Episode 101: Guilty Pleasures and Vices From Snoozing to Sweets

Listen to this Episode of "Coffee with Gringos" here or on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and Stitcher.

Paige: You're listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I’m Paige Sutherland.  

Ian: And I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And today, we're going to be talking about guilty pleasures and vices. So, in case listeners you don't know, a guilty pleasure is something that you do that you probably would be embarrassed to tell your friends about, or maybe isn't that productive. And a vice is more of something negative that you do, like a bad habit, that you wish you could change. We’re going to talk a little bit about our guilty pleasures, our vices, and some common ones. So, if you get lost, check out that audio transcript and guide online. Okay, Ian. We're going to start with some guilty pleasures—do you have any of those? Please, tell us.

Ian: Do I—goodness. Yes, I do. Who doesn't, right? So, let's dig into it. So, I'd say the number one guilty pleasure I think of, and it's a real problem I have in my life—I should really figure this problem out—but I am nearly addicted to potato chips. So, if I buy a bag of potato chips it's very likely I can sit and eat the entire bag in one sitting. And it's like I can't even control myself. They just taste so good and I don't think about it. It's not a super-filling food so you can just sit and eat and eat and eat—especially if you're watching a movie or something like that you don't think about. It's to the point where, like I said, I buy a bag of chips and before I know it, I've eaten the whole bag and I'm like, “Oh my God”. If you look at the ingredients and you look at like servings, I'm like, I just ate enough chips for like five people in one sitting. That can't be good for me. So that's one that’s probably worse than drugs would be for me, I imagine. It's just something—I just love chips.

Paige: Do you have a specific flavor? A specific brand of chip?

Ian: There's definitely some that are better than others but, I mean, a chip is a chip. Put it in front of me, I'm going to eat it.

Paige: Is it just potato chips?

Ian: Yeah, I mean, I guess we can put chips all together there. Yeah so, more like the whole chip family. I have a preference probably more like the real potato chips. Here in Chile, I really like the Marco Polo potato chips and there are the vegetable-cut ones are really good. So I like the real, actual chip—the crunch—which is something about it's nice. But in the United States, it's even worse, because there's a million different chips and crackers and all of these and sometimes it's a real problem going down the chip aisle at Walmart trying to decide what's going to be the guilty pleasure this week. What are we going to go for? That’s a real big one that I can think of for myself. So, Paige. What about you? What's the guilty pleasure that gets you excited?

Paige: Yeah, I mean, it's similar—its food-related. I have a huge sweet tooth. So, for me, it's chocolate. I love chocolate. I would eat sweets over food. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner. I enjoy it more than actual food. When I was in Chile, I really loved Trencito. That was my jam. I would eat that at least once a week, like the big bars. If there's a line at the grocery store, I’ve bought three candy bars. I'm like, oh!

Ian: That’s awesome. Is it mostly just chocolate or candy bars? Or are we talking all sweets, like maybe cakes and pies and ice cream? Or are you more specific with candy or chocolate?

Paige: No, I love all sweets. I mean, I think, like ice cream cakes, cookies, brownies—all that is really good. But I think consistently, it's mostly like chocolate bars. And I also like sugar so I like Skittles and Starbursts and all that stuff too. In Chile, I would eat a lot of the Dulce Pica. I don’t know if if you've had, they're like the straws—kind of like gummy straws that are covered in sugar. They’re addictive. That’s a big one. My other guilty pleasure that I have that I think is worse for you, is energy drinks. I probably drink two a week, which isn't good. They're super sugary, have weird chemicals in them, and they're super trashy. When I buy one at the supermarket, I like feel like I'm buying drugs. Don't look at me—just put it in the bag.

Ian: That's so funny. Yeah, that's a good point. Personally, I don't handle sugar that well. I always feel bad after eating a lot. When I was a kid, I ate so much candy—I loved candy too. And just as I've gotten older, it's like my body's telling me, “We can't do this anymore—we're not going to allow it.” So, I guess, I'm transitioned that evolved to the saltier, the chip vice, instead—the chip guilty pleasure—but I totally understand what you mean. For me, I can't do energy drinks, so it grosses me out that you like those so much.

Paige: No, it's good. It's a bad habit because they're addictive and they're expensive, especially in Chile. I mean, a Redbull was like four or five dollars, which is insane but I would still buy it. I don't know. Like for me, I like coffee. I'll have a coffee once a day but if I have two cups, I'll get a headache. But I can have an energy drink no problem. I don't know, it's not good. It's why it’s a guilty pleasure. I am ashamed.

Ian: Exactly. I know what you mean.

Paige: Do you have one last one before we switch to vices?

Ian: Yeah, let's see here. I'd say maybe a guilty pleasure is, in general, I kind of think that most social media is—I don't like to spend a lot of time on social media. I know it's really easy to do, but it's a little bit of a waste of time. But something I've been really getting into that I find what's a guilty pleasure is on Snapchat, they have featured stories, and most of them are really stupid. They're these ones that are just videos of like hydraulic presses smashing stuff. So, it's just crushing things. And it's just weird like these weird soothing videos—that's something that I would never watch or I wouldn't want to tell my friends. I watch these dumb videos on Snapchat but it's something I've been getting into, and I'm like, what's wrong with you? But every day I get on there and I’m like, alright, what are they smashing today with the machine? And the market for these, for sure, like Snapchat is kind of for younger people—like the younger millennials, or the Gen(eration) Z's. And so, I’m like, am I  too old to be watching these dumb videos on Snapchat?

Paige: What are they smashing? Just cars and metal?  

Ian: Everything—everything you could imagine like frozen fruit, drinks, liquids, metal—everything. You got to check it out.

Paige: Okay, yeah.

Ian: It will be another guilty pleasure for you.

Paige: But yeah, I feel you. That is a guilty pleasure and the amount of time that you waste, you're like, “Oh, that was a good hour. I was just scrolling through that. “

Ian: Could have done something a lot more productive here. Oh well…

Ian: And just a quick reminder, if you are interested in taking private classes with Dynamic English, go ahead and check out our website at dynamicenglish.cl. And there you can sign up for private classes in your apartment, in your house, in your office. You can even now take classes online. Sitting on your couch, you can log on and practice English. It’s very easy. So, if you're interested, check us out also on social media through Facebook or Instagram.

Paige: Okay, switch to vices. So, as we talked about, vices are similar to guilty pleasures but they're more negative. They're more like habits that you would like to change. So, for example, a common one is smoking—smoking cigarettes—maybe drinking ten cups of coffee a day, something like that. What's a vice that you have, Ian?

Ian: A vice that I have…so, I'd say one that I've always had that I always am working on. I'm getting better and better at it, but one is sometimes I have a problem with procrastination. So, in college, I was so good about getting everything done that I needed to at the last minute or the night before. While it worked, it's definitely not sustainable. It's not something that you want to make a habit. But yeah, I mean, there were times I would have plenty of time to do an assignment or a paper or whatnot and then the last couple days would come around and I would pull an all-nighter or I would just, you know, crank out page after page after page after page knowing that I had to turn it in the next day. It's like I work better under pressure. It’s almost something like that. When the pressure is on, I can just focus and nail it all down. But, again, like we said, it's not something good, it’s not something sustainable. So, it's something I've really tried to work on but that's been really throughout my whole life, that's been a vice I've tried to improve and improve.

Paige: Like, say you have a big paper due back in the college days before that week, you know you're going to save it for the last night. Are you relaxed during the week? Like you can go play soccer, go hang out friends and the paper are not on your mind? Or are you anxious all week?

Ian: A little bit of both, probably. To the point where we talk about guilt, to where it would be like, okay, well I have this paper due next week. I have time, I'll do this other task or this other activity or go drink some beer with my friends. So sometimes it was just being irresponsible. And then it would be like, okay, well it's crunch time—I got to get this done. And I would just knock all of it out. And I would do fine—I would do well—but then the next day I would be like, “Why did I do that to myself?”

Paige: And then you do it again.

Ian: Yeah, and then just keep doing it. So again, it's kind of like a broken record kind of thing too. With vices, you have to really work on yourself sometimes to get them corrected. What's one of your big vices?  

Paige: Well, one of my biggest vices—I probably have many—I'm not a morning person. I snooze at a very unhealthy amount. The thing is, I'm very ambitious with my plans. I'll be like, “Yeah, I'm going to wake up at 6 am and go for a run.” And then in the morning, I'm like, “I'm not going to do that.” So, I'll set an alarm for six (am), and then I'll be like “Oh, maybe in fifteen minutes.” So, every fifteen minutes until 8 am, I'll be snoozing it. Which is garbage because for two hours I'm snoozing it. So, I'm not sleeping, but I’m physically like, “I can't get out of bed…I can’t.” So, it's pretty bad. I've gotten a little better where I'm like okay, two snoozes is a max. You shouldn't snooze more than twice.

Ian: So, do you set just an alarm for one time, and then you just, for example, you set one alarm for seven-thirty and then just keep hitting the same snooze? Or do you set seven-thirty…seven thirty-five….seven forty-five…eight?

Paige: I developed a new pattern but I generally just snooze it. So, I'll set it for seven-thirty and snooze it for fifteen minutes, sometimes too many times. But my problem is too that, say I have something at nine, I always the night before, think, oh, I'll wake up at seven, which I don't need to. I’m never late for anything, I'm never missing anything, I'm just more ambitious about waking up earlier, and then when the time comes, I'm like, “Fuck that. I'm not waking up early. I don't need breakfast.”

Ian: Yeah, I totally get that.

Paige: Yeah, it's tough. It's a really bad habit because I know I'm not getting good quality sleep when I'm snoozing but I just can't in the morning. It’s bad.

Ian: Yeah I get it. I don't know if this is, I have a really similar one, I don't know if it's a vice, really, but I'm just very grumpy in the morning as well. I'm not much of a morning person so it's something I've tried to work on but until I have a coffee or until I kind of wake myself up a little bit, I'm not the best person to be around. I’m not super friendly, I don't want to talk to people early in the morning too early, you know. I've lived with other people who are super morning people and they're dancing and playing music and “Oh, good morning!” And that’s not me. What's your problem?

Paige: No, I'm the same. The flip side of that vice is I'm a night owl, so the reason the mornings are bad is I stay up until like 1 am, maybe every night. And this is like, you know, I should be getting up at seven-thirty. So it's like why am I staying up until that late? So, I think that definitely contributes to me hating the mornings. At night I'm just not tired, I just feel like I'm like, oh, I can read, I can go for a run. I'm full of energy and then the morning comes and I'm like, I can't do anything. Can’t even eat breakfast.

 Ian: Yeah, I totally relate to that.

Paige: Okay, listeners so you heard our guilty pleasures, our vices. Maybe you guys can figure out yours, practice your English, talk about those with some friends while you're in quarantine, maybe on Zoom. Well, again, if you get lost, check out that audio guide and transcript online. Thanks for listening.

Ian: We'll see you guys next time.

Paige: “Coffee with Gringos” was brought to you by Dynamic English, where you can learn English simply by using it. If you’re interested in taking classes or just want to learn more, go to our website at dynamicenglish.cl. Thanks for listening.

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

1.     to dig into (phrasal verb): to discuss, learn, or study something.

a.     The police are digging into the details of the crime.

2.     filling (adjective): satisfying.

a.     The food is so filling that I don’t have to eat much.

3.     sweet tooth (noun): a strong liking for sweet foods.

a.     She has such a sweet tooth that she eats chocolate every day.

4.     jam (noun, slang): preference, something very well-liked.

a.     Do you like putting peanut butter on celery? It’s my jam.

5.     trashy (adjective): poor quality, unappealing.

a.     Energy drinks are so trashy but people love to drink them.

6.     to gross-out (phrasal verb): to make someone feel disgusted.

a.     It grosses me out when I see people drinking soda early in the morning.

7.     ashamed (adjective): embarrassed or guilty because of one’s actions.

a.     She was ashamed that she spent all her money on candy and drinks.

8.     hydraulic press (noun): a machine that uses pressure force to crush items.

a.     Hydraulic presses can crush almost anything.

9.     to smash (verb): to break something into pieces; to destroy.

a.     The videos are all about smashing different items.

10.  soothing (adjective): having a relaxing and calming effect.

a.     The soothing sound of the rain helped him fall asleep.

11.  Millennials (noun): generation of people born between 1981—1996.

a.     Older generations think that Millennials are lazy and unfocused.

12.  Generation Z (noun): generation of people born between 1997—2015.

a.     Generation Z is known for its knowledge of technology.

13.  to scroll (verb): to move and view pages on a device screen.

a.     She was up late last night scrolling through Instagram.

14.  procrastination (noun): delaying or postponing something until absolutely necessary.

a.     Procrastination is one a common vice among many people.

15.  all-nighter (noun): an event or activity that continues throughout the night without sleep.

a.     All-nighters for studying exams are common for many university students.

16.  to crank out (phrasal verb): to complete something quickly at one time.

a.     She cranked out her thesis in just a few weeks before her graduation.

17.  to nail down (phrasal verb): to make something happen for certain.

a.     She nailed down all the details of the project to show her boss.

18.  crunch time (noun): a point at which something difficult must be done.

a.     I can finish anything during crunch time because of the added pressure.

19.  to knock out (phrasal verb): to produce or complete something quickly.

a.     He can knock out all of his homework in just one hour.

20.  to snooze (verb): to postpone one’s alarm clock in order to sleep more.

a.     She likes to snooze her alarm clock every fifteen minutes when she wakes up.

21.  ambitious (adjective): having a strong desire or determination to do something.

a.     I am so ambitious about exercising early but it usually doesn’t actually happen.

22.  grumpy (adjective): unfriendly; irritable; to be in a bad mood.

a.     I am always grumpy in the morning before I have my coffee.

23.  flip side (noun, slang): opposite; contrary; on the other hand.

a.     On the flip side, my brother loves to wake up early to go hiking.

24.  night owl (noun): a person who enjoys doing things at night.

a.     My sister and I are night owls so we prefer to work at night.