luke, this is for the game. Fill in the blank. On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that blank was not liable for terror-related content on the site.

BURBANK: Social media sites?

SAGAL: I’ll give it to you. It’s Twitter.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: According to a whistleblower report, the blank church has a secret $100 billion hedge fund.

BURBANK: The Mormon church.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week, a key defense attorney stepped down from blank’s classified documents case.

BURBANK: Trump’s.

SAGAL: Yes. On Thursday…

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: …It was reported that Senator Blank suffered from additional complications following her shingles diagnosis.

BURBANK: Feinstein.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week, a man in Chicago attempting to rob a subway left empty-handed after he demanded the cashier give him blank.

BURBANK: Soft power.

SAGAL: No. Give him…

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: …Quote, “all the bread.”

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: So they did. On Wednesday, a judge ruled that Theranos founder blank must report to prison on May 30.

BURBANK: Elizabeth Holmes.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: According to a new study, before their extinction, 1.7 billion blanks walked the earth.

BURBANK: Platypus.

SAGAL: T. rexes. Platypuses are still here.

BURBANK: Oh.

(LAUGHTER)

BURBANK: You learn something new every week on the show.

SAGAL: This week, two people in Texas who hid from police…

(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)

SAGAL: …In the attic of a restaurant were caught when one of them blanked.

BURBANK: Fell through the ceiling.

SAGAL: Exactly right, into the men’s bathroom.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: The couple were fleeing the scene of an accident. They looked for a place to hide from police and also a place to be caught in the most embarrassing way possible. Sure, falling through a floor into a toilet stall was tough on the fugitives. But can you imagine being in line at the restaurant to get your food and then hearing that noise from the bathroom?

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: They’re all like, yeah, you know, maybe we’ll just go to Sweetgreen.

BURBANK: This isn’t Taco John’s.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Bill, did Luke do well enough to win?

KURTIS: They’re not going to boo him anymore – six right, 12 more points. Fifteen is the winner.

SAGAL: Well, congratulations, Luuuke.

BURBANK: Thank you. Go ride a lion.

SAGAL: Now, panel, who will grace the cover of a major magazine next? Adam Burke.

BURKE: You will be on the cover of Narcissists Monthly, as next issue will be, as every issue is, just a mirror on the front cover.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Negin Farsad.

FARSAD: Steve Buscemi is going to go all stars in pickleball, and he’s going to appear wearing hot shorts.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: And Luke Burbank.

BURBANK: Kyrie Irving on the cover of Round Earth Believers Monthly.

(LAUGHTER)

KURTIS: Well, if any of that happens, we’re going to ask you about it on WAIT WAIT… DON’T TELL ME.

SAGAL: Thank you, Bill Kurtis. Thanks also to Adam Burke, Negin Farsad, Luke Burbank.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Thanks to our fabulous audience here at the Studebaker. And thanks to all of you for listening. I am Peter Sagal. We’ll see you next week.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SAGAL: This is NPR.

Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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During the summer, I like to work odd jobs to remind myself of the importance of hard work and determination. This way, it helps me not take for granted the things that I have today.

Since starting Financial Samurai in 2009, I’ve been told countless times that I live in a bubble and I’m out of touch with reality. Never mind that I grew up in a middle-class household, went to public grade school and public colleges, and am a minority who came to America at age 14.

To many readers, I come from privilege, which I accept. I believe my wealth is mostly due to luck as opposed to skill and hard work. Because of this, I keep grinding so that one day I can feel like I deserved my good fortune.

Summer Jobs Before And After Children

I’ve taken on a number of summer jobs to remind me about the time I worked at McDonald’s for $4/hour. These odd jobs help me maintain a more grounded tone in my writing.

Before my boy was born in 2017, I gave 500+ Uber rides for three summers that paid between $15-30 an hour. Although the income wasn’t huge, I got to meet a lot of interesting folks. I also learned more about the San Francisco economy and various hot spots.

After my girl was born in 2019, I spent more time at home taking care of her, especially during the pandemic. Instead of working a near-minimum wage service job, I decided to spend time writing my book, Buy This, Not That. When I finished it, the hourly wage was even less than what I made driving for Uber.

It may be too late for me as a privileged person, who is out of touch with reality. But I’m determined not to let my children suffer the same fate!

This post is for people who are:

• Looking for ways to not spoil their children
• Looking to create stronger bonds with their children
• Retirees looking for things to do with their free time
• Real estate investors wondering whether landscaping pays off
• Feeling ungrateful and trying to appreciate more of what they have
• Lacking empathy for others because they’ve gotten too rich

The Decision To Put My Boy To Work At A Young Age

One of my constant fears is to raise spoiled children who do not appreciate what they have. I think many FIRE parents have this fear of screwing up their kids. We’ve only got about fourteen years of parenting before their foundation sets.

As a result, once he turned five in 2022, I decided to make him come pull weeds with me at a rental property. The tenants are supposed to maintain the yard once a month, as written in their lease. But they do not do so regularly. Instead of getting into an awkward conversation with them, I just end up pulling the weeds and trimming the bushes myself.

Once he turned six, I decided to put him to work as a landscaper for the fixer I had bought in 2019. My master plan was to renovate the top two floors in Stage 1, gut the ground floor in Stage 2, and then landscape the front yard in Stage 3.

Manual labor is the best type of labor to help us appreciate mental labor.

Saving $5,000 Or Making $7,000

My neighbor had spent $5,000 landscaping the front of his house, which now looks great. Given my rental property hadn’t been landscaped in over 60 years, I thought about hiring his landscaper for $5,000 as well.

But then I thought, why not “earn” $7,000 before tax by doing the landscaping work ourselves! When I told my boy about the plan, he asked me, “How are we going to remove all those plants and carry all those rocks? It seems impossible!”

I responded, “One plant and rock at a time!” Give most things enough time and eventually, we will succeed. And so, we got to work.

The Landscaping Process

Although the rental property’s front yard is small, the landscaping process still took a lot of time. There’s usually a crew of three adult men doing landscaping work. In our case, it was just me and a six-year-old boy.

Here were the steps we took to eventually turn an overgrown mess into something simple and beautiful.

Landscaping Step #1: Remove all the dead plants.

We used shovels and our hands to dig deep down into the dirt and remove all the plants. We then loaded up a truck and sent everything to the dumpster.

Landscaping Step #2: Dig out all the roots of the dead plants.

It’s not good enough to remove the dead plants, we also had to till the soil and pull out as many large and small roots as possible to prevent the plants from growing back. Then we had to rake the soil.

Landscaping Step #3: Go to the store and decide on the materials.

We drove 20 minutes south to a landscaping company called Broadmoor Landscape Supply to pick our materials. We used a black eco-friendly mulch to cover the dirt and got tri-colored pebbles for the pathway. We also bought a roll of black weed blocker material with stakes.

Landscaping Step #4: Roll out weed blocker and insert stakes.

To reduce the need to constantly pull weeds repeatedly every month, forever, we rolled the weed blocker over as much of the dirt as possible. We then inserted stakes every two-to-free feet.

It was so tempting to skip the weed blocker and dump the mulch on the dirt. But I told my boy the extra effort we put in at the beginning will save us time and money in the end.

Landscaping Step #5: Spread the mulch and rocks.

Dump the 12 bags of mulch on the dirt and spread it around. Then dump the four bags of pebbles on the path and spread them evenly. We didn’t put the weed blocker on the path because I forgot. Darn! But there weren’t any weeds there anyway.

Landscaping Step #6: Get the best succulents we could find.

Instead of paying $30 – $300 for each succulent, we decided to get the succulent pups from our other rental property. In 2017, I planted three succulents to represent my son, my wife, and me. I explained to my boy that since 2017, the succulents have grown and produced pups.

We cut the succulents that were the most accessible. I ended up sawing off succulents that would easily cost between $200 – $300 each if I had gone to the store. The largest ones each weighed between 50 – 80 pounds!

Landscaping Step #7: Plant the succulents.

Once we agreed upon a design, it was time to spread out the mulch, cut a large enough hole in the weed blocker, plant the succulents, and give them a good dose of water to help root. We decided to go with succulents because they are low maintenance. I also know from experience that tenants won’t water and take care of them.

Landscaping Step #8: Make a better border.

Because the house is on a hill, the front yard slopes downward. Over time, the brick border began sinking deeper into the soil. This posed a problem because then the mulch drifts down onto the entranceway and driveway.

The bricks were impossible to pull out. But we discovered that once we dug out one, every other one was much easier to dislodge. We cleaned the bricks, added soil where the bricks were, and placed the bricks back.

Landscaping Step #9: Clean up!

We ended up sweeping up all the dirt and debris in the driveway and entranceway. We filled up both the trash bin and ecology bin to the top and set the bins outside for pickup.

Related: How Landlords Can Create Teachable Moments For Their Kids

How Long Did It Take To Landscape?

All told, the landscaping job took about 11 hours over seven days. We spent one-to-two hours a day working to make the landscaping project manageable. Two of those hours were driving to the supply store, picking out the materials, and driving back thrice.

After each day, we felt a tremendous amount of satisfaction. When it was all done, we gave each other high fives! I told my boy that every time he walks by or drives by the rental house, he will now experience the joy of knowing he helped do the work.

The total cost for all the materials was $240. Gas cost around $12. And then there was the cost of our time. But I didn’t view the 11 hours we worked as a costly expense. Instead, it was a priceless bonding experience between father and son we will never forget.

Instead of paying landscapers $5,000, we did it ourselves. My hope is this laborious experience will help him develop a strong work ethic and realize hard things can be completed with enough time.

Life Lessons From The Landscaping Project

1) Learn to do things yourself.

The more knowledgeable and self-sufficient you are, the easier your life will be. Instead of relying on people to do the simplest things, you can do things yourself to save time and headaches.

One example is learning how to change your own tire in case of a flat. Another example is learning how to invest your money. Once you do, you can save money on a financial advisor and potentially make a lot more money compared to those who are financially illiterate.

2) It’s better to do than to show.

You can tell your children or your students to do something all you want. But unless you are also taking action by doing, your teachings may not be as effective.

As a high school tennis coach for three years, I enjoyed playing against my students in challenge matches during practice. Win or lose, they respected my authority more and tried harder because I was battling against them.

By getting my hands dirty, I showed my boy I’m not too good for any job. In turn, he was also willing to get his hands dirty. If you work until exhaustion, you might be able to get rid of entitlement mentality and better appreciate any other type of work that is less demanding.

3) If the direction is correct, sooner or later you will get there.

This is my favorite Chinese proverb. Big tasks often seem impossible to accomplish in the beginning. But if you keep on working at it, you will eventually succeed in completing your task.

The next time you face a big task, think about tackling it in multiple stages over time. This way, the task won’t feel as daunting. Eventually, you’ll put together something you’re proud of.

When I bought the fixer in 2019, it was in pretty bad shape. But I gave myself three years to make the property beautiful. Although it took one-and-a-half years longer than expected due to the pandemic, it eventually got done.

4) The first impression of your house matters.

A well-landscaped front yard makes a tremendous difference in improving the value of the home. The first impression a buyer has is always from the outside. The stronger the first impression, the better the overall impression of the house.

Now whenever my boy and I go to open houses, we take a moment to appreciate the landscaping. We talk about the type of stones they use, the design, the lighting, and the plants. He’s interested now, whereas, in the past, he never paid landscaping a lick of attention.

5) The work is never-ending

Despite landscaping the front yard, weeds will eventually grow back. As a result, we’ve got to return regularly for maintenance. But hopefully, this realization of the need for constant upkeep will translate to lessons for other areas of my children’s lives, e.g. eating healthy and exercising, continuing education, etc.

Given we finished landscaping the yard, I decided to tackle the next project with my daughter by redoing the sidewalk. I asked her to help me pull the weeds and lay weed blocker with stakes. We then went to get 18 bags of 3/4″ pami stone. Now that was a good workout!

18 bags of rock cost another $270 plus about $20 for gas back and forth.

Summer Jobs And Teachable Moments

During every summer onwards, I’m looking forward to doing more odd jobs with my children. Eventually, we’ll move on to painting interior walls and trim. Then I’ll teach them how to change fixtures and fix toilets. Finally, I’ll teach them about the online business world.

We’ll be able to get a lot done over the next 12-15 years!

My hope is that after they leave home, they’ll turn into handy people who will appreciate the importance of hard work. If they ever get jobs that pay much more than minimum wage, hopefully, they will appreciate all the odd jobs they did when they were children.

As a Gen Xer who remembers life before the internet, I still can’t believe we can make money typing on a computer from the comfort of our own home! As a result, I have a lot of motivation to keep writing on Financial Samurai.

Eventually, I hope their hard work will translate into financial reward. It would be nice if they turn into financially independent adults with their heads on straight. They might end up even going into the landscaping business, you never know!

What I do know is that once they get to actually make money from work (instead of get rewarded with hugs and popsicles), I’ll encourage them to max out their Roth IRAs. This way, by the time they graduate college, they will have enough saved up to confidently pursue their goals without too much financial worry.

Reader Questions And Suggestions

Anybody do any landscaping work themselves? How satisfying is it once the job is finally done? What are some odd jobs you’re doing with your children to make them better appreciate what they have and teach them work ethic?

Listen and subscribe to The Financial Samurai podcast on Apple or Spotify. I interview experts in their respective fields and discuss some of the most interesting topics on this site. Please share, rate, and review!

For more nuanced personal finance content, join 60,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter and posts via e-mail. Financial Samurai is one of the largest independently-owned personal finance sites that started in 2009. 

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It has been nearly a year since San Francisco voters unseated their liberal District Attorney Chesa Boudin in an election as public frustration over property crime and the visible desperation and misery on the city’s streets mounted.

There was no compelling evidence that Boudin’s policies had made crime worse; Overall, crime in San Francisco changed little during his tenure. But voters rejected his progressive message of forbearance.

Boudin, who has largely remained silent since being recalled, is taking on a new role this week: as founding executive director of the new Criminal Law and Justice Center at UC Berkeley School of Law. Responsibilities are broad and include teaching, researching the impact of changes in California criminal laws, and advocating new laws at the State Capitol and in court.

“It’s a job that allows me to draw on the lived experience I’ve had from visiting my parents in prison for a combined 63 years and the real-world work experience I’ve gained both as a public defender and as an elected district attorney in San Francisco have collected,” Boudin said. When he was a toddler, his parents, members of a radical left-wing group, were jailed for their part in a botched robbery that killed three men.

As he begins his new job, Boudin, 42, reflects on the past year, his tenure and the ongoing struggle for public safety in San Francisco.

Debates over crime, the fentanyl epidemic and homelessness have been rather contentious since he left office. City leaders have promised more aggressive enforcement; One proposal would exclude undocumented immigrants convicted of distributing fentanyl from protection under the city’s sanctuary policy, making it easier for them to be deported.

“I absolutely disagree with scapegoating or attacking immigrants for what are clearly entrenched structural inequalities and a public health crisis,” Boudin said. “It never worked and was often a red flag for fascism. Scapegoating immigrants is not what we do in San Francisco, and it will not make us any safer.”

Regarding the fatal shooting of Banko Brown by a security guard at a downtown drugstore last month, Boudin delivered harsh words to his successor, Brooke Jenkins, who declined to press charges in the case. Her handling of the case sparked protests, particularly over her public statements early in the investigation that the case appeared to be in self-defense.

“Any seasoned prosecutor knows, and Jenkins should have known full well, that while a case is still under investigation, at least not supposedly, you don’t speak up and represent the defense,” he said.

Boudin defended his decision to charge two police officers with on-duty shootings — charges Jenkins later dropped and which he said were politically motivated.

“I campaigned on this issue,” Boudin said of police shootings. “It wasn’t political. That’s what voters wanted.”

In his new job, Boudin could return to the courtroom as a lawyer on a range of issues, including overhauling bail laws.

“It’s a subject I’ve worked on for many, many years,” he said. “I firmly believe that being poor is not a crime in this country. And that we have a presumption of innocence. And that people who are presumed innocent should not be imprisoned just because they are poor.”

When asked if he would ever run for office again, he simply replied, “Never say never.”

Tim Arango is a Correspondent for the National Desk and lives in Los Angeles.

When you read a story, make it this one

Guests are fed up with minimal service. Will a little warmth win her back?

where we travel

Today’s tip comes from John Merkler, who recommends coastal parks in San Diego:

“Together, Torrey Pines State Beach and Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is one of the most sublime spots in Southern California and one of the top 10 in the state.

The beach and adjacent cliff is not just a geological fantasy with a rich history; They are a natural wonder and a never-ending source of relaxation, pleasure and often entertainment. It is an inspiration that never ceases to surprise and delight.”

Tell us about your favorite places in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We will report more about this in future issues of the newsletter.

And before you go, some good news

Call it postmodern love.

Joseph Bartlett Fay and Daniel Wayne Garness first met in person at an architectural landmark – now known as the Burns House – designed by Charles Moore, the postmodern architect, on a hilltop in the Santa Monica Canyon.

“Dan is a residential and landscape architect,” Fay said. “I’m an architecture enthusiast.”

Fast forward 11 years. Fay, 68, and Garness, 70, were married this month in a small ceremony attended by some of their loved ones.

“A good home is a snapshot of the world,” Garness told the New York Times. “Equal parts protection and dreams. Marriage is maybe a bit like that too.”

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The San Francisco Unified School District is at it again, and this time they’re rescuing the Native American population from the horrors of employees who have “Chief” in their job titles.

That’s right, “Chief” is being dropped from SFUSD’s vocabulary so as not to trigger Indians who have lived all their years living with the horrors of SFUSD, which has 13 chiefs on its staff, according to the Division Chiefs site. The district includes 12 female chiefs and Labor Relations Director Daniel Menezes, who holds the position for biological males.

Seriously, they’re removing “chiefs” from job titles. This isn’t a Babylon Bee story. It is real.

The word “Chief” comes from the French word “chief” which has nothing to do with Native Americans, but aggressive ignorance is the main ingredient of Awakening https://t.co/hvdCSUZ2Wm

— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) May 26, 2022

“While there are many opinions on the subject, our leadership team agreed that we will no longer use it due to concerns raised by Native American members of our community about the use of the title,” SFUSD spokesman Gentle Blythe told the SF Timeline.

This is just another in a series of awakening moments for the San Francisco School District as it continues to lead the way in making the world so much better.

You may remember some of SFUSD’s biggest hits, like noting that Abraham Lincoln was too racist to name a school after him, so the district tore his name off a school building.

BOOM… society was saved.

You may recall how the district tried for months to rename schools while keeping them closed due to COVID, only to then cancel renaming committee meetings.

BOOM… the world was once again saved by the SF school system.

Then there was the all-timer where the SFUSD Arts Department dropped their acronym because “acronyms are a symptom of white supremacy culture,” only to find out that the guy demanding the end of acronyms had acronyms in his Instagram posts used.

Double BOOM BOOM… the world was saved from its evil self by SFUSD.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, does more to save the world than the San Francisco school system. Just think how many brilliant bright minds it pumps into the world to spread the wisdom garnered from teachers like the one who said Bernie Sanders wearing mittens was a “white male privilege.”

Triple BOOM BOOM BOOOOOOOM… the SFUSD not only saved you from yourself, it officially saved your unborn grandchildren from yourself, awake and aware as they are.

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