I’m guessing the person who sent the
e-mail doesn’t know me at all.
The e-mail in question was one I
received yesterday from a listener who had just driven by the station
as I was standing outside. As you may know, on a nice
day--especially a nice day like yesterday--I’ll stand outside for a
minute a few times a day and eat some salmon or down some yogurt or
slurp some tea. It must’ve during one of those time that the
listener, driving by, saw me and sent this note--
“Just wanted. . .to say I saw you out
on your cigarette break enjoying the sun.”.
First of all, thanks for the note. I
always enjoy getting them. And yes, I was out enjoying the sun,
something I haven’t been able to do much of yet this spring. But
being out there on a cigarette break? Sit down; we need to talk.
Those of you who know me know I don’t
smoke. Those of you who know me know that I’m an avid non-smoker.
Those of you who know me know that one of the greatest days of my
life was April 30th, 2010, when Michigan’s smoking ban
went into effect and I could then go into any bar or restaurant I'd
like without the risk of dying. I’ve never smoked; I’ve never
even had the desire to smoke. And I go out of my way to avoid people
or places where there’s even a whiff of second hand smoke.
Obviously, the person who sent the
e-mail doesn’t know me.
When I sent her back a note explaining
that I don’t smoke and was eating tuna (or something), she
immediately shot one back apologizing for her mistake. She said
she’s known a couple of radio people in her life, and they all
smoked like chimneys. I’m not surprised by that. When I started
doing this job back in the 19th century many of the people
with whom I worked did smoke, much to the detriment of their voices,
nearby equipment, and one young co-worker. In fact, that’s one of
the reasons why I’m working where I‘m working. When I was
offered my current job decades and decades ago one of the selling
points was that it was in a non-smoking environment, and seeing as
how I was (then) working at a place up here where EVERYONE smoked
like chimneys in the office (even though I had a sign on my desk that
said “Cancer cures smoking”), that was what sealed the deal.
Well, that, and I wouldn’t have to
listen to oldies every day.
So if you see me standing outside the
station on a warm sunny day, there will probably be something in my
mouth, but you can be assured that it won’t be a cigarette.
Keep those e-mails coming!
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