[continued from yesterday's post; series started 05/09]
While on at KOBS I did gather something of a listenership. One time my brother Allan was at a grocery store cashing a check and the lady behind him in line, hearing his name, asked if we were related because she listened to my show. Another time - close to the end of my second stint there - my brother was poolside at the apartment complex where we lived in Beaumont, and a nearby group of teenagers was blasting my show out on the radio. There were other instances also...at times a heady experience, at times a source of embarrassment.
Of course being a teenager I welcomed this attention, and on occasion would arrange to meet groupies in person. But first it was necessary to see what I was getting into. My friend Brent and I would arrange to meet a girl at some location - usually Parkdale Mall under the big clock - and I'd send Brent out first to see if she was worth the trouble of seeing. If she was I'd get the signal and walk up; if not we'd both walk away, standing her up.
One that was definitely worth seeing was Cheryl Smith...a beautiful girl with long brownish-black hair. I even got around to visiting her apartment and meeting her parents one time. Nothing "happened" between us but she was definitely worth getting to know. And we met through an interesting circumstance.
Cheryl had a friend named Janet Rougeau who called the station one day during the afternoon shift. She requested a song for Cheryl, who'd just suffered a breakup and was devastated. I moved the dedication ahead in the lineup and was able to play the song right away on the air. Have no idea why I did this, but it was one of those times when you just have a feeling and know you can get away with it...I asked Janet for Cheryl's phone number so that I could call and surprise her. There was another Kobs rule that there were to be no on-air dedications, but I did it anyway, saying something about Cheryl and her boyfriend and that I hoped it'd work out, etc. etc. Then the song played.
Imagine the shock when I called her at home and asked if she heard the song and if everything was going to be okay. I revealed that her friend Janet gave me the number, then she became incredibly gushy and thankful because it happened that both she and her boyfriend were listening, which prompted the guy to call her and apologize. It was a nice moment, and of course I gave my audience an update at the next opportunity.
Cheryl and Janet both called regularly after that, but I didn't actually meet Janet until she went into the hospital due to an infection. I went to visit her at Orange Memorial, and remember that she was quite embarrassed at my seeing her in that condition.
No comments:
Post a Comment