Sidequest 11: The Tighty Whitey Incident & Tales from the Field
Welcome to another Sidequest! This is where we drop the script, embrace the chaos, and talk about whatever is on our minds before diving into your "Tales from the Field." Grab your favorite caffeinated beverage (the only thing holding Emily's brain together these days) and let's get into it!
Candy Sponsorships & Behind the Scenes
Before we get to the wild contractor stories, we have a few important off-topic updates to cover:
We are officially putting out a call for candy sponsorships, specifically for Hot Tamales, jelly beans, 100 Grand Bars, and Kit Kats.
For the record, the individually wrapped fun-sized Kit Kats are far superior to the unwrapped minis in the bag, which taste sweeter and have a weird anti-stick coating.
If you ever catch a stray editing mistake in a Sidequest video, it is because Emily edits all the Sidequests, while our lovely editor Thomas handles the main episodes.
Our current working motto for learning new skills like video editing is to simply "make it exist, then make it good".
To clear up a major misconception: despite the studio lighting making us look like three redheads, Arly is actually blonde.
Arly is also not Emily or Samantha's child; her mother is a wonderful woman named Barbara!
The Power of Empathy and Supportive People
We took a quick bunny trail to talk about mental health, because navigating the world (and making mistakes) is tough when you don't have the right support system.
Everyone needs at least one person in their life who will help them fix a massive screw-up without making them feel like an idiot.
Having a supportive person to lean on helps short-circuit that negative cycle of self-deprecation when you do something wrong.
True empathy means stepping up to say, "You put yourself in this situation, but you are my person, so we will figure it out together".
Tales from the Field: The Tighty Whitey Incident
Working in a profession where you have to go into strangers' houses for estimates can be incredibly nerve-wracking because you truly never know what is waiting on the other side of the door.
Emily arrived at a client's house, knocked twice, went back to the car to send a text, and then knocked one more time.
The door swung open to reveal a middle-aged man wearing absolutely nothing but his tighty whitey underwear.
Too stunned to call attention to it, Emily simply turned her back, walked to her car, and drove away.
When the man's spouse texted to ask why Emily left the appointment, she had to awkwardly explain that the husband had answered the door without clothes.
It honestly could have been worse—we've also had an estimate where a homeowner wearing an ankle monitor led us deep into a basement with a mean dog!
Jason Learns About "The Contractor Treatment"
If you are a woman who has ever tried to hire a contractor or buy a car, you know how infuriating it is when the professional ignores you and only speaks to the man standing next to you. Well, our "token boy," Jason, finally got a taste of it!
Jason recently visited a women's shelter with an older male coworker named Donnell.
Even though Jason was the one asking all of the questions, the contact person completely bypassed him and directed every single answer to Donnell.
Jason quickly realized exactly how annoying that dynamic is, proving that experiencing something firsthand is sometimes the only way people truly develop empathy for it.
Next Week's Teaser: Make sure you tune in to the next Sidequest, where we will be sharing the story of why we had to call 911, and the time we got verbally assaulted in the middle of a Home Depot!
