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In this episode of 50 Cups Hot Takes, Bill LuMaye and Jim Baker spill the tea on their hot takes, including the controversial Olympic opening ceremony that resembled 'The Last Supper' and its implications on inclusivity and offense to Christians. They also delve into the issues of men competing in women's sports, creating an unfair advantage, and deteriorating customer service across various industries. Jim highlights the intrusion of pets into public spaces, often at the expense of others, and stresses the importance of common sense and empathy. The episode ends positively with stories of public kindness and highlighting 50cups Tea, emphasizing health benefits and customer offers.
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
01:20 Tea Talk: Benefits and Varieties
03:12 Olympics Controversy: Opening Ceremony Critique
12:04 Olympics Controversy: Gender and Fairness in Sports
17:43 Dog Lovers and Their Quirks
23:36 Unexpected Canine Companion on a Flight
24:10 The Rise of Emotional Support Animals
29:15 Customer Service Woes
29:29 Challenges in Business Transitions
32:37 The Decline of Quality Customer Service
41:25 Acts of Kindness and Community
44:44 Tea for Stress Relief and Health
Creators & Guests
Host
Jim Baker
Author of "The Adventure Begins When The Plan Falls Apart" Converting a Crisis into Company Success, Jim is a husband and father of 4, Baker has spent the last 30 years in the business world as an entrepreneur, investor, and advisor. He had a successful exit in 2014 after owning and managing a CRO and functional services company, Ockham, specializing in Oncology. During that time prior to exit, Baker grew ASG and then Ockham both organically and through M&A. Over time Baker has experience in acquiring and selling companies, working with investment bankers, private equity, and mezzanine debt funding. In addition, has vast experience in business branding and managing and leading people. After the sale to Chiltern International, Baker started Sumus Development Group, an advisory business focused on operational excellence, exit strategy and marketing. In addition, Baker is an active investor in the business community.
What is Hot Takes: 50Cups?
United We Sip – Dive into the fascinating world of American culture with "Hot Takes: 50Cups." Join founder Jim Baker as he shares his hot takes on everything from day to day life, business trends and societal shifts, uncovering how we are all more united than we think.
At 50Cups, we believe in the power of community and the shared goal of living a healthy, fulfilled life. Our mission is to inspire you through organic, great-tasting teas, education, and awareness, uniting us all in our quest for better living.
Each episode of "Hot Takes: 50Cups" features Jim's candid and insightful commentary on the challenges, triumphs, and everyday experiences that shape our collective journey. From entrepreneurial wisdom, cultural observations, to health topics and nutrition this podcast offers a fresh perspective that will leave you inspired and enlightened.
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a business leader, or simply curious about the threads that bind us, this podcast is your gateway to understanding and connection.
Subscribe now and join the conversation!
Bill LuMaye: [00:00:00] anybody with a half a brain, especially if you're working in pr, would look at this and say, wait a second, we might have a problem here. If you lined up the picture of the last supper and a picture of that event, they line up pretty darn close.
Even the number of individuals involved were right on the [00:00:15] money. [00:00:30] I'm Bill Lame. Welcome to 50 [00:00:45] Cups Hot Takes with my good friend Jim Baker. He's of course an author. If you haven't read the book, you really need to get it. You also, he also is an entrepreneur, a very successful businessman, and he happens to be the owner of 50 Cup Tea Company.
And I must say, ladies and gentlemen, first let me say, [00:01:00] hi, Jim. How are you? Good to see you. Well, how are you? I'm so excited because last time we got together. You didn't have tea. And today you do. And, and there it said, I gotta say for the folks, I mean, I've never been a tea drinker, but you're, the tea has been wonderful to drink.
And in addition to [00:01:15] that, it, it, it, it, it makes you healthier, which just seems like too good to be true. So what do you have today?
Jim Baker: Yeah, it's we have de-stress tea today. Another herbal tea that is loaded with, lots of [00:01:30] different good things. Some little peppermint, some ginger some lemongrass, et cetera, et cetera.
It's supposed to be able to calm you down a little bit. It's got a little Camille on com, caramel meal on it as well. And, we're gonna need it. I need it at [00:01:45] least you know, based on one of the hot topics we're gonna talk about today. But it's nice and chilled. It's probably about 36 degrees at this point in time.
Bill LuMaye: Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Yeah, I I could have used this the other way. One of the things
Jim Baker: we've learned too, that, especially in the summer months, is [00:02:00] that teas make great mocktails. Oh, really? Yes. And they also make great cocktails.
So as I think a lot of us are, potential alcohol consumption may increase in the summertime because we're just out. [00:02:15] Being more social, et cetera, et cetera. Join the evenings. You know, we just recently wrote a blog. It's on the site at this point in time. But there's a couple, there's one really good green tea mocktail that we highly recommend.
And [00:02:30] but like I said, all these teas go great with everything. You can drink 'em straight up, you can drink 'em hot, you can drink 'em cold you can mix stuff with them. I like personally, last time. I like having a little seltzer water with some of the tea every once in a while make it more of like a soda.
Oh, I be that. Taste. Taste tastes [00:02:45] good. Yeah. And of course for those out there that love the agaves and love the sugars they can be sweetened. I obviously don't recommend that 'cause I think they taste great on their own, but nonetheless, you know, here's de-stress today. So hopefully you'll feel a little calmer when we're done.
Bill LuMaye: Well, I'm already starting to [00:03:00] mellow out. I gotta say it tastes great as well. And, I guess I could set it up by saying this would've been a wonderful drink to have the opening night of the Olympics for many people. Yeah. So
Jim Baker: that's probably the first hot take, you know, we should talk about. Yeah. [00:03:15] And I understand that the IOC wants to host country to obviously introduce all the athletes from the different countries.[00:03:30]
Discussed, you know you know, through entertainment, the beauty of the Olympic Games and also through entertainment, the history and the culture, you know, of the host country. But for the life of me other than the [00:03:45] fact that the people that did the entertainment, you know, talked a lot about promoting French fashion, which obviously they're probably the leading country in fashion in the world, I.
When I first saw it, I, I, I [00:04:00] did not correlate the last supper with the presentation, excuse me, with the the show. I thought it was just weird to be honest with you. And then my second thought was, why in the [00:04:15] world are they doing this in front of millions and millions of people? Couldn't they have talked about, I mean French, the French people, the, the country has been around.
It's gone through multiple changes through its history. I. It's given the world a lot of great [00:04:30] things. Mm-Hmm. And to me, I'm like, why wouldn't you take that opportunity, you know, to promote yourself in that regard? As opposed to sending what I would call these, woke messages that, [00:04:45] ended up wrongfully so attacking Christianity.
And I guess Christianity seems to be the, throughout its history has been the punching bag really for. Hollywood and for for pretty much everything. [00:05:00]
Bill LuMaye: I think you're right, Jim. I really don't understand. I guess I do understand in the sense that they wanted to present themselves as being inclusive, but it's also a family entertainment event.
In fact my daughter who's in grade school, [00:05:15] it was actually given a, a, an assignment to watch the Olympics. So. The opening ceremony, I don't think was as conducive to that kind of family entertainment except for the Smurf. The smurf was a nice touch, but, [00:05:30] I, I don't understand why smart people would want to offend families, or in this case, Christians, which are in the billions, doesn't make sense to me.
What are your thoughts? Well, why, why even go down this road?
Jim Baker: I, I mean, if you [00:05:45] listen to what they said, they didn't. Correlate. You know, this show, this entertainment to the last supper. Now they're coming at it, I guess. And. They're saying, well, it wasn't that, it might've been a Greek fe feast. I don't know.
Yes. Maybe you could speak to that a little [00:06:00] bit.
Bill LuMaye: Well, I don't know a lot about it other than that. There was some kind of a festival, a pagan festival back in the day that they celebrated, and then they, they did jump to that. But initially their initial apology was one of gee sorry. We just wanted to be inclusive.
We never [00:06:15] thought this would offend anybody. And then they went to the Greek festival, excuse, I don't know which one came first, but clearly. I think a anybody with a half a brain, especially if you're working in pr, would look at this and say, wait a second, we might have a problem here. [00:06:30] If you lined up the picture of the last supper and a picture of that event, they line up pretty darn close.
Even the number of individuals involved were right on the money.
Jim Baker: Yeah. One of the, analyzers, I guess you could say, commentators on [00:06:45] YouTube went through piece by piece. Of the segment and he basically said at the end of the day, he wasn't defending them, but he said that, you know, if the center female, I'm assuming yes with the crown didn't have the crown on, then the crown [00:07:00] he thought was the one, was the primary symbol that ended up, you know, correlating this to the last supper.
And if she wore a different hat, for example, or had no hat on then he doesn't think it's as big of a [00:07:15] deal. He didn't say it was in good taste. He didn't say that. He would've done recommended this for, you know, the audience. But you know, he didn't see the fashion correlation either. Especially since there weren't fashion models that were walking.
I guess they [00:07:30] shot it on a bridge. So it kind of, with the carpet in the middle there, it kind of looked like a runway. But clearly fashion models weren't. You know, highlighting these clothes. Mm-Hmm. And quite frankly, one of the guys who's [00:07:45] blue and he had a beard and he had a speedo on, I think he had no clothes on.
Right. So I have no idea what they were trying to, you know, portray there.
Bill LuMaye: I, I really don't know. It would seem to me that, I guess you want to go for, wow. You want people to be [00:08:00] talking about it. And I know we live in an age, right? Where it doesn't matter if you're a Christian or a non-Christian, everybody seems to be looking at something and then finding the worst part about it.
And can be offended by it. But overall, the Olympics is in my past anyway, it's been an [00:08:15] event where everybody comes together, families come together, we watch it. It was a very big deal. I don't know if that's so much the case nowadays, but it is still in my house and I now go, you know what? We're gonna make sure you're only [00:08:30] watching the actual events now.
And I, I just think that's a shame we keep losing something, Jim. Because people are trying to, I don't know what, prove a point push a, a, a
Jim Baker: lifestyle. I'm not sure. So I think in the old days, you know, [00:08:45] back in the Greek times, getting the communities together to have these games was just supposed to, was supposed to foster peace, friendship.
Peace friendships. Yes. You know, get to know people that you don't normally associate with. And this is pre everything. Right. And you know, and that [00:09:00] same theme I thought. You know, carried over to the modern age where we might be able to, if we get to know Russia or the USSR back in the old days, better maybe we won't fight with them.
Maybe we won't be in conflict with them as the Olympic Games are [00:09:15] supposed to bring this, this united, just like united, we sip this united, you know, feeling where we're all together and we're competing honestly and as openly as possible and made the best person win. And so if the. [00:09:30] The presentation or the entertainment was supposed to do that.
It did the exact opposite. Yeah. You basically infu infuriated 2 billion C Christians in the entire world, assuming all these people actually watched the Olympic opening [00:09:45] ceremonies, which I don't think they did. No. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter because of social media. But they did nothing to unite, you know, the world in this situation, you know?
But the other part was the the
Bill LuMaye: Olympics. You know, when we hated Russia. I guess we still hate Russia. [00:10:00] I'm not sure it changes all the time. But think of the miracle on ice with the hockey team. That was a great comp. You know, you had that team to root for and that team to root against and it was exciting.
So the same back in Nazi Germany, you know, [00:10:15] when we had our, our runner Sure. Jesse Owens. Yeah. Yeah. The black runner. I mean. So it can make a, a really huge statement and change the world. It can. I'm not sure what we changed on opening night.
Jim Baker: Other than, I don't know, but you [00:10:30] asked the question before, like, why did they do that?
Why? And I, I think the first world countries, and I think we lead in this case, unfortunately, we're so worried about, secondary issues as opposed to primary issues. You know, number one, [00:10:45] obviously making sure people are safe. Making sure that they have shelter, making sure that they're, they have the ability to, to work and generate income, to buy food.
Make sure that the, there's safe schools for our kids. Where I think China and, you know, some of these [00:11:00] emerging countries. Mm-Hmm. They're focused on that. They're focused on being the best at some point in time. Yes. We're focused on. These secondary issues that are basically eroding our culture and dividing our country.
And ultimately, I think some of these other countries will look at us and say, [00:11:15] clay, keep doing it guys, because you know what, we're taking you over another, you know, 75 or a hundred years sad to say. And I don't, I, I think we're gonna change. So I'm very optimistic that this is a pendulum that's gonna go the other way.
But there's, there's no [00:11:30] other explanation for it other than the fact that they either A, don't care, they're just simply tone deaf and they just wanna push their agenda and. If you don't like it too bad, we'll kind of apologize, but we really won't. We'll kind of give you an explanation, but we really won't.
And it is what it is and, you [00:11:45] know, hey, we're doing it. And but, but it did not unite anybody, I think. No. Who was watching those Olympics.
Bill LuMaye: No, I agree. And we seem to have that problem in almost. Everything. [00:12:00] Nowadays we don't get answers. We get a lot of questions, and then you get a lot of conspiracies and all kinds of stuff.
When you watch the Olympics, there was something that was really, I don't know if you've seen the, either the quick little video clip or just the picture of this young woman, she's in blue on her [00:12:15] knees and the boxing ring and crying. She's crying. Yeah, crying. I mean, she trained her whole life for this, and again, this is a decision made by the Olympics to put.
A man who claims to be a woman in the ring with her and [00:12:30] accept that as fair. You know, I thought we used to test for testosterone and all kinds of doping things during the Olympics. I remember that being big. This man hit her so hard twice that she gave up because she had never been hit that hard by anybody in her life.[00:12:45]
I, and this is something that is gonna spread already, is with Title ix. Here in the country the, the administration now has changed the rules so men can, or boys can play with girls in that sense. It just a fundamental [00:13:00] sense of fairness seems to me to be just common sense, Jim, but yet here we are.
So you're wise, man. Why, why is this even an issue? Well, from the Olympic standpoint, I think
Jim Baker: it's a colossal lack of leadership. Yes. So basically what the IOC has said is each [00:13:15] sport has its own governing body. And they've left the decisions on who can compete and who can't compete to those individual sports governing body.
Right, right. So FIFA for example, they'll, they'll run [00:13:30] soccer in the Olympics. So they have a men's team, they have a women's team, they don't have a trans team, they don't have men playing with the woman. That's just, that's the rules, right. Boxing for whatever reason is allowing men to compete [00:13:45] with females unbelievable with somebody unfortunately.
Is going to get severely injured or potentially killed at some point in time. And to me, that if you want to really do something, [00:14:00] it's, we can, obviously, my my opinion would simply be wherever you were born with, that's what you are. Mm-Hmm. And, and then we're gonna test you to make sure that within, if you're competing, you're within the limits of what a female.
[00:14:15] Testosterone is, for example, if that's what they're testing for and what a male should be. Mm-Hmm. Or go set up a third league, another category where you have people transitioning and let 'em beat the heck out of each other, but they can't compete with traditional men and [00:14:30] women. It's just, it's unfair to the females, you
Bill LuMaye: know, and that's what probably will be the big big game changer out of the Olympics this time around.
You're very optimistic. I'm making a prediction that this one little event. May have a, a, a [00:14:45] tremendous impact well beyond what the organizers had envisioned with the opening games and being inclusive. This might, this might waken some people to say, no, this enough is enough. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. I guess, yeah.
You optimistic about that? No. [00:15:00] No, you're not. 'cause
Jim Baker: Olympics is a once in a four year event. Right. And as we know in certain states in this country, boys are allowed to compete with girls. Unbelievable. And the boys are. Winning. Mm-Hmm. And it doesn't seem like the school systems are [00:15:15] doing anything about it.
Colleges certainly are. The NCAA isn't. I think Leah Thomas, a swimmer from Penn Man ended up winning everything. And she was, he or she was ranked 470 something on the men's side before she, which of you had, right? Yeah. [00:15:30]
Bill LuMaye: I have daughters. I'm going for someone to put that kind of effort and training into being good at anything, and especially if you're good enough to maybe get a scholarship, I.
You know, from high school to college and to have that taken from you by [00:15:45] someone who shouldn't be there. It it, I don't see that any different than doping up or, or doing things you are now illegally not able to do. The fact that they are just doing it because it's what the politically correct thing to do is gonna ruin a lot of, a lot of girls' [00:16:00] lives.
Jim Baker: Yeah. It's, it's, it's not right. It's hypocritical and it's obviously Lance Armstrong was stripped of his Tor de France titles. Yes. Because he was doping. Because he had an un, an un, a unique advantage over everybody else. Barry Bonds don't even recognize [00:16:15] him. He's a hall of Famer. But because he took steroids they don't recognize him at this point in time.
So it's, it's double standard. I mean, either get rid of all the rules and just make it a free for all. Well get rid of
Bill LuMaye: all the leagues. There shouldn't be a woman's basketball team that [00:16:30] league just get rid, let 'em all play a guess. But we know ultimately
Jim Baker: how that would end. But I think it was the original premise was to do it where the.
Give females the opportunity to compete amongst themselves. Yes. Earn money, hopefully, yes. Be successful athletes. Enjoy, you know, the [00:16:45] fruits of that. And but now it's, it's been, it's turned on its head. Yeah. And on to the guise of, I can't figure it out. I mean, it's all about inclusivity, but at the same token, you're going back, I think, to the pre-Civil rights.[00:17:00]
Women's rights era. Yes. Because at the end of the day, we're taking away their abilities to be able to do things. Their ability to have privacy in a bathroom, like all these other things that I don't think anybody thinks about.
Bill LuMaye: Well, they will if they [00:17:15] have a daughter. I. Hopefully. I don't know. How about that?
Hopefully, will Lance Armstrong put on a wiggin dress? You'll be okay. You'll get your, your trophies back, man. I'm glad you brought this tea today because this opening segment, I'm a little stressed out you. Yeah. Hope you two doesn't censor for us. Excuse me a second. I'm gonna [00:17:30] take, I'm gonna knock this one back.
It's, and that's good. All right. All right. I don't think we
Jim Baker: can solve the problem,
Bill LuMaye: but No, but I mean it, and it's, it's still got some time to go, so we may talk about this again. Who knows? Yes. I love dogs. I'm [00:17:45] not like the cat ladies that JD Vance pointed out this thing the childless cat ladies, but I love dogs.
But you have that on your hot topic list, Jim, and I can't imagine what in the world you could be upset with when it comes to these wonderful companions. Full [00:18:00] disclosure,
Jim Baker: I absolutely love dogs too. Okay, good. All right. I had a dog for 13 and a half years. We put her down about a year ago. We loved her.
She was a great companion to the family. A little bit kooky at times especially around little kids. But [00:18:15] nonetheless, you know, we kept an eye on her and she never hurt anybody. Part of your family? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I, I love dogs. My daughter has a dog, phenomenal blonde lab and. [00:18:30] I have nothing, no issue with dogs.
I have issue with dog people. Oh, ooh. Right. Okay. Case in point, I'm in a meeting yesterday in a hotel lobby and I'm sitting there and I see this person that looks like he's my age and [00:18:45] he's pushing a stroller around. My first thought was, oh wow. He's taking his, one of his little grandkids. Maybe it's his kid.
I don't know. 'cause you have a young kid now. Yep. But he's taking his grandkids out for a little stroll and as he gets closer. Wait a second. Wait. Do I, do I look old to you people?
Bill LuMaye: [00:19:00] Yeah. Yeah, I do. They're all second head. Yeah. You get a little kid, but go ahead. Yes. Okay. So it might have been his daughter,
Jim Baker: right?
So I'm thinking, okay. Taking granddaughter, daughter, whatever. Yep. There's a child in there. And as he gets close to me and goes by me, it's not a child. It's [00:19:15] a dog. A dog in the stroller. Little fluffy. I see those pish kind of dog in the stroller. And the, the owner, I guess if he, I assume he is the owner is taking the dog out for a walk.
I'm thinking to myself. A guy, the owner, A [00:19:30] guy. A guy? Yeah. A guy owner. Yeah. I, he, his wife probably told him, go take the dog out. So he popped the dog in the little stroller and he is gonna take her for exactly what a guy would do. So then I'm thinking, my goodness, well wait a second. They're in a hotel lobby.
Mm-Hmm. He's dressed in T-shirts in, in [00:19:45] shorts. So my guess is this hotel is not like next to the Starbucks. I mean, it's kind of off the beaten path a little bit. So I'm thinking he must be a guest. True. And I know that most hotels now have. Accommodations for pets in [00:20:00] certain rooms. So basically the dog stayed in a high-end luxury hotel.
Nice. For the dog one. If dog got its own bed, I don't know. So, but my point is you still don't even know if the dog actually walks yet at this point at all. That's right. I know. Which then brings me to the [00:20:15] next piece. Yes. Situation. There are other dog owners. Mm-Hmm. That. Unfortunately, their dogs get old and then their bodies become compromised.
Yes. And or they get potentially sick earlier in life. Maybe they're seven or eight years [00:20:30] old as a dog. And now the veterinarian community has evolved to the point where you can spend thousands and thousands of dollars trying to cure a dog of cancer.
Bill LuMaye: Yes.
Jim Baker: And I, as I said [00:20:45] earlier, I love dogs, but economically.
Why would you spend $3,000 on a dog that's gonna be miserable? And it's not gonna increase life expectancy maybe for more than six [00:21:00] months or a year. And when you can take that same amount of money when a new dog buy a new dog and buy two of 'em. So I think we're getting outta control with the whole dog thing.
And not only do we see strollers and we see. [00:21:15] End of life, you know, money going out the window. But now I think a lot of people have more than one dog in their family. I do. I see people, woman, the other day I saw her, she's walking, she has three dogs and she's like fighting the three leashes and she's getting [00:21:30] all tangled up and these dogs are just outta control.
Outta control. Yeah. And I'm like, she looks like that. Walking down the street. I'm, I can't imagine what the house looks like. Right? Oh yeah. Right. So I'm like, what are we doing? [00:21:45] And I'll ask you that question first. 'cause then I got more because you hot topic.
Bill LuMaye: I, I I, I have three dogs, but we got a kind of a farm property.
So they, they have some room, but I'm wondering if it has more to do with the individual and their own selfishness, [00:22:00] then the animal, but it says you brought up the and we, we have animals. We love 'em very much, but my wife is one of those that will sell the house to, to take care of the animal. And yet the animal is suffering.
You know? So if you [00:22:15] really love the animal, you wouldn't do that, right? You really wouldn't do it. You're doing it for yourself. You don't wanna lose it. The same with the strollers and the, I don't, I won't. If it's in a need for a attention or I, I don't know what that is, that's, that falls under that weird [00:22:30] category that some might.
Suggest professional counseling at some point for some of these folks. But they're everywhere and they're in, well, maybe I don't wanna take anything away from you. They're, they seem to be everywhere now, Jim. They're in the airports, they're they're [00:22:45] restaurant, you name it. That's probably where you're gonna go next.
[00:23:00] [00:23:15] [00:23:30] Yeah. So a few
Jim Baker: years ago, yes. Got my nice suit on. I got a early morning flight. And, [00:23:45] got my window seat, which I'm usually on the aisle, but for some reason I, no, I did take an aisle seat and I see this, oh, no, younger male coming down with this massive dog. I mean, he is, he's a German Shepherd, you know, oh man.
On steroids [00:24:00] almost. And I'm like, what the heck is this guy bringing this dog on? He's not a, he wasn't a guide dog or anything, but somehow he got permission to, to bring the dog on and. We can go in the guide Dogs, if you like as well. Not the real guide dogs, like the ones that the service dogs, [00:24:15] the blind people around service dogs, but the emotional support dogs.
Yes. This dog wasn't one of those anyhow, as luck would have it next to you, he's rocking into my, my, my row and I, the dog's gotta be on this guy's lap or sit between his [00:24:30] legs. Well, the dog's enormous. So guess what? Dog is slobbering and jumping on my lap. And I got a suit on and I'm like, I paid for this seat and I gotta share it with the dog.
So what did you say? How, how did you handle that? So I said, Hey, I said this isn't gonna work. And [00:24:45] I was super nice about it and he said, I'm sorry sir. You know, but I, I, she'll be fine once the plane takes off. And thankfully there was some empty seats. So I just got up and I moved, to a different seat.
So then the dog ended up [00:25:00] having the entire row. To itself, for the most part. Dog flu, first, first class, what happened to going down below in a cage, right? Yeah. And then you see all these little dogs that are in these little mini suitcases and they bird cage type things. Yeah. Yeah. And like [00:25:15] as a human, you can't leave your dog with a dog sitter for three or four days, or you can't, you put her, put the dog in a kennel for a few days.
It's, it's like we're getting crazy
Bill LuMaye: with the dogs. Well then you gotta, you gotta find a spot for 'em. And I noticed at the airport. That [00:25:30] they have these areas, I guess you take dogs? Yes, I guess so. I, I feel bad for the person who has to clean that up. Well, but what happens? The
Jim Baker: dog doesn't get there and what happens?
The dog just, well, right.
Bill LuMaye: I mean, is that sanitar? Well, people are allergic to animals as well. Right. You know, it just now [00:25:45] I understand. Well, I don't fully understand, but I understand there may be those rare exceptions where you have. An emotional, whatever the service dog or animal is. I mean, they've gotten to goats and horses now.
I mean, it's really crazy. They have, [00:26:00] because if you have someone who needs it, I, I guess that's, I, I could, I could probably go with that. But at some point, shouldn't they be responsible for Biden the role rather than forcing another passenger to deal with
Jim Baker: it? [00:26:15] I don't know. Full disclosure, I'm not sure how.
If what I'm gonna tell you is actually true or not right? But I've been told by some people who can apply for an emotional support dog. Mm-Hmm. Not a service dog, but an emotional support. That's a huge, isn't it, dog? You just have to go online and fill out a [00:26:30] form and pay some money and you get the, the pink coat or the red coat or whatever it is.
I'm not, I could be a hundred percent wrong, so don't kill me for those three listeners that are watching us. But I do don't, I don't think it's that difficult to get that. Oh, I agree. And my point is, if you are, [00:26:45] are suffering from anxiety and other things, and the dog makes you feel good. That's great.
But then I think you're strong enough to probably, if you're willing to take a flight with the dog, you probably could take that same flight without the dog.
Bill LuMaye: Yeah. Or take [00:27:00] a pill, you know, there are, there are drive,
Jim Baker: you know,
Bill LuMaye: set it as you can take and just kind of zone out. Again, I think, I think people are a little selfish at times and maybe it's more of a, a crutch than anything, but it doesn't need to [00:27:15] happen.
But you're right, there was a time none of that was available. You couldn't do it at all, and somehow people survived. Now it's not unusual to see 1, 2, 3 dogs on a flight at any given time. Right. Never a 110 pound [00:27:30] Truman Shepherd, though I must say that's worse than the, the large passenger walking down the aisle, isn't it?
Jim Baker: I, I mean, I do give him credit. I dunno how he managed to get that dog on, but he did. And you know, at the end of the day, you know.
Bill LuMaye: Yeah, but rules, Jim, it comes down to rules. [00:27:45] You say service animals, right? There's a rule. It, it, it has provide a certain service and it's usually for a very small percentage of the population and it's abused again, like so many other things.
Right. People taking advantage of the system because they're selfish [00:28:00] for whatever reason. Rules were not meant to be broken. It seems as though we now live in a society where the converse is true.
Jim Baker: Yeah. I think it, to your point, it's. They're more interested in their own relationship with their dog than they are about the other [00:28:15] people around.
And I love the allergy example because there are times when you're on a plane and you have to starve to death because somebody may have a peanut allergy and they won't serve you a snack. Yes. But why is the same thing hold true with dogs?
Bill LuMaye: Yeah, no, I agree with that. [00:28:30] You know, if my kids or I'm allergic to it and I'm stuffing up, and then it's a, it's a miserable flight.
Why put somebody through that? Then that comes back to where's the airline? Where's the airport? Or whoever's involved in this kind of stuff. I know what they used to call that, [00:28:45] Jim, customer service. Why would they not look at that? I same
Jim Baker: shot of de-stress now.
Bill LuMaye: Yeah, it seems to be helping. 'cause I'm feeling better even though the topic have stressed me out a bit.
Excuse me, but, but why [00:29:00] aren't they there to say, listen, you know, the, we have to look at the entire package here and the people that are flying and, and this is, unless you can prove with a doctor's note in the, you know, this rare exception ain't happening. Instead it's going the other way. Yeah. [00:29:15] So how's customer service for you, Jim?
I've had. Just terrible experiences lately and it seems to be getting worse. And this just reminded me of that. How's, how's Jim's life?
Jim Baker: Yeah, it's, it's, it's awful. It's, to be honest with you, [00:29:30] so I have a, you know, obviously talked about my tea company. 50 cups? Yeah. 50 cups tea.com. We are now exclusively online.
We got outta the retail business. And as such, when you get outta the retail business, you have to. [00:29:45] Transition out. So, for example, I have a, a security system that I was trying to transfer over to the new occupant of the store. I think I got a bad deal everywhere 'cause all the services that I've [00:30:00] used, I.
Nobody's wanted. So they must have, they must be cheaper or they must be better. I don't know. So, nonetheless I tried to transfer this thing over and they opted to go with a different provider. So I went online. There's nowhere [00:30:15] I see anywhere where I can cancel online. So I sent 'em an email saying, Hey, I'm gonna cancel.
They respond back saying, okay, sorry to hear that. Why? Tell 'em why. And then I get calls up. And I'm thinking to myself, well, you have [00:30:30] no problem signing me up, taking my credit card and putting me on you know, auto pay. But when it comes time to say goodbye, I gotta go through 14 different hoops to say goodbye.
And of course, you call 'em up [00:30:45] and you can barely hear the individual. They usually have a 1980 headset, you know, that's on who knows where they're located. It sounds like they're in a tunnel half the time. And it's, it's, they mumble and. They don't follow what you want to do [00:31:00] and you've been paying them all along.
Mm-Hmm. On top of that, I'm on a roll. It's alright. Go. A lot of these cable TV companies, internet providers. Mm-Hmm. They reward the new customers. Yes,
Bill LuMaye: they do.
Jim Baker: At the expense of the old [00:31:15] customers. Yes, they
Bill LuMaye: do.
Jim Baker: And I'm on a bank board and they're telling us in these meetings, Hey, refer us. We have. You know, five point a half percent, you know, money, market rates, et cetera, et cetera.
I'm like, well, what am I getting? I've been with you for 10 [00:31:30] years and I gotta keep an eye on you all day long because you might start me at five point a half, but you're gonna slowly bring me down. Right? So I'm, and I said to 'em, like, why won't you reward the people that are with you as opposed to rewarding new people [00:31:45] coming in?
Mm-Hmm. And their answer was. Great question, but we need to get more and more people and the only way we can get 'em is if we can offer incentives. I said, but if you're getting the people in the bucket right, you may be [00:32:00] filling the bucket with water, but it's all coming out on the other end. Right.
Because if you this emphasis on growth, growth, growth, well if you're having a hard time growing is probably 'cause you're losing some of the
Bill LuMaye: customers you
Jim Baker: have at this point in time.
Bill LuMaye: That is so true. And I've been [00:32:15] through that myself and it's infuriating. To see somebody get, basically, if you're, let's say it's a, a, a cable service of some sort.
If they sign up, they're getting it for half the costs that you're paying and it makes me mad. And I, the minute I can cancel, [00:32:30] I do, you know, and, and then become a new subscriber of somewhere else and I'm happy for whatever, it's six months. But and the service is terrible. I mean, and it, you know, it's not only the long distance calls to some far away land land, but even [00:32:45] locally, and I bet this is true, no matter where you're watching or listening to this, it's your local store.
It's your, you know, people that you would, quite honestly, you go out, they've been around forever. It's a reputable furniture store or whatever it might be, and you're, you're getting [00:33:00] just crappy service, it seems to be. An epidemic. Mm-Hmm. Do you find that to be true as well? And listen, you're, you're the business guy.
You, you run businesses. Why is that happening? I mean, so the quality of [00:33:15] candidates,
Jim Baker: you can't,
Bill LuMaye: you can't
Jim Baker: find people what? I think that's a problem. I think it's gotten a little bit better now, but I think that that was a problem in the last couple years and. You know, a lot of these workers that are hourly wage [00:33:30] workers, a lot of 'em are in college.
They're just looking for a job, right. Some are phenomenal by the way, and, and then some aren't. Right? And and then, you know, I would call it you have the hourly work class that's maybe not in college or but they, they always seem to be [00:33:45] rightfully so trying to get to the best opportunity, for them personally and for their pocketbook.
And so. They in their mind, probably think, well, I'll come in here. I'll make an extra two or $3 an hour. [00:34:00] I don't need to change anything. 'cause I'm just gonna leave in two or three months to get more money someplace else. Right. So I mean, eventually that backfires. But you can do that for, you know, one or two years before you, everybody knows who you are and then suddenly you can't get a job [00:34:15] anymore.
'cause people are, Hey, by the way. I know. So-and-so worked at that restaurant over there. What, what was he or she like? So now you're going to get, you know, you're gonna end up hurting yourself. But I, it could just be apathy from the owners too. It's [00:34:30] leadership. I mean, it could be just a lot of different things.
And quite frankly, the average consumer that's coming in now, low expectations, demand so much sometimes Oh, the way. Alright. And they're not exactly the nicest people in the world. No, that's true. [00:34:45] That's true. So, and I've seen it, you know, and I, unfortunately, I admittedly I've been guilty of it every once in a while where I.
You know, if I don't feel like I'm getting good service, I'm, I'm not gonna, I'm gonna speak up. I probably should have handled it a little bit better. But, you know, but there are [00:35:00] people that just simply walk in and you know, they got their nose up and you know, they want to, when we serve coffee before we, before we got outta retail, you know, somebody said, you have decaf, unfortunately.
I'm sorry, we don't have decaf. What do you mean you don't have decaf? Like they [00:35:15] start arguing with me and I'm like. Well, we just don't have decaf. I mean, we have decaffeinated tea, which is our herbal teas. And but from a coffee perspective, we, we just simply, we're not a coffee shop. We're a tea shop that serves coffee.
So, you know, we only so many things, little did
Bill LuMaye: they know. [00:35:30] Excuse me, Jim, they you were serving them caffeinated so you could take the stressor tea later building the back sale on the tees. Very good.
Jim Baker: Exactly. So I just think it's the thing that's frustrating though is that all these companies out there are.
Have their [00:35:45] mission statements and their branding. We care customers, number one for us and everything else. And it really isn't because if it was, you know, you would make things a lot easier for them and you would not be, make it difficult for them to, to, [00:36:00] to leave a service and or to join a service.
I've got a, a friend of mine the other day I let him use, my, one of my, our rental properties, you know, for a period of time, and we just went direct with him. We didn't go [00:36:15] through anybody and so he, he had to pay me and so he sends me a, this invitation for this thing called Bill BILL. Where he can pay me through Bill.
And, but the problem with that is it requires me who's trying to get the [00:36:30] money, be so much easier if he just wrote a check and mailed to me. It takes me about 30 minutes just to sign up and I gotta give 'em my firstborn and everything else. Oh yeah. And then on top of that, now I'm getting emails every six seconds from these people 'cause they wanna upsell me.
Sure. I just want my check. Right. That's it. [00:36:45] Right, right. So even the technology piece of it. Is not customer centric in most cases.
Bill LuMaye: Now I try to shy away from that just because of that. It takes too much time. And the other thing they're doing, is rounding up for, would you [00:37:00] like to round up? I've asked many times.
No, I'd prefer to round down and they won't do it, Jim. But I mean that is so irritating. What another way for people to say, well I don't want the change. 'cause people don't care and it's really not worth all that much, I guess, anymore. But [00:37:15] there was a time. A and I worked in this industry, you know, customer service, whether it was fast food or gas stations or whatever it is, and you almost took pride.
And I could I, Jim, I am not making this up. I'm not, I could run a credit card while I [00:37:30] am put, adding up another order on a cash register, chewing gum, talking on the phone to the boss, all at the same time at the same time. It's impressive. I walked into a store the other day. It was a, it was a restaurant and the people were [00:37:45] standing, facing the opposite wall, looking at that wall.
I thought, what in the world was going on? And the lady was in there too. And I said, how long you been standing here? Oh, about 10 minutes. Have they have talked? No. And I went, Hey. And they wouldn't even turn around. I thought, Jim. [00:38:00] What's going on here? They were on their phones with the earbuds and that's what they were doing.
So that's the kind of service I see more often than not. So I don't know if it's, I have a bad feeling just about the quality of product [00:38:15] coming out of our education system, maybe And, and the, the work ethic, that's the word I'm looking for. Yeah. The work effect.
Jim Baker: I think it's part of it. I, I think. You know, customer service isn't a profit center, you know, for companies.
No. Unless you're gonna retain the [00:38:30] consumer, if you're canceling your internet, for example, or your cable TV or, or what have you. I mean, the other day, I mean, because I'm outta retail, I'm trying to sell my POS and the, these POS systems are kinda like your cell phone, you know, there's a [00:38:45] provider behind it, so the hardware is attached to the provider.
So I can't, this is a Verizon phone. I can't give it, sell it to you and then you go do at t on it. Right, right. Same type of thing, which I kind of knew about it, but I really didn't know it was [00:39:00] that rigid. But I have somebody that wants to buy the system and they're willing to go with the same provider.
And I, I'm talking to 'em on the phone, I'm, lemme put the new vendor on touch with you and you guys can figure it all out, but I need to exit stage [00:39:15] left. Right. And oh, we can't really do that. Like, why I. They can't even give you an answer. I think they just wanna sell new hardware all the time and then sign 'em up for a new deal.
And so, but I'm stuck with this 1-year-old [00:39:30] 1000 to $2,000 system that basically is gonna be thrown to the, to the taking to the dump at some point time, much is the shame just because you can't sign it up, the colossal waste of money and, and, you know, harm to the environment, et cetera, et cetera. But [00:39:45] nobody's willing to help out, I guess, at the end of the day.
And
Bill LuMaye: I do feel bad a bit for some of the folks 'cause I've had the experience of talking to an individual long distance and having to call back many times. And even though it's a different individual, they all call me Mr. William and [00:40:00] read from the same script, same questions, and you can't get past it.
They have to follow the steps. So it's, it's pretty tough for them.
Jim Baker: Yeah.
Bill LuMaye: Excuse me again, I'm sorry. Anyway. Okay. I'm still, I'm not as [00:40:15] stressed anymore though, Jim. Your tea is wonderful. But that is something that, maybe it comes from customers wanting, demanding more than they are
Jim Baker: maybe. Yeah.
Don't get me wrong. The customer I think is being fair in most cases. Yes. [00:40:30] I do think there's an increase in with certain people. They want more. But I think the blame still is on these companies and the. The amount of effort and resources they put into customer service.
Bill LuMaye: Well, I agree with you [00:40:45] and that too, by enforcing laws or rules about dogs.
You know, we can go down the list, but and
Jim Baker: by the way, when I say dogs, I'm, I am mostly talking about dogs, but also cats.
Bill LuMaye: Yeah,
Jim Baker: you know, pets in general. I mean, I've seen, I've seen
Bill LuMaye: parrots
Jim Baker: in the, [00:41:00] in some of these stores. So it's just getting
Bill LuMaye: outta control. It's actually the owners of the animals that kind of abuse the system.
Alright, Jim? Well, I, I really am kind of mellowed out now. Not that I want to take a nap, but I feel better. But normally we, we do the hot takes and, [00:41:15] you feeling better? I mean, you, you got a lot off your chest today. I mean, do you wanna maybe end with a Kumbaya kind of a moment? Do you have one today for
Jim Baker: us?
Yeah. As always. You know, there are phenomenal things [00:41:30] happening in our community and the country and in the world. Yes. And I, I, you know, every day all of us witness, you know, little things and there's two things that come to mind for me. You know, a few weeks ago we were. Down at the beach [00:41:45] and it was, I don't know, 7, 7 30 at night.
And the tide was starting to come in and there were a family that's renting a house next to us. Probably had four or five umbrellas probably 15 to 20 chairs. And the tide's coming up. And basically they're, it's [00:42:00] tide swept, water's taken out all the, all the, all the furniture. Oh. And kind of looking around, waiting for to see if somebody's gonna come down.
A couple people did walk down, but they just were going for a walk on the beach. They just came down off the deck and, and went their way. And [00:42:15] so I'm like, well, I better get up and, you know, at least get the stuff out of the, out of the way and out as I'm getting up, there's some people walking down the beach that see the same thing I see.
And suddenly there's four or five of us basically cleaning [00:42:30] up that part of the beach, putting. Things not only out of the water line, but also up towards their deck. What you're, which is what you're supposed to do at night. And I kind of thought that was kind of cool where you just had, you know, four total strangers just say, okay, well [00:42:45] we don't want to, let's help.
Yeah, let's help these people. And by the way, it was all rental beach chairs and, umbrellas. It would've cost these people a fortune if that stuff ended up getting damaged. Right, right. So. So that was good to see. And then [00:43:00] heard another story too of a friend's mom who was driving home taking a two and a half hour trip home, and she's 85 years old and developed a leg bleed outta nowhere.
She felt like a, oh wow. Little scratch on her leg. So she scratched it. And then like [00:43:15] a couple minutes later, her, she wants to hit a vein. She's got, she's got constant skin, so she was bleeding profusely out of her leg. Oh man. And she's driving. So thankfully she, you know, is able to pull over into a, one of those gas stations with [00:43:30] you know, a big store attached.
And so she's, you know, trying to, she has no bandages in the car. She has no, you know, tissues or anything like that. And, you know, she's come, gets out and she's basically a bloody pulp at that point in time. And. Two people, strangers see her [00:43:45] and come over and they put her back in the car. They go in and buy bandaids and bandages and napkins and everything else.
And basically they wrapped her up and stopped the bleeding and everything else so she could, you know, get back on on the road. So there is always, there's [00:44:00] hope out there, but there's also a lot of things that are going on every single day where we're all good and we're all united, and, but I'm sure we're all aggravated by.
S some of the dog things that are going on, some of the customer service stuff that's going [00:44:15] on.
Bill LuMaye: Well, not so much anymore after the tea, but, but yes, and you know, you get so much of the social media where you have the guy filming, the other guy running from a man with a hatchet and won't intervene.
It's nice to know that, and I think it's, more often than not [00:44:30] complete strangers will risk even their own lives to help another stranger. And I think that still exists. And. That's good. That makes me feel good to know that they're out there. Hopefully they're my next door neighbor because you never know.
I do some silly things sometimes. [00:44:45] So Jim, the tea was delicious today. Absolutely. And I do feel better. I feel, I mean, seriously. I, I feel much more calm. I'm not just joking about it. How do people get ahold of your tea? And you know, the beauty of the tea is not [00:45:00] only is it good, but you, like this is a stressor, but you have all kinds of teas for all kinds of different, health concerns, really.
Jim Baker: Yeah, sure. Yeah, so the easiest, simple thing to do is you can just go to our website 50 cups tea.com and order [00:45:15] and we'll get it to you within, you know, two or three days. If you want it bagged, we can bag it. If you wanna loosely, we can loose leaf it. In fact, this month we have an August special.
If you buy 500 grams of green loose leaf tea [00:45:30] we will give you a Kento. Stainless steel teapot, basically. Oh, cool. Where you put the loose leaf in the metal cylinder and that allows it to steepen the pot itself. And then you could pour it out and drink it, and you could also [00:45:45] pour it out into a big container like this and chill it.
But that's free. And it's basically a $40 value that we're giving away. If you buy the green tea this month. Green tea has got significant health benefits. It is caffeinated [00:46:00] but it's it's great for you and it also tastes great mixed with other things, hot, cold, whatever. It's a, it's a very versatile tea.
Bill LuMaye: I, and I understand you allow pets, right? Since this, this is the beauty of online
Jim Baker: is [00:46:15] Yes. You can drink tea with your, can have want if you don't care, do you? That's right. No, no. It's all good,
Bill LuMaye: Jim. It's all good, Jim. Thanks as always, man. I appreciate it. Yeah, thank you. Have a great one. Appreciate the hot takes.