The Night Shift

Don't take your trash smoothies for granted | The Night Shift Ep. 3

Niiko Season 1 Episode 3

Ready to embark on a cultural journey like no other? We promise you'll never look at a red-suited, white-bearded Santa Claus the same way again after learning about its origins from a 1931 Coca-Cola ad. From there, we take a trip down memory lane, recounting our experiences at a recent concert and marveling at the performer's vocal prowess. 

Ever tried pickles with peanut butter or wondered why there's a popcorn button on US microwaves? We thought so. Buckle up as we navigate between life in the US and Germany, highlighting the stark differences and similarities in everything from garbage disposals to barbecue sauces. Coffee lovers will find our take on the contrast in coffee culture between the two countries particularly enlightening. 

As we move towards a close, we turn our attention towards the wider European landscape, comparing popular American items that are seemingly hard to come by in Europe. And yes, we're talking about ranch dressing and plastic bags. We also discuss our favorite cereals and the baffling lack of mac n' cheese. Before we sign off, we talk about our efforts to spread positivity on social media platforms and underscore the importance of self-care. So, are you ready to redefine your understanding of cultural differences and everyday conveniences? If yes, then don't miss this episode.

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Speaker 1:

Hello, welcome. You are back on the night shift. Damn, it's a Friday night and you're on the night shift. That's kind of tough, bro. That's kind of tough Like you would want to enjoy the weekend, wouldn't you? But yet you're here. But, to be fair, this is a recording and you could listen to this whenever you want, unlike myself, who is filming this on a Friday night because I actually have work tomorrow. So why am I filming this now? You know, because I'm an insane human being that does not have his priorities straight, or maybe I do. Maybe this is a priority for me, and maybe the things that I have going on tomorrow I should have prioritized. We're here, hello, yeah, nice to have you back.

Speaker 1:

I have been thinking that I want to start starting these episodes off with a fun fact, and the fun fact that I found today was now I'm going to preemptively strike this with. I don't know if this is an international thing, but at least for the American Santa Claus, the modern day interpretation of Santa Claus with a red outfit and white beard is due in large to a holiday Coca-Cola ad that began in 1931. So I guess 1931,. There's a Coca-Cola ad where they made him wear red because the Coca-Cola is essentially red and white and he was wearing a red jacket, white beard to, I guess, match the Coca-Cola can or bottle or whatever. And I actually kind of knew this, surprisingly enough, because I used to work for Coca-Cola back in the day, down in Atlanta where Coca-Cola was invented, at the World of Coca-Cola. It's a giant museum and yeah, that's just one of the things, one of the facts that they tell you while you're there, which was super interesting. I didn't realize how big, gigantic corporations could have on something like it's almost like a religious symbol, really.

Speaker 1:

You know Before that I don't know if Santa Claus even had specific colors. Did he have colors that he was assigned? Was he just a normal guy that just wore whatever he wanted to? If not, I think his colors were green, I think. Was he wearing green? I don't remember because you know I wasn't around in 1931 or anytime like that. But yeah, fun fact, fun fact. Coca-cola is the reason why Santa Claus wore his red, at least in the States.

Speaker 1:

Like I said, I don't really know if Santa Claus is, you know what I'm saying. Is he red in colors in Germany? Who knows? I don't know, I don't know. But yeah, I bet you're wondering where this amazing shirt I got from. Oh, let me tell you. Oh, can you see it? Can you see it? If you're listening to this not on YouTube, or watching this not on YouTube, or if you're watching this on YouTube, you can see the shirt. If you're not watching this on YouTube, then you're probably listening to it via some sort of audio medium, whether it be Spotify or Apple Podcast, android Podcast.

Speaker 1:

You probably can't see my shirt, but I am wearing a shirt from the weekend concert that I went to last Friday, which was outstanding, by the way. That was, like I said, the first concert I've ever been to, and I got this concert from the super, super, super unique, super special shirt that I got from the super special store at the super limited edition weekend store. On the weekend concert at the weekend store it was the line was insane. They didn't have a lot of shirts there, so I had to choose from what I got and I'm actually really happy with the shirt. The shirt's pretty cool. I kind of like it. It's got like it's a mask that the weekend was wearing. That kind of looks like an MFDU mask when I saw it on stage, but the mask on the shirt's not MFDU me All caps, by the way, and it's got some like pink spirits coming out of it. It looks cool. It's a cool looking shirt.

Speaker 1:

Funny story about the shirt. So, yeah, the shirts were you know what I'm saying. They were concert shirt prices, if you know what that means. So they were not cheap. But as we were leaving the concert you know everybody's leaving, they're getting out of the stands and all that good stuff we found another shirt that unfortunately, somebody left behind. But you know there's a big crowd, ain't no way they turned around. So it's like it's either me or somebody else and I'd rather it be me. So I got another shirt that looks like something like Metallicus. Obviously it's still the weekend, but like it's like a, it looks like a heavy metal shirt. It's such a sick shirt, yeah. So I'm really happy about that. I don't know I'm going over the shirts, over the concert. The concert was outstanding.

Speaker 1:

My biggest takeaway was, like, obviously the weekend's been performing live for quite some time you know he's a veteran at this now but it amazed me like how Like effortless it looked like he was being. He's able to sing all these songs, you know, like Obviously he took some breaks in between to like hey crowd, hey Munich, oh I love you. But like, just like in singing, like for me to sing as high as he sings, and the just a quality of his, the notes that he was hitting, it just looked like he would just like speaking into the mic like pretty ever see, I don't wanna say you know, but like, obviously he was singing it in the weekend's voice and it was maybe because it's his voice and it's just like that's just what he sounds and he just got gifted with a beautiful voice. But I Don't know, just imagine yourself singing a song. You know it kind of takes breath out of you, you know it's it's a little, it's like you putting in effort, you're gonna have to breathe, like, oh my god. And he was walking around the whole time and I don't know, it just seems so effortless for him. So, big ups to the weekend.

Speaker 1:

He, a performer, performer, his stage had like At the very end it was like a gigantic moon that changed color. That moon was huge. I don't know how tall it was, baby, 30 feet tall moon, I don't know. 30 foot tall, how tall is that in meters? 10 meters, yeah, let's just, let's go to 10 meter tall moon. On the end of the stage and the middle of the stage they had this like silver surfer-esque statue that was just like Spinning around in circles that had like laser beams for eyes. So I feel bad for whoever that thing looked at, because those lights were insanely like. They were blinding lights, which is probably alluding to one of his songs. And In the main stage there was like a burning city that actually had like flames and stuff like coming out of it, like it was like a Post-apocalyptic looking. It was pretty sick. And to top it all off, my boy had like dirty nuns Walking up on the stage just like walking, doing some like ominous slow motion walks and whenever the songs got like crazy, they would like freak out and do like weird like on a robotic dance. I don't know he had the nuns doing the robot on the God in a state, but that shit was crazy.

Speaker 1:

So big up to the weekend and big up to Caitranada at the beginning of that, because he Caitranada Was the performance before the weekend got on to the stage and Caitranada was killing that shit. He was man. I love Caitranada. I don't feel like Munich appreciated who, what they were witnessing. Caitranada was absolutely crushing it and I, I felt like I was the most lit for Caitranada, bro. I don't know Caitranada was, he was crushing it. But yeah, that's how my weekend went and I am quite happy about it.

Speaker 1:

What else, what else? What else? Yeah, munich is a pretty city, man. Unfortunately, the weather was. It was a little it's a little shy, sir, but it's all good. You know, I'm saying you go there for a special occasion and you enjoy it the best way you can. So I'm happy I got to say the weekend and Caitranada and Mike Dean, because he was playing the saxophone During the, the concert which is. I even know he played a saxophone. It's crazy, yeah.

Speaker 1:

But I have a question of the day that I wanted to. You know, I'm saying discuss on this day, and I Thought it was pretty funny. It says non Americans. What do you think every American person has in their house? And I already knew that. These answers about to be hilarious. The first one says a switch that you can flick and it turns your sink into a blender. And the next comment says a trash smoothie, which is yeah, I didn't realize that I was taking my garbage disposal back in the States for granted, because that's not really a thing out here.

Speaker 1:

I Miss my garbage. But you can just throw anything that you had on your plate into the sink and the sink will take care of it. Over here you gotta meticulously make sure you take every scrap off that plate and put it into the trash, or else you'll sink clogged. You got to call the plumber and then he gonna take 30, mean 30, 30, 30 years to get to your house. And then when you get to your house you know I don't have the port. I gotta come back. Then you gotta wait for him to. You gotta take off of work so you can go. Guys, don't take, for if you have, if you have a Garbage disposal in your sink, please don't take that for granted. I didn't realize what I had. I didn't realize.

Speaker 1:

The next response is barbecue sauce. Yeah, barbecue sauce, bro. I try to go to the damn grocery store here and get some barbecue sauce. That shit was not hitting, bro. Like it's like it was. It was like mad sweet. It was like they know what barbecue sauce is, I guess. Like they tried it. But, like man, I missed my. I missed the barbecue sauce. Like, just like a variety of barbecue sauce that we had back at the crib, just like. See this random sauce is in general, bro.

Speaker 1:

I don't know about the rest of the country or countries out here in Europe, but Germany needs to get their sauce game up bro. They're really lacking in the sauce department. Bro. They're bakeries though, on point, love me a German bakery. I'm gonna eat these butter pretzels. It's just essentially a pretzel that they cut in half and put butter in between. I don't know, bro, I'm feeling like that's. It's literally my kryptonite, bro. I'm weak to that. Give me a little a young butter pretzel and I'm really good for the rest of the day.

Speaker 1:

A coffee machine with large glass wait, a coffee machine with large glass jugs full of black coffee being kept warm. The UK mostly has electric kettles for making hot drinks eventually, or individually. I mean yeah, I guess. I mean I'm not too familiar with German offices but like, yeah, in the office back in the States there's always like a pot of coffee. That's just like always there and it's always warm.

Speaker 1:

Some guessing they don't do that here. They're big on espresso's out here. That's for show, and espresso's tastes like straight poison, bro. You'll ever had espresso? I am, bro. Why the fuck you drink that? That's the damn elixir of Satan himself, bro. Granted, it'll wake you up, but it's like man, y'all really drinking that. I take that back. I like me and espresso every night again, but it's, you know, I ain't drinking those on the rags, that shit. I just know my indecides are crying every time I take a sip the most wholesome I've felt about my country in a while.

Speaker 1:

But yes, peanut butter, air conditioning disposal in the sink yeah, yeah, yeah, I have not seen peanut butter out here and if I do, it's like, granted, this is probably just like a bad thing on the States because, like, the peanut butter in the States is probably like not natural, considering you don't have to mix it at all, cause I feel like maybe natural peanut butter, you'd have to mix it, and I've seen some peanut butter out here and it's like a thick vat of oil on top that you gotta mix for like damn near 20 minutes just to make sure it's edible, bro. And to be fair, fuck all of that. Run me my GIF, bro, run me my Skippy. You know what I'm talking about. And air conditioning I've mentioned this before and I'm mentioning it again, bro, the lack of air conditioning out here is actually like it's blasphemous, like I don't, I can't understand it. Like I get it? Yeah, it's gonna make you sick. Fuck all of that, bro, You'll be fine. Bro, get air conditioning, I promise you your life will be so much better.

Speaker 1:

Popcorn setting on the microwave. Yeah, my microwave, right here in this apartment, here Cause it's the microwave that the tenant left behind, cause it's not my microwave Does not have a popcorn button on it. So, like you, gotta, I don't know I just put it in for three minutes and then I've listened to the pops and if the pop starts to die down, I take it out before the three minutes ends. Or if I need to put it in for longer than three minutes, there's like a plus 30 second button on there. So, yeah, america's really is made eating mad easy, which is probably why we're all like a little you know, we got a little obesity problem back in the States. You know, a little bit, just a little bit. America has made easy eating, so easy, and I really realized that, even from the garbage disposal to the popcorn setting on your microwave, bro, there's really everything is so easy. So like, so ready to go.

Speaker 1:

I am so surprised with this whole top loading washing machine answer. Why is this abnormal? Yeah, I guess. Yeah, all the washing machines I've seen here have just been like you have to load them from the side. I don't know why. It's like a different thing back in the States. It looks like there's a response underneath, but that's three paragraphs long. Did you really need a three paragraph answer to why a side washing machines? Long story short, guys. I'm not gonna read that Next response.

Speaker 1:

Apparently Americans are rather fond of pickles and peanut butter. Is that a fair assumption to make? I meant either or not both at the same time. Bro, can you imagine eating pickles and peanut butter? You would have to have the craziest taste. But okay, I know like when people are pregnant, they have like insane cravings. Like I wonder if anybody's ever craved pickles and peanut butter together, cause I got.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, I've definitely heard of some wild cravings for a pregnant woman to get, but pickles and peanut butter just seemed a little, seems a little bit excessive. You know, like why are you doing this to yourself? You're actually that sounds like a. It sounds like you lose health bars when you eat one of those. Bro, that doesn't sound good for you. Like it sounds, it sounds painful. But yeah, like I'm just thinking about, like yeah, america has a lot of conveniences. There's like a lot of things that just make things like like you. To be fair, that's probably why, like I said, we're got a little bit of the obesity problem, because I haven't really noticed a lot of like obese people out here in Germany at least, which is, you know, it's a good thing. I think it's a good thing, but at the same time, there's a lot of ease of life or is that the word of it? I'm thinking for ease, of ease of life creations that I'm seeing in the States.

Speaker 1:

The amount of garbage disposal comments got me crying. But yeah, a lot of people are saying garbage disposal, that's actually, it's actually insane. Garbage disposal is actually a blessing, though like I feel like that's maybe it's just like a plumbing thing, because maybe a lot of the plumbing infrastructure out here is just not built for that, but garbage disposal is actually a God said. This thread is really making me question if European houses are just empty boxes with singular bags of tea cereal. Yeah, all the cereal I see here is actually just like reincarnations of American cereals that I've seen in the German grocery stores, and if they do have cereal is really just oatmeal with random chocolate bits in it or random fruit bits in it, but it's all like oatmeal and the cereal is actually all American stuff that they've, maybe like taking some of the sugar out because they realize a we're killing our peeps with this.

Speaker 1:

As an American, I was expecting guns, but ranch dressing hurt for some reason. Yeah, I actually haven't seen a gun quite. Maybe that's cuz like. It's too obvious. Of course we're gonna say guns, that's kind of boring. Ranch dressing yeah, they got ranch dressing out here. Ranch dressing like. I know some people that swear by ranch dressing and they put it on like damn everything. Some of those people. You know they might not, you know they might not look like me, but ranch it's cool, it's, it's. It's not up there for me.

Speaker 1:

What's my favorite sauce? I like sriracha sauce and I don't know what the name of the sauce would be, but I think it's like a tie, a tie sauce like from Thailand. It's like a sweet and spicy sauce. I don't know the name of it, but I know it when I see it. It's got a, it's got a color and it's got some little specs in there. Of you, bobby Peppers, who knows? I'm really asked questions. I just know it tastes good. It's probably not good for my longevity, though, but hey, my favorite sauce is sriracha, and that tie sauce is kind of like red and orange ish, and it's got the speckles in there, sweet and spicy. I think I literally will put that on anything I take the back, not everything.

Speaker 1:

Washing machines where you put everything on the top, okay. Okay, we got another one of those drywall, lots of drywall. True, a lot of these buildings I've seen out here are solidly built, like like. Even this building that I'm living it right now it's a old, it's a old-looking building, like probably built in, like the, probably like that 30s or something like that. I would probably even a little than that, but it's solid. This building ain't going nowhere. But, to be fair, old buildings in the States are also solidly built, but, like I don't know, maybe the, the, the newer buildings, are just not built with drywall. I feel like the buildings in the States are just like built for speed and not like the longevity.

Speaker 1:

You know, plastic bags filled with plastic bags yeah, they don't. They are so big I'm not using plastic out here. Like I don't even think you can get a plastic bag at a store, like they only sell paper bags or those reusable bags that you get at the grocery stores, like I don't think I've seen a plastic bag since I've been out here. Only thing plastic might be like maybe like a plastic wrapping like over, like a electronic product or something like that. Like I, maybe there's just like confirmation bars, isn't like that. But I'm trying to think have I seen plastic bag at all since I've been out here? Maybe just like trash bags, but like that's a trash bag, you know. Now, yeah, I don't think I've seen a plastic bag until you go to, like maybe a military base and you go to the grocery store and they got the thickest, most plasticky plastic bag. Look, I. I feel like every time I take a plastic bag, like three turtles dies, bro, and I know they fuck with the turtles, don't fuck with the straws, but these plastic bags, they got me doing some, bro. It's the turtles. Fight the turtles. They hate plastic, they lurch it or something.

Speaker 1:

What else, what else? What else? Large quantities of over-the-counter drugs and huge bottles, do they not? I mean, they got drug stores out here, but do they not? Like I guess I don't really haven't really gone into any of the Apothec he I think that's how you pronounce it apothec, he, the drug stores out here in Germany. I haven't really had a need to go in there to buy them, so I don't know if they sell, you know, large quantities of I will, I would profan, or Italian, all that good stuff. They probably call us something different out here too, oh, okay. Okay, the last one I'm seeing Mac and cheese. I have yet to see macaroni and cheese out here, and if I do, it's really it's it's Italian, like Macaroni and maybe some like sprinkled cheese. It's not the same. I miss my mac and cheese man.

Speaker 1:

There's some food maybe that I missed from back home, but, like to be fair, I'd like to think I'm somewhat adventurous in the foods that I've eaten since I've been out here. I've eaten a lot of, you know, some schnitzel, some, some curry, worst, some. There's a lot of other foods that I don't remember the names of, so please forgive me, I probably should have, like, came up with it. I'm gonna okay, eventually I'm gonna come up with a list of some of the best foods I've had since I've been in Europe.

Speaker 1:

When I was in Rome last month, the, there was a. There's a dish called, like I'm a, tresiana. I think it's like a Italian noodle dish, so almost like carbonara, but not carbonara. It's like the noodles are giant Hollow cylinders, if that makes sense with like bacon bits on it. Oh, oh my god, that stuff is Muto bene, it's a mutu mutu bele, mutu, mutu bele. It's good as hell, is what I'm trying to say. It was delicious. So you know, if you're in Italy, you gotta Eat all the noodles and all this pasta and all the all the pieces you can get, like I was.

Speaker 1:

I was grubbing when I was in Rome, oh my god. But at the same time it was so hot, so like just eating just felt like a chore, because I think when I was there was like during the July 4th, which this year July 4th, was Steadied as the hottest day in like recorded history, I think while I was there it was like 40 degrees Celsius, which is like a hundred and something degrees Fahrenheit, which it was ridiculous. While I was there the whole time the weather was just Beaman, so like I literally had to take breaks throughout the day to just go back inside the hostel and just like chilling next to the air conditioning and stay cool, because, oh my lord, it was. It was insane out there, but the views were beautiful.

Speaker 1:

Got to see the Colosseum, got to see the, the, the pantheon I have to see just like a whole bunch of, just like ancient, random buildings like on the side of the street. You just like going down the side of the street trying to get to the, the training station, you just pass by the, like okay, so like yeah, you go to the Colosseum Train station, like the train stop on the train station. You get out and like boom, the Colosseum is like right there, like spitting distance from the train station. It's like it's Mind-boggling and, honestly, like I didn't realize how big the Colosseum was gonna be too, like I I knew was obviously as big as the Colosseum, but for the first Colosseum, like For like setting the blueprint for what Colosseums are now, it's insane that it's. It was like so big for for when it was built you know. So it's just amazing to see like Some of the history out there, like the, the architecture out there in Rome is it was so beautiful.

Speaker 1:

Like you just see it on the side of the road, you just driving down the street to go to like a bar and next to that bar is a 2000 year old structure and it's like just chill in there, what, what? I didn't really fuck what was how? I seen so many Egyptian obelisks that they just stole out of Egypt. They got like hieroglyphus on it, like, yeah, yeah, it's cool to see him, but like, damn bro, give Egypt back there, shit. You know that's not really cool with that. But Rome was beautiful, the food was amazing. I Just happened to go during the hottest time in history, apparently, and it was actually unbearable.

Speaker 1:

All right, guys, I'm probably gonna wrap it up here. Unfortunately, your boy still has a job out here and I'm about to go to work tomorrow, so let me at least try to get some sleep before I come in there looking like a zombie. But before I go, did you forget I had socials? You should hit me up on those, even though I haven't really posted on them a lot. I'm gonna, I'm trying to. I'm trying To work on some little little talk action on some of these things. You know I'm saying Work in progress, by the way, but my email is night night shift at gmailcom. That is, night night shift shift at gmailcom. My tiktok is night shift PC, my Instagram is the night shift dot PC and my Twitter is the night shift P. So please hit me up and, if you haven't already, drop a comment On some things you want me to talk about or a question that you have that you want me to speak on in In a following episode.

Speaker 1:

Don't forget to like this, this video, or wherever you're seeing this podcast. Don't forget to like the podcast, because you know help about that out. You know I'm this is. This is a new thing for me. You know it feels weird Like putting myself out here like this again, but I enjoy it. I enjoy putting things out here like this, love creating a podcast and all that good stuff.

Speaker 1:

So in order for me to keep doing this, I Require outside validation is what I'm trying to say. So please like my, my podcast and please put comments and and if there's a place for you to review it, only five stars. If it's anything less than five stars, that I assume you hate me and you want to fight and we can run the hands. I suppose not really a fighter, but like, if it's anything less than five stars, I I assume that that's what you're here to do. So We'll throw the hands if we have to, even if I lose. You know I'm saying like I Feel like I'm obligated to do so. So Five stars is preferable. If five stars is the top of the mark and if it's not five stars, that, whatever the top of the mark is and it says Would you leave me? Yes, so like and subscribe. You guys are amazing. I love you all.

Speaker 1:

Oh, oh, by the way, yeah, yeah, I'm wearing a blue do rag. Yes, inside out, because I don't want that line on my head, which is why it's inside out. In case you were wondering, it's, you know, just do rag things. I Feel like currently I am in that like awkward phase of hair length where I'm trying to grow my hair out a little bit, but it's like not short enough to the point where I got the ways, but it's not long enough for it to just be like, you know, say, oh man, look at a man here, he got luscious locks, it's. It's like in that awkward stage where it's like, bro, get a haircut, bro, you know, that's what it's looking like right now. So I'm looking like Where's my hug at right now? And I'm not, I'm not okay with that. So I got the do rag on. So, yeah, in case you're wondering why, I've been wearing hats in the previous episodes and I want to do rag. I got hair, guys, I promise For yes.

Speaker 1:

Love you all. Thank you for listening. Like and subscribe. Hit me on my socials night night shift shift at gmailcom, night shift PC on tiktok, the night shift PC on Instagram and the night shift P on Twitter. I Love you all. Thank you for listening. If you've made it this far at the end, you might as well drop a comment somewhere, bro, like I did. At this point, you like. You might as well like what's it gonna do? You ain't going, you know, hurt nobody. It's only if anything is only gonna provide Positivity into the world, and that's what you want. You want positivity to go into the world. So drop, go ahead, drop that comment, big fella, I know you want to. Yeah, with that being said, love you all and I'm going to bed now. Adios, choose, choose a dwarf Tuesday, moose Lee, I'm even there. Che Chow, ah, goodbye.