Radio Song Requests

Sometimes, the little things you do for others have a huge impact on their lives. A few months back, I learned that lesson in spades at my radio station.

Early that week, I was in the middle of my morning air shift, taking song requests. A woman called and made her request. I thanked her for the request, loaded her song in the playlist, and went on with my show.

About an hour later, she called back to thank me for playing the song she wanted to hear. Keep in mind, the song she requested was not one that fell outside my station's format, and it was one I have played before. I thanked her once again for requesting the song, adding that I'm happy to take requests any time I'm on the air. “That's what I do”, I said. Finishing the call, I went on with my show.

After another hour or so – shortly after my air shift - she called back, her thanks more emphatic. She said the song I played for her was exactly what she needed to turn her crummy day around, and said she wanted to buy me lunch. I always feel uncomfortable about accepting gifts of any sort, and told her that buying me lunch wasn't necessary – I was just doing my job, after all, taking song requests for the folks who have kindly chosen to make my little morning show a part of their day. She wouldn't take “no” for an answer. I thanked her, repeating to her that it wasn't necessary, and wrapped up the phone call.

Right around noon, my caller came to the station, bearing a full lunch from a local drive-in restaurant (one of my favorite burger joints, BTW). I met her in the station lobby, where she gave me a very long bear hug, thanking me over and over. She began to get teary-eyed, telling me that she had been going through a rough patch in her life, and what I did - what I played for her and just being a nice person on the other end of the phone line – changed her life around! I was humbled. Before we parted ways, I told her to call my show anytime she needed a musical pick-me-up, because that's part of my job. A job I love to do.

To this day, I have no idea how bad things could have been for this caller for something as simple and innocuous as doing my job, and being a nice guy on the phone, could possibly be life changing. I have some great listeners, but - usually - song requests don't take on a life of their own.

What I took away from the experience is that, as a radio personality, you can easily take your show for granted. Something you think is part of the daily routine may, actually, have a huge impact on a listener. Most times, you'll never know. Sometimes, though, the reality of it comes back to you. And that reality can be surprising.