On the Radio....

The word “surprise” is defined this way:  a brief emotional state experienced as the result of an unexpected event.  

As a rule I’ve not been a big fan of surprises, I think that comes from years of running a business.  More often than not when an employee “surprises” you it turns out to be of a less than desirable nature.  Over the years it has a conditioning effect on you; eventually you may come to believe surprises aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

That wasn’t the case this week when I got a call from someone with whom I’ve worked  as an advertising client for a good many years both in my last incarnation in radio, and now with Heart of Ohio Magazine.  While I haven’t sold advertising in many years I have worked with people who were clients and some who were not, to help navigate the treacherous and confusing waters of advertising.  As one client told me many years ago, “We all know we’re wasting 50% of our advertising budget, we just don’t know which 50% that is”.

I was plunking away on my computer when my cellphone rang and it was my client who said, “Di, are you going to be out my way today?  I’ve got something for you.”   I told him I surely could be and hopped into my car and took off.  I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about…but then that’s the nature of a surprise.

I got to his store and he met me at the front counter.  We chatted a bit and then my curiosity got the best of me.  “So, what can I do for you?” I asked. 

“Well, when you were here last you had your eye on something in my office,” he said.

“I did?”  My memory was a black hole.

“Yep, and here it is,” his grin was huge as he turned from me and pulled an old radio out from behind the counter. 

Our previous conversation came rushing back to me.  Some time ago we were sitting in his office when I saw this radio on a shelf; I told him about one I had owned a long time ago.  When I was a little girl my Dad gave me a radio just like his. It was a Westinghouse that Dad purchased at work with his discount; it fit perfectly into the book case headboard of my bed. 

I was probably eleven or twelve, but I remember many very late nights when I stayed awake to dial up and down the AM band, listening to DJ’s far away and close at hand.  Even though there were no female voices I dreamed about someday being “on the radio”.   I spent many late night hours peering at the dimly lit dial on that radio, learning the dial positions of WKYC, WOWO, CKLW and other favorites.  WMAN was always playing in my Mom’s kitchen, and I remember waiting outside WCLW on McPherson Street for the DJ to come to the side door to take our requests to play Purple People Eater.  All the neighborhood kids thought those DJ’s were rock stars.   I didn’t know it then, but that old radio was offering me a peek into my future;  I spent 32 years in radio as a copywriter, on air, in sales and finally in management.

I was speechless as I stood looking at the radio in his hands.  “I’d have given it to you that day, but it didn’t work.  I finally found the father of a friend of mine who repairs these old radios; it works just fine now,” he said as he put the radio into my hands.  “When I got it back I knew it was time to give this radio to you.  To me it’s just an old radio, but to you it’s a memory.”

Sometimes a surprise is so special that you just don’t have the proper words to thank someone.  This is like that.  Looking at this radio reminds me of so many good things; it’s like finding a part of my past.  My bet is that this radio is something ninety nine people out of a hundred would pass over in a thrift store; to me it is an absolute treasure. 

The thoughtfulness behind the gift and the unselfishness touches me.  How kind this person is to have given me this gift.  He says I’ve helped him with his business over the years; I say it has been a wonderful investment for both of us.

Thank you to my thoughtful friend for restoring a memory from my past and reminding me that surprises can still be wonderful.

                                                          Life is Good