S03.E09: Promotions, Podcasts and Magic Tea

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

Some companies offer something they call PTO, which combines sick, personal, and vacation time together  in a single pot. You don’t have to specify which  it is. 

Yeah, mine has "unlimited PTO." Unlimited within reason, obviously. 

[littlepaw]

On 1/28/2021 at 8:40 AM, LBS said:

Was this episode shown out of order?  Ben had the same “haircut” as the Halloween episode but in the episode with his dad dying, it was much tamer.  I’m not feeling it this season.  Everything feels very hodgepodge and inconsistent plot lines.

It was definitely out of order. I was just thinking during last week's episode that Ben was looking really nice. This Ben was definitely Halloween-Ben. And it took me a moment to place Neville. A long moment. It was really good to  see DJ and Mary again. Did he say something about "tucking her in"? Did he mean there? It's so confusing. And Harris was there but Mark was not. I agree, very inconsistent nd hodgepodge-y. 

I did like Becky's comment about "It's bad luck to have dream sex with your boss's pretend boyfriend" or words to that effect.

 

[Bastet]

1 minute ago, littlepaw said:

It was really good to  see DJ and Mary again. Did he say something about "tucking her in"? Did he mean there?

Yes. 

That (along with Louise and Neville being present) was what clued me in to possible reordering of episodes; Mary hadn't been around recently, but this was back to where she was living there (he said he'd tuck her in before he left).  I second guessed myself because none of the episodes aired earlier played like Darlene was already a manager, but then I don't think we really saw the sisters at Wellman for the past few.  So, thinking on it more and reading the posts noting the discrepancies with Ben's werewolf look, this episode seems indeed to have been held back.

[tribeca]

I would think the union would fight that sick vacation time for thing.  My company your vacation time is only good for a year. It expires and you can’t just cashed it out. Sick time you get to carry over. 

[CrystalBlue]

On 1/28/2021 at 7:49 PM, UYI said:

Fair point. I thought it might be different because I thought it was technically closed, but fair point. (I don't live in Illinois so thanks for letting me know, I know state laws and regulations on dining during the pandemic differ right now.)

Nobody is accusing The Conners of living in reality though.  😁

[Cherpumple]

I know this family has been through a lot, and it's great that they finally had a "win," but a small part of me was kind of depressed to see Darlene so genuinely excited about getting a promotion at Wellmans. Yes, it's a step up from her current circumstances, but man, she had such big plans for her life that have all evaporated and left her exactly where she started. I wish her well and hopes she makes the best of it, but it's weird to see.

I agree with all the comments about Ben. I'm sincerely worried about his mental health right now, and hope his podcast does well, and/or that he goes back to at least part-time work (maybe with Dan?) to bring in some cash in the meantime.

The Jackie tea part was funny enough, and Louise was great with her. And on a shallow note, Katey Segal looks fantastic. I'm not invested in the Neville relationship, but I really want Jackie to be happy, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that he treats her right.

[SoMuchTV]

8 hours ago, tribeca said:

I would think the union would fight that sick vacation time for thing.  My company your vacation time is only good for a year. It expires and you can’t just cashed it out. Sick time you get to carry over. 

That whole part seemed odd.  That just doesn't seem like the kind of change that a line supervisor would be tasked with announcing.  Seems like the higher ups in HR would be announcing the policy change to everyone, and it seems like it would affect supervisors as much as it does line workers.

[ams1001]

11 hours ago, tribeca said:

I would think the union would fight that sick vacation time for thing.  My company your vacation time is only good for a year. It expires and you can’t just cashed it out. Sick time you get to carry over. 

Nothing carries over where I work; I get 4 weeks vacation, 2 personal days, 3 floating holidays and 6 sick days (vacation time varies based on how long you've worked there). The vacation and personal are based on my hire date and go from October - September, and the others are based on calendar year (which is annoying and I wish they would just convert it all to calendar year, but I digress). The state passed a law mandating 6 sick days a few years ago, but we always got that so it didn't actually change anything (the only change was that was when sick time switched to calendar year). If you leave you get paid out for whatever vacation/personal time you've accrued to that point (but the time is available to use before you've technically accrued it); unused sick time is just gone.

2 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

That whole part seemed odd.  That just doesn't seem like the kind of change that a line supervisor would be tasked with announcing.  Seems like the higher ups in HR would be announcing the policy change to everyone, and it seems like it would affect supervisors as much as it does line workers.

That is something that would definitely come from HR at my company, and in writing with an explanation of how it will actually work going forward. That's the sort of thing that they have managers pass out to employees in person and have them sign a list to confirm that they received it, and the signed list goes back to HR.

I've heard of unlimited PTO but usually it seems to have been associated with salaried employees, not hourly workers like I'm sure the majority of Wellman's plant workers are. Even if that's what they're doing, saying "sick time will now be considered vacation" is a weird way of phrasing it.

[love2lovebadtv]

 

On 1/28/2021 at 5:53 PM, mamadrama said:

My husband runs a popular podcast. He earns fairly good money from it. Ben's right, it DOES take a shit ton of work. My DH didn't quit either one of his jobs, though. I understand where Ben's coming from but literally quitting before he's even tried recording anything, and during a pandemic, is grossly irresponsible. If I were Dan, I'd make him move out. And I like Ben. 

Ben makes terrible decisions. I was annoyed that they moved him in. The actor isn't bad but it's like he just blended in with the rest of them. 

21 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

This.  And it would be a subzero day in Hell before I would support any boyfriend, let alone whilst semi-freeloading at my parent's home.  (Remember, they just started paying rent.)

Brilliant idea, Ben!  Just quit your job at Instacart which you can work with flexible hours to waiting for your first payday again.  Thank God they've shelved the baby crap.  Ben doesn't deserve to have a baby.

Nope, he doesn't. Ben IS a baby. So immature to be jealous of your partner's promotion to line supervisor, like he's the only one who's ever had dreams. 

21 hours ago, mamadrama said:

Good point about Instacart. It's not even a 9-5 job...

It took my husband's podcast about a year to really make money and he was already a personality in his niche when he started it. By the time his own podcast came out he'd already appeared as a guest on dozens of others, had a big social media following, was writing for a popular website...Ben, on the other hand, is starting from scratch. 

He also didn't need $400 worth of equipment. We started out with an $89 snowflake mic, laptop, and Audacity (a free editing program). You typically don't invest in fancy recording equipment until you start recording and begin seeing exactly what you need. 

On the flipside, I think Ben and Becky should be co-hosts. They have good chemistry. 

So true that he has plenty of time to work on his passion project. You don't just start out buying equipment - even people who have a little more disposable income don't always do that. 

11 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

I know this family has been through a lot, and it's great that they finally had a "win," but a small part of me was kind of depressed to see Darlene so genuinely excited about getting a promotion at Wellmans. Yes, it's a step up from her current circumstances, but man, she had such big plans for her life that have all evaporated and left her exactly where she started. I wish her well and hopes she makes the best of it, but it's weird to see.

Same re: Darlene. It's a promotion, yes, so she'll get paid more. But we never see her working on her goals. I get that the Conners struggle but we don't even see her try. Like the character (Anna Maria Horsford) who talked about working on her drawing at night. I have always wondered why we never see Darlene write, journal, freelance, pitch publications, argue with editors - anything that looked like she had an interest in something, rather than just saying it didn't work out. 

5 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

That whole part seemed odd.  That just doesn't seem like the kind of change that a line supervisor would be tasked with announcing.  Seems like the higher ups in HR would be announcing the policy change to everyone, and it seems like it would affect supervisors as much as it does line workers.

Yea, a line supervisor announcing policy change is ridiculous - and in the break room with Robin sitting right there. 

[peacheslatour]

Quote

 I have always wondered why we never see Darlene write, journal, freelance, pitch publications, argue with editors - anything that looked like she had an interest in something, rather than just saying it didn't work out. 

This drives me CRAZY! She was supposed to be so passionate about writing. It was her life's dream. She dropped out of high school to go to writing school and worked as a writer in Chicago. Why can't she start a novel or submit articles to online news sites or a million of the other things creative people feel compelled to do while driven by their passions?

[Cherpumple]

3 hours ago, love2lovebadtv said:

I have always wondered why we never see Darlene write, journal, freelance, pitch publications, argue with editors - anything that looked like she had an interest in something, rather than just saying it didn't work out. 

Yes! Writing is one of the most versatile skills on the planet. The barrier for entry has never been lower for people who want to get their words in front of people, and short of that, it literally only takes your own brain, a pencil, and a notebook. There are a million different ways she could keep up that part of her life, for money or personal enjoyment, and it drives me crazy that she doesn't even seem to be trying.

[readster]

1 hour ago, Cherpumple said:

Yes! Writing is one of the most versatile skills on the planet. The barrier for entry has never been lower for people who want to get their words in front of people, and short of that, it literally only takes your own brain, a pencil, and a notebook. There are a million different ways she could keep up that part of her life, for money or personal enjoyment, and it drives me crazy that she doesn't even seem to be trying.

Exactly, especially since COVID, there have been tons of: blogs, articles, social media marketing, ect. Darlene could have been doing that too or landed a company that needed a monthly written article. Hell, I wrote two extra ones on education since the pandemic started and guess what. It paid and it paid about half of what I currently make on salary. I mean, kills a few pesky bills out right and then saves you an extra $200 a month as a result that can go to other things. However, this show doesn't want to bring that only that the Lunchbox which is all Becky has in life is doing great with her curb side stew. Meanwhile, Dan was on the forefront of foreclosure and seems to spend most of his time mocking his grandson while he is online for school and then goes to bed with his girlfriend. So, who the hell is paying the bills now?

[mamadrama]

6 hours ago, love2lovebadtv said:

Same re: Darlene. It's a promotion, yes, so she'll get paid more. But we never see her working on her goals. I get that the Conners struggle but we don't even see her try. Like the character (Anna Maria Horsford) who talked about working on her drawing at night. I have always wondered why we never see Darlene write, journal, freelance, pitch publications, argue with editors - anything that looked like she had an interest in something, rather than just saying it didn't work out. 

Yea, a line supervisor announcing policy change is ridiculous - and in the break room with Robin sitting right there. 

I feel the same about Darlene. We were on Welfare (Food Stamps and Medicaid) when I first buckled down and started taking my fiction writing seriously. It was the Recession and shit was bad. We had jobs, my husband even taught at a state university, but we were still earning below the federal poverty line. Let me tell you, nothing will motivate you like being poor. Few things feel worse than rolling up to the cashier and having the people in line around you surveying your buggy because they feel entitled to judge your contents. I worked my ass off, writing every chance I got. My oldest son was 5, my youngest son had just died in his sleep, and my daughter was an infant but I still wrote and read every chance I got: on the toilet, in the shower, in my head while cooking or cleaning... It took 5 years but I finally got a publisher interested and we finally reached a point where my books were funding our lifestyle (ie, paying all our bills).

So I also find it depressing that Darlene seems to have given up. I've been there and I want more for her. She missed a great opportunity during the pandemic. Regardless of my feelings towards it, I have friends killing it in indie publishing right now and all she needs for that is a laptop.  Advancing at Wellman's is great for the short term, but I would love to see her trying to fulfill her passions. I don't think she will, though, and sadly that's not uncommon. If Ben's podcast somehow breaks from the pack and becomes a runaway success then great. I want that for DARLENE, though. I want to see her break the cycle and not, in defeat, put her hopes on Harris to do it. 

[Yeah No]

15 hours ago, ams1001 said:

That is something that would definitely come from HR at my company, and in writing with an explanation of how it will actually work going forward. That's the sort of thing that they have managers pass out to employees in person and have them sign a list to confirm that they received it, and the signed list goes back to HR.

I've heard of unlimited PTO but usually it seems to have been associated with salaried employees, not hourly workers like I'm sure the majority of Wellman's plant workers are. Even if that's what they're doing, saying "sick time will now be considered vacation" is a weird way of phrasing it.

I was a "salaried non-exempt" employee when my former company went over to PTO, which means I was technically an hourly employee.  We got a big memo from HR and our HR rep. came around to explain the change to our department.  In my case it really was true that my sick time was coming out of my vacation time since they just eliminated sick time altogether and didn't increase the PTO time to add up to the total sick and vacation time we originally got. So in other words I went from 2 weeks of vacation and 1 week of sick time to 2 weeks of PTO, period.  This applied to all employees, salaried and hourly.  It was insane because I had never worked anywhere before that gave so little time off, or took took it away.  Companies were more likely to increase time off, not decrease it.  This was at a major corporation, too, which is even more mind boggling.  Anyway I heard that after I left they eventually added more PTO to the total (about 2 years ago), but they got away with it for a few years and I doubt that it was against the law, either.   So I really got what Becky was saying about this because in effect that's exactly what it was in my case.  I think if the show had made it clear that Wellman was using the PTO thing to in effect reduce total time off and eliminate sick time altogether her statement would have made more sense.

Edited January 31, 2021 by Yeah No

[chediavolo]

On 1/28/2021 at 11:40 AM, LBS said:

Was this episode shown out of order?  Ben had the same “haircut” as the Halloween episode but in the episode with his dad dying, it was much tamer.  I’m not feeling it this season.  Everything feels very hodgepodge and inconsistent plot lines.

Yes , I kept thinking this was a repeat.  

[chediavolo]

On 1/28/2021 at 10:31 PM, txhorns79 said:

I kind of want to make appointments at the salon or barber for the entire cast.  They are all looking kind of rough.  Ben's appearance is the worst, and honestly, it's to the point where it is a distraction from the story.  He just looks terrible.

 

Wouldn't this just end up driving away both of them?  If the situation was reversed and it was your daughter being supported by her boyfriend, would you demand she leave, or would that be considered okay because it is a woman living off a man?  That's how I looked at the episode.  Ben was making bad decisions, but I did think part of that was because he felt emasculated with Darlene being the higher wage earner.  

 

True. I don’t get this disheveled look still going on.  I know where I am salons have been open for many months.  

[littlepaw]

On 1/31/2021 at 8:13 AM, chediavolo said:

True. I don’t get this disheveled look still going on.  I know where I am salons have been open for many months.  

I'm in Southern California, and they've changed from open to closed, back to open, back to closed, and now I think they are open again or will be soon. So, it all depends on the state AND the county....although I don't know what the supposed Landford IL  guidelines are.

That being said, it does bug me that Jackie got a nice haircut but still has 4-inch grey roots. 

Edited February 1, 2021 by littlepaw

[chitowngirl]

2 hours ago, littlepaw said:

That being said, it does bug me but Jackie got a nice haircut but still has 4-inch grey roots. 

She (a fictional character!) might be growing out her roots. Looks like crap until it’s done.

[mythoughtis]

Regarding Darlene and Ben .... if I had moved back into my parents home at 40 with two kids, I would not invite my boyfriend to move in.  Because it’s not my house, it’s my parents house.   The answer wouldn’t change even when I started paying rent.. Dan is fighting to keep the house.  He looks like death warmed over.  Becky actually cares more about him than the rest of them.  

[Kel Varnsen]

On 1/30/2021 at 2:42 PM, peacheslatour said:

Why can't she start a novel or submit articles to online news sites or a million of the other things creative people feel compelled to do while driven by their passions?

Or better yet why can't she write for Ben's podcast. A few of the really good educational podcasts are clearly someone working from a script prepared by someone doing a ton of research. Why wouldn't Darlene offer to help Ben with something like that. Then again I have no idea what kind of writing she is into.

On 1/29/2021 at 4:03 PM, CrystalBlue said:

Brilliant idea, Ben!  Just quit your job at Instacart which you can work with flexible hours to waiting for your first payday again.  Thank God they've shelved the baby crap.  Ben doesn't deserve to have a baby.

Even forgetting about the fact that they are nearly broke, why would you invest all that time and money and quit your job before you even know if this is something you like doing. What if after a few episodes he realized he hated it. Then again, isn't Instacart basically Uber where you can just come and go as you please?

[MissLucas]

The ironic thing about Darlene's passion for writing is that the show's breaking one of writing's cardinal rules: 'show, don't tell'. Yeah, writing does not make for compelling screen-time but just having her occasionally jot down something in a good old-fashioned notebook during lunch-time would go a long way to make us more sympathetic to her 'plight'.

Edited February 3, 2021 by MissLucas

[SilverLake0315]

On 2/1/2021 at 1:24 PM, chitowngirl said:

She (a fictional character!) might be growing out her roots. Looks like crap until it’s done.

This was my guess. My mom (as well as a friend of hers) has decided to embrace the gray and it looks like Jackie's right now.

[TattleTeeny]

She could always bleach over the dyed-brown part, then dye that to match the gray roots. I mean, if she cares! If not, whatever!

Edited February 3, 2021 by TattleTeeny

[Brn2bwild]

On 1/28/2021 at 6:43 AM, Chaos Theory said:

But David always had charm even in his sad sack persona maybe because Johnny  Galeki plays it well and has hella chemistry with Sara Gilbert which I just don’t see with the actor who plays Ben.  I just see a guy who was jealous at his girlfriend’s small amount of success.

The jeopardy tag was funny and so was the poker scene where everyone was trying not to mention drugs in front of Mary.   

 

Which is ironic, in a way, given that his character on Mad Men ended up with Peggy Olson by the end of the series.

Edited February 5, 2021 by Brn2bwild

[KayVeeTeeVee]

On 1/30/2021 at 2:42 PM, peacheslatour said:

This drives me CRAZY! She was supposed to be so passionate about writing. It was her life's dream. She dropped out of high school to go to writing school and worked as a writer in Chicago. Why can't she start a novel or submit articles to online news sites or a million of the other things creative people feel compelled to do while driven by their passions?

Or script some of Ben's podcasts.  At least edit them.

[peacheslatour]

21 minutes ago, KayVeeTeeVee said:

Or script some of Ben's podcasts.  At least edit them.

That could lead to some epic fights.

[Bastet]

Life beats you down, and when you're working a paycheck job and raising kids on top of that, you usually don't have the energy for passion projects or further education.  The transcendence stories are stories because they're notable, not the norm.  But, while it made perfect sense that Roseanne never pursued writing despite her love of it, Darlene went for it young and actually made a living at it for years.  For Roseanne, it was something a rare class of other people did, a fantasy for someone like her. 

But Darlene did it.  It's a big part of her lived experience.  Which is why she took a job like Ben's stupid local crime gossip rag as a stop gap, something that paid bills while at least lightly scratching that artistic itch.  So, while economic reality in Lanford is that it will be difficult to support herself wholly via writing, meaning a union job is something you can't turn down, there should be references to her at least making attempts at online writing/editing gigs.  There's a grace period for her just being so dejected by what her life has become she can't muster up the energy, but the writers are pretty close to exhausting it.  They need to explore her fear she's going to get stuck at Wellman, too dependent on the paycheck and benefits to take a chance, and have her at least try.

[femmefan1946]

On 1/28/2021 at 9:16 PM, tribeca said:

 And where did Ben have an extra $400 ?  Just last week people had to hide food behind a toilet.  It made me think Ben had been holding out.

They have money for canned soda, microwave popcorn and beer. And jerky is not cheap.
None of these people are stupid, but every one of them makes poor financial decisions. Constantly.

Like buying ramen in 85g packets instead of spaghetti by the kilo. Or bolgona instead of hamburger or stew.
 

[peacheslatour]

1 minute ago, femmefan1946 said:

They have money for canned soda, microwave popcorn and beer. And jerky is not cheap.
None of these people are stupid, but every one of them makes poor financial decisions. Constantly.

Like buying ramen in 85g packets instead of spaghetti by the kilo. Or bolgona instead of hamburger or stew.
 

It always used to kill me that they constantly ordered out for food. If I order from some place even as cheap as Dominoes, I'm looking at $30.00, at least and there's just the two of us. I can make a pizza from scratch for about five bucks, six tops.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Ben's line about getting chewed out for not picking up gluten-free ice cream for a kid's birthday (which would hypothetically result in the kid being flatulent) should have been about lactose-free ice cream.  Celiac disease is not about being gassy and really doesn't make for a good joke.

Edited March 5, 2021 by ItCouldBeWorse