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Getting Frisky at the Black Rose with Erika Casupanan

Getting Frisky at the Black Rose with Erika Casupanan

Released Wednesday, 13th December 2023
 2 people rated this episode
Getting Frisky at the Black Rose with Erika Casupanan

Getting Frisky at the Black Rose with Erika Casupanan

Getting Frisky at the Black Rose with Erika Casupanan

Getting Frisky at the Black Rose with Erika Casupanan

Wednesday, 13th December 2023
 2 people rated this episode
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

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0:00

Hey, it's Alex from Normal Gossip. You

0:03

have probably heard a couple of

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Radiotopia fundraiser ads at this point,

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but I wanted to come to you directly

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as a producer and talk about why Radiotopia

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matters. If you're

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listening to this, you are a fan

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that podcasts have really exploded over

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ton of money that was infused

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Most of the people who got rich were

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It is really difficult to

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When I came to Defector

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Gossip, I wanted to try

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back in February about why

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explained on the previous ads,

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you know, where your money goes

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and why it's important that you're donating if

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want to share from a producer's perspective.

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Radiotopia makes it possible for all kinds

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of weirdos to get their work out

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there and actually make

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money. Nobody's becoming a

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are surviving, which is more than

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of places where podcasts are made.

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Radiotopia is a place that cares

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It's not about clout for them.

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So if we reach our goal of 1,000 new

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can head to radiotopia.fm slash donate

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to make your gift today. Thanks

3:38

so much. Hello,

3:46

and welcome to normal gossip. I'm Kelsey McKinney.

3:49

In each episode of this podcast, we're going

3:51

to bring you an anonymous morsel of

3:53

gossip from the real world. I

3:56

am so excited to have with

3:58

me today, Erica Kasupin and Erica. Welcome.

4:01

Thank you. I am so excited to be

4:03

here today. I love this podcast. Oh my

4:05

God. I am a huge fan. So I'm thrilled

4:07

to have you here. I will tell

4:09

the people who you are. Erika is

4:11

the winner of Survivor 41 and

4:14

the first Canadian winner ever. She's

4:16

also a keynote speaker, media personality,

4:18

and the host of the Happy

4:20

to See Me podcast where she

4:22

has inspirational chats with people who

4:25

have been overlooked and underestimated. She

4:27

recently returned to reality TV on

4:29

the Traders Canada. Erika, welcome. Thank

4:32

you so much. I

4:37

want to talk specifically about

4:39

your season of Survivor just because I think

4:41

people give people a little insight into how

4:43

gossip on the game may or may not

4:45

function. In your

4:48

season right before the official merge,

4:50

you got sent in what seems like

4:52

a very traumatic experience to File Island.

4:55

You were given an important choice. Can

4:58

you explain the choice and

5:00

then also how gossip

5:02

impacted your decision? Yes.

5:05

Okay. This choice is just insane.

5:07

It was the first time they did this on Survivor

5:09

where I got sent, you

5:12

know, very humbly sent to live on

5:14

an island by myself. And you're right,

5:16

it was a traumatic, but life changing

5:18

and character building experience. And

5:21

everyone else who was back at the main camp,

5:23

there were half of the people who won the

5:26

competition and they were safe and they were the

5:28

ones who sent me there. And then there was

5:30

the other half of the people who did not

5:32

win the competition and then they were not safe.

5:35

And then I had the opportunity to symbolically break

5:37

this hourglass with a hammer and go

5:40

back in time and change the result of

5:42

the competition. So the people who were

5:44

safe are now vulnerable and vice versa. Yes.

5:48

I made the decision to change the results, but

5:50

there was something specifically

5:52

that I remember

5:55

from that experience where the people

5:57

who won that competition said that

5:59

they did. decided how they

6:01

were going to make the decision based on a

6:03

game of rock paper scissors. And I'm just like,

6:07

I never saw the fist

6:09

go up and down. Okay, I never

6:11

saw any symbol, not a rock paper

6:13

or scissor be revealed. And I'm also

6:15

thinking, this is a high

6:18

stakes televised game. No one is

6:20

making a decision like this based

6:22

on rock paper scissors. So for

6:24

some reason, it's like their decision

6:26

to justify their decision to open

6:29

it by saying it was like, based on a

6:31

game versus based on a game, like a game

6:33

decision. I'm like, No, no, no, this is you

6:35

trying to like soften for a blow

6:38

for me. And I'm just like, then I know

6:40

that that's not true. I'm always assuming gossip and

6:42

always information. So I know that that's not true.

6:44

So it's like signals to me. I'm like, Okay,

6:47

I can't ride with these people. I

6:49

have to choose myself first to choose

6:51

my safety first. And then sorry, you

6:53

guys are unsafe now, but not sorry.

6:55

I love that. And I think like

6:57

now if those people are to bring you information in

6:59

the future, you're going to be taking that with

7:01

like a whole box of course, sea salt, right?

7:03

Like I don't believe you for a second.

7:07

Is there anything else you'd like to talk about

7:09

about how gossip works on survivor? I

7:11

think any reality show, especially

7:13

these reality strategy games, it's so built

7:15

in gossip, right? Because the truth is

7:17

based on what people say about themselves

7:20

and each other. So we're actually always

7:22

gossiping to each other saying, this person

7:24

wants to target this person, but then

7:26

you go to somebody else and you

7:29

say this person's targeting this person, and

7:31

then you hear all these stories. And

7:33

you have to be able to deduce

7:35

which one is the real one. And

7:38

by creating these gossip stories about each

7:40

other, then we can make someone seem

7:42

more trustworthy or make somebody seem more

7:45

threatening. So that is a huge element

7:47

of playing the game. And then something

7:49

else that I realized after I finished

7:51

watching the show is even

7:54

what you see on TV is the

7:56

result of gossip because it's like, what

7:58

do the players say about themselves? each

8:00

other in their confessionals. And then

8:02

I learned from making friends with

8:05

producers is that the producers could

8:07

be on the same beach and

8:09

seeing the same conversation, right? They

8:11

could interpret it going differently

8:13

where they're like I think this person had the

8:15

upper hand, another producer could say I think this

8:18

person had the upper hand, but then it goes

8:20

through their machine where they talk about it and

8:22

it goes through producers, editors, executive producers, and then

8:24

somehow it's like a game of telephone and then

8:27

what you see on TV is like the end

8:29

result of that gossip. So it's all just

8:31

like hearsay and telephone really. So it's also

8:33

like a POV battle, right? Where it's like

8:35

you have one producer saying I saw it

8:37

this way and someone else saying it that

8:39

I saw it this way and then eight

8:41

people down the line they're like we think

8:43

both these people hate each other. It's like

8:45

what? Exactly. So it's like yeah it's like

8:49

what you watch on TV is really just like a

8:52

rumor that has gone so far and now

8:54

it's on primetime TV. You know

8:56

I love that for us as

8:58

the American people. That's great

9:00

television. Birdie told me that

9:02

you brought a gossip to share with me. Is that

9:04

true? Yeah so this is like

9:07

a vintage high school gossip I can share.

9:09

I love history. Great. Alright

9:11

so this was back when I was in

9:13

high school so this was something that happened

9:15

in a high school in my hometown and

9:17

you know how in high school girls tend

9:19

to form groups where it's like the

9:22

four of us are best friends and we

9:24

have a name for our group. Yeah. So

9:26

there were four girls who were best friends

9:28

and then just outside of the group there

9:30

was a girl named Caitlin who was not

9:32

in the foursome. Is this mean girls? Okay

9:35

continue. Great. I love it. It's actually very similar.

9:37

So yes there's this Caitlin

9:43

who is the fifth person she's

9:45

not in the group but she hangs out and

9:47

it's worth mentioning there's also a Caitlin who was

9:49

in the group because at this point in time

9:52

everyone is named Caitlin. Well yeah. It looks like

9:54

there's a tall Caitlin and there's a small Caitlin

9:56

but anyways. Not to get

9:58

them confused. Okay thank you. So then

10:00

one day, and remember,

10:02

this is the time where MSN is

10:05

a big deal, Geo City Sites, big

10:07

deal. One day someone

10:09

begins hacking the MSN accounts

10:12

of these four girls and

10:14

then someone is hacking their

10:16

Geo City Sites, revealing secrets,

10:18

talking shit, conversations with crushes

10:20

are being sabotaged, new MSN

10:22

accounts impersonating them are being

10:24

creative. It's just like this

10:26

online warfare back in the

10:28

early 2000s. And these

10:30

four girls are like, what is going

10:32

on? And then they realized who would

10:34

know all of these secrets? And they're

10:36

like, Oh, it's the small Caitlin.

10:39

So then naturally these girls are

10:41

like, okay, small Caitlin, we don't want

10:43

to be friends with you anymore. If

10:46

you're attacking us online, well, Caitlin, please

10:48

give us our accounts back. We're trying

10:50

to DM our crushes. Exactly. It's like,

10:52

think of all of the weird, like

10:54

high school makeouts that have been prevented

10:56

because of the small Caitlin. No, so

10:59

when small Caitlin is like,

11:01

I'm not doing this goes to the

11:03

principal's office because she's feeling shut out

11:05

by this group. The principal

11:07

calls in parents, the girls

11:10

are like, we're not bullying small

11:12

Caitlin, small Caitlin is bullying us.

11:14

And then small Caitlin is

11:16

just so mortified, she ends up disappearing

11:19

from school for a few months, gets

11:22

I don't know, gets homeschooled or something and then

11:24

shows up next year. And there's just like

11:27

kinda to herself and the dynamic is never

11:29

the same with this small Caitlin. But the

11:31

girls are like, okay, then

11:33

you were sabotaging us. Of course, this is happening.

11:36

Small Caitlin. It's like, sweetie, you

11:38

hacked four accounts. Exactly. You are

11:40

the only one who knows all

11:42

of these secrets. You're doing crimes.

11:46

So then years later, years

11:48

later, one of the girls in

11:51

the group as an adult catches up with

11:53

one of the other girls in the group.

11:55

And then somehow it

11:57

all clicks to her that. It

12:00

was not small Caitlin. It

12:02

was actually tall Caitlin who

12:05

was bringing small Caitlin because she

12:07

was afraid that small Caitlin was

12:09

getting too close to the group.

12:12

And apparently there's only room for one

12:14

Caitlin. It's a Caitlin war. It was

12:16

the Caitlins versus Caitlin. So now it's

12:18

like- Holy shit. I don't know if

12:20

there's ever been justice for small Caitlin.

12:22

I don't know if tall Caitlin is

12:24

living with guilt, but it was

12:26

just a Caitlin war. I

12:28

think tall Caitlin should be living with guilt.

12:30

Justice for small Caitlin. That's a fair. There's

12:33

a Caitlin. She had to

12:35

leave school. She was being bullied. I

12:38

know and the other girls didn't realize that they were

12:40

just clearly getting the wrong

12:42

information. And tall Caitlin

12:44

was actually the puppet master the whole

12:46

time. Oh my God. If

12:49

a small Caitlin is listening today, I

12:52

hope you're okay. I hope you're justified in

12:55

knowing that the truth is out there. Yeah,

12:57

it's time for you to seek vengeance. You

12:59

know what I mean? You

13:02

were right. Oh

13:04

man. I feel so bad for small Caitlin

13:06

and I'm also like tall Caitlin.

13:09

It's not your fault that your parents gave you the same

13:11

name as everyone else. But that doesn't mean

13:13

you have to wage wars. Exactly.

13:16

Scarcity mindset and friendship. No, thank you.

13:19

I know. And like one of them

13:21

could have gone as a Katie. One could have

13:23

been a Kate. Those all could have been prevented.

13:25

Alyn, you have so many options. Yes, Alyn.

13:27

Alyn. Erica,

13:30

thank you for bringing me to this gossip. I

13:33

am going to be haunted by it perhaps forever.

13:35

And that's the best kind of gossip.

13:39

Do you wanna hear the gossip that I have for you?

13:42

Yes, I would love to. Oh my God, okay,

13:44

great. Thank you, Erica. Thank

13:47

you. Thank you. iy.

13:57

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15:13

You know how when you like see people

15:15

over and over and over again, like you're in

15:18

very close proximity to them over a period of

15:20

time, you get like a kind of blindness

15:22

that causes you to believe that they're hot?

15:25

Yes, definitely. Today's

15:28

story is about when you

15:30

combine this kind of proximity

15:32

obsession with a workplace. Ooh,

15:34

okay. Do you have any experience

15:37

with this dynamic? I've

15:39

never had a workplace crash. Okay,

15:42

great. I think you're gonna love this. Okay,

15:44

can't wait. Here we go.

15:46

I want you to imagine like palm

15:48

trees, a small

15:51

main street with like pastel colored

15:53

homes, bridges everywhere. The

15:55

houses have like columns on them,

15:57

large sprawling oak trees. It's

15:59

like. the kind of city where

16:01

light is dappled. Yeah, I'm

16:03

like, okay, I'm like, this

16:06

is like what, an American

16:08

South rom-com? Yes.

16:10

Okay. This is like the kind of

16:13

city that is like so historically haunted that it

16:15

has been rebranded as Tui. Right? Like

16:17

that's what we're working with. Okay, so there could

16:19

be some spookiness to this too. Always

16:21

here, it is wedding season. Always,

16:24

it is bachelorette season. Always, it

16:26

is someone's 50th wedding anniversary. I

16:28

know exactly where we are. Okay. I

16:31

love that. Here

16:33

in this city, right on the

16:35

water, is a sprawling luxury hotel.

16:38

Big pool, striped umbrellas, rooms

16:41

with ceilings up to the sky. Think

16:43

like white lotus American South. Can you

16:45

help me name this hotel? Can we

16:47

call it the Black Rose? We sure

16:50

can. In the spirit of white lotus.

16:53

Beautiful. So we are here at the Black Rose. Have

16:55

you ever stayed in a fancy hotel? What's your take

16:57

on them? I have stayed

16:59

in a fancy hotel and I'm like, this is

17:01

a treat. I'm going to use every amenity. I'm

17:03

going to spend time in the bathtub no matter

17:06

how busy the schedule is. And

17:08

if somebody wants to carry stuff to my

17:10

room wearing a top hat, by all

17:12

means. That is your

17:14

luxury and you deserve it. Our

17:17

story today is about the people wearing the top hats.

17:19

It's about people who work at this

17:21

luxury hotel. Oh my God, okay.

17:24

Their goal is to make this run so

17:26

smoothly that like no one ever needs anything.

17:29

They are anonymous and interchangeable to guests

17:31

and the guests are always right. No

17:33

request you can make is too unreasonable.

17:37

Wow, okay. So there's already no boundaries

17:39

here. Yes. Have

17:41

you ever worked customer service? So

17:43

many times, yes. Since

17:45

I was like a kid. Yes. So you know that

17:48

like you learn a lot about human nature

17:50

in this job. Yes, yeah. Yeah. And

17:53

you also understand why all of the requests

17:55

I'm about to read you are unreasonable. If

17:58

someone needs a strapless bra. in 30 minutes,

18:00

this step makes it appear. If

18:03

someone needs 40 matching shirts in an hour, no

18:06

problem. Someone needs 12 peacocks, none of

18:08

whom make noise by tomorrow evening, like

18:10

they've got a guy for it. And

18:13

these workers are like supremely competent. If you're

18:16

a billionaire trying to lay low, they

18:18

like know how to cheat the system by

18:20

putting an asterisk in front of your name so like

18:22

no one can find you. But this

18:24

means that the guests are treated like kings. They

18:26

behave like kings and they're little demons. For

18:29

example, the Black Rose used to

18:31

have nice Pendleton blankets that like sat outside by

18:33

the ocean so that guests could go out at

18:35

night and not get too cold. But

18:37

people started getting frisky under them. And so they

18:40

had to remove the Pendleton blanket. How

18:43

are you feeling at this point in this setting? It

18:46

just sounds like there's going to

18:49

be so much privilege on display.

18:51

I'm excited to really test the

18:53

limits of humanity in the story.

18:57

Like, okay, people are going for

19:00

it under these fancy blankets and

19:02

getting peacocks instantly. And those are

19:04

just the opening context building, just

19:06

details that we're sharing. I'm like,

19:08

all right, some crazy stuff

19:10

is happening. And I am ready for it.

19:12

Yeah, it's chaos hour. Every

19:15

guest at this hotel has main character syndrome,

19:17

obviously. But our friend of a friend

19:19

today, we're going to call her Jade. She's

19:21

23 years old. She's just out of hospitality

19:23

school and she works on a team that

19:26

we're going to call welcoming. The

19:29

welcoming team is like mostly women. The

19:32

only person on this team who's not a woman

19:34

is Skye. And Skye is a

19:36

person who everyone at this hotel deems

19:38

an equal opportunity flirt. Like

19:41

they will flirt with a tree if given

19:43

the option. Charismatic,

19:46

charming. Skye's whole deal is

19:48

that they are like drama royalty. If

19:51

there's gossip, Skye wants it from

19:53

the guests or within the top

19:55

hat people or anybody, anybody

19:58

Skye will take any morsel of gossip

20:00

at any time and also they're the manager. Amazing

20:05

power dynamic. This is a healthy workplace.

20:07

So this is a messy group welcoming,

20:09

obviously, but they also like are very

20:12

competent. They check people in, they coordinate

20:14

their problems. Every guest has to be

20:16

like walked to their room because it's

20:18

this giant hotel. Our friend of her

20:20

friend Jade, her shift is from 3.30pm to 11.30pm every day.

20:26

So there is a culture of like having

20:28

a little drink at the hotel bar afterward,

20:30

doing a little smooch, you know,

20:32

culture of dating and sleeping with your coworkers, which

20:34

is always a healthy sign for a workplace. But

20:38

at least it's like a luxurious place. So if

20:40

you're going to do it, do it among the

20:42

expensive blankets. Yes,

20:45

there are two problems that like come

20:47

out of this. The first is that

20:49

it's a culture of like kind of

20:51

rousing people if they're like dating or

20:53

sleeping with each other. And the

20:56

second is that if you are dating someone

20:58

on the staff, you can't work the same

21:00

shift. So

21:02

like one of you will get moved to either the

21:04

morning shift or the overnight shift, both of

21:07

which are worse. Okay,

21:09

the it sounds like the picture

21:11

is clear because then the manager who

21:13

presumably is making the shift also knows

21:16

all of the gossip. It sounds like a scheduling nightmare,

21:18

to be honest. Yes,

21:20

because if you know one piece of gossip, now you

21:22

have to move someone's shift to earlier and like chaos.

21:27

Today when Jade gets to work, her work

21:29

rival TIFF is already there. TIFF

21:31

is like a real, you know, game

21:33

respects game. TIFF is supremely confident. She

21:35

never stays out too late. TIFF

21:39

and Jade started at the hotel at the same time. And

21:41

like, unlike everyone else who is like, this is a good

21:43

job that pays me money and gives me a lot of

21:45

time off. TIFF and Jade are like, this is my career.

21:48

I want to move up the ranks of

21:50

this hotel. Have

21:53

you ever had a work rival? Ah,

21:56

mostly people who have authority over

21:58

me, which is not the best. best way

22:00

to feel like a rivalry

22:02

at work. But for some reason, the people who are

22:04

my peers and like, great, we ride together. But if

22:06

it's someone above me, I'm like, Oh,

22:09

get ready. I'm coming. I love that. By

22:13

the time Jade arrives on time, she's always

22:15

on time. Tiff has taken all the cool

22:17

assignments. Like Tiff is finding a

22:19

local artist who can paint someone's dog. She's

22:22

finding someone a specialty whiskey. And so Jade has

22:24

to do this terrible job of like trying to

22:26

find 200 usually round ice

22:29

cubes. That seems actually

22:31

reasonable. If you just give somebody a couple

22:33

hours, you could just make them. Yeah. Yeah,

22:36

but it is annoying. So Jade is like, this is

22:38

a boring job. I don't get to have any fun.

22:40

I don't get to meet a local dog painter. I'm

22:42

just making 200 round ice cubes.

22:46

She's doing this when Tiff like hits

22:48

her arm lightly. There is

22:50

only one thing that Tiff and Jade

22:52

have in common one shared interest. And

22:55

that interest is the bellman. So

23:00

it's a workplace and a romantic rivalry. Yes.

23:05

Jade would like to believe that like the

23:08

bellman of this hotel are the Braun and

23:11

welcoming is the beauty. But

23:13

the bellman are both the beauty and the

23:15

Braun. They wear little hats.

23:18

They are all very tall. They're

23:20

all jacked. They all have

23:22

like unkempt hair that's a little too long. They're

23:25

always like a little but not too sweaty. And

23:28

they're like high-necked uniforms are always unbuttoned

23:30

like flapping open. Technically,

23:33

this is against protocol, but the guests love it

23:35

and they get lots of tips for it. So

23:37

they keep doing it. How

23:41

are you feeling? What are your takes? It

23:44

sounds like these are the people who are going

23:46

to be carrying my bags

23:48

to my room and I will happily giving

23:50

them my American dollars. And

23:52

it already sounds like it's wild

23:54

that they are just walking around

23:57

with hats and open shirts. Yeah,

23:59

it is. wild. I agree. And they're

24:01

making incredible tips for it. So you know,

24:03

more power to them. In the front

24:06

of this group of guys is a tall,

24:08

beautiful lad. His name is

24:10

Wyatt. And he's like, I

24:12

want you to imagine the beast after he

24:14

transforms into a man. Okay,

24:19

blowing hair. I see the pecs. I

24:21

see it all. Yes, Wyatt

24:23

is like charming and charismatic, which as

24:25

you know, is a dangerous combo. Everyone

24:29

on welcoming has had a crush on Wyatt

24:32

at some point. But he

24:34

is like very mysterious and very good

24:36

at boundaries. He's like, I never date

24:38

within the staff. I never have too many

24:40

drinks, which is torture

24:42

for Tiff because Tiff has had a crush

24:44

on Wyatt for years. And

24:47

in the spring, she finally like got up the gall

24:49

and asked him out and he turned her down. Oh

24:52

my god, no. Now the rejection is

24:54

fueling the rivalry even further. Yes. And

24:59

because of this rejection, they're now

25:01

always doing this thing where they're

25:03

like play fighting, which makes Jade

25:05

crazy. She cannot tolerate this at

25:08

all. So

25:10

like Wyatt will come to the counter and be like, Tiff,

25:12

you forgot to restock the water bottles in the ballet stand

25:14

and like wink. And

25:17

Tiff is like, no, I didn't. And

25:19

he's like, yes, you did. And Tiff is like, I

25:21

swear that I didn't like what will you bet me

25:23

did it or that. And they're like always doing this

25:26

like chirping thing. Jade watching them do this like rolls

25:28

her eyes at her

25:30

like work wife Miguel who is on the

25:32

Bellman team. Miguel

25:35

is her like lifeline here because she's

25:37

like Tiff makes me crazy. The Bellman

25:39

are always in this feud with

25:41

us. And Miguel is the only one who

25:43

likes to gossip. So the two

25:45

of them will like huddle up at the bar and

25:47

gossip about the guests and gossip about the co workers

25:50

and gossip about Sky and gossip about like the other

25:52

hotels in the chain. Are you a gossip at work?

25:55

A strategic gossip at work. Where

25:58

I'm like, Oh, you can't. come and

26:00

speak to me because I'm a safe space

26:02

for you to vent your frustration." And

26:05

then I'm like, okay, and now I know the crazy shit

26:07

that this person's done. I'm going to keep that in mind

26:09

for the future. You just hold it

26:11

all in your little hands. And then, yeah,

26:13

have the right moment to deploy it. Yeah,

26:15

I love that. This night after

26:17

the shift, Miguel and Jade like settle at the

26:20

hotel bar to debrief. Eventually, Jade

26:22

is like, oh, let's check in. Like, what

26:24

about Wyatt and Tiff? Like, do you

26:26

think that they're ever going to hook up? And

26:28

Miguel's eyes get like really wide. And he's like, oh

26:30

my God, I forgot to tell you. He's

26:33

like, Wyatt told me that he has

26:35

a girlfriend. And

26:38

Jade's like, what? Who? And

26:40

Miguel is like, I don't know. It's this girl who lives

26:42

a couple hours away. Like he showed me a pic. Why

26:45

are you making that face? I don't

26:47

know. I was hoping it was going to be Tiff.

26:49

I was hoping it was going to be from within

26:51

the house. I feel a

26:53

little sad for Jade now, because like, not only

26:55

has she seen this insufferable flirting, but I'm like,

26:58

oh, he's not even available. I

27:00

know. Jade is like, wow, this

27:02

is very upsetting because I've had to watch all

27:05

this play flirting and now he's not even available.

27:07

She's like, do you think that they're going to

27:09

stop flirt fighting? And Miguel is

27:11

like, I mean, I doubt it. Like, could

27:13

they even stop it if they wanted to?

27:16

This drama goes on for all May.

27:19

Tiff and Wyatt are like still hiding

27:21

each other's key cards. They're still making

27:23

up fake things that guests need. They're

27:25

like doing these little pranks on each

27:27

other that are like teasing. You

27:30

are Jade. You know that

27:32

Wyatt has a girlfriend. Knowledge

27:34

famously is power. Do

27:37

you tell Tiff? No.

27:42

It's so fast in front of Wyatt. No, she

27:44

is my workplace rival. So I'm like, it sucks

27:46

for me to watch it all go down.

27:49

But at the same time, I'm like, okay,

27:51

whatever history we have where she's my workplace

27:53

rival, I'm like, I don't think I need

27:55

to have her best interest in mine. I

27:57

think I can just like allow her to

27:59

go down. this journey and figure it

28:01

out the hard way. So no, I wouldn't say

28:03

anything. Here are what Jade thinks are

28:05

the pros and cons. She's like, the pro is

28:08

that maybe if she knew he had a girlfriend,

28:10

they would stop like flirt fighting in front of

28:12

me, which would be great. She's like,

28:14

but there are two cons. The con is then

28:16

I lose the entertainment of them flirt fighting and

28:20

it could make Tiff grumpy, which would make her worse

28:22

to work with. Which

28:24

is yeah, very important. If you already have a rivalry

28:26

with her, you don't want her in a bad mood.

28:29

Yes. So Jade's like, I'm not going

28:31

to tell her. I'm going to keep this little knowledge inside

28:33

my heart. But then in June,

28:36

two things happen. Tiff and Wyatt

28:38

stop play fighting entirely, like abruptly.

28:41

They are ignoring each other. The

28:43

second thing that happens is that Sky announces

28:45

that they're leaving to go to

28:47

a different hotel, which means there is now

28:49

a power vacuum and Tiff and Jade both

28:52

apply for that position. Oh my

28:54

God. Okay. I am ready for this.

28:56

And I'm also like, did Tiff

28:58

and Wyatt hook up? Like what has happened

29:01

here? Why do you say that? Well,

29:03

just for them to automatically stop talking. I'm like,

29:05

did they hook up? And then she finds out

29:07

he had a girlfriend and then something goes down

29:11

or tell me, tell me it's even crazier than

29:13

that. That is too pedestrian of a theory. Okay.

29:15

Pedestrian way too pedestrian, but we're not going to

29:17

get there for a second. Do

29:20

you try if you and Tiff are both

29:22

applying for this job, that is management of your

29:24

team that you work on. Do you try and

29:26

talk to Tiff about this? No.

29:33

No, I'm like, we're just applying for the

29:35

job. Let the powers that be make the

29:37

decision. Just put my best foot forward.

29:39

Like, I don't, I don't feel like I need to

29:41

talk to Tiff about this. I love this boundary setting

29:43

that you have. You're like firmly, she is not

29:46

my problem. Yeah. Jade

29:48

does not have this like self awareness.

29:50

And so she's like, Tiff, I

29:52

just want you to know that like, I know

29:54

we're both applying for this and like, I'll totally support you

29:56

if you're the one that gets it. And

29:58

Tiff is like, thank you. I'll be happy for you too if

30:01

you're the one that gets it. They're like great. Now

30:03

you've had like a nice tiny conversation.

30:05

Do you want to ask her what's

30:07

happening with her in quiet? Oh

30:10

yeah 100%. That's actually very big of

30:12

them in hindsight to share the all

30:14

the things or whatever. But it's just

30:16

like okay if you get this little

30:18

bit of nice behavior like why not

30:20

see if you can scratch and get

30:22

a bit more. So yes 100%. Yes

30:24

she's like great I'm

30:27

so glad that we're both supportive of

30:29

each other. Is everything okay between you

30:31

and Wyatt? And Tiff's like

30:33

what? And Jade's like oh I

30:35

just noticed that you're not like play fighting

30:37

anymore. And Tiff's like what

30:40

are you talking about? Jade

30:42

like drops it but she's like I feel

30:44

like I'm losing my mind. Like I have

30:46

been watching this these two people play flirt

30:48

for like months. I

30:51

have watched them do these little fights and now Tiff is

30:53

standing in front of me saying like I have no idea

30:55

what you're talking about. We've never done that. I

30:58

just can't imagine what is going to be

31:00

on the other side of this because it's

31:02

like everyone in this hotel has eyes. We

31:04

have seen the play fighting. We've seen the

31:06

hidden key cards. There's no way you can

31:09

convince anyone that this has been happening. Jade's

31:11

like I'll drop it but like I'm paying

31:13

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And he's like, a guest has arrived. We've

33:59

got a code. Code yellow

34:01

is when a guest wants something that

34:03

this hotel has not done before. So they

34:05

like don't know how to obtain this thing.

34:08

In this case, it's that this man wants to

34:10

go pearl diving and everyone is

34:13

like, we don't have any guys that do this. We

34:15

don't even really know what this is. Like

34:17

this should be a chaotic moment. But

34:20

as Wyatt is explaining the code yellow, Tiff

34:22

is just like a brick wall, like not

34:24

responding to him at all, clicking around on

34:26

her computer, like not even paying attention. Dear

34:29

Jade, you're sitting at the desk next to Tiff

34:31

listening to Wyatt tell you about this code yellow. What

34:33

do you do here? I

34:37

mean, okay, listen to the code yellow, put your

34:39

job first, figure out all of that stuff. But

34:41

I think once that conversation is over, it's like,

34:44

I have to turn to her and be like, girl,

34:46

what is going on? How are you

34:48

not responding to this at all? Yes,

34:51

Jade is like Tiff, are

34:54

you going to handle this code yellow or do you want

34:56

me to handle it? And Tiff's

34:58

like, I'm not handling it. And

35:00

so Jade's like, okay, Wyatt, come over here. Like what's

35:02

this? Which guest is this? What does

35:04

he need? And Wyatt's like, Oh my God, finally, thank

35:06

you. And then he winks at her and leaps. Luckily

35:09

for Jade, she doesn't have to talk to Tiff about

35:11

her behavior because Sky is still watching this because they're

35:14

staying there until the replacement is chosen

35:16

and trained. So Sky is like, Tiff,

35:20

you cannot ignore the bellman. Like

35:23

it is your job. And a code

35:25

yellow is serious. And

35:27

Tiff's like, yeah, I know I'm sorry. And

35:29

then Sky is like, just because Wyatt

35:32

hit on you, doesn't mean you

35:34

can't ignore him. And

35:36

Tiff is like, okay. And

35:39

Jade in her heart is like, what,

35:41

what? Are you asking a follow up

35:43

here? I'm just like, what,

35:45

what, what? It's

35:48

like the hitting on her. What

35:50

was it for it to cause this

35:52

much of a reaction? Had they not

35:54

play fighting and play flirting for years?

35:57

Like I wonder what this was. Yes,

35:59

Jade's like Tiff. What?

36:01

And TIFF's like, it's nothing.

36:03

He made a pass at me at drinks last week,

36:06

Sky saw it and like helped me shut it down.

36:09

And Jade's like, I do not understand what's

36:11

going on here. Like what is going on?

36:15

Jade's like, theoretically, why it

36:17

has some long distance girlfriend.

36:20

Or he, I guess, could have lied to Miguel

36:22

and it's just like being shady. Like what do

36:25

you what do you think here? I have

36:27

no idea. Because I'm like, wait, wouldn't,

36:29

wouldn't him hitting on her be something

36:31

that's welcome? Like, is she not nudging

36:33

Jade saying, Look, why it is here?

36:36

Yeah, yeah. Where does the girlfriend factor

36:38

into this? If they spend this much

36:40

time at this resort, they get together

36:42

for drinks after work, presumably when they

36:44

drink, they talk about their lives. How

36:46

is it also not out in the

36:48

open that he has a girlfriend? Jade

36:51

gets answers to none of this.

36:53

Instead, the tension between Wyatt and

36:55

TIFF continues to escalate. Like

36:57

she's not talking to him. She won't

37:00

help him at work. Wyatt

37:02

then begins to like go on the offense.

37:04

Like he starts talking to TIFF in an

37:06

exaggerated imitation of like her phone voice. And

37:08

they both start like throwing each other under

37:10

the bus with guests. Right? So like when

37:12

a guest asks Wyatt to help him find

37:15

a date for a wedding, Wyatt will be

37:17

like, Oh my god, Tiffany would love to

37:19

help you with that. So

37:21

Jade keeps having to like intervene in

37:24

these conversations, because she's like, you're gonna

37:26

fuck up the guest experience here. And

37:28

that is like our whole job. Sky

37:31

is on her team about this, obviously. So

37:33

Sky and Jade are like gabbing about this at the counter one

37:35

day. And Sky to Jade is

37:38

like, if Tiffany and Wyatt

37:40

do not stop this like elementary

37:42

school behavior, I'm

37:44

gonna lose my mind. Like it's fucking up our

37:46

job. And Sky is

37:48

like kind of joking, but not

37:50

really. Wyatt overhears this and

37:53

is pissed, like so angry. And

37:55

he leans over the front desk and it's

37:57

like, I know that you will

38:00

that this little like drama gossip club

38:02

is cute, but you are a manager,

38:04

Skye, and this is inappropriate. Like you need to

38:06

stop it. Wow,

38:08

where did Wyatt get boundaries from?

38:10

And also this, this is where

38:12

he's going to step up and

38:14

speak up for himself. Are

38:17

you skeptical of that? You're making a

38:19

skeptical face. Yeah, I'm very, yes,

38:21

I'm skeptical of that. Just like, wait,

38:23

there has been this weird tension now

38:25

for however long and this is the

38:27

moment when I think that Skye is

38:30

actually being very reasonable and saying that

38:32

this is fucking the whole team. Like

38:34

why is Wyatt just now saying something?

38:37

Yes. And I think maybe if Skye

38:39

were staying longer, they would have like investigated

38:41

this, but because Skye is on the way

38:44

out, they're just like, I'm

38:46

sorry, dude, like, my

38:48

dad. Yeah. It

38:51

also sounds like Jade is probably the front

38:53

runner for this job between her and Tiff

38:55

because she's not actively fucking up this team

38:57

as far as we know. So good for

38:59

Jade. Great transition. Thank you. At the end

39:01

of June, Skye comes to Jade and is

39:03

like, congratulations, you got the

39:05

job. You're going to be the manager starting in July.

39:09

Go Jade, our girl. Jade's like,

39:11

oh my God, thank you. She's like ecstatic. She's

39:13

like, this is my career. I'm so happy. I

39:15

really didn't think I would get it. Like thank

39:17

you so much. And then she's

39:19

like, can I ask like why I got it

39:21

over Tiff expecting Skye to

39:24

be like, well, Tiff has been behaving like a

39:26

14 year old with

39:28

Wyatt and so I can't get for this

39:30

job. And Skye is like, oh, Tiff pulled

39:32

her name from the running. But Tiff still

39:34

works there. But Tiff still works there. Jade's

39:37

like, so I was the only applicant.

39:40

And Skye's like, yeah, but that doesn't mean you

39:42

don't deserve it. Would

39:44

you feel bad here? Like how would you feel? I'm

39:47

just like, Jade, don't go into the tidal

39:49

waves. She doesn't be happy you got the

39:51

job. Don't

39:53

do this weird comparison shit. You're getting, you're

39:56

going to get paid more. You're going to

39:58

have more responsibility. Like don't, don't look. ruin

40:00

your self image over that. But

40:03

then also, now she has

40:05

some questions for Tiff and as a manager,

40:07

she can ask that. I

40:10

love this. Jade feels a little bad for

40:12

one second and then she's like, I got

40:14

what I wanted. I don't

40:17

really care. This doesn't matter. Before

40:20

she starts as manager, before Skye's last

40:22

day, she gets to use one of

40:24

the few perks they have in this

40:26

job, which is that for one

40:28

week every year, you get to stay in a

40:31

sister hotel. So Jade takes her

40:33

week vacation in June, she goes away,

40:35

she gets to be a guest, someone

40:37

deals with all of her petty insane

40:39

requests. And then she comes back

40:41

and she's feeling refreshed and good. And

40:44

she comes in on her first day as

40:47

manager and things feel different, partly

40:49

because she's the manager. And

40:51

partly because she has changed her outlook

40:53

on work. She's like, as a manager,

40:56

I have decided that

40:58

I will not replicate the mistakes that

41:00

Skye made. Like Skye encouraged

41:02

the culture of this place to be

41:04

unprofessional and gossipy and deranged. And like,

41:06

I am going to do better as

41:08

a manager. She's like, I'm going to

41:10

become a totally different person who's not

41:13

interested in gossip now that I have this position of

41:15

power. Do you think

41:17

that that's possible? I

41:19

mean, after one week of having people

41:21

cater to all of her crazy requests,

41:23

maybe that changed something in her. Where

41:26

she's like, Oh, I realized how deranged it is

41:28

that I can have a peacock on request. So

41:30

maybe I need to come back down

41:32

to earth. Yeah, she's like,

41:35

she's like, I feel great about this revelation. And I

41:37

think it's the right thing to do until

41:39

she walks in the front doors. And

41:42

she watches Wyatt come up to

41:44

the counter and

41:46

be like, Hey, like lean on it and be like, Hey, can I

41:48

get a pin? And to be

41:50

like, Oh, yeah, of course. Like which pen do you

41:52

want and like fan them out in front of them?

41:55

And she's like, they're getting along.

41:57

They're flirting again. You've

41:59

resolved to never gossip again and you are

42:01

the manager. Do you ask? Yes,

42:05

I ask. Now it is

42:07

totally within my job to know

42:10

about the social well being of this team. So

42:12

yeah, I'm gonna ask. You're just gonna be like,

42:14

what's going on here? What's your move here? Like,

42:16

how do you ask? Um, I think

42:18

that I would frame it as, so

42:20

what has happened in my week

42:22

away? How have the relationships changed?

42:26

You coming back from exile Island? What

42:28

happened in my week away? Jade

42:33

is like, Oh, did you and Wyatt

42:35

like work your little problem out? And

42:37

Tiff is like, what problem? And

42:40

Jade's like, I mean, it seemed like you had a problem

42:42

with Wyatt and Tiff's like, I've never had a problem with

42:44

Wyatt. These people just need

42:46

to be honest about where they're at.

42:48

It's okay. If there's a conflict, Tiff,

42:50

it's okay. It's fine.

42:52

Yeah, exactly. And Jade is like, okay, whatever.

42:54

Like, maybe this is a sign from the

42:56

universe that I was right to try and

42:58

stay out of it. Like, I'm going to

43:00

keep trying. This goes

43:03

on for a few months. Everything is calm.

43:05

Tiff and Wyatt are still flirting all

43:07

the time. And then one day in September,

43:09

Tiff is like, I have to run

43:11

an errand. Can I take my dinner break now? And Jade

43:15

is like, Yeah, no problem. Like, who cares? But

43:17

then when she needs a bellman

43:20

for something and calls one Miguel comes and

43:22

Miguel is like, Oh, Wyatt just took his dinner

43:25

break. Do you have the number of this car detailer that we

43:27

need? A guest is asking. And

43:30

Jade is like, well, well, well, Wyatt is

43:32

on his dinner break at the same time

43:34

as Jade. That's very interesting to me. I'm

43:38

intrigued. I'm like, we need some

43:40

answers. Everybody has been exposed

43:42

to this for too long. We all deserve

43:44

something. I don't like this hot and cold.

43:47

Just tell us what's going on, Tiff. Jade

43:49

is like, it's not really gossiping to speculate

43:52

with your work wife, right? So she and

43:54

Miguel are like, could they be together? Like,

43:56

where could they have gone? What are they

43:59

doing going on? and on. When

44:01

another employee comes up and it's like, what are you

44:03

guys gossiping about? Do

44:05

you tell your employee what you're gossiping

44:07

about? Oh, see,

44:09

I fully agree that there's

44:12

this sanctity in the

44:14

relationship with the work wife where all

44:16

other social decorum gone, you can say

44:18

whatever. Yes. It's a tough

44:20

position because you are the manager. So

44:22

I think you shouldn't be telling this

44:25

other employee. But I get

44:27

the feeling that Jade is going to

44:29

say something. Jade

44:31

is like, it's nothing. We're just

44:33

gabbing. And the

44:35

other employee is like, so you're sure it's

44:37

not about TIFF getting into Wyatt's car. And

44:40

Jade is like, don't tell me about that. I don't

44:42

want to know that. And then the employee leaves and

44:44

she and Miguel are like, what? What

44:48

do you do here? Do you

44:50

do anything? I

44:53

mean, one, continue to gossip with the work

44:55

wife. Yeah. But I think when

44:58

she comes back, I

45:00

think it's reasonable to say, hey, how

45:02

did that errand go? It appears

45:05

that you and Wyatt went on the

45:07

errand together. Was it productive? I think

45:10

you can find a way to ask because at this point

45:13

it's like, come on, guys, it's been years. Yeah,

45:15

they come to the conclusion that Jade

45:17

is getting nothing out of TIFF. Like

45:19

every time she asks a question, TIFF

45:21

just stonewalled her. So they're like, you

45:23

try. Miguel, you try with Wyatt. So

45:26

Miguel goes off and does his job and he comes back

45:28

the next day and he's like, I talked to Wyatt. And

45:31

Wyatt said, they are absolutely not dating. They

45:33

are absolutely not involved. Like he just took

45:36

her on an errand because she needed a

45:38

dress hemmed and his aunt is a tailor.

45:41

I also can't believe that they

45:43

haven't used Miguel and Wyatt's relationship

45:45

as a resource up until this

45:47

point. You mean Miguel has never

45:49

asked Wyatt at all about this?

45:52

I know. It's like boy hour over there where he's

45:54

like, this guy showed me a picture of his

45:56

long distance girlfriend on his Instagram and I asked

45:58

no follow up question. What

46:00

are you doing? He's

46:03

actually like probably one of the worst people

46:05

to have in your gossip arsenal if he is

46:07

not doing the work to get more information too.

46:10

Yes. Luckily in this case Miguel is

46:12

like, oh, it's nice that you like

46:14

hooked Tiff up with your aunt who's

46:16

a tailor, but like why did you

46:18

need to drive her there? Yes.

46:21

And why it's like, oh, oh,

46:23

oh, I've been driving her places because her car is

46:26

broken and she can't afford to get it fixed. And

46:29

Jade in her head is like, this is a little

46:31

like the lady doth protest too much to me. Like

46:34

a lot of excuses happening

46:36

here. But she's like,

46:38

I'm not going to ask Tiff because I am

46:40

reformed. I shan't ask

46:42

her about Wyatt, but as a manager, it

46:45

is perhaps my duty to know

46:47

if her car works. So

46:49

she's like, Tiff, I heard that you're having

46:51

car trouble. Is that true? What happened with

46:54

your car? And Tiff's like, oh, my

46:56

car is broken. And

46:58

Jade is like, oh, I'm so sorry about that. Like,

47:01

let me know if you need anything. And Tiff is like, yeah,

47:03

actually, I do need to talk to you. Can we talk for

47:05

a minute? I'm

47:08

ready for the reveal. Let's go, Tiff.

47:11

Or at least tell us why you don't have the Uber app. Yes.

47:14

Jade is like, it's definitely not

47:16

gossip if she confides in me.

47:19

She's like, come to my office, what's up? And

47:22

Tiff's like, listen, I've

47:24

been dreading telling you this because I know it's going to create all sorts of problems.

47:28

And like the fallout, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And

47:31

Jade's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, get to it. Like, what

47:33

is it? And

47:35

Tiff is like, I put in my request for

47:38

my week at a sister hotel at

47:40

this big, fancy hotel overseas that no one

47:42

ever gets approved for, and I got it.

47:46

And I'm going the first week of October. And

47:50

Jade's stomach plummets into the ground because

47:52

she's like, first off, this is not

47:54

the gossip I wanted. This is managerial

47:56

bullshit. She's like, second,

47:59

the first week of October. October is like the

48:01

biggest week for us this year. We have

48:04

three weddings, two billionaires on site, and a

48:06

conference for food and drink people who when

48:08

they were here last year drinks a whole

48:10

bar out of booze. She's

48:12

like, the staff had been strategizing for this

48:14

for weeks, like months maybe. She's

48:17

like, and Tif is supposed to be the point person for like

48:19

all of these weddings. So

48:21

her leaving for this has fucked up

48:23

everything. What do you do? Well,

48:26

one, it seems like Tif is

48:29

really skilled at fucking up a lot of shit here.

48:32

What do you mean you're leaving during that week? What

48:34

do you mean you have had this weird flirt man's

48:36

forever? What do you mean you

48:39

can't call an Uber when your car

48:41

is in the shop? And also this

48:43

is a very expensive hotel. So I

48:45

would think that like you're at least

48:47

making enough to cover the usual cost

48:49

of living. So Tif, not trusted, but

48:51

this is a moment with privacy. So

48:54

I don't know if Jade's gonna do it, but as

48:56

someone who is really invested in the story, I hope

48:58

she takes this moment to like ask what the fuck

49:00

is going on. Jade is

49:02

like, could you go

49:04

to this fancy hotel any other week instead

49:07

of the first week of October? She does not

49:09

take the wide open door chance to ask a

49:12

question here. And Tif is like,

49:15

no, that's the only week they offered me. But

49:18

Jade does not believe this. And

49:21

with the system that she has,

49:23

she can see whether or not they

49:25

offered Tif more than one week. Do

49:27

you look? Why?

49:31

It's within your managerial right to look.

49:36

Jade looks and she sees that Tif was

49:38

offered three different weeks

49:41

and that Tif chose the one that she would

49:43

be the busiest on. What do you do? So

49:46

is Tif aware that Jade can see

49:48

all of this? I would

49:50

assume so. Okay. I

49:54

feel like she has to go back and say, hey,

49:57

I see that there's actually other weeks. available?

50:00

Can we work something out where maybe

50:02

you get a bit more than a

50:04

week and then you can go at

50:06

a different time? Like maybe we can

50:08

figure out a compromise. I

50:11

love this strategy. Like I love your

50:13

manipulation of it. I think that would

50:15

work perfectly. Jade is like, I'm so

50:17

mad at her that I want her

50:19

out. Like I'll do it without her.

50:22

She can leave for the week, whatever.

50:25

But then the whole lead up to that week,

50:27

she's like panicking and planning and rushing. Like one

50:29

of the brides wants 5000 pink

50:31

roses. So someone has to

50:33

source those. One of the fancy

50:36

guests wants two rooms that connect, but this

50:38

doesn't exist in the hotel. So a contractor

50:40

has to be brought in to like connect

50:42

them. Jesus Christ, I didn't realize that they're

50:45

renovating for these guests. By

50:47

the time the week begins, Jade

50:50

is like, I don't even have time to think about

50:52

Tiff. Like, I only have time to work. And at

50:54

the end of the first day of that week, she's like,

50:56

I'm so exhausted. Like I'm not having a drink at the bar. I'm

50:58

going home and I'm going to sleep. For

51:01

three days. She works so hard that she has like

51:03

no memory of the day before. On

51:06

the fourth day, she's stuck late doing some dumb requests.

51:08

And she's like looking at things on her computer trying

51:10

to find something for a guest. When Miguel comes in

51:12

and he's like, Hey, do you want to get a

51:15

drink at the bar? And

51:17

Jade's like, yeah, I feel like I'm

51:19

absolutely dead. And Miguel is

51:21

like, Oh, why? And she's like,

51:23

I mean, I told you that Tiff is

51:26

gone because like she got into the swanky

51:28

hotel. And so she's left. And

51:30

Miguel is like, Oh my God, I forgot that that was

51:32

this week. Miguel's

51:34

like, isn't it interesting

51:36

that Wyatt is visiting his brother

51:38

in Miami this week? Stop.

51:42

Of course, I was about to ask his Wyatt there

51:44

this week too. But of course they are both gone

51:47

at the same time. And

51:49

also Miguel, you need to be more forthright

51:51

with this information. Yes. Come to the desk

51:53

and tell me immediately. Jade is like,

51:57

this girl screwed up. be

52:00

over is constantly creating problems for

52:02

me. She's like, do you

52:04

think that they're together to

52:06

Miguel? And Miguel is like, yeah, of

52:08

course I think they're together. He's like,

52:10

they're both gone the same week. And

52:12

he's like, isn't swanky hotel like the

52:14

most romantic of all of our hotel

52:16

properties? And Jay's like,

52:19

yeah, I think it's like four couples. And

52:22

Miguel's like, oh my god, it is. You

52:25

and Miguel have the power of management

52:28

and friendship on your side. And you

52:30

want proof that

52:32

they are together. How do

52:35

you get it? Is

52:37

there like an interconnected network

52:40

of welcome team managers at

52:42

the different hotels? Like can

52:44

you reach out to the

52:46

equivalent of you at the swanky hotel and

52:49

figure out who she's with? That is a

52:51

great idea. And they will do it but

52:53

not yet. First thing

52:55

they do is Miguel is like, it's

52:58

an international hotel. He's

53:00

like, what I'm gonna do is I'll

53:02

call Wyatt tomorrow. And this I

53:06

did not know this, these people are very

53:08

smart. Apparently the ringing tone, like when you

53:10

call someone is different in different countries. Oh,

53:13

shit. Okay, I learned something. Yeah. So like

53:15

the US uses like, there's a two

53:17

second ring followed by a four second pause. In

53:24

like the UK, for example, you hear a double ring.

53:27

So like two bring brings followed by a two

53:29

second pause. So

53:33

Miguel is like, I'll call Wyatt tomorrow. If

53:36

the ringer is different, we know he's

53:39

not in Miami. We

53:41

know he's abroad. So Miguel calls in the morning, it

53:44

rings. The ringing tone is

53:46

different. And Wyatt answers

53:48

his phone. And Miguel

53:50

is like, Oh, hey, buddy, like what's up?

53:52

We're just, we're just bored at the front desk.

53:54

And we're wondering if you know where the

53:56

cards are. And why

53:58

it's like what do you mean you're bored? word at the front desk

54:01

because then it's like one of the busiest weeks that

54:03

the hotel has all year and Miguel's like haha yeah

54:05

okay Miguel needed a

54:07

real plan for this I was like

54:09

Miguel needs to be coached through like

54:11

this gossip and information sourcing yes Miguel

54:14

is like yes it's it's

54:16

bad but do you know where the cards are and so

54:18

why it's like yeah like the cards are in the valley

54:20

stand like that it uh Miguel's like great thank you so

54:23

much how's your brother are you having a good a good

54:25

time and why it laughs and

54:27

hangs up the phone now

54:29

they are very

54:31

mad and more suspicious than ever because

54:33

they're like did the two of them leave

54:35

us in this hellscape to go on in

54:38

this secret romantic vacation this is where your

54:40

your idea comes in jade is like I

54:42

don't have access to that hotel system so

54:44

I can't just like look them up she's

54:47

like but I could call the version

54:50

of me that's there and ask

54:53

a strategic question and probably find

54:55

out yes I

54:57

like what jade is doing here this is like

54:59

the way to play the game yes jade what

55:02

kind of strategic question do you want to

55:04

ask you don't want to get caught as

55:07

like being snoopy on your employees mm-hmm and

55:09

you don't want them to find out

55:11

that it's like you calling but you

55:13

want to know for sure that why it is

55:15

there can you call

55:18

and say that you're like the sister

55:20

of somebody and you want to send

55:22

a bottle of champagne or some type

55:25

of like anniversary surprise oh my

55:27

god you're so good at this I'm gonna for calling you

55:29

with my problems um she calls

55:31

and she's like hey

55:34

so sorry we're

55:36

having a bit of an emergency here

55:38

at the hotel could you transfer me

55:40

to Wyatt last names room really quick

55:43

and the her on the other end is like yeah absolutely

55:45

give me one second she

55:50

directly got there the

55:52

transfer signal begins to ring do you

55:55

let it ring no

55:57

because clearly these people are not capable

55:59

of having having the conversation when he picks up.

56:01

Like when you call someone there's the risk they're going

56:03

to pick up and you need a plan for that.

56:05

So no, don't let him pick up. First

56:08

ring Tiffany picks up the phone.

56:10

She's like, hello, Jade hangs

56:12

up. Miguel

56:17

and Jade are like dying. They're in

56:19

hysterics at the front desk. They're like,

56:21

these two think that they're so sneaky.

56:24

They're like acting like they don't go on vacation together.

56:26

Like, come on, we have like solved the mystery. They're

56:28

so proud of themselves. They're patting themselves in the back.

56:31

Wyatt and Tiff returned the next week. They

56:33

had their stories straight. Jade asks Wyatt how

56:35

it was Miami and Wyatt's like, oh, it

56:37

was great. I did a walking tour. I

56:39

ate ceviche. I saw the beach. It

56:41

was so fun. Jade asked Tiff how

56:43

her vacation was. And Tiff's like, oh, it's so

56:46

good. I got them alone time. Jade

56:48

is like, why

56:51

are they like this? Like they're so

56:53

difficult and like, I can't prove

56:55

it. I don't want to deal with them anymore. Like this

56:57

is just annoying me now. I almost

56:59

feel like, OK, if they're not play fighting

57:01

anymore and it's not ruining the guest experience

57:03

and they're not like passively, aggressively handing each

57:06

other pens, at this point I'm going to

57:08

be like, you know what, just go off

57:10

and secretly date. Like fuck it. But then

57:12

I guess they did leave during the busiest

57:14

time of the year. So actually, I think

57:16

I would be salty still. A couple of

57:18

weeks after their trip, Tiff comes

57:20

to Jade and is like, hey, I'm

57:23

putting in my two weeks. She's

57:25

like, I'm transferring to another hotel in like a

57:27

new city. And Jade's

57:29

like, OK, bye. The

57:32

relief I feel. And then she

57:34

immediately is like, where's Miguel? And she goes to Miguel

57:36

and she's like, Miguel, Tiff is leaving. And

57:39

Miguel's like, oh my god, Wyatt is

57:41

also leaving. Like he has transferred to

57:43

a different hotel in that same city.

57:46

So the two of them are like, well,

57:48

well, well. We have all the proof we've ever

57:51

wanted. Like we've solved this mystery.

57:54

We are almost at the end. Whose side are you on? OK.

58:00

I think it's Jade. I think that it's

58:02

always been Jade. I think that perhaps Jade

58:04

could have been more strategic in how she

58:06

went about this. But

58:08

at this point, if I was Jade, I'd be

58:10

like, girl, you won, you got the job, your

58:13

workplace rival is leaving, you don't

58:15

have to do this weird Sherlock Holmes

58:17

shit anymore. And then

58:19

you can have the satisfaction of knowing

58:21

that like they're just out of there

58:23

and you can have this toxic free

58:25

workplace environment. Yes. TIFF

58:28

and Wyatt leave. Bliss. Jade's job

58:30

is so easy. No one's doing play fighting.

58:32

People are just hooking up in a normal

58:35

way that doesn't cause any problems for her.

58:37

A few

58:39

months after this, she's leaving at the end

58:41

of her shift. And she runs into Sky

58:43

on the street. They're

58:45

gapping. They're happy. She's like, Oh

58:47

my God, you'll never believe what

58:49

happened with Wyatt and TIFF. And

58:52

she tells Sky this whole story. And

58:55

Sky is like, Oh my God,

58:57

you don't know. And Jade's

59:00

like, no, what? And

59:03

Sky's like, so I'm friends with TIFF

59:05

sister on Facebook. And

59:07

Jade is like, what, why, like, why would

59:09

you be friends with TIFF sister on Facebook? And

59:11

Sky's like, she's hot. Like, don't worry about it.

59:13

That's not important. Okay.

59:17

So Sky is like a couple of

59:19

weeks ago, I'm on Facebook and I see

59:21

that she posted photos from the fall of

59:23

last year, right? Like an album titled fall,

59:26

whatever year Sky's like, so

59:28

I'm scrolling through the photos and look what I see.

59:31

And they turn their phone around and on

59:33

it is a photo. It is

59:35

a photo of TIFF and Wyatt and

59:37

they are kissing and the sun

59:39

is behind them and they look so

59:41

beautiful. And her hair is so soft

59:44

and sick and gorgeous. And Jade

59:46

is like, wait a second. Is that

59:48

a fucking veil? And Sky

59:53

nods, slips to the

59:55

next photo and they

59:57

are standing at an altar. Like

1:00:01

full tux, full white dress, full

1:00:04

marriage. The two of

1:00:06

them got secret married

1:00:09

in the fall while working at this hotel.

1:00:12

Why is this a secret? Why does this have to be a secret? No, no.

1:00:15

Why is it a secret? Why are they hot and cold

1:00:18

with each other? It'd be

1:00:20

like all the time you can obviously have

1:00:22

these arrangements. Like why is this a secret?

1:00:24

Jane is like, what are the fucking dates

1:00:26

on this? She's like

1:00:28

scrolling through the photos. They got

1:00:30

married the week before Hell Week

1:00:33

and their trip to that hotel was their

1:00:35

honeymoon. So that's how we got into that

1:00:37

hotel was by being like, it's my honeymoon

1:00:39

please. I

1:00:43

think it's very humbling because I was like,

1:00:45

okay, if everyone is gossiping here and Jade

1:00:48

is supposed to be the manager who

1:00:50

knows everything. It's like, I just, these

1:00:52

people have been fucking married and I

1:00:54

had no idea. But I'm

1:00:56

also so confused. Why is this a

1:00:59

secret? I'm sure you could go to

1:01:01

HR and say you're married and it's

1:01:03

fine. Why is this a

1:01:05

secret? What happened to why it's girlfriend

1:01:07

from hours away? Yes.

1:01:10

I don't understand why this is kept

1:01:13

from everybody. No one understands. She goes to

1:01:15

Miguel and she's like, what the fuck is

1:01:17

this? And Miguel is like, oh, maybe that's

1:01:19

why they were fighting because wedding planning is

1:01:22

really stressful. Jade's like, that doesn't make any

1:01:24

sense. Why

1:01:26

did they need to hide this? Jade's

1:01:28

like, I feel like I'm losing my whole mind.

1:01:32

Do you have any theories of

1:01:34

why they might hide this? Why they would feel

1:01:36

the need to hide this? Oh God. I'm

1:01:40

like, was I

1:01:44

really like Adelas, was she worried she wasn't

1:01:46

going to get the manager job? I just,

1:01:49

I cannot think of a reasonable

1:01:51

reason to be hiding this. Yes.

1:01:54

Jade is like, this is going to send me

1:01:56

into like a quick descent into madness. Like I

1:01:58

am going to be. checked into a mental

1:02:01

hospital, I'm going to lose my mind.

1:02:04

So she's like, you know what, fuck it. I'm like going

1:02:06

to bring this to the whole team and see if we

1:02:08

can like, sort it out. Like,

1:02:10

did any of you know

1:02:13

that they were married? No

1:02:16

one knew that they were married. And

1:02:18

everyone's like, did any of you know that they were

1:02:20

dating? And everyone's like, no, we

1:02:23

thought that they were just fighting all the

1:02:25

time. It turns out that

1:02:27

like, basically, they were just like, we want

1:02:29

privacy. And so we won't be telling anyone about

1:02:31

our relationship. Like we want to work the same shift.

1:02:33

We want to be able to carpool. We

1:02:36

don't want anyone in our business. So we

1:02:38

have secrets now. Okay,

1:02:41

boundaries, I guess. But it's like fighting

1:02:43

all the time is such a weird

1:02:45

way to throw people off the scent

1:02:47

because you're just drawing attention to yourself.

1:02:50

Yes. It's like the worst stealth technique

1:02:52

of all time to be like we're

1:02:54

enemies actually. Let's

1:02:56

openly show people that we don't get along.

1:02:59

I don't understand. I don't get it. I

1:03:01

don't understand them. I don't

1:03:03

know. We are at the end of our story. Do you

1:03:05

have any takes? What are your final thoughts? Wait

1:03:07

on me. I mean, I love

1:03:10

how the one Jade did

1:03:12

not complete her mission of having a gossip

1:03:14

free work space. She calls in the whole

1:03:16

department and is like, okay, let's get to

1:03:18

the bottom of this. So

1:03:20

I'm rooting for Jade, but unfortunately

1:03:22

Jade has not hit her goal

1:03:24

during this. I still do not

1:03:27

understand this tip and why a thing at

1:03:30

all. Like truly I don't. And

1:03:32

then I wonder now that

1:03:34

they're in a new city, like

1:03:36

what happens? Is it a clean day

1:03:38

where they can live openly as a

1:03:40

married couple or is this roof going

1:03:42

to continue and they'll never tell their

1:03:44

coworkers about each other. Right. It's like,

1:03:46

is that why you're at different hotels?

1:03:48

So that like you can continue to do

1:03:50

this ruse where like you're just a nobody

1:03:53

who has no interests and no one knows

1:03:55

anything about you. Like imagine being able to

1:03:57

keep that many secrets about yourself. Like certainly

1:03:59

could. not be me. I feel

1:04:01

like you would go home and just scream

1:04:04

or something. I wonder what they talk about

1:04:06

in the car ride home where they're like,

1:04:08

all right, baby, another day down. No one

1:04:11

knows. I think we're just fighting. I guess

1:04:14

that's a question. It's like, do you think it could be

1:04:16

some kind of kink? Like some

1:04:18

reason to like, keep

1:04:21

it a secret? Yeah. What if their

1:04:23

names aren't even Tiff or Wyatt at

1:04:25

all? Like, what if their whole, what if everything

1:04:28

about their identities are fake and what

1:04:30

is not actually following her sister on

1:04:32

Facebook? Like what if nothing is real?

1:04:36

Wow. That's a terrifying and beautiful place

1:04:38

to end. Erica, thank you so much for coming

1:04:40

to the podcast. It was a delight to have

1:04:42

you. Thank you so much. It was

1:04:44

an honor to talk about this. I still cannot

1:04:46

wrap my head around this story. Thank

1:04:53

you for listening to Marmal Gossips. If

1:04:55

you have a gossip story to share with

1:04:57

us, email us at normalgossips.com or

1:05:02

you can leave us a

1:05:04

voicemail at 2679-GOSSIP. If

1:05:06

you love this podcast and want us to keep

1:05:09

making it, become a friend or a

1:05:11

friend of a friend at

1:05:13

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1:05:15

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1:05:18

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1:05:20

can follow Kelsey on all social media at

1:05:23

at McKinney Casey. This

1:05:25

podcast was produced by Alex Dijon-Lofgren.

1:05:29

Justin Ellis is Defector's project editor.

1:05:32

Jasper Wang and Sean Coon are

1:05:34

Defector's business team.

1:05:36

Tom Leigh is our editor-in-chief. Jay

1:05:39

Tolziera is our associate producer.

1:05:42

Abigail Siegel is our intern. Dan

1:05:45

McQuaid runs our merc store,

1:05:47

which you can find at

1:05:50

normalgossip.store. Tara Jacoby designed

1:05:52

our show art. Thank you

1:05:54

to Jasper Wang for your help on this

1:05:56

episode. Thank you to Ray Rado for your

1:05:58

help on this episode. Thanks

1:06:00

to the rest of the defeaters. Defector

1:06:03

Media is a collectively owned subscriber

1:06:05

based media company. Normal

1:06:07

Gossip is a proud member of

1:06:09

RadioTopian. Normal Gossip

1:06:12

is hosted by Casey McKinney. I'm

1:06:15

Libby, and remember you did not hear this

1:06:17

from me. RadioTopian.

1:06:29

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