Jim’s Blog: Thanks for Calling, Wherever You Are

I got an interesting phone call while I was on the air last weekend. A guy called me from Baltimore asking for the phone number of a certain radio station in Toronto. Really. He decided to call me, he said, because on the map, Wisconsin is farther north than Maryland, and maybe we can hear the station here, and maybe we know the phone number. My man could have googled the station himself (and he must have had Internet access, because how else did he get our phone number in Madison?), but for whatever reason, he did not. So I googled the number for him, and he went happily on his way.
Google isn’t the perfect solution for everyone, however. Here’s another phone call I got recently:

Me: “Hi, Magic 98.”
Lady with extremely strong Southern accent: “Can you tell me why you don’t have the Georgia Bulldog football game on today?”
Me, after a pause: “I’m sorry, can you please say that again?”
Lady: “Georgia is playing football right now, but it’s not on your station.”
Me, after another pause: “Ma’am, I’m in Madison, Wisconsin. I think you called the wrong radio station.”

It turns out that there is a Magic 98 in metro Atlanta that broadcasts University of Georgia football. She had tried to tune in the game, didn’t hear it, decided to call the station, googled “Magic 98,” and got us instead. I explained what had happened, and I might even have looked up the right number for her, although I don’t remember. Before I dropped off I said, “Maybe Wisconsin will play Georgia in football someday.” She said, “That would have to be in the playoff.” She was clearly a serious football fan.
After I hung up I thought, “Boy, somebody at Magic 98 in Georgia is going to be in big trouble in a minute or two.”
Whenever you hear me on the radio, call up if you want. It may take a while for me to answer because things get busy behind the scenes now and then, but I’m always happy to talk to you. And in a pinch, I’ll even google for you.

Read more of Jim Bartlett’s blogs here.