S03.E11: Panic Attacks, Hardware Store & Big Mouth Billy Bass

[tessaray]

2 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Do people really care what it looks like behind you when you are on a video conference call? Last spring when my kids' school was closed I was working part of my day in my bedroom sitting on my bed. Once or twice people commented on it but no one really cared. Plus if I was worried that they did don't most video conference apps have like background filters?

If you're poor, you do. People judge. And the last time I looked, some apps require a paid account to have access to various backgrounds. (That may have changed, I haven't looked lately.)

[Brn2bwild]

4 hours ago, tessaray said:

If you're poor, you do. People judge. And the last time I looked, some apps require a paid account to have access to various backgrounds. (That may have changed, I haven't looked lately.)

Yeah, too bad she didn't think of putting up a virtual background.  Then again, not all computers are new enough to be able to do backgrounds, and it wouldn't fix the fact that she was informally dressed because she didn't know she'd be expected to participate.  As a last resort, she could have kept it dark and apologized, claiming she was having technical issues.

[CrystalBlue]

1 minute ago, Brn2bwild said:

Yeah, too bad she didn't think of putting up a virtual background.  Then again, not all computers are new enough to be able to do backgrounds, and it wouldn't fix the fact that she was informally dressed because she didn't know she'd be expected to participate.  As a last resort, she could have kept it dark and apologized, claiming she was having technical issues.

I thought the Big Mouth Billy Bass was funny, especially when Darlene said she was at the lake house.  I get the logical problem solving suggested, but it made me laugh so what the hay.  And yes, people are gonna notice your background. 

[Marley]

Dan couldn’t even get by on his drywall job how can he get by working at a hardware store probably making minimum wage.

I wish Ben would shave his beard.

[TattleTeeny]

I don’t care what people see behind me (which is very random wall art and a large shelf dedicated to Star Wars collectibles). And as a curious (or nosy) person, I find myself paying more attention to people’s backgrounds than I do the meeting (I tend to do this while watching movies and TV shows too). Sometimes I feel annoyed when it’s a fake one, haha! 

Edited March 2, 2021 by TattleTeeny

[nokat]

11 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

I don’t care what people see behind me (which is very random wall art and a large shelf dedicated to Star Wars collectibles). And as a curious (or nosy) person, I find myself paying more attention to people’s backgrounds than I do the meeting (I tend to do this while watching movies and TV shows too). Sometimes I feel annoyed when it’s a fake one, haha! 

If there is a bookshelf, I'm going to be nosy and try to see what you've been reading, and the same goes for collectibles. 

[SilverLake0315]

On 2/25/2021 at 10:29 PM, ams1001 said:

I think my only real laugh of the episode was their fake reaction to Jackie's "green" hair.

Thanks for specifying it was a joke! I was really confused. I rewound a few times and tried to catch the green in slo-mo. I figured it was just really bad camera work  haha

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

On 2/28/2021 at 8:38 AM, Kel Varnsen said:

Do people really care what it looks like behind you when you are on a video conference call? Last spring when my kids' school was closed I was working part of my day in my bedroom sitting on my bed. Once or twice people commented on it but no one really cared. Plus if I was worried that they did don't most video conference apps have like background filters?

I have been doing virtual meetings since COVID lockdowns and I make sure my background is clean before the Zoom call starts, because I'm nosey and all about checking out what other people have behind them, especially when I'm getting bored. 

[Yeah No]

On 2/28/2021 at 9:17 AM, Superclam said:

I blur my background. I don't really want people looking into my house. But yes, all the apps have various backgrounds available. I'll go with a Godzilla one depending on the meeting. 

Yeah, it's too bad Darlene didn't know about the fake Zoom backgrounds.  I uploaded some photos of beautiful interiors I found online.  My accountant was LOL when he saw this ginormous OTT state of the art kitchen behind me, meanwhile I have been unemployed since before the pandemic and my real kitchen is one fifth the size.  Then he revealed that the super-nice office behind him was fake too and he was really in his not so pretty basement!

[TVbitch]

I have had plenty of therapists and become friendly with most, but only a couple ever shared anything personal about themselves and that was after many months of therapy and when they felt their sharing would be relevant to the session. Harping about your wife on a first session is beyond unprofessional! Also, prescribing an anti-anxiety med after one session is pretty damn quick for a medication that is likely addictive and very hard to get off. 

[peacheslatour]

52 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

I have had plenty of therapists and become friendly with most, but only a couple ever shared anything personal about themselves and that was after many months of therapy and when they felt their sharing would be relevant to the session. Harping about your wife on a first session is beyond unprofessional! Also, prescribing an anti-anxiety med after one session is pretty damn quick for a medication that is likely addictive and very hard to get off. 

I didn't get prescribed Xanax until after two trips to the emergency room for panic attacks. I was supposed to take three a day but I never took more than one. Now I'm down to about one a month and only when I can't sleep because I keep hyperventilating.

[HurricaneVal]

Yeah....the magical hardware store is a bit hard to take in.  They could have spent some more time on that, smoothing it out by retconning something like Ben is kind of estranged from his mother (right?  or at least distant?  even though she made an appearance?) and she'd lied about selling the store after his dad died in order to force him to find honest work instead of falling back on the family business.  But now that he's such a loser (Ben quoting her retconned words) and the manager quit, he needs to take over the store.  One simple throwaway line like that and suddenly it is back in canon.  Family manipulation is big on sitcoms.

As for the hardware store, did they repurpose the hardware store set from Home Improvement or reproduce it?  Sure looked like it, and it cracked me up.  I think having Dan work at the hardware store is a great way to use his character and get some Dan and Ben scenes.  I do like the tension between the two characters, though I thought Ben's disrespect last night was slightly out of character, though lashing out due to his injured pride was completely in character.  

And I totally judge people by their video backgrounds in Zoom and Webex sessions.  My boss just sent me a webcam and asked that I use it in some upcoming management and government agency meetings, and you betcha I'm stressing out about that and researching blurring or changing my background.  Unfortunately I can't do anything about my ugly mug--unless I turn myself into a potato or cat--so they'll all just have to deal with it.

That said, who does Darlene think she's kidding?  She's a first level supervisor, just one step off the factory floor.  Those execs know she doesn't have a "lake house" unless the basement is flooded.  But I get her stress at not looking too poor.  Why was she doing the meeting from home anyways, the plastic factory is in operation and not shuttered, and she has a workspace there, where she can supervise the floor.  But Becky was home too, so maybe it was a holiday, or a furlough day or something. 

I have no shame.  I did laugh my ass off at the singing fish.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 2/25/2021 at 10:29 PM, ams1001 said:

On 2/25/2021 at 7:42 AM, Snow Apple said:

I could be wrong, but I thought there was a throwaway line about Ben's dad owning a chain? I guess one was in Landford.

I'm just watching now, and yes, during their conversation at the end about Dan coming back, Ben says "chain of hardware stores."

On 2/25/2021 at 11:21 PM, Machiabelly said:

Actually,  I am pretty sure he said chain of hardware STORE. Singular, a self deprecating joke about his business 

Agreed.  It was a joke.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

On 2/28/2021 at 6:36 PM, Marley said:

Dan couldn’t even get by on his drywall job how can he get by working at a hardware store probably making minimum wage.

I wish Ben would shave his beard.

I think it depends. I have known a few contractors who have told me their work is basically feast or famine. Since they are always having to bid on jobs there could be times when you are making good money and times when you make literally nothing. So if you figure that he goes from that to a steady paycheque I can buy it as not being a huge hit. Especially since I think Ben would be too scared to pay Dan minimum wage. Especially since it eliminates a bunch of Dan's overhead costs that he has to pay anyways if he had jobs or not.

[MissLucas]

22 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

As for the hardware store, did they repurpose the hardware store set from Home Improvement or reproduce it?  Sure looked like it, and it cracked me up. 

Glad I'm not the only expecting Al to show up 🤣

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 3/5/2021 at 8:01 AM, Kel Varnsen said:

I think it depends. I have known a few contractors who have told me their work is basically feast or famine. Since they are always having to bid on jobs there could be times when you are making good money and times when you make literally nothing. So if you figure that he goes from that to a steady paycheque I can buy it as not being a huge hit. Especially since I think Ben would be too scared to pay Dan minimum wage. Especially since it eliminates a bunch of Dan's overhead costs that he has to pay anyways if he had jobs or not.

I guess Chuck will be getting all the tools as his payout.

[FairyDusted]

And here I was waiting on Dwight popping out in the hardware store. Now that would be a twist.