Supporting Public Radio
I'm sitting in the volunteer room at KUOW answering phones for the spring pledge drive. I'm sharing a table with a former Microsoftie, a current Microsoftie, a current Real employee (who apparently knows ironymaiden, markbourne, and kijjohnson), and a former sailor who knits. It's a pleasant group, chatty and smart and, obviously, all KUOW fans. The food supplied for meals has been tasty. I had a bagel breakfast and just completed a spanokopita lunch. The little thank-you gift for my service is a KUOW Nalgene water bottle.
One woman at the table has been to Paris a number of times, and she's been sharing her experiences and tips for places to stay. I'm taking notes (I must remember to look for Hotel Grand Leveque, surrounded by a boulangerie, a fromagerie, fruit stand, etc., but remember that it's apparently been overrun by Rick Steves devotees; also look for the medieval museum).
I love the people who pledge and then thank me for volunteering my time. That takes some thought to consider and I really appreciate it.
The woman sitting next to me has taken a pledge from someone's cat.
One of the most entertaining bits of doing this work has been trying to describe the t-shirt available at a particular pledge level. We're split, we call operators, about how to describe the color of the t-shirt: Is it brown, chocolate brown, milk chocolate brown? Is the design golden-rod yellow or canary yellow? We can refer people to the web site but that doesn't help us in the moment. We're each developing our own strategy, but it's been entertaining listening to the fashion consultation going on during pledge calls.
miki_garrison, who is coming to join me answering the pledge lines, just called to ask me about her highest priority: whether or not there will be enough Diet Coke for her on the premises. She's hilarious.
3:20 PM: We've just completed a premium offer for tickets to see the Capitol Steps. I was going to pledge, but realized I have other plans for the date. These are the wages of being overbooked. And yet . . . I can't complain.
I'm struck by the number of women showing up to answer phones who are older and are wearing long falls of wild silver gray hair and tie-dyed t-shirts. It's a certain kind of artsy crunchy type that's a Northwest stereotype.
5:40 PM: So many of the calls I received today were pleasant: people pledging, expressing their enjoyment of public radio, thanking me for volunteering, making some comment about the programming on air. (I received calls from three English majors during "A Prairie Home Companion," during which Garrison Keillor had run a humorous piece about same. I could only smile and admit that I, too, had been an English major.) But my last call of the day left a sour taste in my mouth. I picked up the phone and said, "Thank you for calling KUOW's spring pledge drive. May I have your name please?" The woman on the other end said, "No you may not. I want to say that I protest my tax dollars being used to support your left-wing organization." She then hung up. What I wanted to say in response was, "You nasty old b*tch." I hung up the phone and couldn't help but wonder why that call was necessary. Certainly everyone has a right to their opinion, but when I compare the amount of money spent on public radio to the amount of money this country has spent fighting an ill-conceived, ill-executed action in Iraq during which thousands of American men and women have died, or giving tax breaks to major corporations, I can't figure out this woman's beef.
But that's just me.
Mostly it was a lovely day. I suppose there's a use in considering others' perspectives. I resent that such bitterness was the final note of my otherwise pleasant day at the station, however.
-------------------------------
Happily, I had miki_garrison for company during my second shift, and after we were done answering phones, we hit the U Bookstore so I could drop some books for trade, then strolled through the UW campus to see the cherry blossoms. They're just beginning to bloom; I'm guessing that next weekend they'll be in their full glory. I took some photographs; I hope to download and post them tonight. We then had a quick dinner at Pagliacci Pizza and retired for the day. I crashed when I got home.
One woman at the table has been to Paris a number of times, and she's been sharing her experiences and tips for places to stay. I'm taking notes (I must remember to look for Hotel Grand Leveque, surrounded by a boulangerie, a fromagerie, fruit stand, etc., but remember that it's apparently been overrun by Rick Steves devotees; also look for the medieval museum).
I love the people who pledge and then thank me for volunteering my time. That takes some thought to consider and I really appreciate it.
The woman sitting next to me has taken a pledge from someone's cat.
One of the most entertaining bits of doing this work has been trying to describe the t-shirt available at a particular pledge level. We're split, we call operators, about how to describe the color of the t-shirt: Is it brown, chocolate brown, milk chocolate brown? Is the design golden-rod yellow or canary yellow? We can refer people to the web site but that doesn't help us in the moment. We're each developing our own strategy, but it's been entertaining listening to the fashion consultation going on during pledge calls.
miki_garrison, who is coming to join me answering the pledge lines, just called to ask me about her highest priority: whether or not there will be enough Diet Coke for her on the premises. She's hilarious.
3:20 PM: We've just completed a premium offer for tickets to see the Capitol Steps. I was going to pledge, but realized I have other plans for the date. These are the wages of being overbooked. And yet . . . I can't complain.
I'm struck by the number of women showing up to answer phones who are older and are wearing long falls of wild silver gray hair and tie-dyed t-shirts. It's a certain kind of artsy crunchy type that's a Northwest stereotype.
5:40 PM: So many of the calls I received today were pleasant: people pledging, expressing their enjoyment of public radio, thanking me for volunteering, making some comment about the programming on air. (I received calls from three English majors during "A Prairie Home Companion," during which Garrison Keillor had run a humorous piece about same. I could only smile and admit that I, too, had been an English major.) But my last call of the day left a sour taste in my mouth. I picked up the phone and said, "Thank you for calling KUOW's spring pledge drive. May I have your name please?" The woman on the other end said, "No you may not. I want to say that I protest my tax dollars being used to support your left-wing organization." She then hung up. What I wanted to say in response was, "You nasty old b*tch." I hung up the phone and couldn't help but wonder why that call was necessary. Certainly everyone has a right to their opinion, but when I compare the amount of money spent on public radio to the amount of money this country has spent fighting an ill-conceived, ill-executed action in Iraq during which thousands of American men and women have died, or giving tax breaks to major corporations, I can't figure out this woman's beef.
But that's just me.
Mostly it was a lovely day. I suppose there's a use in considering others' perspectives. I resent that such bitterness was the final note of my otherwise pleasant day at the station, however.
-------------------------------
Happily, I had miki_garrison for company during my second shift, and after we were done answering phones, we hit the U Bookstore so I could drop some books for trade, then strolled through the UW campus to see the cherry blossoms. They're just beginning to bloom; I'm guessing that next weekend they'll be in their full glory. I took some photographs; I hope to download and post them tonight. We then had a quick dinner at Pagliacci Pizza and retired for the day. I crashed when I got home.