Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Well, hello, everybody. It's Jan Arden here, and this is the Jan Arden Podcast. And this is our special pre-summer edition. I'm with Caitlin Green, who is sicker than all get-out in her Toronto condo. And she's going to be coughing and hacking, but such is life. This is the real world. Adam Karsh, our engineer, he is also in...
Toronto. He is not sick. Poppy, my dog, is kind of sick. He got his balls cut off yesterday. I don't know if I can say that.
You just did. But yeah, welcome everybody. How are you guys? Yeah, sick. It finally got me. I tested positive this week. Caitlin got the cocoa, folks. Yeah, I got the Rona. Get better. I know. So it's like it affects everybody so differently. But I always get this like insanely nagging cough when I get any virus and I've been sick
I've been pretty sick twice during the pandemic. Yeah, and you just had colds, Caitlin. Like, you were just always gobsmacked going, I'm testing negative. I'm testing negative. I got a PCR test. I literally have a cold. So I was really surprised to hear you say that, you know, you did get COVID. And you and I had a quick conversation a few days ago just about, you know, not wearing masks and going out a little bit more with people and, you know, having dinners and stuff like that. And you were kind of,
you were going, I think probably that's it is just not having that layer of protection, but you know, what can you do? You have to go do stuff. That's what I think. I think it's the indoor changes for masks. Cause I,
It's not like we were traveling before. We've been seeing people, but we always did so with the mask on because that's A, that was the mandate. And it was just a little more of the time. And we were doing that more when we were indoors. And now it's kind of changed. You can be indoors and you'll see some people wear masks or they wear it to their seat, but then you're having a drink. So you take it off when you're drinking and-
It just happens. So I'm guessing that's what did it for me. Who knows? Who knows? The funny thing is my husband is still testing negative. There's a lot of that. Yeah, the home tests that we have, we have a bunch of them and I've always used them. And I've kind of always questioned them. Like that's why I would go and get the PCRs.
And this time I had the slightest tickle in my throat, like really nothing, but I just wanted to be safe. And so I was like, you know what? I'll take a home test. That's why we have them. Figuring of course it's going to come back negative like it always does. And like right away it was two solid lines just instantaneously. So look, they do work when your viral load clearly is as heavy as mine was all
already with like very few symptoms, then, you know, you'll get a positive home test. So I am isolating and... Yeah. They've been saying, you know, you can get a false negative, but you can't have a false positive. And I think...
that that is sort of the rule of thumb with home testing. But we are so grateful that you are joining us today. And the irony of the show today, Caitlin, is that we're talking, like I said, it's our kind of summer launch special. In a few short days, it is the official beginning of summer, June the 20th. And a couple of weeks ago, we were all set to talk about summer camp, summer food, and
picnics with families. And so we got off on a tangent. I don't know what it was, but here we are. I'm going to try it again. And I have such fond memories of summer and just the excitement. And I guess it all begins with me with the final day of school, like whether I was in elementary school or junior high, the excitement leading up to summer
The summer holiday was palpable. I mean, you counted down the days. You could hardly concentrate sitting in your desk at school. You could hardly stand the thought of having two whole months of where I was running outside
Just being in the trees and hanging out with my two nutty cousin friends up the road, Leonard and Dale, and doing motorbikes and just shooting our pellet guns and bow and arrows. I was just wondering how that was for you, Caitlin, if you can remember that.
you know, that feeling leading up to that. And, and if your folks stuck you in, in summer camp and Adam, I'm going to get you as well. Okay. I think, I feel like when I was really little, I was so excited. And then I hit those sort of like weird mid range ages of like, you know, eight to 12 where you're not quite left on your own, but at that point you sort of want to be, so you're enrolled in these,
day camps that I thought they were all really lame and I didn't like them. I didn't like structure. I didn't like the structure of school. Of course you didn't! Yeah, I was like the structure of school to the structure of summer camp. Now I don't have to go to school, but I have to listen to a bunch of weird teens. And I went to some cool camps. My parents tried. I went to a circus camp down at Harborfront here in Toronto. And it was fine. But it was...
just not like they just weren't for me. I was just a city kid. Like I really wanted to do my own thing. So when I hit 13 and I was allowed to do more of my own thing on like during the day, me and my friends would get a season's pass to Canada's Wonderland.
We'd go there and ride all the rides until we thought we were going to pass out. We'd go walk around the Eaton Center. Like when I could do things at my own pace, then I loved it. And that was the best feeling in the world. But as a little, little kid waiting to go to some YMCA gymnastics camp, I didn't really love it as much. I love the nice weather, but yeah, I wasn't a camp person. They were too regimented. Adam, I know you were like an overnight camper and I had friends who did that.
And that always baffled me because I heard stories like, oh, yeah, it's so great. They'll wake you up at 6 a.m. with an ice cold dip in the lake. I was like, what in God's name? Are you insane? Yeah. Like we eat in a big mess hall. And I was like, this is my nightmare. So that would not have done it for you. But Adam, that was your that was your jam, right? I am a diehard camper camp kid. I went to camp when I was seven or eight. I was a camper. Seven.
or eight is young you were not overnight okay that was day camp that was day camp when i was 12 i went to overnight camp for three years but then i came back to the day camp and then i was on swim staff i was it's uh i was like i'm still involved believe it or not to this day i'm still involved with this camp but i was on swim staff then i was a section head and then i ran a music program for a few years so i i am a diehard camp lover what was the name of your camp again
The day camp is called Camp Robin Hood. It's in Markham Stouffville, just north of the city. And then the overnight camp that I went to was called Camp Winnebago and that's in Huntsville, Ontario. But I was homesick. I was a homesick kid. I loved camp, but I was a very wussy kid. I was very homesick. Toronto has like camps and
And people go to their set camps and then they become counselors at the camps. And when I went to university, I realized I had actually missed out on this whole teen camp culture thing that was really big in Toronto. And that was the only time that I got a bit of FOMO because I was like, oh, I could have met all these cool people that I know now at university when I was in high school. And it kind of would have given you like a separate branch of friends that you don't go to school with every day.
Yeah. I'm still friends with my camp friends. Like from way back in the day, we are still close. We're still tight. And we talk about those days all the time. The best memories of my life was camp. That's so nice. Do you remember the food at all, Adam? Because for me going to camp, food was so big. I don't think, I mean, this is in the,
far reaches of my childhood mind with memory, but I don't think I ever had a better pancake in my life. And it was the crappy fake syrup. I know what you mean. It was the syrup that was literally probably brown food coloring and sugar and water. I don't even know what they made to make it taste like maple, but it was not maple syrup. No one could afford that for 100 kids. No way.
But I just know that like a hot dog and a hamburger, a wiener on a stick, which kind of repulses me now thinking about what's in that wiener. But just on a willow stick that they let us make ourselves. That was one of the activities. You know, the knife. We didn't have enough knives to go around. I remember that.
Some of them were as sharp as you like, and then other ones were just like, you might as well be doing it with the end of your finger. But doing our own sticks to roast our wieners and having a hot dog bun, the only condiments were mustard and ketchup. But it was the best hot dog, the best pancakes. The bags of chips were old Dutch, and they were in wax bags. Yes, yes.
They were like, you'd open up these wax bags of chips. And I don't know. I don't remember having pop. I remember having juice. Yes, bug juice. That's what they call it, bug juice. But just camp food. So thoughts on that?
Well, I remember at overnight camp, I can still taste their chicken wings. I don't know what they did. I think they were honey garlic or something. They were the best chicken wings. But at day camp, they would have cookouts every so often. Like you brought your lunch. So, I mean, you packed your lunch. I still have my Empire Strikes Back chicken.
plastic thermos, whatever. That'd be worth something, Adam. I bet it is. I totally, I don't use it, but I totally still have my Empire Strikes Back lunchbox. But I remember at the cookouts, something about a half,
burnt hamburger on a crappy white bun as you said with ketchup and mustard oh just heavenly as a kid it was the best taste because there's something about cooking over an open campfire it's just the wooden parts flavor it's so good see i just missed all this i was like my food was the funnel cakes uh you know canada's wonderland that does sound good i would eat a funnel cake right freaking now oh my gosh if i had one in front of me right now i would eat it
Yeah, that was like that was my camp food. Again, that's like a city kid or you go to the mall at the Eaton Center and we'd go to like cultures and get smoothies or you go to New York fries or whatever. That was sort of like the equivalent of camp food for all my friends who stayed in town. I remember we did Sloppy Joe's too. Yeah. Yeah. Sloppy Joe's. Mom made Sloppy Joe's.
I still see the packages of the mix, you know, when you're going through shopping malls or grocery stores. But it was a big deal. And I think we didn't get a chance to eat food like that at home. I mean, it was pretty... We didn't have fun food. Let's put it that way. It was pretty...
economical and mom would open a can of corn and we'd have a really, really overcooked pork chop. And like my mom wasn't the greatest cook. I love you, mom, wherever you are in heaven. I hope you're not in, I hope you're not in the kitchen. You're, you're listening to the Jan Arden podcast. We're talking about our pre-summer show. Lots to talk about today. Bathing suit bodies,
you know, tipping at restaurants. It's kind of a mishmash, but we've got lots of fun ahead. Don't go away. I'm here with Caitlin and Adam. We'll be right back.
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And it is exciting. Caitlin was mentioning that she's got the cocoa and she's looking out the window at such a beautiful weather week in Toronto. It's so weird. You know, we're not lying here. If we have any American international listeners, summer in Canada is barely starting now. We're barely getting into like some actual summer.
Warm weather. It's in Celsius. We're probably going into the 20 degrees Celsius. I would say that's in the high 70s for the rest of the world, Americans certainly. But yeah, Caitlin, you're sitting looking at the world go by right now, but you're going to be out of it in no time.
I hope so. I feel like an indoor cat. That's a great analogy. Toronto's been, like, we've had some cold snaps here and there, but I remember, I think, like, Adam, like, maybe back in, like, May, early May, or even...
Even April, sometimes Toronto has these weird weather patterns where you'll get like this 30 degree weekend. Yes. And it's so great. So I just, I'm really excited to be over this and like back out on a patio and doing things again. But yeah, I got to get my, I got to get my negative tests under control.
You will. It's you will. I mean, I've had, you know, we've talked about this before, but so many friends and early days in my tour. I'm still on tour, by the way. It's so weird to be home right now for the day. I play in Calgary tonight, which is you guys will be listening to this podcast tomorrow. But tonight I'm in Calgary and then tomorrow night I'll be in Edmonton. But I'm telling you, it is frustrating when...
Whenever I've had a summertime cold, you hit the nail on the head, Caitlin, feeling like an indoor cat looking out the window. And as I was going to say, the summers are so short in Canada. If you are anywhere along this northern band of the planet, we really do, and I'm not exaggerating here, we have three months of summer. And that is the truth. Yep.
June, July, August, sometimes September can be stellar, but we can also start getting really cold weather in the evenings, lots of rain in September. But here we are. And in Vancouver, my friends in Vancouver have been in agony. They have had so much rain.
this past month and they're usually ahead of us summertime wise but they're not. They're all being indoor cats looking out going I'm not going to rack another pair of shoes and I'm not going out into this. That's why I couldn't do Vancouver living. It's such a beautiful place but it's just not sunny enough and
That's saying something for Canada. Yeah. I couldn't do it. And I do think we get part of our summer plans wrong here in Canada because we don't do the smart sort of Scandinavian European model of a nice chunk of time off for the whole country because...
if you've spent any time vacationing in like, you know, Sweden or Denmark, they'll have an almost entire month shut down. And they all say it's because they feel like they're losing their minds with how long their winter is. And they're light. Yeah.
Yeah, their light situation is a bit different. I think they have less of it in parts of northern Sweden and stuff, obviously, than we do here in Canada. But they take this really nice stretch of time off because they recognize that they're a cold weather country. And that when the sun comes out, they want to be with their friends and family. They want to get outside. And I don't know, we've got to get on top of that because...
Like, it's not like your economy is falling apart or anything. Sweden's doing pretty well. Yeah, they sure are. Well, there's something about vitamin D. I mean, that's the science of mood. It alters how we feel. Obviously, we're a lot more active in Canada. There's so much outdoor activity. I just know, even the vibe when I was in Ontario the last couple of weeks just on tour, it
I felt energized. I felt lifted up. I felt this sense of joy. And I don't know about you guys, but hopefulness.
I just felt hopeful because the sun was shining. People were holding hands going down the street. They were lined up going to clubs. It wasn't like the dead of winter. You don't see lineups for the clubs in the dead of winter. You don't see the kids out there lined up vaping, waiting to get into a club in November. It's not going to happen. So there's this thing that you know there's a time restriction and you want to cram everything
single moment into this piece of time, you know, and you're talking about eating outside and being in outdoor patios, everything's packed. And of course, we all want to be outside because of COVID. And, you know, sit out there and have our beer and our, but there's something about
you know, just being a better tipper. I was reading something like a couple of days ago on one of my many traveling stints in the car when I'm like, what am I going to do with myself? Oh, I'll read, I'll read the internet. But they were talking about how much better people tip in the summer. And I was wondering what your take was on that, Caitlin. Like, is, is there any truth to that? People are like, the tipping is way better. I think it's because people feel happier.
Yeah, that would definitely be it. Everyone's in a better mood. If you're on a patio, you're probably also there a bit longer, having more drinks, maybe your total is higher. You're just in looser spirits. But I do know that tipping has become this crazy bone of contention, especially in cities like Toronto, where it was already expensive. And now gas, inflation, the cost of everything has gone up. And if you notice on certain bills now, they have a kitchen surcharge.
And I've seen that. What, what is that? Yes. Like they're covering for the cost of inflation. And instead of business owners building it into their business model or paying their employees more or anything like that, they, it passes onto the customer, passes onto the customer. And we went from a society where tipping, you know, I used to see 15% as like a, an option for people to tip, right? Like tipping 15% used to be,
Pretty good. Now 15% is like the El Cheapo option. You have to tip 20. 20%.
Yeah, 20% is like the median. And then 22 to 25, I still see some places. And you're being hit up at every corner. Like I saw a tweet that said, whenever I pay, I go to pay for something and I see an iPad get pulled out to pay. I know I'm about to be asked to tip on a service I've never been tipping for before in my life. And I'm like, what is happening here? Like I'm tipping for every single thing under the sun.
And I think we're verging on like a pushback because a lot of times, number one, like I didn't get great service. Number two, I didn't get service at all. Maybe I served myself. And, uh, and so maybe the summer tipping will like boost for a bit, but I could see it going back down because people are cranky about it right now. Have you ever not tipped you guys?
Like, have you ever said this was so crap that I'm not tipping? I left a bad tip, but I've never not tipped. What is a bad tip? Like, like less than 10% on terrible service. And I'm pretty easy going at a restaurant. Like it has to be brutally bad, terrible service to not leave a good tip.
Yeah, I can't. I've never been able to bring myself to go lower than 10%. And usually if it's if it's 10%, I'm saying something like I'll wait and be like, this is a bad tip because this was a really bad experience. Yes. Yeah, yeah, I get it.
It's just because I feel like I used to be a server and sometimes they're busy or maybe they're not paying attention or who knows. And it's kind of an opportunity for them to say, oh, maybe they're short-staffed or whatever the case may be. Even still, it's not worth it if you have a big belt.
And you're like, I've been treated like crap and I've been sitting here waiting for water and my food was terrible, blah, blah, blah, blah. Then, yeah, I don't see any point in tipping. It's like become this weird moral obligation. And I just feel like that's because we as a society, unlike places, other places in the world, don't make our hourly wage a living wage. And that's what we should have done the whole time is make your hourly wage a living wage. Then a tip really is a tip.
You're giving people a better quality of life and business owners have to build salaries into their business model. It's like, it's just not an option. Yeah. Even on either the cruise that I did, you know, six weeks back a month back, um,
I was asking about tipping because I remember going with mom and dad on the big cruises and there was little envelopes in your rooms that you would, you know, obviously leave some cash in for your housekeeping staff, for the kitchen staff. And on the scenic cruise that I was on, we are not sponsored by scenic, there was no tipping.
It was all included in the price of the cruise, which made me feel pretty good. And they were, and I said, does the staff benefit? They said, absolutely. Within their wage, they are allotted a certain percentage. Everyone gets it equally. And I thought that was a great idea. Anyway, there's lots to talk about. I'm going to talk about the dreaded summer body coming up after the break and
I don't know what it's like for men. I know what it's like for me as a woman, but we're going to talk about it. I really want to get your thoughts on this. You're listening to the Jan Arden podcast. I'm here with Caitlin Green and Adam. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the Jan Arden podcast pre-summer special. Um, just to wrap up a little bit of the, uh, tipping, uh, extravaganza conversation. Um,
I just want you to know in Banff right now, which is typically a hotbed for young people from all over the world to come there and work during the summer, they usually have a surplus. Australian kids get like a six-month visa. They have kids coming from Europe, Ireland, Scotland, the Eastern Ukraine, all over the place.
They are 3,000 people short in Banff. They're missing about 40% of their hospitality staff. They're really struggling there right now. Most hotels are not even offering room service. So...
You know, the hospitality sector has always been a tough gig. So I do feel for people that are serving drunk people in the summertime, I think we can all agree on that. It starts out good, but by hour three of people sitting on a patio, I think it can get pretty hairy for servers. I feel like also it's just communication. Like when I was a bartender, if we were down, you know, enough that we felt service was impacted,
Like I would, I would tell people, and I know that some places wouldn't take that approach. They're like, you just have to suck it up and make sure no customers notice. It's impossible. And so especially if you have regulars or, you know, you had a really busy night, sometimes you would just say, look, two people called in sick, doing everything we can. I think people give you the benefit of the doubt. It's when there's no communication that I think you start to hit a snag in people's mind of like, why
Why am I paying for this? Why is the service so bad? So I feel like if, you know, especially if you're in a place like Banff and all of a sudden you're realizing we've lost 40% of our normal staff. 40%? Yeah. And you say to people when they come around, hey, super happy to have you here. We're going to bend over backwards for you. We have lost 40% of our seasonal staff.
because of X, Y, and Z. So if you notice it's a little slower. If you have to ask me for something twice, that's why I'm definitely like trying to pay attention. And then some places I hate when they do this, they don't let you just bring a pitcher of water over to the table. Like as a server, their policy is no, you should be on top of it going around and constantly filling up. No, just give everyone a giant pitcher of ice water. It's all they want. Let them serve themselves.
If it's like white, you know, glove dining, then maybe that's not the look for you. Maybe get a nice carafe or something. But I do find that a lot of it is organizational too from having worked in the service industry myself. It's just crappy managers. My favorite thing about Denny's is always getting the carafe of coffee.
Oh, yes. That's the best. That's the best. When you have waited and you get your table and you're going to Denny's and you're going to go have your breakfast. Come on, Denny's, sponsor this show. And you get your freaking carafe and the decaf one has a little red lid, little red dot on it. So you're at the table going, that's my decaf. And they just keep bringing the sugar and the creamers. And the last time I was at Denny's, they even brought me a little carafe of oat milk.
I was like, what is happening, Denny's? I'm loving you. I love that. Anyway, it is, you know, be kind to your server. I read this little op-ed piece last week. An owner of, he was, I don't, I can't remember what the restaurant he was in. It was a Winnipeg restaurant. And anyway, the owner of the restaurant the last couple of months has been washing dishes.
because they can't get staff. And he said, I don't know where my head has been really the last 15 years of running a restaurant. He said, I don't know if I'd forgotten because I started out as a dishwasher at like 15 years old. He said, I'm going to pay my dishwashers more. I'm going to, because he's been doing like four or five hours a day, just trying to keep on top of the dishes in his restaurant because they don't have enough dishwashing staff.
So anyway, I think we all can safely say that it is a tough job. The service industry, serving the public is really difficult. And boy, if there was ever a time to tip a little bit more, to be kind, to be patient. Every hotel I've been in, and I mean every single one without exception, you guys, along this tour,
We have a note with our key that said we are short-staffed. Unfortunately, there will be no room service. We have some things available in the lobby in our little cafe thing that they've set up. It's an honor bar. You know, if you take a bag of chips or a ramen soup, you know, there's money there. Or please go to the front desk and you can put it on your room. So that's where we're at. And that has been across the board.
Yeah. And that's to me, like, that's just getting in front of a problem. It's the places that don't do that. And it always falls down, in my opinion, to crappy management. Because you're like, okay, if you communicate to your guests, this is what we're dealing with. And you provide a little solution, which is like, serve yourself food options, which I don't think people in hotels really mind anyways, then you're all set. Yep.
Absolutely. Which brings us to our next topic, summertime bodies, the absolute pounding of messaging that starts, oh, probably just after Christmas. Get ready. Get your summertime bod ready. I know that it's a little worse for women. Maybe I'm being impartial or maybe I'm taking sides here, but women are inundated with
get ready, lose that 10 pounds. You know, summertime's coming. Don't you want the best beach body? I don't know. The messaging to me is so asinine. I don't even know what to say. The pressure, what it puts on people to feel like in order for them to put on a bathing suit, that they have to look a certain way. And I hope in somebody's lifetime, it certainly won't be mine, that this goes away.
Yeah. And it's also, it's so boring. It's the world's most boring content is people giving you tips about how to lose weight, how to get summer body ready. Because basically we all know it's calories in calories out. This is not rocket science. You want to lose weight. That's how you do it. You don't want to lose weight. Good for you. Don't do it.
just eat what you want and then put on a bathing suit and go enjoy your life at the beach. Like I just find it to be, it's like content creation all the time. That's what it is. They're always selling something. They're always selling a product or a bathing suit or, you know, a stretch mark reducer or a self tanner or something like that is at the root of it. Or it's just like, it's Meg. It's maybe used to be magazines, but magazines, it's TV. It's everywhere. It's omnipresent. It's, it's, it's all these things. They just need content.
And they're like, oh, what kind of seasonal content can we go? Don't do this one. This one's so boring. Seasonal content around weight loss to go to the beach is the biggest snooze fest for me on earth because most people know how to do it. And it doesn't make anybody feel good. No one's doing it feeling good. Like reading doesn't make people feel good. You know, if you want to talk about how to like,
enjoy your summer. That's fine. But I just, this always kind of has stuck out to me as being a place where media drops the ball. Cause I don't think it's engaging content anyways. Like I just don't think it's entertaining. Yeah. You know, depending on where you are in the world, it is a very different story. It's a very different narrative. When I've, I was in Atlantis just pre COVID and,
and it's in the Bahamas. So it's definitely a summertime destination. You fly in there with your family. Atlantis has got the most amazing outdoor water park. And I was so filled with joy. And I've been to Miami. I've been to Los Angeles on Venice Beach. I've been to Maui. I've been to Cuba. I've been to so many summertime places. There's something about North America that is
very difficult to look at as far as the bathing suit beach culture. But when I was out of that, there was so much joy in people being
every possible size wearing bathing suits, going down the water slides in Atlantis. I saw every shape of body in the world participating, going around on the floaties on the, on the little river that they make that goes around the entire resort. And, and there's a real huge difference with the mentality here that if you are of a certain size that you're not allowed to wear a bikini, there's, there's a,
It's just a vibe. I don't like it. I don't like how we treat each other, how we judge each other on that. Maybe it's an age thing too, but the last 10 years, I've just turned 60, no surprise. I've been wearing a bikini and getting in the pool and doing my thing and damn the torpedoes. And I've been a lot of different weights in my life, but I tell you what, there was a 30-year period of
that I wouldn't wear a bikini in a pool or on a beach. And I hope you young women listening and you young men don't wait that long to liberate yourself, to throw that on. Use your sunscreen, by God, because you're going to burn. Now that you don't have your T-shirt and your gym shorts on to go into the pool, you're going to get fried. So make sure. But just as a note to you guys, a love note from me, from the Jan show to you guys, wear the damn bikini.
whatever you want. Wear your bathing suit, wear a t-shirt over it, wear boxer shorts. Men too, if you want to wear a banana boat, a wiener hammock, I don't know what they're calling it. Don't let yourself succumb to that kind of messaging. We're going to be right back. We're going to keep talking about this because I want to ask my counterparts here some more summertime bathing suit questions. We'll be right back. Music
Wow, the show is going by fast because it's summertime and because we've all been indoor cats.
As Caitlin so aptly pointed out, for like eight months. Eight months, folks. Eight months, listeners of the world. Eight months we have been looking out windows waiting to do this. Although we are an intrepid bunch. And you will see Calgarians certainly marching around in snow with stilettos on. And I kid you not. I have seen so many women waiting at bus stops with like an open-toed sandal. You're like, what is happening?
Oh my God. Anyhow, and you'll always see some knucklehead wearing cargo shorts and it is 25 below. And that's the truth. Yeah. Um, bathing suits, Caitlin, you, you said that there was, um, on the break that there was some really cool brands, uh,
that were catering to all different shapes and sizes in summer wear. Yeah, like if you go on Instagram, my algorithm finally figured out that I wanted more than just the same three things over and over again. And there was a line called CUP, C-U-U-P. Just bought one? Yeah. Really? Yeah.
And it's like for, you know, if you have a larger chest and like more and more sizes now are going up to like, you know, like 3X, 4X, like, you know, size 16. And then there are also these really cool companies that are selling not so much shapewear, but it's undergarments that are supposed to help you with like anti-chafing. And there's one called Thigh Society.
And it's like these really cool, they're like cooling, almost like sheer bicycle shorts for women that you would wear under a dress or a skirt or whatever. In the summertime, but you're not rubbing your legs. Thank you. What's your call, Caitlyn?
Thigh Society. Thigh Society, folks. Go and check that out. Yeah, I haven't been able to order anything from them yet because the cooling ones that I wanted were sold out. But this is like... Sold out. What does that tell you, Caitlin? Sold out. And again, this is for people who are curvy. But this is also for people who just like...
get a little sweaty in the summer. This is just for everybody to stop pretending that it's like, oh, well, women are just these dainty, delicate flowers who never sweat in the summer and everyone's a size four. It's like, what a load of crap. And that's what I mean by like all these segments and all these,
products being really, really boring now and they're not selling out. And these new products are, and these new ad campaigns that you see with a full range of bodies and abilities and people, they're much more successful and they're much more engaging because we're
brands finally are coming around to the fact that when you see yourself represented in a campaign or represented with a product, you're more likely to buy it because you feel like this is for me. Like for me personally, if I see something online now, a lot of people shop online. Um, if I see something online and they only feature it on like a five foot 10 size two model, I'm not going to buy it because I don't actually know what it's ever going to look like on me.
So if they feature it on a more regular sized person, I'll be more inclined to buy it because I think I can trust it. Otherwise, I have to wait until I can try it on myself in store, which may not happen. And in that interim, I'm going to go to one of these cooler upstart brands and buy a bathing suit that I'm actually seeing on a woman who's a size eight or 12 because you're like, okay, this is a more regular body. It's not Photoshopped within an inch of its life.
I just think that the homogenization has to end because it's not a good sales tactic. And like I said, it's just like, it's a snooze. I'm not interested in it. It assumes that one way of looking is the only hot way to look. And it's so not how people experience each other at all in real life. There isn't, you know, getting back to just sitting on my little lounge chair in Atlantis watching TV.
you know, people loving the day and being in bikinis and tankinis and trunks and, you know, sports shorts and, and a, and a sports bra, like whatever you wanted to go into the water with. And I just, I loved that, that there was no one looking like they were sidelined or
you know, wrapped up in a whatever, you know, going, I don't, I'm too scared to take this off. And I want to bring this up too. How many times have I looked at pictures from even 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, and thought at the time when the picture was taken,
I look so, I'd look bad. My arms don't look right. Oh, I don't like my legs. You know, I remember, I just, I remember my, my friends doing that. And then you look at that same picture, even five years later and you're going, what was I thinking? I looked fantastic. I do that. Yeah.
Happens all the time. You do that, Adam? I do. I look back and I thought like, you know, at the time I'm like, I'm not in good shape. And then I look back, I'm like, I was all right, actually. I was okay. Nope.
Not bad. Yeah. Like, why are we all so hard on ourselves? It's just bizarre. And then I also think of like leading up to friends weddings or a bachelorette that was taking place and like a hot destination or whatever, the lengths I would go to, like the diving lengths that I would go to. That hurts me, Caitlin. And it's, it's true. Like I, and I mean, sure. I would like look at photos and I looked thin, but,
but I'm also like, what does it matter? Like nobody is looking at these. A, no one's looking at these photos and B, you're stuck in this, again, really boring one dimensional cycle of being like, am I hot? Am I hot yet? And it's just not any fun. It's really, really boring. So I think eventually with age, you snap out of it. And I hope everyone kind of does because it's just not a nice way to live your life. Health is wealth.
Health is wealth. My entire career from the moment I started, um, professionally, like I've been with universal for 30 years now, I've been called fat. I've been called fat, uh, in every kind of roundabout way that you can possibly imagine. The, the, the topic always comes up of how fat I am and how do I, how do, how does she have even have a career? She's so fat.
She's so ugly. It's been a constant. But Adam, I know that too, but this has been a constant. If I wasn't the type of person that I am, it really never has bothered me because I don't see myself in that frame at all. But someone who does have a super tender heart,
I'm an empath, but I'm tough too. My hard drinking dad instilled in me a toughness and just a way of making my way through the world. I had to be a resilient young kid.
And that was a good thing that came out of a bad thing with my dad, right? But I just, I look at myself now and I'm like, there's no way that this anonymous throng of screamers is ever going to affect my life in any way. But for a lot of people, it does. For a lot of young men and women, that throng of anonymous crap talkers stifles people from living their real lives, their true lives. And that bugs me.
And also I think the positive reinforcement that I hear a lot of other artists say they received when they were at really unhealthy points in their life. So like Alanis Morissette has spoken openly about how she was struggling with disordered eating and she had lost so much weight and she was like faint going to photo shoots because she wasn't getting enough calories, but that she was surrounded by this positive reinforcement telling her how fabulous she looked.
When in reality, she was really struggling physically and emotionally. And so it's like, at what cost? Like to tell for a bunch of people who don't even know you to give you compliments and you're at your lowest. And then for someone like you, where all those criticisms, A, were not even true. And B, you were like, but you know what? I feel good and I feel centered in myself and confident. Like it's just such a nicer way to live.
Um, so I think that we just oversimplify things and act like looking thin and hot as the be all and end all of,
in life and it's for other people and it's fleeting. It's like how many compliments from strangers is it going to take for you to feel like a full person? Exactly. And let's be mindful how we compliment people because there's much more to all of us than our physical appearance. You know, the way a person dresses and the way their hair is and their eyes and their skin and their, you know, their intellect and their humor. Let's find those places in
in everyday conversation to lift each other up and cheer each other on. Anyway, we're going to have lots of summertime conversations. Caitlin, we hope you get better. Adam, thank you once again for, you know,
giving your positivity and, and cheering on the camp kids. Um, we're here every week. Subscribe, subscribe to the Jan Arden podcast. So you don't miss us. We are so grateful for you guys. Week after week after week. We love hearing from you. Um, and have a great frigging week and we'll talk to you next Saturday. This is me, Jan Arden signing off. Totally do. Bye.
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