The radio station ‘KUC24/7 On Your Dial’ employed sixteen people, and it occupied the first floor of an old historical building. There were six Disc Jockeys, and the other employees had various positions like crew members, production manager, station manager, security, administrative people, announcers, etc.
Every position was covered, and everybody knew how to cover each other’s job in case of absences AND the station could be found with just a twist of the dial.
There was a plethora of music for everyone. There was local and world news every hour for those interested and of course, there was the morning show with Warren K. and Lloyd B. They called it “The Popcorn Show’ and they were on the air from 9:30 to 11:30am Monday- Friday – Live! This was the most popular program for the station.
These two were fun loving friends from college days who made a practice of speaking on topics covering anything from sex to gardening which is why they named it “The Popcorn Show.” They had many listeners, many callers and sometimes they had guests. People really liked their energy. The station had high ratings and these two made it possible. (At least, that is what I was told.)
At night, the same things were on the air except the morning show became the evening show with hosts: Muriel McLeavey and Lenore Moss.
Every now and then special broadcasts aired, day or night. Example: A preacher would host for an hour, or a school chorus would perform. If a popular entertainer was in town, you might hear him/her say a few words and maybe sing a few lyrics of a new song. Sometimes a politician would tell a few lies.
The station was small but there was always something happening at ‘Station KUC 24/7 On Your Dial’.
The Contest
The plan was every Friday in the month of March and twice a day, those two: Warren and Lloyd would sponsor a call-in contest and give away prizes. Things like pizzas, wine, large tins filled with sponsored popcorn, tickets for the operas, tickets for flower shows, concert tickets, record albums. And every now and then a dinner for two in a well-known restaurant.
Sometime during the morning show either Warren or Lloyd might say, “Be caller number 12 and win a dinner for 2 at Roco’s Soul Food Restaurant”. The number is 800-890-8888. Just like that - and they would pop on to a new topic, but the listeners would start calling immediately.
The contests happened last year, and it was a successful endeavor. Things like that encouraged people to pledge during fundraising time and lots of sponsors offered money and products to support the station. It was all good.
The only difference this year was they needed someone to answer the phone because last year trying to host and answer calls interfered with the morning show.
This is why both men made a call to the temporary staffing agency.
The plan was the person would work every Friday in March for 8 hours. The contest announcement would be spontaneous and having a person there to monitor the phone calls would make it all come together. (They wanted someone for four hours, but the agency said, “No, that was a waste of time and money. It had to be 8 hours”)
The same thing would happen in November and December. The temporary worker would work one day before the holidays. That day would be determined later. The Thanksgiving prize was $500, and the Christmas prize was $1000.
SO:
The agency called me and said, “We have an assignment for the four Fridays in March at a radio station. They just need someone to answer phones for those days.”I said, “Sure, why not?” They then told me the pay rate, the location, the hours, and they also gave me a little information about the station. They included that the station wanted someone with experience and a good attitude. NO PROBLEM!
I was there at 7:30am on the first Friday in March. I was a few minutes early, dressed to impress and ready for the challenge.
I introduced myself to the receptionist and took a seat. She made a call and after a few minutes, Warren and Lloyd came to meet me. We hit it off instantly and they offered me coffee or tea and showed me around the station.
Once we left the reception area I was amazed. I saw a circle of glass offices each behind a closed door, and I could see the heads and shoulders of people busy working.
There were also several studios with people talking in microphones and one or two with guests sitting across from them.
Across the back of the building was all glass facing a courtyard with a fountain, stone benches, flowers and beyond that, the city. Inside, the station was bright with sunlight, but for a radio station I thought it was eerily quiet.
We were the only people walking around.
As we passed empty offices I saw desks, microphones, telephones, chairs, and books all jammed up in those little spaces. There were also glass closets packed with record albums and used equipment. Everything was categorized and somewhat neat, somewhat.
The people working that day just waved as we walked by, or they gave us their thumbs up. I was a stranger, but they probably knew why I was there.
We walked to my workspace for the day which was a glass closet that was converted to accommodate a person. It was close to the back exit and the sign on the closet door read, “Contest Calls, Do Not Disturb.”
That little room had one table and one chair. There were pens and pencils, a message pad, a phone console with a caller ID and six buttons sitting on the table. There was a strange lamp hanging in the corner and my view was the courtyard, and I could see employees in their offices.
The two men asked me if I had any questions. I said that I didn’t, and I said, “Everything seems to be here.” I was thinking I would answer the overflow of phones when the receptionist went to lunch or to a meeting or something. The agency only told me the station needed someone to answer the phones.
They gave me a script. Lloyd said, “Just relax because this is where you will be all day.” They told me I had two 15-minute breaks, an hour for lunch and quitting time was 4:30pm.
SO.
I read and re-read the script. I practiced my enthusiasm by talking to myself and I waited and waited for the phone to ring. I daydreamed. I doodled on the back of the message pad. I re-read the script. I stood up and stretched; I daydreamed. Finally, at 9:45am the phone rang.
I froze!
That strange lamp hanging in the corner was blinking and the phone was ringing but I was frozen. I saw’ Lambrusco – Napa Valley – caller Number 11’ flash across the caller ID panel on the phone. What?
I remember somebody opening the door saying, “Sally, answer the phone.”
That office person came in and hung up on caller number 1. She said, “Can you do this or not?” I gathered myself and said, “I’m ready, I’m ready.” She said, “Did you read the script?” I nodded and she left.
The phone was ringing again. I picked up and said, “Thank you for calling KUC27/7 On Your Dial. The caller said, “Did I win?” I said, “Sorry, you are caller number 3, we are waiting for caller number 11. Please try again.” The caller said, “Shit” and hung up.
I got a thumbs up from the office two doors away.
With each call I made a mark until I was up to eleven calls. That conversation was like this:
Hello, thank you for calling KUC24/7 On Your Dial. The caller said, “Did I win? did I win?” I said, “Congratulations, you are caller number 11. You have just won yourself a bottle of Lambrusco Wine bottled in Napa Valley.”I added, “Congratulations.”
I heard hollering in the background, and I proceeded to get the name and phone number of the caller. We planned for a date and time when he could come to the station to get his prize.
I was a little traumatized because this was my first time in this situation. Working as a temporary worker came with variety like on one job, I prepared Valentines Day flower bouquets all day. On another job, I tagged clothes in a warehouse after midnight.
I had been a receptionist many times and just once I was receptionist for a pop-up doctor who only managed claims of job-related injuries. I even sold sponsored beer tickets at a festival where B.B. King was performing. That one was so much fun because we (a crew of six people) eventually started giving the beers away just so we could enjoy the music. We were fired but that afternoon was so much fun. So much fun!! That was with a different agency of course, but still.
Anyway, back to the radio station in March.
It turns out that Warren and Lloyd decided to do a pop-up giveaway in the afternoon. They had someone to answer the phone; they had to pay for the 8 hours’ employment, but nobody told me.
So, that day, I came back after lunch thinking they would find something else for me to do since I was there all day. Warren and Lloyd were off the air now so surely, they would not have me just sit there.
I waited, I pulled out a magazine that I had purchased during my lunch hour, I waited. I went on break at 2:45 and at 3pm, just as I was sitting down, that light hanging in the corner started blinking. The phone was ringing.
The caller ID read: “Dinner for two at Manuel’s Steak House.” Caller fourteen.
I was ready.
This time I was doing a sing song on the phone. I said, “Thank you for calling KUC24/7 On Your Dial. How are you today? That was not in the script. The caller said, “Did I win? Did I win?
I said, “You are nowhere close, we are waiting for caller number 14. You just must keep trying.” (None of that was in the script but I was enthusiastic).
The caller said something like this is a fucking rip-off. “What caller am I?”
I said, “You are not even close.”
He said, “I ain’t calling no more. This is bull crap” and he hung up. I caught Lloyd’s eye staring at me from his booth, and he was mouthing to me to follow the script. “Follow the script.”
I was feeling good because I was feeling successful, you know? I was being spontaneous. I was having fun.
Finally, the caller number 14 was on the phone, and I said, “Thank you for calling KUC24/7 On Your Dial. Congratulations, you are caller number 14, and you have won a dinner for two at Mickey’s steak house. It was Manuel’s Steak House. My bad!
I said to the caller, “If you will just give me your name, address, and phone number, we will have the tickets waiting for you when you come down to the station.
He told me, “I don’t want any tickets, my name is Rick,” but I stopped him and said, “Well if you don’t want them, maybe you can pass them on to a family member.” (not in the script) and I went on, “but you have to come to the station to get them.”
He said, “I am NOT coming to the station,” and he started again, “My name is Rick” but I cut him off again. I said, “You are calling in on a contest hot line. You need to tell me a date and time when you can come pick up these tickets.”
I was a little miffed and I said, “Do you want the tickets or not?” He said, “Fuck you and the tickets too and he called me a name that I can’t spell, and I called him a few names. By that time, I was standing up and talking loud.
The phone had stopped ringing; Lloyd came into my little closet space, and I could tell he was upset. He was practically yelling at me saying, “Just leave! Just leave” I left but I made sure I was being paid for 8 hours.
To me it was just another temporary job, but I later learned from my agency that the caller was a famous musician and that the receptionist had gone on break and her phones were transferred and that call came to me by mistake.
The station requested me for the next three Fridays in March and I went back in November and December.
The End.
