Thursday, March 21, 2013

Caller


For the most part, Facebook and Twitter have pretty much killed my blog. Topics that used to turn into 1,000 words are now covered in less than 140 characters.  But yesterday I made a comment on a friends’ post, a one liner that I now feel deserves a little more attention. Deserves is a little heavy, but hey, I just wanted to ramble on, and thought I’d do it here, rather than a few dozen comments on his wall.

You better sit down for this. Oh, you are? Well, I hope no one knocks on your stall door. I’ve been listening to the radio a little bit more, mostly sports talk, but when the Kyd is in the car, we have to tune into the local top 40 station. And I am dying to know: why do people still call in to request a song?

Seriously, it makes zero sense to me. It’s 2013. There’s no logical reason for this behavior. Latest reports say that over 160 million American’s have internet access, a third of the population. I’m not sure if that includes toddlers and babies, so we’ll assume it does.  I’m also willing to bet that the percentage is higher in homes with a radio and a telephone. If you have the internet, you can listen to any song you have ever heard in just a matter of seconds. So why take the time to call in to some radio show, be put on hold (if you even get through) then request a song that they play every 12 minutes anyway?

Based on my research, which consists of being in the car with my daughter when these people call in, I feel it’s safe to say that the average requester is a 14.32 year old girl from a middle class family. So not only is she likely to have internet access, she also has an iPod and there’s a very good chance she also has a smart phone of some kind. She’s not at work, unless she’s babysitting. In which case, she may not have permission to use the computer, but she probably doesn’t have permission to ignore the kids for 12 minutes while she attempts to call in and request a song.

The only conclusion I can draw is, the 14 year old girl is calling to request a song just to hear her voice on the radio for 22 seconds. The good: they should only have 14 minutes and 38 seconds left of “fame.” The bad: she still has 14 minutes and 38 seconds left of “fame.” The real truth here: teenage girls talk too much. 

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