Heigh Ho podcast Bob Merberg

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Get a look from "the seat" as Muni driver Mc Allen describes why he loves his job and San Francisco and public transportation in general.
Mc also shares sides of the role we rarely see: a bus driver’s schedule, time off, pay, and the levels of autonomy, job demands, and social support known to define job stress.
Though we don’t use these words, listeners familiar with employee wellbeing principles will note Mc’s sense of purpose and belonging, as well as how he uses his skills as a poet to exemplify job crafting.
Learn more about Mc on his website, mc-allen.com, where you can read the poem he describes in the interview, The Bee of Moffitt Street. Mc is on X (formerly Twitter) at @that_mc and on Mastodon (where he and interviewer Bob Merberg first crossed paths) at @that_mc@sfba.social.
Also mentioned in this episode:
* Mc’s appearance at Muni Diaries (video).
* Mc’s anecdote in A Bus Driver's Story of Connection, Kindness, and Trust, posted in Heigh Ho.
* The second post in this series: Steering Thru Stress: What Bus Drivers' Working Lives Teach Us About Wellbeing. Learn the science that confirms, and is confirmed by, everything Mc shares regarding bus drivers’ working life.
About Mc Allen
Mc Allen believes that high quality public transportation is a powerful and essential part of the city. In 2021 he became a transit operator for the “Municipal Railway” (Muni) in San Francisco, where he lives with his wife and kids.


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The job stress of city transit operators, especially bus drivers, has probably been studied more than any other occupation. Along with other jobs in the transportation industry, bus driving is often cited as one of the most stressful jobs.
Though it may seem esoteric to office workers, the lessons we’ve learned about bus driver stress are relevant to almost everyone.



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heighho.substack.com

Gazing out over Lake Erie from the Cleveland waterfront, you’re likely to see commercial and recreational watercraft. You’ll see white-capped waves and, in winter, some ice floes. But you may be in the dark about what lies beneath — not underwater, not on the lakebed, but 1800 feet further down, where people are busy at work.
Under Lake Erie lies Cargill’s Whiskey Island salt mine, actively worked by about 250 miners in round-the-clock shifts, extracting salt used largely for de-icing wintry roads.
When Heigh Ho returns in January, I’ll feature an exclusive Q&A with a salt miner who works 10-hour shifts in a 2400-foot vertical mine shaft.
Reflecting on those doing one of society’s least visible jobs unearths our own deep-seated values about work and working life.












This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heighho.substack.com

In 1955 British naval historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson published in The Economist an article about bloated government bureaucracies, stating:
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
He dubbed this Parkinson’s Law.
Unfortunately, Parkinson’s Law is commonly misinterpreted to be an assertion about procrastination and personal ineffectiveness. It’s nothing of the sort.
Links mentioned can all be found in the Heigh Ho article the episode is based on.




This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heighho.substack.com

You'll have a new world opened for you as you listen to comments by Dustin — a Texas-based long-haul driver — about pay, work schedules, and life on the road.
Dustin also shares his perspective on work/life balance, 4-day workweeks, work-from-home, and the public's perception of truck drivers during peak pandemic.
Catch the original article, and/or — if you like content like this — subscribe to Heigh Ho at http://heighho.substack.com.
Leave a voice message about your job — for possible use in the newsletter or podcast — at https://www.speakpipe.com/Bob_Merbergs_Heigh_Ho_podcast



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heighho.substack.com

Rob Baker, author of Personalization at Work, and Bob Merberg explore job crafting, where a worker tailors their job-related tasks, relationships, and thoughts to optimize how it fits to their strengths. The conversation uses the allegory of Snow White’s and the forest animals’ job crafting in the Whistle While You Work scene to help listeners understand how job crafting can increase productivity, innovation, and wellbeing… and where things can go awry.
It’s not required, but if you have a chance, check out the scene before listening:
(If the video player, above, doesn’t work, you can find the scene on YouTube.)


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heighho.substack.com