06-04-25 - Dinner w/Doug Hopkins Had John Seeing We've Given In To Bad Service - BO

Summary

Holmberg's Morning Sickness - Arizona Episode: June 4, 2025 - "Dinner w/Doug Hopkins Had John Seeing We've Given In To Bad Service - BO"

Host/Author: 98KUPD | Hubbard Radio
Description: Holmberg's Morning Sickness on 98 KUPD is Arizona's #1 Morning Radio Show. John Holmberg attempts to entertain, question, and disturb as many listeners as possible with assistance from Brady Bogen, Bret Vesely, and Dick Toledo. Tune in or log onto 98KUPD (97.9fm, the 98KUPD app or www.98kupd.com) weekdays 5:30a-10a.

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Introduction

In the June 4, 2025 episode of Holmberg's Morning Sickness, host John Holmberg, along with his co-hosts Brett, Dave, and Byron, delve into a pressing issue affecting the hospitality industry: the noticeable decline in customer service quality. The episode weaves through personal anecdotes, societal observations, and humorous takes on contemporary challenges in the service sector.

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Segment 1: Decline in Restaurant Service Quality

A. Personal Dining Experience at Toca Madera

The discussion kicks off with Brett and Dave recounting their recent visit to Toca Madera, a local restaurant. Dave shares his observations:

“...this isn’t an age thing. It is just across the board that nobody can find good help...”
[02:43]

They describe the pervasive "dead face strangeness" exhibited by staff members, highlighting a general lack of attentiveness and engagement.

B. Broader Industry Trends

The hosts extend their conversation to the broader trend of diminishing service quality across various establishments. Dave elaborates on how restaurants are increasingly resorting to hiring underage workers solely to manage basic tasks:

“...they can hire a 14-year-old if your kid wants to be here. We just want bodies in the building.”
[02:39]

This tactic, however, does not translate into improved service, as the immaturity of younger staff often leads to inefficiencies and further customer frustration.

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Segment 2: The OnlyFans Phenomenon and Its Economic Impact

A. Selling Bodily Fluids as a Side Hustle

The conversation takes a turn towards the unconventional methods individuals are employing to manage financial strains. Dave narrates the story of Leticia Jones:

“She couldn’t keep up with demand. She was drying out... she just punched the button.”
[05:35]

Leticia, a 22-year-old former medical student, shares her experience of selling her bodily fluids on platforms akin to OnlyFans to alleviate $30,000 in debt. Her venture into selling spit and other secretions has surprisingly garnered substantial income:

“I could make $11,000 a week selling now just her spit.”
[05:33]

B. Societal Reflections

Dave uses Leticia's story as a springboard to comment on the evolving gig economy and the lengths to which individuals will go to secure financial stability. The juxtaposition of exorbitant restaurant bills with such side hustles underscores the economic disparities and the diminishing returns of traditional employment.

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Segment 3: The Role of Digital Culture in Service Decline

A. Impact of Screen Time on Interpersonal Skills

The hosts discuss how the pervasive influence of digital screens has eroded basic communication skills, particularly among younger generations:

“People in their 30s and plus are really struggling with people 25 and lower because the 25 and youngers have had screens their whole life. They don’t have personalities.”
[10:24]

This digital dependency contributes to the antisocial demeanor observed in service staff, making meaningful interactions scarce.

B. Comparison with Traditional Service Models

Brett and Dave contrast current service experiences with establishments like Hillstone, which still uphold high service standards without relying heavily on youthful staff. They suggest that maintaining a seasoned workforce could significantly enhance customer satisfaction.

“It’s only one place that I know that is still a machine when it comes to the service. I mean, it’s just Hillstone.”
[14:13]

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Segment 4: Anecdotes Highlighting Service Failures

A. Repeated Service Mistakes

The hosts share specific instances of poor service management, such as waitstaff forgetting orders and failing to follow through on requests:

“...the waiter just goes and says, 'Are you Dave Pratt? ... Don't say that. I'm Dave Pratt.'”
[16:07]

These anecdotes emphasize the frustration customers face due to inattentive or disengaged staff.

B. The Paradox of Appearance vs. Performance

While some establishments focus on aesthetic appeal, as seen in Toca Madera's visually appealing yet service-deficient environment, the hosts argue that substance should accompany style to ensure a holistic dining experience.

“It smelled like a fire in there for a little bit and a fire alarm went off and I'm like, this is going to be the most gloriously pretty stampede you've ever seen in your life.”
[15:07]

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Segment 5: Solutions and Recommendations

A. Emphasizing Training and Retention

The discussion suggests that investing in thorough training and retaining experienced staff could combat the service decline. Brett mentions the exceptional service at Hillstone as a benchmark.

“There is no one at Hillstone that's under like 35. You're gonna get the best service platoon.”
[14:19]

B. Encouraging Personal Responsibility and Professionalism

The hosts advocate for a cultural shift where employees take pride in their roles, leading to enhanced customer interactions and overall service quality.

“They have personalities. They don't understand how come you need to see me to do stuff. Like, doesn’t food just show up?”
[10:44]

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Conclusion

The June 4, 2025 episode of Holmberg's Morning Sickness sheds light on the critical issue of declining customer service in the hospitality industry. Through a blend of personal stories, societal commentary, and pointed observations, the hosts underscore the need for a renewed focus on employee training, retention, and fostering interpersonal skills to restore the quality of service that customers rightfully expect. The episode serves as both an entertaining and thought-provoking exploration of the challenges faced by modern service establishments.

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Notable Quotes

• Dave Vesely at [02:43]:
  “...this isn’t an age thing. It is just across the board that nobody can find good help...”

• Dave Vesely at [05:33]:
  “I could make $11,000 a week selling now just her spit.”

• Dave Vesely at [10:24]:
  “People in their 30s and plus are really struggling with people 25 and lower because the 25 and youngers have had screens their whole life. They don’t have personalities.”

• Brett Vesely at [14:13]:
  “It’s only one place that I know that is still a machine when it comes to the service. I mean, it’s just Hillstone.”

• Dave Vesely at [16:07]:
  “He knows this market up and down and his message is simple and straightforward. He wants to buy your house for cash as is. No repairs or upgrades.”

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Note: This summary focuses solely on the content-rich segments of the podcast, excluding advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections as per the user's instructions.

Transcript

[Brett]

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[John]

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[Holmberg]

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[Dave]

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[Holmberg]

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[Dave]

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[Holmberg]

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[Brett]

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[Holmberg]

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[Brett]

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[Dave]

The rest of Homebrew's Morning Sickness. This is the big red radio. But we were, we went to Toca Madera, which he talked me back into because I had a experience there once and he's like let's go back. I'm like okay. So we went back, had a nice nut. We both noticed though and talked about like, and everybody I talked to has noticed this. This isn't an age thing. It is a, it's just a, it's across the board that you know, nobody can find good help. They say that's hard to find good. No, like restaurants are hiring 14 year old kids. They're starting to level. Like, we can hire a 14 if your kid wants to be here. We just, we just want bodies in the building. We can hopefully get. And there's this strangeness, this dead face strangeness to about 80% of the people that work at Toca Madero and all the other places that I go, which are like this emptiness of when you ask them for something, they look at you like, huh. English. It's. There's no one home. Can we get another thing of water here for the table?

[Byron]

Sure.

[Dave]

And not two minutes later, that same person will walk right by the table without water, without any. I've never like it blanked out of their brain.

[Brett]

It's a medication.

[Dave]

It is. They're all medicated. There's something wrong. And, and the reason why is nobody with a brain needs to work. It's the same thing as when Hooters or. What are those Twin Peaks. Those, those places open the first month. It's, it's amazing. Like it's the hottest thing you've ever seen. Like models and gorgeous people. And then a couple of weeks later, like it trickles down to the ones that are like, I don't need to work, quit. And there's a couple of hot ones left. And then, you know, they go through that weird phase after the first two months of opening of that two months of the ones that need the job, that are willing to wear the clothes and then they fizzle out and then it kind of settles.

[Brett]

The ones that get it make.

[Dave]

Yeah, the ones that understand I can do this. But now only surety. Here's why it's tough. Only fans exist. And last night I watched tables. Now this place isn't cheap, right? And I just remember thinking to myself when I was 20, because there are a lot of tables of girls in their 20s on a Wednesday just decked out, like clubbing decked out. And I'm like, man, they, they had to start getting ready at 3 o' clock and be ready for dinner at 6 or 6:30. And they look like they are going to the mo. They're the Met gala, they're going to it. They're just piled on a. It's Wednesday. So I'm sitting there and every single thing that happened at about nine tables, photographs. And I'm like, that's because when I was 20, I couldn't afford that place. There's no way I could have Even the clothes they had on I couldn't afford. But they, they, they're going there because they can. I don't know how Ford it was.

[Brett]

Maybe two, two or three times a year.

[Dave]

If you're not.

[Brett]

Think about it.

[Dave]

Yeah, if you're lucky you're going to a place like that once a year. I mean the bill is going to be close to $1,000 if you're having drinks and there's three of you. So it's. Yeah, that's 350 bucks a person I'm guessing because they're getting the specialty drinks that come out and they light them on fire and they're probably 70 bucks each. They had a couple of those. Just keeping your eyes on it, you're like, how are they affording this? And then I, and then the second I'm thinking that I get a news alert of a lady who sold her. She got into debt and sold her bodily fluids on only fans and got out of debt. She had $30,000 in debt. She's a medical student. She dropped out of school. She's like I'll never make this much money as a know physician. She's making like $11,000 a week selling now just her spit. Cuz she can't keep up with the other secretions. Dudes are buying it at a. She was $29,000 in debt, American money, like 13 in or British money. And she's like, well maybe if I just started to sell spit and with the idea that this is like lube for lonely guys instead of using like some concoction out of a tube, you just pour my spit in your hand. And dudes were doing it.

[Brett]

Yeah, line them up.

[Dave]

Yeah, this. She just, it just broke the other day. She's like, yeah, I finally quit. She's a medical student, just quit her job and her name is Leticia Jones. She's very pretty, but she's a larger pretty. Like she's one of those sexy big girls but not fat. And she had a side hustle selling her excretion. Yeah, her spit and bodily fluids. Yeah, her sweat. She got to get a little extra weight so she can wipe some sweat off and then ring out the towel. She wanted to graduate with her parents. She wanted to be a doctor. She's like, I think I had Dr. Before my name when I was a kid. I thought that would be awesome. It started as a fluke and now we've been doing it for a couple of years. She's 22. She said I did only fans and through that I Got weird requests for my shower water, which I'm like, okay, that's. I don't know how you do that. I did a lot of research, dug deep in the industry to fulfill the unusual requests. And then it turned into like, how about some spit lady? She started spitting in cups. $300 a vial. She couldn't keep up with demand. She was drying out. What's this broad look like? She's pretty good. I just punched the button.

[Brett]

She's got to have Instagram.

[Dave]

That's pretty good. And she's a bigger lady. Yeah, but she's not fat.

[Brett]

But she's not like Ashley Graham.

[Dave]

No, no, no, she's good.

[Brett]

That's what I was worried about.

[Dave]

Her big cans make sometimes girls with huge boobs look bigger than they actually are.

[Brett]

And she's in the uk.

[Dave]

Yeah, she's British. Good looking stuff, but spitting in there and you know, she's like. I thought it was a joke at first when they said that. And then I realized once I sold it and it was technically, well, she was selling them to guys in Australia first. Like this seemed like that was the case coach, because it's easier than only fans because you got to take so many different pictures. She goes, so I won't get out of bed for less than 10 grand now a day. 10 grand. So I'm like, well, there you go. That's how these whores are affording thousand dollar dinners when they're 21 years old. They're onlyfans in themselves and the ones who are afraid to onlyfans are waiting tables and they're too dumb. So they're just the one girl struggled to find like where the glass landed. It was this slow thing from her hand to the table. Just a thing of soda. Actually it was a Diet Coke. And the hand just kind of hovered over the table like she didn't understand the table wasn't going to. And then she kind of slammed it down on that. Look, there it is, there's the bottom. And she just looked at me dead faced, no words, and walked away. I'm like, what just happened? That took you almost a minute.

[Brett]

Like a rough moon landing.

[Dave]

Yeah, it looked like when the SpaceX tries to find its target. It was this weird kind of like, where's the table? I'm like, that's why there's nobody able to help. People with a brain are like, why would I ever leave the house when I can sell my swampy spit? I'd do it. Why in the world would you go hump it? Busting Busting your asthma waiting tables. I mean, when you know you can sit at home and take a picture of your beef and get $500 from Weird Australians who are whacking off with some lady spit in a vial.

[Holmberg]

It's John Holberg here, and it's time to talk about TVs Doug Hopkins of My Home Group and Doug Hopkins dot com. He knows this market up and down and his message is simple and straightforward. He wants to buy your house for cash as is. No repairs or upgrades. And a firm final offer with no chance of canceling if he moves it at all.

[Dave]

Get $5,000.

[Holmberg]

So while the other guys come and go, Doug Hopkins is here to stay. Sell your home right now and start the entire process online@doug hopkins.com or sing.

[Brett]

Hey, Byron, I heard you have something new to announce from MMP Guns, Brett.

[Doug]

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[Brett]

Well, can you do this to my gun?

[Doug]

We can do it to nearly any firearm. Doesn't matter where you live. You can ship it to us or we already have completed firearms in inventory daily with no wait.

[Brett]

Well, there you have it. MMP Guns on the northeast corner of 12th street and Indian School or online at MMP Guns customs.com Holmberg's Morning Sickness.

Top of that. I still have room on my credit card, right?

[Dave]

There's that, but man, that's one meal you're not getting. Mom and dad must be paying for some of it. But yeah, you watch when you're like, there's no good places to get, like, service. Like, there's some places that still pride themselves in it. But you'll. You'll notice that it's not nearly what it was a while ago. Like, I had a waiter just come to the table, just stare at us like, hey, what's going on? Do you work here? Does anybody want to drink? Like, oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize we were bothering you at your job.

[Brett]

You're right about the drifting. Even though you know they'll walk by and just like, there's a fear of, ah, I don't want to go by there because they'll ask me to do something.

[Dave]

It's an antisocial thing. They don't know how to communicate. It's the screen nation that's starting to kind of mix in with the non screen people of the last. You know, people in their 30s and plus are really struggling with people 25 and lower. Because the 25 and youngers have had screens their whole life. They don't have personalities. Not at all.

[Brett]

And the majority of the stuff can get delivered to you well.

[Dave]

And. Yeah. And they don't understand how come you need to see me to do stuff. Like, doesn't food just show up? And I think it's because there's parents going, you're gonna work, and they make them go do stuff. But it's weird. It was this blank, medicated, everybody's. Everybody's on something kind of thing. And then you get like a waiter. Our waiter was fantastic. He was like in his early 30s. This kid got it. He's like, hey, how you doing, everybody? He's socially understood interaction. Then everyone around him is just kind of like this weird Instagram picture come to life. That's just like, you want what? We get some more salsa. Sure. And the next time we see that guy, he's just wandering by the table. You're like, there's that guy we asked for salsa for. They just wandered around, not doing a thing with a jug of water. I remember when I was. Maybe they don't mean it when I was away.

[Byron]

Yeah.

[Dave]

I was supposed to do something. I think when I was a waiter. When you'd forget, making eye contact with a person you forgot was like an immediate reminder. Ah, crap. I forgot your drink. I'll be right back. Yeah, you just made it a priority twice. We asked this man bun. Hey, dude, no, no big deal. But we forgot the salsa last time.

[Byron]

Okay.

[Dave]

And he just leaves. Never, ever brings salsa.

[Brett]

Never made the list.

[Dave]

Never. Yeah, and all he did was wander around with his water. I think he had one directive. The manager's like, you fill water glasses.

[Byron]

Okay?

[Dave]

If anybody asks you for anything else, ignore them. God damn it, Jimmy. You've got one job.

[Brett]

Let me find someone that can get you some salsa.

[Byron]

This is this salsa?

[Dave]

No, Jimmy, that's water.

[Byron]

You want that?

[Dave]

No, I want some salsa.

[Byron]

I don't have that.

[Dave]

Okay. You got to know where it is, though, right?

[Byron]

I'll be right back.

[Dave]

And he comes back with more water.

[Brett]

Should have left and went next door to Ocean and forgot about.

[Dave]

Well, you know, the food. I'll tell you this, it was a spectacular experience last night.

[Brett]

Sounds like it.

[Dave]

Well, no, it's just. You can't help but notice that we're tolerating that now. It used to be good Service was kind of an expectation. And now I think we all kind of. We've set our. We sat back and gone. All right, we understand that we're not going to get what we used to get. And it is weird. Like it's, everyone's struggling. It's. And you hear managers. I can't find good help. And you don't realize it until you start paying attention. Like, what? I can't. Like nobody's any good at this anymore.

[Byron]

Can I help you?

[Dave]

Yeah, can I get this, this and this?

[Byron]

Sure.

[Dave]

Gone. Where'd he go? Then he comes back again. Has anyone helped you yet? It's you. You did. You were just here. I had a guy come to me in Vegas. It comes to the table and he clearly had forgotten everything we ordered. So we're sitting, me and Craig Gass. The guy comes back and he goes, he goes, did you get your appetizer? Like, no. Okay, well, I didn't ring that in. Right. I didn't want to overwhelm you. You don't want to overwhelm us with food at the restaurant. That's a good idea. Probably the best move you've ever made. Megan goes, we're not overwhelmed. Like, okay, well, I just wanted to make sure. You guys were pacing. The reason we came to the restaurant was to pace a foodless experience as long as we possibly could. And then eventually you'll, you'll creep out. And then he goes, and the appetizer, like, did you get the. What was it? Did you get the scallops first? And like, you don't remember what we got, cuz you didn't write it down. Yeah, it was crazy. So good luck out there. But it was very strange. So. But yeah, but I mean, look, if I could quit my job selling my spit, I'd be buying vials and I'd be selling spit. If I didn't have to wake up at four in the morning every day to. To do this and I could, I could equal this pay selling spit. I'd do it.

[Brett]

It's only one place that I know that is still a machine when it comes to the service. I mean, it's just Hillstone.

[Dave]

Oh, Hillstone is a. But they, there's. If you notice, there is no one at Hillstone that's under like 35.

[Brett]

Exactly.

[Dave]

There's no one there that's. You're gonna get, you're gonna get the best service platoon. I totally agree. But you, you try to hip up your restaurant with some youth. These chicks. And the, and the bad thing is Is Toca Madero like got a look like it's pretty. Yeah. And it smelled like a fire in there for a little bit and a fire alarm went off and I'm like, this is going to be the most gloriously pretty stampede you've ever seen in your life. These. There's going to be heel marks on everybody's foreheads. It's going to beautiful. But they've got pretty people. I imagine the turnover is ridiculous. They have six hostesses because you know that one couldn't handle the charge of people coming in. So they got six of them up there. At any given time there are five just standing up there doing nothing, looking great.

[Brett]

So could you imagine you put that system, the hillstone over there and double their sales.

[Dave]

We'll implement it with the hot 35 year olds. Good luck. Yeah. These dead eyed. It's. You know what it reminded me of? And this is an old man thing. Those Robert Palmer videos where he had those girls in the black dresses that were just kind of zombie women going back. That's the whole staff of Toka Madera. All the girls are kind of these zombies there. The lights are on but you're not home.

[Byron]

Do you want some water?

[Dave]

Well, you came out of the TV from a Robert Palmer video. Look at YouTube it, kid. You know how to do that. But that said the waiter was awesome. It was just so strange. We all kind of, everybody said it like, you know, it's weird now you go places and it seems like half the staff is drugged out of their brains. Yeah. So you got to go places where pride still exists and work ethic and stuff. And you're not going to find that with anyone under the age of 25. It's not happening. They're just waiting. Just like, why are you asking me to get a call? Amazon. They'll bring it to you. Heck, it's a good point, kid.

[Byron]

I gotta go spit in a jar.

[Dave]

I make $11,000 a day so weirdos can jerk off with my spit in Australia. There you go, Brad. The whole Toca Madera staff is banned and they look a little more lively. The whole weird thing about this was I remember this video coming out and everybody's like, this is misogynistic. Like he's drugged women and he's got sex zombies. Oh, great songs. So this is the, this is the host staff. It's all of them nice. And then you'll see one hard worker and they stand out like they're on fire. There's a girl there that's just Gorgeous. The tattoos all over her body, which is beautiful. And she busts her ass. Like, that one's a hard. Like she's killing her. You can ask her for stuff, and she most like, 80% of time, she's gonna bring it, which is.

[Brett]

That's good numbers.

[Dave]

Really high numbers for the youth of that staff. But our waiter was incredible. He was great. And Doug Hopkins new thing is to tell waiters to come up to me in the. Like, he'll go to the bathroom and tell a waiter, go, hey, go over there and say, aren't you Dave Pratt? And I always laugh. So my new thing is to have waiters look at him and go, hey, I know your TV's Doug Hopkins. You lowballed my grandma and stole her house. You mother. Don't say that. Don't make them say that. I'm like, don't tell me I'm Dave Pratt. Prick. And then we hug and we have a great night. It's fun. That was a great. It was a lot of fun. It's not weird. It's pretty cool, actually. No membership fee. I've heard enough of this.

[Unknown]

What is dedication?

The thing that drives me every day as a dad is Dariana. We call him day date, for sure. Every day he's hungry for something, whether it's attention, affection, knowledge, and there's this huge responsibility, and making sure that when he's no longer under my wing that he's a good person. I want him to be able to sit back one day and go, we work together. We did a good job.

That's dedication. Find out [e-mail] brought to you by the U.S. department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council.