Today’s Question of the Day was “Name Something You Would Never Do,” (yes I realize this is technically not a question). As usual, this was not planned out too far in advance. Also as usual, I posted the question on the 101.5 Bob Rocks Facebook page early, before I went on the air at 6. This is to allow people to get a sneak preview of the question and perhaps think about their answer. Of course, some people comment there, which is fine. The other day I asked you to name something you’ve gotten away with, and I noticed something that had never happened before.
A lot of people were refusing to answer the question, and commenting to that effect. This made me laugh for two reasons: first of all, I wasn’t thinking of tax fraud or bank robberies. What I had in mind was a lot more mundane, like getting a free soda because the convenience store cashier forgot to ring it up. Second of all, the whole purpose of posting it to Facebook is to generate interaction. So really, even if you comment to tell me that it’s a stupid question, you’re still commenting, which is playing right into my hands! I’m an evil genius!!
Not really. I’m not clever enough to think of that, but in a literal sense it is true. One unspoken fact of life in radio is that interaction makes things more interesting. If I can get you talking, either on the text line or by phone, and I can use that on the air, all the better. And of course, these things are contagious. One person hears you on the air and they chime in as well. So, hopefully, everybody wins.
Of course, there’s more to it than that. I’m genuinely interested in what you have to say, which is why I came up with the question of the day in the first place. But yeah, I don’t find it the least bit off-putting when someone tells me the question is stupid or whatever. Some of them are intended to be stupid, or a no-brainer. Sometimes that sort of thing is just funny to me.
Coming back to this morning’s question, someone commented that the thing they would never do is ask people what they would never do. There’s always a comedian. At one time I would have rolled my eyes at something like that, but today I just chuckled.
