Casual Friday with Chase Burns and Vivian McCall

On the latest sound politics, since retiring from the military, combat veteran Joe Kent

has been a loyal foot soldier in the MAGA Army.

Now the two-time congressional candidate from Washington says Trump has been manipulated

into going to war with Iran.

A country he claims posed no imminent threat to the U.S.

Kent has also promoted fringe conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk, Israel, and more.

Will a MAGA die-hard claims about the war land with Trump's coalition?

Some sound politics wherever you get your podcasts.

Here to break down the week, but first let's get you caught up.

Another major traffic disruption is planned for the East Side this weekend.

This time both directions of I-405 will completely close near the 5-22 interchange in

Bothal.

That begins at 6 p.m. Saturday and will last through early Monday morning.

There will be detours, but state officials warn drivers could face two to three-mile backups

during the closure.

They say best case scenario is a one-hour delay in both directions, so plan accordingly

for peak travel times.

Organizers are marking International Women's Day with the Seattle Women's March on Sunday.

Participants are gathering at Capitol Hills, Cal Anderson Park at 11.

This year's message focuses on women's health and reproductive rights and standing with

immigrant women.

The Capitol Hill blog reports up to 10,000 people are expected to gather.

The specific group for the March hasn't been published.

Also beginning on Sunday, more daylight coming your way for the next eight months at 2 a.m.

we spring forward one hour and enter daylight saving time.

That means beginning on Sunday the sun will set at 704 bad news for early birds, but great

news for enemies of the big dark.

Check back for more headlines on tonight's episode of Seattle Now.

This Friday again, I am loving this rainy weather.

Chase Burns is here.

He's a drag queen and entrepreneur.

Chase, good to see you.

Hello, hello, hello.

Happy Friday.

Yeah.

Vivian McCall is here.

She's the news editor at the stranger Vivian Glad to see you.

Hello.

Thank you for having me.

Yeah.

All right, you two.

Before we dive in, a new program from the King County Library system kicked off this

week.

They're heading back to a simpler time when you could read in exchange for pizza.

This is for adults only, so bring your Gen X millennial card to show at the door.

Did either of you ever read for a free personal pizza as a kid?

I read a lot as a kid, but I was never rewarded for it.

You didn't need pizza now.

This unlocked a memory where I did, but I was really young.

And I remember it being a pizza Hut, and I remember getting a lot.

I remember liking the experience.

I was more worked up as a child about this coloring contest at Publix.

I remember a distinct memory where I really wanted to win that, but not so much pizza.

How do you win?

I don't know.

You have the best coloring.

What does that mean?

Oh, I didn't win, so I couldn't tell you.

Yeah, they would run summer programs for reading, but we never got pizza.

I can't even remember what we got.

I just, we got a form, and you had to put in all the books that you read over the summer,

and somebody won.

I never won.

But how did they check that?

See, that's what I'm wondering.

It just seems like a real opportunity for liars.

Yeah.

All right, you can earn stamps on your card in this program by doing any number of throwback

activities, checking out a book from a curated 90s collection, renting a DVD, reading a newspaper

online, checking out a CD, that's old school.

What kinds of memories does this bring up for you?

And what other kinds of things might incentivize you to participate?

I looked on there, and they have like a whole pizza kit, like there's a grand prize

that you could win, where you have, it's like a $100 pizza kit situation, so I was motivated

by that.

And I went online and looked and I was reminded that the library system has canopy, which

is a great service that allows you to stream a bunch of movies, some of them very cool,

and also it has a bunch of magazines and international magazines that you can read, so you can do

a bunch.

There's lots to do with the library.

What about you become the franchise owner of a pizza hot.

Oh, that's the big grand prize.

That's what I think that would incentivize people, especially now, to become a business

owner.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, we're starting small.

If you complete the stamp card, you get a free slice of pizza from Pollyache, you get

a coupon to go get it.

That feels a little bit like a downgrade from a personal pizza in the 90s to just a

slice.

How big is the slice?

Yeah.

Well, Pollyache is about, you know.

We're all using our hands.

This is a perfect medium to make us a survey from peer reviewed journal eye science found

last year that reading for pleasure among adults is actually down 40%.

I wonder if tapping into nostalgia is the way to get people reading again.

I think that's powerful, and it's also a very social thing.

I think if you're doing something that's so much more fun to do it with other people,

like I could see this incentivizing people to do it with their friends or their partner

or their enemies, events for some competition.

I think that we read more than we say we do, we're just reading our phones.

Like if you're reading, if you're scrolling on ex all day long, you're reading.

And so then you're just tired when you're done doing that.

So why do you want to pick up a book?

You know, it's more reading.

I know.

You should read less on your phone.

Moving on to the big story of the week.

If you need a lift around the city, you may have too many options.

That's according to the driver's union of Washington, which represents Uber and lift

drivers who say there are too many rideshare drivers on the road in Washington.

They want these apps to stop allowing new drivers until the current ones are able to

be more productive.

Seattle Times says about 55% of rideshare miles driven are done without a passenger.

How often are you actually hailing rideshairs around the city and how long did you wait for

your last ride?

I think you've wait here about 30 seconds.

Yeah.

I remember when Uber and Lyft were a newer thing and it would be like you would call

it and you would have 10 to 12 minutes to sort of get your act together.

And now you don't have time to leave your apartment before they're there.

No, I do.

They're very quick here.

They're less quick everywhere else I've ever been.

Yeah.

And I used to be a rideshare driver for like a year.

It was like my primary income.

And it was really hard.

It's like the hardest job I've ever had.

And when you are being out competed, it can be really difficult because a ride can take

you way far out and then you have to drive all the way back for no monies.

End up losing a ton and gas and in time and opportunity cost.

If the market is so swamped, I can imagine these drivers have it so much harder.

Well, well, you know, you're making me think about the ride I took last week.

I needed to get from my place to the light rail and I didn't have time to bust a move

to do it.

And it was like eight bucks, you know, and you're right.

Like I was timing it so that I was absolutely like had my bag on my shoulder, ready to

go before I hit because you do.

You have one minute to get downstairs and they're there.

Yeah.

And then you go to another like city or country and you're already to go and then you

realize it's a 30 minute wait and then you throw it off.

I've forgotten.

Yeah.

Actually in Seattle, it's very, it's very quick.

Yeah.

Is this a supply and demand problem that benefits the company or the customer?

Well, it's not benefiting the customer very much on price, certainly.

And I don't think it essentially matters to the company because if they're able to

supply more rides, it doesn't matter if their drivers are making less money individually.

So it certainly is a benefit to them.

I think it's very clear who's losing the drivers.

The drivers.

Thank you.

Thank you for filling in the blank, Chase.

Well, the ride share union told the times the company's bottom line doesn't suffer here.

Ride share driving though is a gig that has a pretty low barrier to entry, you know.

And I wonder is this kind of environment just part of the hustle or is it a disincentive

to get involved in ride share driving?

I think that this certainly isn't like the booming time of entering the market as a driver.

I think that we could, I say we as if I'm a driver, I don't even drive a car myself.

But I think that we theoretically could as drivers consider alternative things like let's

go back to group chat drivers, you know, like find like 60 of your friends and just become

a driver for them.

You can probably make more money and get more clients.

Like maybe think of some alternate ways to get paid.

Uber pool, you know, it didn't cause the pandemic.

The pandemic did end it though.

I miss it.

I miss you.

I want a really interesting social interactions that I'll never have again.

It's like the mini plus.

It was very flirty.

It was very flirty.

Yeah.

Really?

Yeah, not all the time.

Not all the time.

Sometimes it was weird, you know.

Yeah, sometimes it was objectively a bad time.

But a bad time is good.

It adds texture to life.

Yeah, there are always stories from Uber pool.

We need more people back and put people in the car.

Yeah, there's less narrative in my life.

One advantage according to the drivers union is the ability to serve huge crowds.

They say the Super Bowl parade was a huge success.

The World Cup and Tourism Heavy Summer is going to be helpful for drivers in the city.

Vivian, you are already a rideshare driver.

What made you stop and would you go back to it again?

No, absolutely not.

It is the hardest job I've ever had.

It was also the worst job that I've ever had and I've never been more exploited in my

life.

Really?

I mean, this idea that years ago, the way that they marketed this company was like, this

is the way you can make money on your own time.

You're your own boss.

This can add to your income, but we know that so many people are going out and to make

a reasonable amount of money to support themselves or their families are having to drive

probably a really unsafe number of hours, which doesn't benefit anyone.

I would never go back to doing this because it's only become that much worse of a deal.

One driver told the times he made $55,000 in 2022 and $24,000 last year giving only five

to six rides a day.

And admittedly, my ride was nine bucks.

It took ten minutes.

It was nine bucks.

How much did that driver, I mean, I tipped, we'll talk about that later.

But, you know, that's not a profitable ride.

No, it's super non.

Is it possible that the number of drivers will go down naturally?

No.

Because people are really desperate right now.

These are bad economic times.

So you think it's like kind of like, I've just got to go out there and try to compete.

Yeah, and people will add other sorts of contract work on top of it.

So you'll be like, okay, well, I used to be able to make, you know, 25 hours doing this

and make ten, but then you start adding, I mean, there's so much contract work available

now that it's just like, which one do I take?

And but they're all exploiting you in different little ways.

Right.

Uber says the report was flawed and placed the blame on Seattle's well-intentioned regulations,

like an increased driver minimum wage, which they say has led to the most expensive ride

share prices in the country.

I wonder where that factor is in here if the cost of an Uber makes you less likely.

I know for you, Chase, you say you're off the, you're off the ride share right now.

I've been really walking lately, but I appreciate it.

Thank you.

But I have been, I mean, I use them.

I've used them my whole life since they've existed.

They are the taxi of today.

Yeah.

Of course, I use them.

Before we move on one note, definitely treat your ride share driver well because they're

likely hustling far more than you think they are.

And yes, leave a good tip.

Leave a good tip.

All right.

Moving on to our next topic.

A big change is coming north of the border.

Starting on Sunday, British Columbia is going to be on permanent daylight saving time.

That means when we fall back this November, Washington State will be one hour behind BC.

So close yet so far.

So now when you cross the border into Canada, you immediately jump forward an hour.

Is there some cognitive dissonance there?

Do you think they'll post signs or just mess with us a little bit?

I think they'll be polite.

Yeah.

You're running an hour behind.

Yeah.

I think they'll be nice about it.

Yeah.

Obviously, because there are a lot of commuters between these areas.

And so that would be, that's going to be weird.

For everyone else, I mean your iPhone will probably just tell you the right time.

Yeah.

Of course, of course.

But, you know, it's funny because there are some places in the San Juan Islands where

you're driving around and your phone pings over to Canada.

I go to Orcas Island a lot and it's in the north part.

Yeah.

That happens a lot.

Yeah.

I wonder if that is going to happen.

Well, north of them, it is still the United States because there's that little area.

But.

Right.

Right.

But, you know, I wonder if it'll change.

Anyway, it's going to take some getting used to.

We have eight months to prepare.

Good luck, Point Roberts.

Yeah.

Cross-border appointments and meetings are going to shift a little bit.

Do you get messed up with the time change?

It's not pleasant, but your phone tells you what time it is.

And presumably, we all use alarms on our phone at this point.

If you're still using a wind up alarm clock, you know, Godspeed, it just sucks a little

bit for a minute.

And then you sort of get over it.

I have a watch, like a real watch that you have to like, like a sweet-pand watch.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kind of crazy.

So that one.

Oh, my God.

So that one might, that one might be a little bit more complicated to change, but, you know,

the electronic ones, they just go.

Yeah.

Sure.

Sure.

Have you ever messed up an interviewer meeting, though?

Oh.

Because of time difference.

Because of a time difference.

And so every single person that's ever done this profession has, yeah.

It's the worst.

It is the worst.

It's the worst.

My actual physical watch tells me different time zones at the same time.

Stop it.

That's why I use it.

And there's like a stopwatch.

It takes up my entire arm.

Yeah.

This also means BC will get an extra hour of daylight during our challenging winters.

Does this give Vancouver a distinct advantage over Seattle?

They have a few.

Yeah, they have a few.

A number.

Just one on the pile in every way, maybe the only one being their thrift game is pretty

weak.

Some of the worst thrift stores I've ever seen.

Really?

BC had the ability to change their time zones since 2019.

They just chose not to enact it at the time because they wanted to be in line with Washington

state, but things have changed.

The provincial government set in a statement recent actions from the US have shifted how

BC approaches decisions that merit alignment, including time zones.

Very precise.

There's some shade.

There's a lot of shade between them and us.

Yeah.

There's a similar case here in Washington, of course, the state legislature passed a permanent

daylight saving time law in 2019, but it can't go into effect until Congress passes a bill

leaving the decision to the states.

Of course, all that being said, how are you preparing to lose an hour of sleep this weekend?

I've become an early riser.

Yeah.

It's a real change for me, you know, as I'm entering my early mid-30s.

Suddenly, I'm like 10 p.m.

Let's go.

Whereas before it's hard to go sleep before 2 a.m., so I'm actually okay.

I'm okay.

I'm okay.

I'm going to go to bed early.

You're noticing the morning light.

I like it.

Yeah.

I was up at 6 a.m.

This morning.

It's going to be ripped away from you on Sunday.

It's really unfortunate.

I think it's going to go a little bit like this.

I'll be like, oh, s***.

And then I look at my phone and that's what I'll say.

And it'll be fine.

And that's it.

And then Monday.

All right.

Moving on.

Axio Seattle gathered some hot takes this week on tipping culture in the city.

They cited a survey from financial service bank rate that says 41% of people think tipping

culture is out of control and that Gen Z and millennials are less likely to tip.

How do you think about tipping?

I don't think tipping culture is out of control.

I think it's prevalent.

You're still your choice.

It is between you and God and nobody's making you tip if you don't want to tip somebody

just don't.

And shut up.

We are all living in a nightmare.

Is this really the thing that we should focus on?

So this is my general take.

The thing that I just want to know is if I'm tipping like a person because oftentimes especially

with how much service is becoming automated, like sometimes I feel like I just got my

thing and I didn't talk to a human and then I tip and I'm like, I don't know what I'm

tipping.

At a coffee shop, like I get it.

Like I understand that tipping, but there's so much tipping in so many ways now.

And I think it distracts us.

There's a lot of like, where are we tipping always?

I think we all know who makes a wage that requires tipping.

So keep doing that.

And then the other ones, it's your choice.

The way I think about it is it's hard to get by in this city and it is likely that the

person across from me is struggling in some way or another.

So I generally am a tipper, Axios split their commenters up into a few categories.

What if you people were in the, of course, you tip camp no matter what kind of service

you get?

Some say that takeout is different and you don't have to tip if you're just picking

something up.

Others say the change in the minimum wage and tip credit in Seattle has changed the calculus.

Those tips go to back of house too.

I feel like this is very revealing.

Who worked in a restaurant?

Not you.

Okay.

That makes sense why you have this opinion.

I wonder if anonymity makes a difference for people, right?

If nobody's watching, do you not tip?

It definitely does.

I mean, also people are coming from different cultures too.

I mean, I'd not to defend no tippers, but you can play any people don't tip every day.

I'm not saying I do.

I'm saying there are lots of people who are in tipping.

You can just join those ranks.

Seattle Times dubbed a new wave of restaurants starting in 2024 the era of counter service.

And that is a noticeable shift towards walking up to the counter, you go into fast restaurants

and there's just a big screen and you place your order on the screen and you do your little

thing.

I really think that a lot of this comes from people feeling insecure because this is

making them feel like they're a bad person because they don't want to tip and really they

can just deal with it because it's your choice.

Maybe it has had it.

What do you think the issue is?

Why do we keep bringing this up?

Because people don't want to pay money and it makes them mad when they pay money.

That is the major theme of being an American.

People feel morally obligated to tip and there are actual reasons for that because there

are a lot of struggling people and I think they're represented with an option where they

feel like saying no, puts them in a position to violate a social contract that they don't

feel like they've actually opted into or is fair.

So they feel like the rules are changing from under their feet.

Yeah, and things have gotten way more expensive and we're in general talking about affordability

but this is obviously an issue that comes up every single year and so we have a unique

tipping culture and it's something that I think should be analyzed.

It doesn't mean you should tip but I don't think it's the best culture of payment.

Definitely not but until you can guarantee that people are getting an actual living wage

then it's up to us to supplement that.

I don't think that that is a very good way of doing things either but we could change

it but until it has actually changed on some sort of structural level people still need

the support of tips.

We have a lot of people coming in from out of town this summer expectedly for the world cup.

Do you think it's going to lead to a little culture shock?

I mean it depends on what they're coming from.

I mean Seattle's very expensive and the data underlines that not just with renting.

You know we are expensive in many ways in the city so I think they'll be surprised

and I think oftentimes when you're surprised at the price tipping is where the anger goes

especially when we're talking about food and drink and so that feels like where you can vote

on how expensive your experience was and so at least in the restaurant industry that's often

where this I feel like anger gets focused but that's not the workers that are pricing up your

bill.

Right but that's the only degree of control that you have over how much you're going to pay.

Well people still tip if they're coming from Europe to watch soccer.

If you're coming from Europe you should.

Yeah so watch soccer.

I mean that's expensive.

Yeah.

Exactly.

I'm broke.

See here's the thing.

I came all the way from me up to watch the soccer game now.

See here's the thing.

I am not sure that income and stability correlates because I'm broke as everything and I tip

really well.

Of course.

Of course.

Really rich people often don't tip.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Alright some people in Seattle don't seem to have an issue with tipping but how frequently

they have to tip is a bit of a problem.

The turning of the screen is always a thing.

You know.

People get mad about that.

I think that's so weird.

I love the turning of the screen.

I'm like oh it's interactive.

It's fun.

Yeah.

I think it's fun.

I get to do a little bit of a different signature.

I know and I'm like you don't get to see my signature.

I don't know.

I like the flipping screen.

The flipping of the screen in the the stair is a little weird.

The flipping of the screen in the walk away.

I'm down.

I don't mind the stair.

You don't mind.

No.

I don't actually.

I mean look.

I tip all the time.

I shouldn't mind this.

You know.

You can be a mirror to the world around you and the power will be in your hand.

I match energy.

We're leaving it there.

Chase Burns is a drag queen and entrepreneur Vivian McCall is the stranger's news editor.

Thanks Vivian.

Thank you.

Thanks Chase.

Thank you.

Appreciate you listening to Seattle now and thanks to our generous donors for your support.

We've reached the awkward portion of the show where I flip the screen and ask you for

a tip.

Take a minute to rate and review the show on your favorite podcast app.

Today's episode was produced by Vaughn Jones.

It was edited by Andy Herst.

Our production team also includes Caroline Chamberlain Gomez, Brooklyn Jamerson Flowers,

and Paige Browning.

Greg Kramer does our theme music.

Seattle now and KUOW Public Radio are members of the NPR Network.

I'm Patricia Murphy.

See you tonight for evening headlines.

I'm Libby Dankman.

Every week I sit down with local journalists for SoundSides front page, where we give you

a shortcut to understanding the latest news and cultural moments and how they affect us

here in the Puget Sound region.

It's all here on SoundSide, on the radio or streaming Monday through Thursday at noon

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