National Radio... Geek

Being on the radio is nothing new to me, or my family for that matter. While at St. Vincent, my dad had his own radio program. My mom has made a few appearances on WBVP, a local radio station out of Beaver County. When I was like nine I called in to WDVE and talked to Butterbean (the boxer). But I guess none of us have been on "national" radio before.

Which is why I got so excited when my call actually went THROUGH to the Glenn Beck radio program, and just two days after I had seen him in Pittsburgh. It was easy to get on the program that day because Glenn was sick, and Denny Schaffer was filling him for him. But still, national radio is national radio, so I figured why the hell not?

The topic of conversation on the show was the election results in November. What with Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson choosing to be total idiots and cost tax payers over a billion dollars in Ohio to have recount in the election, it was a topic that was somewhat fresh. But someone called in to talk about Pennsylvania and Ohio election results, and I felt I could add something to the matter.

And so I called in as I drove down Rt. 30 to get on the to the turnpike. I was surprised when my call when through, and immediately shut off my radio and listened over the phone. "This is Mike from Pittsburgh... GO STEELERS!" the cheesy host said, obviously trying to fill the loud and hilarious shoes of Beck.

I commented on the PA election results, saying that they weren't as close as some folks thought, but I was happy that we won Westmoreland county. And of course I made sure to plug the Seton Hill College Republicans, and he definitely said to me "make sure you guys are representing on campus!" He thanked me for the call and like that my moment in the spotlight was gone... or so I thought.

Immediately I called my dad to tell him I was just on the radio. He was pretty excited for me, because he knows how much I enjoy the Glenn Beck show. But my total glee was immediately, and abruptly, pissed upon whenever I got off the phone with him and turned the radio back on.

The announcer who was once happy about my accomplishments on SHU's campus, and wishing me the best of luck, had just said "And we just heard from a young Pittsburgh geek- I mean man" WHAZZAT?! Did this guy just call me a geek on national radio? I was in shock. What a low blow, and to one of his own no less. I had said nothing geeky while on the radio, and I even feigned interest in the Steelers when he was spouting off about the Burger fellow. And now he suddenly felt superior enough to me to call me a "geek?" Obviously this guy was desperately trying to be entertaining in place of Beck, so he had to resort to the classic "attack others for humor" cliche.

I'm not particularly upset about being called a geek on national radio... but personally, I would have preferred "dork." Why? Well it's definitely not because of the literal meaning of "dork," that's for sure. It's more of who I am. I'm a dork in the "interested in technology, inane facts, and niche and specific pop culture ideas" sense. But geek? That's a totally different implication, in my book. It deals with more of the "not popular but really weird and kinda gross in a feeble and weak" attitude. And that certainly isn't me.

But hey, it's alright, because in the end, I like to think I came out on top. I got to make SHU look pretty conservative, say some nice things about our club, and I didn't waste minutes on my phone since it was a toll free call.

Posted by MikeRubino at December 10, 2004 11:36 AM