MSG Presents: "Characters From Corporate": Politics At Work or Nah?

🎙️ Characters From Corporate – “Politics at Work or Nah?”

In this week’s Characters From Corporate, Eric and Big Stew hear from a 31-year-old Black woman from Seattle who left her nursing job after her coworkers turned daily conversations political. Once she admitted she agreed with some Republican ideas, her team—also Black—wouldn’t let it go.

The guys weigh in on whether she’s “tripping” or if her coworkers were truly “characters from corporate.” From office cliques to political bullying, Eric and Stu reflect on why topics like politics, race, religion, and money are still so risky at work—and how even good intentions can backfire.

A candid, relatable discussion about judgment, boundaries, and knowing when to keep your cards off the table.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] so we're gonna get to our, our next segment, which is something I love to do every week. Big Stu. Yeah. Is people will be coming through with the, with the, the information and the, the situation.

[00:00:11] So this is characters from corporate. If you've never heard this segment before, this is where you kind of send us a quick message about something that's going on in your corporate life. Usually you identify somebody as being a character. It might be you, it might be your manager, your boss, et cetera. And you let us know what's going on.

[00:00:28] So this week our person came in, they said, Hey, I am a 31-year-old black woman from Seattle, Washington. I'm currently unemployed and I'm looking for another position. Big Stu as a nurse. Okay. She says, I left my last job because my coworkers who were also black were Democrats and they used to talk all day about how crazy it was for anyone to be a Democrat.

[00:00:58] Hmm. I share it [00:01:00] once that I actually liked some of the Republican, Republican ways of thinking and they brought that up every day after that until I decided I couldn't take it anymore and I left. Hmm. They weren't malicious about it, but it coming up every day was too much for me. Yeah. Am I tripping or were they characters from corporate?

[00:01:28] I'm riding with you sister. They was some characters from corporates. They was corporate bullies. Hmm. It's terrible, terrible of them, man. It's immature. I ain't gonna, why you gonna keep bringing that up every day? It is being silly. You being silly kids. Kids man. They the character sis not you. Now they told me when I was younger, I don't know if this was good advice or not.

[00:01:50] Never to discuss. Yeah. Politics or race. Yeah, at work. And mine was [00:02:00] politics, race, religion, or money. That's a big one. Yeah, I was told that too. Politics, religion or money as well. P-R-R-P-R-R. Politics, race, religion. Yeah. Yeah, so, so I didn't follow the advice. I've talked about all of those things in corporate at some point it's unfor.

[00:02:17] I pay heavily each time. It's so, it's so interesting because even like right now, and um, so I don't work for a corporation. I'm building one. But as I think about the relationships that I enter with other people that I meet. How much transparency should I be sharing, right? Because I'm thinking that I want the relationship to be smooth.

[00:02:42] So I'm, I, I, I, I come through full disclosure, all cards face up on the table, you know, and I know that sometimes that, that unfortunately can still, still be a little offputting to others who may not be in alignment with some of my views, [00:03:00] whether it's politics, race, religion, or whatever it may be. So I should probably be a little more careful with that.

[00:03:05] But yeah, people are judgmental, man. People are judgmental, man. Yeah, I mean, and you know, myself also being a business owner, I just have learned that it's just not worth losing a client over trying to explain to them what my personal belief systems are. It's like we're here to do this specific thing, and whether I'm a democrat, republican, or whatever.

[00:03:31] That really doesn't, unless the business is about that. I've learned that it's just not a good place to do it. I mean, I, I've had beautiful relationships with some people and we never talked about any of that. Yeah. Yeah. So that would be my 2 cents for the sister out in Seattle, Washington. You know, maybe you would be in a, some would say maybe you're being a little sensitive, but, hey, I don't know how malicious, I don't know how it came off as they were talking about every day, but I, I could agree it was [00:04:00] irritating to do it every day and that they definitely were tripping a little bit, if not a lot.

[00:04:05] Hey, real quick man, let me, let me point out something. Um, and I know what I'm looking at the time. I think we're gonna make perfect time. Okay. You are ensemble. Today, brother, from the hat to the tie. Your tie is like perfectly tied. Thank you, sir. Thank you. The, the, the, the, the, the, the collar span on the neck of the shirt.

[00:04:28] The, the, the, the jacket fits and hugs the shirt, bro. Bro, you on point today, man, you on point today, bro. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. On point. But you got a little something today, bro. You, you on something today, bro? I see you. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that man. You absolutely. Yeah man. My father taught me how to tie these ti these ties up when I was a young lad.

[00:04:52] So I try to try to do him right by by keeping that going. But no, I appreciate that man. And I was gonna say this, and I'm not just saying [00:05:00] this because you gave me the compliment. That jean jacket is mean. Come through man. I like that. I like that. I noticed it when we were doing the pre-game. I'm like, yeah, because you know, it reminds me of the, of the denim we used to rock back in the day, you know, we were 18, 19.

[00:05:18] Yeah, just the first denim pops. I like that man. So thank you, thank you, thank you, man. Somebody, somebody real close to me gives me the flux over this jean jacket, bro. But I love it. I like it. I'll rock it. I appreciate you picking up on it, man. Yeah. Look, I'm so, man. Look, so, so you're doing your thing.

[00:05:38] You're doing your thing. So, hey man, you want to, we are looking good on time. Do you have any closing comments for this show today? Let's try to put a pin in this thing real quick. Why are your relationship so fucked up? Yeah, because we, not being honest with ourselves 'cause we expecting too much. Some of us ain't healed.

[00:05:56] You know, our, our words and actions ain't lining up. [00:06:00] We gotta check ourselves, we gotta be open to it. Stay open-minded. Right? I think that some of us are in relationships, they not really fucked up. I think some of how we thinking about it is fucked up. Mm Dang. Fucked up. Stop tripping and stop, stop looking at other people's lives and, and then thinking that it ain't showing up in how you compare your life.

[00:06:24] Stop that. It's true. You looking, I mean, it, it's, it's a pervasive, in my opinion, in my opinion, it, it seeps in the subconscious. So you gotta be careful with that. What about you, man? That's, you just said a lot and I, I love everything that you just said. And you know what? The fact that people are listening and they're kind of trying to get some insight, that's, that's beautiful.

[00:06:47] So for me, I'm just gonna say, why are your relationships effed up? What we gotta do. And what I continue to do is because you're effed up. Damn. And I don't mean that in a derogatory way. When I [00:07:00] say that, I mean, we got some work to do. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do the work. Let's, let's go get some help if we need some help.

[00:07:08] It's nothing wrong with that. We weren't, a lot of us weren't raised to understand what a relationship was or is. I wasn't. And so we gotta continue to put together what is a relationship and how do I address the ones that I have moving forward? It's okay. It's cool. So I'm gonna keep doing that work. And, um, that's, that's my, uh, my 2 cents, my final 2 cents on that.

[00:07:30] Hey, listen, I am going to bring in, uh, we have our musics pool.com. Uh, artist. Listen. Oh yeah. Who we got this week. We have a guy by the name of Kevin Lamont. Kevin Lamont, okay. Kevin Lamont is the r and b singer. He got, he got this, uh, stepper song that I want to play. It is called, and it's Perfect for our show today.

[00:07:57] It's called I Will Love You, and it [00:08:00] is by Kevin Lamont. Let's get into it right now.

[00:08:07] Musics pool.com on Kevin Lamont.

[00:08:32] Indeed and I.

[00:08:42] Was so you,

[00:08:54] you[00:09:00] 

[00:09:00] so thankful to know. Hey Angela, right there. Hey. Right. Hey,

[00:09:20] hey.

[00:09:25] They can hear the rest of that on pool man. They gotta go to pool to get the rest of that. Yeah, man. I know how to do a little something. My, I got two uncles, uh, Earl and Carl that are some great stuffers. So, yeah, that was a beautiful song. I'm about to hear that whole song. Yeah. Musics pool.com. That's Kevin Lamont man.

[00:09:43] And so that's our music's pool artist. Listen of the week. All right. Another banger.