VIDEO: Stern Show Staffer Jon Hein Is Sick of People Petting His Dog

“We gotta keep our distance here, it drives me nuts,” he says of strangers not practicing social distancing

April 12, 2020

One thing Jon Hein has learned while quarantining in New York City is that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, people can’t resist the urge to touch his dog. “I have a cute little white dog … and she’s very friendly and rambunctious and people want to pet her and come over to her and it’s like no, no, no, no, no, no,” Jon reported to Howard and co-host Robin Quivers on Monday. “We gotta keep our distance here, it drives me nuts.”

Fortunately, Jon has had better luck with social distancing while riding his building’s elevator. “I will not get on an elevator if somebody else is on it,” he said firmly. “But when you’re in the elevator you’re just thinking, ‘Oh no, who was in this elevator?’ Delivery people go up, people in my building I know have it, so we’re all living in fear. It’s scary.”

With the extra time at home, the longtime Stern Show staffer attempted to cut his own hair. “It was getting long – my wife likes my hair short and so why not?” he explained with a chuckle. “Let’s just say I needed help from my wife and my daughter before I was finished because it looked like a complete, complete mess.”

“I thought you shaved your head ‘cause like who would come within six feet of Jon with that shaved head,” Howard guessed.

The free time has allowed Jon to resume an old hobby, the guitar. “I’ve always played, like, a little bit,” he revealed. “When Kenny Rogers passed away, we actually had a little Kenny Rogers sing-along to remind us of all the good tunes even though I was horrible playing them and can’t sing.”

“Wouldn’t you love to be at Jon’s house for the sing-along?” Robin teased with a laugh.

“I’ll Zoom to you Robin and you can chime in,” he offered back.

Check out more about Jon’s quarantine experiences in the full video (above).