Because I Can… the random thoughts of Marc Scott

There are a lot of things that you can’t really be prepared for in this business of radio.  Now, I never went to college for it, so perhaps there is a course for the unknown, but I suspect this is unlikely.

For example, when I took my first job as a morning man, there was nothing that could prepare me for the hour that is commonly known as 4AM.  Until I started doing morning radio, I was unaware that such an hour even existed.  I thought it was just a figment of my imagination.  An mysterious collection of 60 minutes that existed only in dreams, or at least, a collection that was only experienced while dreaming.  I had no idea people actually awoke at such an hour.  It seemed so uncomfortable and unnecessary.  A day shouldn’t – in my humble opinion – start before 10AM.

Another thing that you can never be prepared for is that as on air on personality, you will be the buck stops here person.  What I mean by this is that when people can find no other outlet upon which to cast their frustrations, they will call you.  Therapy is expensive and radio stations are a free call with multiple lines to get through on!

Over the course of my career, which has spanned 14 years, I have been personally held responsible for a number of circumstances, situations and phenomenon.  Upon careful inspection and consideration, it is indeed obvious that I am not to blame.  But when a caller is angry, upset, hurt, frustrated, or feeling any other number of emotions, and you happen to be the one that answers the phone, for that brief moment (and sometimes not so brief moment) it’s all pinned on you!

When the weather does the exact opposite of what I say it will do… it’s my fault.  When a motor vehicle collision occurs on the 403 during the afternoon rush and people get stuck in traffic for an hour… it’s my fault.  When the wrong team wins a world title… it’s my fault.  When an event we’ve been promoting for weeks is suddenly canceled… it’s my fault.  And yes… when the family pet runs away… it’s my fault.

When I worked in Simcoe at what was then CD106.7, I had one of my most memorable experiences.  At the time I worked evenings and weekends.  On a Thursday evening I had given a forecast for the weekend.  It was filled with sunshine and mild temperatures.  I worked that Saturday afternoon, and as luck would have it, the sky was filled with clouds and from them came rain.  It happens.

A particular listener who heard my forecast on Thursday and made outdoor plans for Saturday as a result, was less than thrilled with me when Saturday rolled around.  In fact, for nearly 30 minutes on this particular Saturday afternoon he reamed me out.  He went on about how useless and stupid I am.  About how I had ruined his family reunion / BBQ.  How I had no right to be on the radio given weather reports.  I mean, it went on and on and on.  I just quietly listened.

I hadn’t been on the air for very long when this happened.  Less than a year in fact.  I remember feeling devastated.  I thought people loved radio announcers?  I thought we brightened their day with a laugh or a smile or a song.  I couldn’t fathom being thrown under the bus by one of these people.  It really shook me and left me questioning my ability to do the job and do it well.

What I have come to learn over the years is that in 99% of the cases, it’s not personal.  In the case of this particular gentleman, his plans and hard work were ruined, and surrounded only by family, he needed to vent.  I bet his in-laws were there giving him a hard time! Unsure of where else to vent, he called the first logical person.  The person that gave him the weather forecast that encouraged him to have his party in the first place.

The same goes for the person stuck in traffic, the person who watched their team lose, and the person who lost their dog.

I took a call today from somebody who, in essence, was holding me responsible for the spread of the H1N1.  The caller went on about how I shouldn’t be exposing co-workers, how I shouldn’t be so selfish.  How I should just stay home.  They went on and on and on.  They were quite upset and quite serious.

I quietly listened.  When they were finished I acknowledged their concerns and then gently delivered some facts for them.  I explained that I had taken a week off work.  I further explained that I did not return to work until the doctor told me it was OK to do so.  I explained that although I had not been allowed on the air Tuesday or Wednesday, it wasn’t because of being sick and contagious, it was because my voice simply hadn’t returned yet.

In the end, the person was quite apologetic.  They explained that they were just frustrated and concerned by all the hype and attention surrounding H1N1.  Because they knew me – the voice on the radio – and because they knew I had suffered from the H1N1, I became the outlet for their concerns and fear.

I am a radio announcer.  I’m not a therapist.  I will not solve all the problems of the world in my lifetime.  I’ll just play some music, give some bad weather forecasts, and try to help you detour around the traffic nightmares.  Thankfully, experience and maturity over the years has just helped me to deal with one of the problems I was never prepared for by my teachers… the angry caller.

For as long as there has been radio, there has been people calling to vent.  Until they started billing by the hour for call time like a shrink does… the people will continue to call.  The best I can do is promise that when I answer, I’ll treat you with respect, listen to what you have to say, offer any assistance, information, or counsel that I can, and then, when we’re done, I’ll thank you for listening.

As a divorced man who has had nothing but unsuccessful attempts to return into the world of dating in the past 2 years, it would seem that when it comes to women, and more specifically relationships, I have much to learn.  I’m not opposed to working on this education.  I feel confident saying that God has taught me many things in the season that’s passed since my divorce.  I’ve reflected on things I did right.  I’ve reflected on things I’ve done wrong.

While looking for a file on my computer this afternoon, I came across a clip from my days in Peterborough.  I used to be the morning guy at KAOS 99.5.  This clip is from February 8 2006.  As I listened to it I confess, I laughed.  A lot.  To create a sense of context for the clip, it’s morning radio and I was goofing around trying to get a reaction out of my co-host.  Did I ever!  If only you could have seen her face.  Priceless!  Then one of the other girls in the station burst into the studio as well because she wanted to have her say.  It was probably one of those “had to be there” moments.  Nevertheless, I laughed.  I’m sarcastic like that.

Listening to this clip, and looking back on all that’s transpired in my life since, as in… divorce… it’s clearly evident that I should leave the Dr Phil stuff to Dr Phil and just stick with radio! :P

Beyonce has an alter ego, or at least that is what she tells us.  Sasha Fierce.  Apparenly Ms. Fierce only comes out on stage.  This alter ego allows Beyonce, if only for the duration of a performance, to become someone else.  Someone that she is not.  It sounds a little crazy, yet at the same time, a little appealing.

I blogged, about two weeks ago, on “The Show“.  In a nutshell, I explained that things aren’t always what they seem with me.  Ever since I posted that blog I’ve felt like maybe I didn’t dig quite deep enough, or perhaps explain quite well enough.  I’ve been trying to think of how I could better describe it.

I am a big fan of the Superman movies.  Who isn’t?  I am not a hardcore comic book guy or anything like that.  In fact, I don’t own a single Superman comic, nor do I believe that I ever have.  There is something very inspiring about the idea of flight though.  It would be even better if I could do it while still keeping my underwear inside my pants.  Superman was obviously a bit more bold than I.

As I thought through the analogy, what I realized is that I am a lot more Clark Kent than I am Superman.  I’m the quiet, mild mannered reporter.  The one who stumbles and fumbles through his day.  Socially awkward, shy with ladies and men alike.  A bit of  a wallflower.  A guy who seems to always get the job done, but is simply content to go unnoticed.  He neither needs, nor wants the attention.

Then there is Superman.  Everybody, on some level, wants to be Superman.  Superman is the high school quarterback.  Superman is Brad Pitt.  He is the guy the every other guy wants to be.  The one the people love.  The one who can do no wrong.  He is smooth, and heroic and charming and funny and brave and mysterious and popular, and all those things, those qualities, we all wish we had, but many of us don’t.

Radio, in 4 hour windows, allows me to try and channel my inner Superman.  It allows me to be something that I’m not, someone I’m not.  I am content to be Clark Kent, but even he becomes Superman from time to time!  I can be bold, and quick, and witty.  I can say things I woudn’t otherwise say.  Do things I wouldn’t otherwise do.  Talk to people I would otherwise never know.  In the midst of it all, I am protected by the anonymity of radio.  Radio is my suit and thick rimmed glasses.  Clark Kent has a phone booth, I have a studio.  I walk into the studio and become somebody else, and I as walk out of the studio, I am Clark Kent again.

It sounds perfect, and in many ways it is.  It gives me a chance to try and be a different version of myself, all the while never revealling who I am really.  What I have come to learn though, is that it also has a downside.  It gives people a false impression.  When all that somebody knows of me is the guy they hear on the radio, they really aren’t getting to know me at all.  I never thought much of it before, because there has always been a  seperation.  The guy on the radio, and the guy off the radio have never comingled.

I do what I do at work because they hire me to entertain.  Drive people home, and do it with fun and a smile, they say.  In reality, I am the last guy you should be asking to do that.  When I drive, sometimes I go for hours in silence and just take in the beauty and creation around me.  That won’t work on the radio though, so I put on a show.  I try to have fun.  I try to be fun.  People that really know me know it’s a show.  Most of them think it’s pretty funny too.  They know how far from actual reality that guy on the radio really is.

At the end of the day though, I don’t want there to be any confusion.  Off the air and outside of the studio, red undies or not, I wear them inside my pants.  Off the air, I am Clark Kent.

Since I announced my “BIG PLAN” on Friday, I’ve been getting a lot of messages from people wanting to know how they can help.  People have been getting in touch with me by email, Twitter and by calling into the station.  If you missed the “BIG PLAN” announcement, you can listen here.

Here are a couple of suggestions on how you can join me, Melissa, and FM92.1 in supporting the Brantford Food Bank.  At the end of the day, that’s what this whole “Twar” is about… supporting a great cause that needs our help!

One great challenge was put down by a Twitter follower @crazzie_cabbie.  They showed up at the radio station and dropped off a gift certificate for a local grocery store.  I will present that certificate to Heather from the Brantford Food Bank when I give her my cheque on Wednesday.  That would be an excellent way for you to do something.  The amount doesn’t matter.  Think about it, if 100 people just gave $5 that would go a long, long way!  Every little bit helps!  If you don’t have the time to go and get a gift certificate, or would just prefer to donate cash, that works to!

If you want to drop it off at CKPC so I can present it to Heather live on the air, that would be sweet!  Drop off your donations at 571 West Street in Brantford Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  Office hours are 9a-5p.  But remember, the deadline, and cheque presentation to the Food Bank will take place live on my show Wednesday July 15 at 3p.

Another one of my Twitter followers told me she was going to start an office challenge.  That’s an awesome idea!  She was going to put a bin in her office and start collecting donations from all her co-workers.  Brilliant!  If you work in an office setting, check with the boss and make it happen!  If you do it, let me know and I’ll make sure to give you a shout out on my show!  Tweet me!

Remember to follow me, and to tell your friends and family to follow me too.  The pledge is $1 for every new follower up to $1000.  http://twitter.com/MarcScott.  You should follow Melissa too!  http://twitter.com/DJMelissa.

If you have another idea or want to make a different challenge, let me know and I’ll post it on this blog, promote it on my show, and post it on the FM 92.1 web site at http://ckpcfm.com.  Everybody can do something, so lets get together and do something awesome for our community!

I bought a new truck this week.  I needed one.  Well, that’s what I tell myself, and anybody else that asks as well.  My old truck was, well, old.  It was a great truck.  A faithful truck.  But it was ready for retirement.  It had definitely earned it.  I didn’t mean to buy a new truck so fast, but I tend to be a little spontaneous about my vehicle purchases.  It’s a bit of a disorder.  Nowhere near as bad as it used to be, but a disorder nevertheless.

I love my new truck.  I love it so much that I’m going to pay for it for the next 5 years.  That’s a pretty serious commitment.  Not to make light, but truth be told, that commitment will last longer than my marriage.  I suppose I shouldn’t joke about things like that, but, what else am I going to do?  I didn’t take to kindly to the idea of being divorced with little to no say in the matter.  So I suppose I use humor as my defense mechanism.  This is, however, not the point of the blog.

As I drove my new truck home I felt blessed.  I was reminded how, despite all the trials I have lived through, and trust me, there have been trials, overall, I am exceedingly blessed.  Am I wealthy?  In the financial sense, certainly not.  Does God meet my needs daily?  Indeed he does!  I am blessed.

I’ve got this competition going on with one of the girls at work.  It’s silly really.  But it’s fun.  And if you can’t have fun at work, then maybe you need to find a new job!  We’re competing for Twitter followers.  Like I said, silly.  The deal she put on the table was that if she could surpass me in the number of followers by next Wednesday, July 15, then I would go to her house and clean her bathrooms in my firefighter gear.  She would then take pictures and post them on the radio station web site.  Personally, I don’t get it.  Who wants to see pictures of me in my firefighter gear, cleaning?  As I am slowly coming to learn, however, there are many things I apparently do not understand about women!

I wanted to win this little “Twar” (that’s what you get when you take Twitter and start a war).  Yesterday afternoon I started thinking about ways I could win.  Then I thought about ways somebody else could win.  Then I had a brainstorm.  There was no rain.  No thunder.  No lightning.  But it was a storm nevertheless.  In the end, I came up with, what I thought, was a brilliant plan.  I was beyond blessed this week when I brought my new truck home.  I decided I needed to pay it forward.

On my show today I made an annoucement.  I hyped my “BIG PLAN” all night last night, and all morning today on Twitter.  At 3:09p I revealed it live on the air.  With a representative from the Brantford Food Bank on the air with me, I pledged to donate $1 for every new follower I added on Twitter, up to a total of 1000 followers, or, $1000.  The deadline for the bet between Melissa and I is Wednesday afternoon.  Follow me!

It’s so easy for us to get caught up in our stuff.  Our cars and trucks and boats and motorcycles.  Our full fridges and our overloaded pantries.  Our flatscreen TV’s and surround sound systems and our computers and cell phones.  We busy ourselves so much with all our stuff that we can forget about the real, honest need that is out there.  The need doesn’t exist only in Africa!  It exists in our own backyards!  Times are tough all over the place.

The Brantford Food Bank has seen an overwhelming increase in use in the past couple of months.  Just in June alone 1200 families came to them looking for a helping hand.  Appeals have been put out for help.  They need it.  It’s so easy to do to.  What’s a couple cans of tuna, some soup, a couple of boxes of Kraft Dinner and a loaf of bread going to cost you?  $10?  Do you know how much something so little can mean to a family with unemployed parents due to the recession?

Jesus said whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me.  He doesn’t suggest we help.  He commands we help.  We need to be reminded how blessed we are.  Sometimes, we need a little perspective brought into our lives.  I got it when I bought my new truck.  How can I enjoy something like that, knowing full well that a family in my town won’t eat dinner tonight?

I sound like a World Vision commercial, and you know what.  That’s fine.  I don’t care.  Truth is truth, and that’s all there is to it.  Do with it what you will.  I just hope you’ll help.  And if you don’t live in Brantford, find your own local food bank.  All it takes is one or two extra items the next time you’re in the grocery store.  Every little bit adds up!  Maybe you can’t do $1000 over a silly little bet.  But everybody can do something!

If you missed the “BIG PLAN” announcement on my show today, here it is.

In my ongoing battle will Melissa to gain followers on Twitter I have uped the ante, so to speak.  If I win, I will personally donate $1 for every new follower I get on Twitter, up to $1000, to the Brantford Food Bank.

PLUS… if I gain 1000 new followers by Wednesday (the deadline) I will still allow Melissa to take her pictures of me cleaning her toilet in my firefighter gear and post them on the web site!  If you’re not following me on Twitter yet, now would be a good time to start! http://twitter.com/MarcScott

Perception is a strange and mysterious thing.  I’m always intrigued by how two people can look at the exact same object, read the exact same sentence, or know the exact same person, and yet, see two entirely different things.  If you ask me, it’s all part of the wonder of creation.  How we use our eyes and ears and nose and touch and mouth and then put all the pieces of the puzzle together with our brains.  So many interpretations that aren’t right and aren’t wrong.  They just are.

I am not fun.  I made this revelation to the world earlier today on Twitter.  My actual tweet was, “Confession: I am nowhere near as fun as people think I am from listening. Sorry.  In fact, off air, I am as boring as whale snot.” No foolin’.”

I had a conversation with one of my cousin’s this weekend at a family reunion.  He said that he laughs every time he hears me on the radio because he knows me, and he knows that off the air, I stand in the corner and don’t speak four words in an entire night.  But yet, there I am, on the radio, talking away and driving people home everyday.  He’s right you know.  Off the air, I am somebody else.

This may seem an odd confession.  It may even seem a bit deceiving.  Especially to those that listen to me daily.  Is the whole thing a sham?  Is it a lie?  Have I just pulled back the curtain and revealed that the wizard really isn’t a wizard at all?  Maybe, I suppose.

Another dear friend of mine teases me about my multiple personality disorder.  The thing is, maybe she is actually on to something.  Before you assume I’m admitting I’m nuts, just roll with me for a moment.  I think the truth is simply that there is the “on air” Marc and the “off air” Marc.

Radio is meant to be entertaining.  I am hired, quite literally, to do “a show.”  That’s what they call it.  The “Wake Up Show” the “Drive Show” it’s all show.  So this is what I do.  I try to entertain.  I try to put on a good show.  Where it gets confusing is that, for many people, all they know of me is the show.  So their perception is defined by this 4 hour a day glimpse into who I am.

Off the air, I really am, as I said, boring as whale snot.  I drink milk.  White.  I eat chips.  Plain.  I sit in my apartment, dimly lit with a few candles, and I fall asleep on the couch.  Sometimes I have the TV on.  Other times I don’t.  I don’t really go to the movies, or out for dinner or even bowling.  Off the air my life is quiet, simple, boring.  Occasionally I respond to fire calls, but that’s about it.  I am not nearly as fascinating as some would think, or like to think.

I feel bad because I often get emails and notes from people who listen to me on the radio and want to get to know me better because I seem like fun.  I guess that is all part of the mystery of perception.  Perhaps, to some, I sound fun.  But in reality, not so much.  So I just wanted to let everybody know.  If you keep listening, I’ll keep giving you a show, but mostly, that is all it is.

For 14 years in radio, I’ve avoided the artist interview.  It’s nothing personal against the artists.  I love them all.  I think they’re great.  Mostly, it just has to do with me and my inability to converse easily with people whom I’ve never before met.  Today though, I was set up.  My boss dropped an interview on me and gave me no say in the matter.  “Don’t embarrass the family name” is what I kept repeating to myself over and over and over.

Naomi Striemer is a lovely young lady, simply lovely.  She has a beautiful voice and a great laugh, and my interview with her was a joy.  It ended up being 60 minutes of the most fun radio I’ve done in years.  If you were listening live to FM 92.1, I hope you enjoyed it.  If you missed it, I posted it here for you.

Naomi will be performing at Brantford’s Canada Day event.  She’ll take the stage at 6p.  For more on that check brantfordcanadaday.com.  I encourage you to check out the show and her album – which, by the way, she wants everybody to know will be available at her booth after her performance.  She wants you all to come and say hi!

Naomi Striemer Online
Official Site – http://www.naomistriemermusic.com/
Twitter – http://twitter.com/NaomiStriemer
MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/naomi

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As a self diagnosed over-thinker, I often find myself asking myself a lot of questions that I’ll probably never get the answers to.  Sometimes, I’m not entirely sure if there even are answers to them.  One of these days, perhaps, I’ll just accept that some things simply are, and that is really all the explanation necessary.

I started my day today by asking why in the world morning has to come so early.  More specifically, I was asking why in the world I agreed to participate in an event that would see me getting out of bed at 8a on a Saturday, my day off.  I know what you’re thinking, I’m a whiner.  Everybody gets out of bed at 8a.  OK.  Fair enough.  Give me this much though, I’m an insomniac.  I need to take sleep when I can get it.  I can’t get it, if I’m setting alarm clocks and waking myself up!

It took me nearly an hour to feel like I was even in my body.  After a long shower, face contact with a door frame, a cracked shin on the sharp corner of my bed, and a stubbed toe on my weight bench, which is actually more of a clothes hanging device than it is a weight bench, I was somewhat coherent.

I drove to work and listened to a few of my favorite songs, and tried to get myself pumped.  Well, I tried to get myself awake anyway.  Baby steps, you know.  During the drive, I started asking another question.  Why does it have to rain?

I was on my way to a car wash.  It was a big deal too.  A national event raising money for Cystic Fibrosis research and treatment.  The sponsor, CarStar, was also hoping to set a Guinness World Record by washing 4000 cars, nationally, in 8 hours.  I was going with the radio station to host a 4 hour remote from the location in Brantford.  We were hoping to really hype it up and get lots of people out.  I’m all about raising money for great causes, but as I watched the rain fall from the dark skies above, I wasn’t feeling very good about the event.

When I pulled into the radio station parking lot, I asked another question.  Why did my pager have to go off!  Not 10 seconds after I got into the parking lot, I got a fire call for a possible structure fire.  Any other Saturday and I would have been home for it.  Because I was doing this car wash in the rain, I was missing it!  That is always depressing for me, because I love being a firefighter.  The thing is, it’s kind of hard to be one when you’re missing the call.

So here it was, 9:30 in the morning, and my obsessive question asking, over-thinking habit, had already given me a bad attitude without even realizing it.  Early morning, little sleep, rain – with no end in sight, and now I’m missing a possible structure fire.  I was convincing myself, unintentionally, that today was going to suck.

When I arrived at the event I was introduced to the owners of the location, and met a couple of the people responsible for helping with the event.  A group of students from St. John’s College, and a group of people from Participation House, were giving up their Saturday to volunteer for this event.  They were the ones that would be washing cars in the rain, while I watched from inside.  Suddenly, I was feeling a little convicted about my bad attitude.

As the morning progressed, I witnessed something amazing.  I watched a group of probably 30 people, standing outside in non stop rain, washing cars with smiles on their faces, and genuinely having a great time!  If you can’t beat it, join it, I said during one of my cut-ins on the air.  That’s what these people were doing.  The rain was soaking them anyway, so why not have some fun?  Water fights were happening everywhere.  Water balloons were being tossed, covert attacks were being launched, and the garden hose become a tool for battle domination!

The volunteers were laughing, dancing and singing in the rain.  Not just one or two of them either.  All of them.  They were just having fun!  While I was thinking the event was going to tank because people wouldn’t come and get their car washed in the rain, and as a result, very little money would be raised, they were out there living in the moment.  They were taking control of their circumstances instead of letting their circumstances take control of them.  It was a humbling sight, and a beautiful sight!

I tried as hard as I have ever tried on air today.  I wanted to be great for them.  Because of them!  I wanted to have flawless breaks.  I wanted to paint an accurate picture of this incredible experience that was unfolding before my eyes.  I wanted everybody listening to the radio today to come and see it for themselves, and maybe, just maybe, catch some of the joy that I did.  And you know what?  People did come!  Lots of people.  They honked their horns as they drove by.  They got their cars washed in the rain.  And they ate hamburgers… glorious hamburgers!

When the sun came out 15 minutes before the end of the event, after raining non stop since the morning, most of us just laughed.  When I got in my truck to drive home, I started thinking.  Maybe that sunshine was a smile from God.  Nobody questioned Him for the rain.  Nobody even complained.  They just washed cars, and sang and danced in the rain.  I bet that made Him happy, and I think that’s why He smiled.

I don’t consider myself to suffer from O.C.D. though, admittedly, I may have a couple of OCD like tendencies.  For example, whenever I eat at Subway, I have to fold the wrapping that my sub comes in, in a very specific manner.  I have no idea why.  I have no idea what started it.  I just know that it’s one of my quirks, and I can’t seem to help myself.

One of my other OCD habits has to do with radio.  Since the very first time I did a break at (then) 1470 C-HOW, I have had a pen in my hand.  14 years of radio, and never once have I cracked a mic without a pen in my hand.  I can’t do it.  Truth be told, I’ve actually had to skip breaks in the past when I didn’t have my pen readily available.

I’m not exactly sure what I think will happen.  Perhaps the sky will fall?  Perhaps I’ll open my mouth and the voice of a female will come out?  Perhaps electric pulses will shoot from the end of the microphone and fry my brain?  Honestly, I’ve never really given it much thought as to the consequences.  I just know that I’ve never allowed it to happen in 14 years and I don’t intend to start now!

Not only do I need to have a pen in my hand, but I’m also very loyal to my pens.  Like a dog or something.  When I used to work at OPT my partners would make fun of me because I had the same pen from the day I started until the day I left there!  I worked there for a year and a half.  Some of them would steal my pen and watch me panic as I chased them to try and get it back.  Again, not sure what started this.  All I know is, it is what it is.

The pen I use at work (FM 92.1) is the pen I started with on my first shift there.  It’s been a couple weeks shy of a year.  It’s my good and faithful pen, and I’ve held it for every word I’ve ever spoken over the air.  This afternoon, however, something unthinkable happened.  In the second half of the 3p hour… my first hour on the air, my pen died!

If I told you I was unphased, I’d be lying.  If I told you my voice didn’t get a little shakey during my first break after realizing it was dead, I’d be lying.  I mean, I wasn’t going to break down and start crying.  But I was definitely concerned about whether or not I could pull off the rest of my show.  It totally messed with my head!  Ridiculous, but true!

I continued to hold the pen while I told the sad story of it’s demise on my show.  Anybody listening must have thought I was some kind of fruit loop.  I confess, I questioned this myself!  I even took a picture of my dear pen and posted it on the stations web site (http://bit.ly/r0rqo).

After sharing the story something happened that made everything OK again.  A couple of girls listening to my show, Jessica and Laura, showed up at the station to drop off a new pen for me.  I am not entirely sure of their motives.  Perhaps they were just hoping I’d shut up about my pen.  Or maybe they were genuinely concerned and trying to do a good deed.  I will choose to assume the latter.  All I know is, it made my day!

I didn’t throw out my old pen.  In fact, I tucked it safely in my binder where it will likely remain for the rest of my broadcasting career.  Now it will just have a friend to keep it company.  A shiny new silver pen, from my two pen angels.