It's not fun to get stood up.
It's rude, crude, and socially unacceptable.
With no explanation, no apology, no nothing.
But, as a talk show host, I guess I should expect that from some politicians.
Ya see, I host a conservative (dirty word, I guess) radio talk show out of North Carolina. And, as such, my co-hosts and I talk a lot of politics. Actually, it's more accurate to say that we talk a lot about the issues of the day, and that often is construed as "talking politics".
We interview, regularly, North Carolina's Third District Congressman Walter B. Jones. I recall two times when he failed to keep his appointment with us. One was when our phone system, unknown to us at the time, died about 10 minutes before he was scheduled to call in. Our fault.
On the other occasion, he simply didn't check his appointment book until the show ended. He called my cell as soon as he discovered what happened, apologized profusely, and said he'd call at any time and day we wanted...IF we still wanted to talk with him.
As I told him then, "no problem, Congressman". A nice guy. A southern gentleman. And, that, friends, I appreciate. Stuff happens.
Here's another story.
For more than a year, we at Live and Local with Raeford and Friends (WRHT-FM) have been trying to schedule U.S. Senator Kay Hagan, one of two senators representing North Carolina, for an on air interview. Each time we call or write, we get less than the time of day. We've tried by phone and by e-mail, and never got beyond Door Number 1. Until a week ago. I finally reached Door Number 4. Talked with a gent named Chris (as I recall). He said he handles the senator's appearances, but had "no record" of any of our attempts to book her on the show. He graciously said he'd schedule her appearance at "8:10 next Tuesday". Reminds me of the old "I'll gladly repay you next Tuesday if...."promise.
Well, we excitedly promoted the fact that she was coming on the show. For days, we promoted it. We asked our listeners to send us questions they would like answers to. We had good material ready for her. We had done our research.
At 8:10, we waited.
And, waited.
Still waiting.
Finally, at about 8:20, I found a "stand-in", and posed some of our/your questions. The response was not unlike what I would have expected had the good senator taken the time to actually keep her appointment.
And, that, my friends, is a sad commentary.
Check it out, at www.soundcloud.com/raefordandfriends
And, Senator, don't call us.
We'll call you.
Just hang around your phone and wait for that call.
Have a good day.
It's rude, crude, and socially unacceptable.
With no explanation, no apology, no nothing.
But, as a talk show host, I guess I should expect that from some politicians.
Ya see, I host a conservative (dirty word, I guess) radio talk show out of North Carolina. And, as such, my co-hosts and I talk a lot of politics. Actually, it's more accurate to say that we talk a lot about the issues of the day, and that often is construed as "talking politics".
We interview, regularly, North Carolina's Third District Congressman Walter B. Jones. I recall two times when he failed to keep his appointment with us. One was when our phone system, unknown to us at the time, died about 10 minutes before he was scheduled to call in. Our fault.
On the other occasion, he simply didn't check his appointment book until the show ended. He called my cell as soon as he discovered what happened, apologized profusely, and said he'd call at any time and day we wanted...IF we still wanted to talk with him.
As I told him then, "no problem, Congressman". A nice guy. A southern gentleman. And, that, friends, I appreciate. Stuff happens.
Here's another story.
For more than a year, we at Live and Local with Raeford and Friends (WRHT-FM) have been trying to schedule U.S. Senator Kay Hagan, one of two senators representing North Carolina, for an on air interview. Each time we call or write, we get less than the time of day. We've tried by phone and by e-mail, and never got beyond Door Number 1. Until a week ago. I finally reached Door Number 4. Talked with a gent named Chris (as I recall). He said he handles the senator's appearances, but had "no record" of any of our attempts to book her on the show. He graciously said he'd schedule her appearance at "8:10 next Tuesday". Reminds me of the old "I'll gladly repay you next Tuesday if...."promise.
Well, we excitedly promoted the fact that she was coming on the show. For days, we promoted it. We asked our listeners to send us questions they would like answers to. We had good material ready for her. We had done our research.
At 8:10, we waited.
And, waited.
Still waiting.
Finally, at about 8:20, I found a "stand-in", and posed some of our/your questions. The response was not unlike what I would have expected had the good senator taken the time to actually keep her appointment.
And, that, my friends, is a sad commentary.
Check it out, at www.soundcloud.com/raefordandfriends
And, Senator, don't call us.
We'll call you.
Just hang around your phone and wait for that call.
Have a good day.
