It's time we addressed the micro-pettiness in the room.
PLUS a bonus recco, a nice yet firm request, the "highest" listen we've seen and a mouth-watering recipe that we can't stop thinking about. Enjoy this delicious issue 🥰
Hiii Outlouders, Em Vernem here 🙋🏾♀️
I have a confession: I make my dad uncomfortable in restaurants and he has no idea.
That's right, I'm a micro-pettier and it's time for my truth to be heard.
Every single time I go out to eat with my family, my dad makes a beeline for the booth seat. You know the one— that coveted, cushiony throne against the wall that everyone secretly wants. Without fail, he claims it like it's his divine right, leaving the rest of us perched on those plain, hard wooden chairs (a haemorrhoid sufferer's worst nightmare).
From when I was a kid, I developed a habit of revenge against my poor trusting father. Throughout our meals, I conduct what I like to call 'The Great Table Migration.' Millimetre by millimetre, I gently ease the table towards my side. It's an art form, really. What results is him having to lean further and further forward to eat his meal. I've perfected this move. It's just enough to make him slightly uncomfortable without ringing any alarm bells.
Honestly, he's getting a free core workout from this, so maybe it's not much of a petty tactic. But will I stop? Never.
There are three distinct rules to micro-pettiness:
The act has to be smaller and more subtle than regular pettiness.
It should be difficult to detect.
It shouldn't make someone feel bad but should definitely make you feel good.
On Friday's show, Mia, Holly and Jessie read out some other micro-petty tactics which I may or may not have written down. And now it's your turn:
Tell us about your act of micro-pettiness in the comments.
🎧Listen to Friday’s show. Micro-pettiness stories start at the (2.43 mark).
Weekly Reccos 📺 📖 🎧
One thing to make and HEAPS of things to watch. Get your TV remote warmed up for this one…
Mia wants you to watch
“I texted every mother I know about the movie Night Bitch, which I watched over the long weekend. Have you ever felt so exhausted as a mother that you worried you might actually be turning into a dog? That's the premise of Night Bitch. It stars Amy Adams. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical.
The concept is funny, but also very powerful. It captures something really raw about motherhood that I've never seen on screen before.
There's no spoilers here, but it's actually just such an amazing metaphor for how primal and feral motherhood can feel. It’s just so good— I'm just desperate for everyone to see it.”
Holly wants you to make
Cowboy Chicken Salad from Recipe Tin Eats’ TONIGHT cookbook.
“I am recommending a chicken salad from the great, the wonderful, the one and only, Nagi from RecipeTin Eats.
The reason everyone loves her is the food is really tasty, it's relatively simple and basic, and it always works.
Her most recent book is called ‘Tonight’, and I have been making from it, this cowboy chicken salad, and it's like a Mexican Chicken salad and I just can't tell you how good it is... and how satisfying. It’s a huge meal that just fills you up— kids eat it too.”
See how to prepare the Cowboy Chicken Salad via YouTube.
Jessie wants you to watch
We Live in Time in cinemas.
“I went to the movies over the weekend and saw ‘We Live in Time’ with Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, and it is exactly what I expected. It's brilliant, it's moving, I reckon I cried in the first 15 to 20 minutes.
At no point does it hit you over the head. There are points where I went, ‘You could have gone harder on that’, but it's the subtlety of the pain in a lot of the moments. When the lights came on at the end, I just was heaving.
Florence Pugh steals it, in my opinion.
The broad storyline is that there's Alma and Tobias. She receives a diagnosis and what's new about this is that it explores ambition and motherhood and not wanting to just be remembered as someone's dying mother. You know how it's the cliche, no one lays on their deathbed thinking they want to work more? This challenges that a bit and says, ‘What would you want to do, and what might it take from the people you love?’”
BONUS RECCO: Mia wants you to watch
The Split, Barcelona special on ABC iview.
“One of my favorite TV shows of all time— ‘The Split’. There were about four seasons. It was about a family of women who were all lawyers.
Each week there was someone's divorce that they're working on, and it also followed their lives—I loved it. It was written by Abby Morgan, who is a phenomenal writer. They did a bit of a Christmas special, which was like a three episode arc where they got the cast back together, and it was ‘The Split Barcelona’. It was a bit like ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’, but in Spain.
It's worth watching just for the Barcelona scenery, it'll make you want to go to Spain.”
What are your thoughts on all our reccos this week? Let us know if we nailed it (I mean, I know we did, but still would love to know 😉).
WDYM you haven’t got your tickets yet????
Oh, wow, I guess you hate me. JK (kinda). There are still some tickets to grab to see Mamamia Out Loud Live All Or Nothing presented by Nivea Cellular.
And if that's not convincing enough, I'LL BE THERE and I'll give you one free cringy (yet unfortunately true) dating story upon request. Who says I only put in 80% effort into my work?
Melbs, Brissy and Syd: tickets are selling fast so be quick 👀
Perth— Well done, you are our star pupils ❤️
Hey you! Read these 📖
Here are some reads about all the topics we covered this week on the podcast. Enjoy!
You're not imagining things, there's a reason why so many celebrity couples are breaking up.
January is 'divorce month'. Here’s why relationships fall apart at this time of the year.
For a brief moment, the internet was convinced Barack Obama and Jennifer Aniston were having an affair.
Mamamia recap MAFS: A honeymoon from the depths of hell.
Married At First Sight is back and one scene already crossed the line.
The truth about that leaked Justin Baldoni voice message.
📣 A moment of your time? (Pretty please 🥺)
Got some thoughts on your favourite stores and shopping experiences? We want to hear from you!
Complete our survey now to go in the running to win a $50 gift voucher.
Post of the week 🤯
Outlouder Caitlin posted where she was listening to the podcast and honestly… This is level 100 on the loyalty scale:
Tell us! Where do you listen to your three favourite yappers? Personally, I listen... at my desk... during work 😬. I mean, if you're listening to your bosses talk, it still counts, right? I think I found a loophole in the system.
A certain maternal relative of mine can be a bit of a snob when it comes to shops/brands, so whenever she would say she liked something I was wearing, I would say really earnestly, “Thanks!! I got it from Target only $20!!” Her facial expression in response kept the joke up for years.
I used to worked with my bestie. He hates people singing in the pod so if he was shitting me off I’d sing very, very quietly and usually the same one line over and over. When he’d snap his head around and say ‘Is someone singing!!!’ I’d pretend to listen hard and say ‘nah…I can’t hear anything’. He’s also quite vain so again, if he had annoyed me I’d walk past his chair, look at the top of his head and say ‘aww that little thin patch is growing hey’. It wasn’t and he doesn’t have a thin patch. My most pasag move was tangling his phone cord (before we had head sets) so when he’d answer he’d have to keep his head down near the cradle until he could untangle it. Surprisingly he is still my bestie.