Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Better Hearing Month

I'm so glad it's Wednesday afternoon - late afternoon - almost time to go home!

May is National Better Hearing Month, and to celebrate, my work had an Open House yesterday and today. We offered free hearing screenings, food, prizes, and a chance to see the inside of your ears. Aren't you sad that you missed it???

The whole thing was my idea, and for the past few weeks I've been busy getting everything organized. I really wanted to give the Open House a shot at success, so I contacted my friend at the radio station and set up a remote broadcast at our office for yesterday afternoon from 11am to 2pm. My boss wasn't thrilled; partly because he hates spending money on marketing and partly because he didn't want to talk on the radio. We got a really good deal on the broadcast, though, and I told him he'd only have to talk once since we had only three times to talk (once an hour) and we'd take turns. We've never advertised on the radio before, so it was definitely a gamble, a risk that I prayed would pay off.

The first time to talk on the radio came and both my boss and coworker were busy, so John*, the DJ, had me go out to the van to talk about what was going on, what we were doing, etc. Frankly, I was nervous. I'd never talked on the radio before and am pretty good at making myself sound foolish - not a good combination! John and I chatted while the last song played and I grilled him about what was going to happen; would he be asking me questions, how long should I make my answers, how would I know when to shut up, etc. He laughed and said I'd do fine.

Did I mention that John was H-O-T? Oh baby.

The song ended and John introduced where he was and asked me my name. I replied, tempted for half a milli-second to lie, I don't know why. See what I mean about my propensity for being silly? He asked me questions about the Open House and our office, and I answered fairly intelligently. I made him laugh a couple times - I couldn't control myself! - but overall I felt really good about how well I did. I was pleased that I'd gotten my turn over with and could relax the rest of the time.

My boss talked next and hated it. He sounded a little funny, frankly. You could tell he was nervous. Poor guy. Teehee.

The third time, my coworker was talking to her son and daughter-in-law, so John pulled me out to talk again. I was sad that my coworker wouldn't get the chance, but she grinned an evil grin that said, Haha, I don't have to do it! I worried about repeating myself, but John said it is good to say things over and over again. This time, I was a little sillier AND I talked a tad too much so we had to hurry to end in time AND we still got cut off at the very end. I apologized but John said it happens a lot. He told me I have a great radio voice and that if I ever want to quit my job I could do well in the radio business. I thanked him, and then floated back to the office - compliments do that to me. Especially from hot guys.

Turns out, we got more than three opportunities to talk on the radio. The fourth time, my coworker ended up getting to do it. She was fabulous! She is the queen of one-liners and sounded like a natural. The last hour, I got to talk two more times, making my grand total a whopping 4 times! I enjoyed it a lot, even though I think I sounded like a doofus, albeit a friendly, cheerful doofus! I'm thrilled that we got to broadcast 6 times instead of just 3 - more bang for our buck. Woohoo!

I felt a little like a celebrity; a small-time celebrity with less than 1 minute of "fame", but a celebrity nonetheless. *smile* Friends and family called and texted to tell me they'd heard me on the radio. When I introduced myself to people coming in for the Open House, they'd smile and say they'd heard me talk on the radio. We had a great turn-out and most of the people said they came because they heard about it on the radio. My boss finally admitted at the end of the day that using the radio had been a good idea afterall. Vindicated.

Okay, let's talk about John. He's married but has only been so for a few months. He dated his now-wife for a few months before that, so before that he was single! A single, attractive, age-appropriate guy had been living in my area for years and I never met him! Tragic, absolutely tragic. How many others like him (except still single) are out there that I'm not meeting? John and I discussed the fact that I'm still single and that he remained single for so long. He said we could have dated and had a lot of fun, though, he said, he's probably "too wild" for me since I'm Mormon. We could have dated!!! Not that we necessarily would have ended up together, but it would have been nice to see, and it was sweet of him to imply that he could have been interested in dating me. And really, the frustration I feel isn't because I "lost my chance with him", because frankly there never was a chance; the true frustration is due to not knowing any guys in my area I could be interested in but suspecting that some might exist and I just don't know it. Does that make sense? Sigh. I asked John where all the single guys over 30 hang out - because it would be helpful to find out - he laughed and said he has no idea. You're a ton of help, I joked. A little insider information could have been very useful.

So, I ask myself, at one point do I stop relying on "timing" and "Fate/Divine Intervention" and start actively trying to meet guys who I'd be interesting in dating? And, how does one go about actively meeting local guys; they don't come into my office (my ex doesn't count), I don't meet them at church, and I don't go to school or to bars. What's a girl to do?

Anyhoo, this post has taken an interesting turn, so I'm going to return to the topic on hand. The Open House was more successful than any of our previous Better Hearing Month ideas and I'm proud of how well we pulled it off. It's such a relief that it's almost over - one more hour - and that there was a steady stream of people when the radio station was here. Seriously, that was my biggest worry - that John would show up and think we were big losers because no one came to our Open House.

It was so successful that we're planning on doing it again next year. A few things we learned this time:

1. I bought too much food. I didn't want to run out, but I could have fed a third-world country with all the stuff I bought.

2. One day is better than two. Not that people haven't shown up today, but not enough to make it necessary to have the open house two days.

3. The radio brought in people. Woohoo!

I wonder if I'll be around next year. I guess we'll see! :)

* Name has been changed because I didn't ask him if I could blog about him. :)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fun post! I'm glad the open house was so successful. Um, there's never such thing as ordering too much food. But, I'm a left-over fanatic, I guess.

Very interesting about John and your thoughts about dating. I felt sad that you wanted to return to the original topic. Regarding meeting guys our age: hey, there's always Llowell*.

*Name has been changed; however, I called him Llowell once. Oops.

Mellissa said...

Is there ever a situation in your life where you don't meet a hot guy? Seriously woman!

I think you searching for someone to date and fate need to work together. "Fate's got a lot to do, you must give her a helping hand!"

I'm glad the radio show was so successful. I'm glad your idea was vindicated. Hopefully that means less smugness.

tearese said...

You could totally have a job as a radio personality, you'd be perfect for it! I'm glad the promotion worked out, I'd have been too scared to take the risk.
Our four student wards in Seattle had frequent beach barbecues. I was brave and went alone a few times (Had to arrange rides and everything, yuck.) But because I wasn't with other girls, I talked to so many boys I thought were cute. So not like me. One of them was Joseph.
So yeah, I definitely recommend getting out of your comfort zone to find people.

KieraAnne said...

I'm glad the open house worked out. I would have been worried about talking on the radio as well, though I'm sure you did a great job.

Booklogged said...

Where are those handsome, intelligent, friendly and good boys? That is the age-old question, isn't it. I remember they were hard to find in my day, too.

julie said...

Sarah, I know, I totally wanted to keep talking about men and dating, but then I realized I'd have to think of a new blog title. Not that this one is spectacular, but it at least fit the topic! Yes, there is Llowell, but let's see...I've seen him once in 2 or 3 years...not much to start something with. Besides, I know someone who likes him, too. :)

Missy, in MOST situations of my life hot guys are 100% absent! Hence why I'm still 100% single. :) I'm totally ready to give Fate a helping hand...I just need to figure out how exactly to do that. How far can one go before becoming desperate??? Teehee. And, less smugness may be too much to hope for! I wish you could have heard him (and me) on the radio - I think you would have enjoyed it.

Tearese, a beach BBQ sounds fun! Especially if you got to talk to all the boys you thought were cute. Glad to know that going outside your comfort zone paid off. I need to come up with some ideas that fit with my life and situation. Thanks for the advice and example!

Kiera, thanks! I hope I did well, but if not, it's over and done with and I'll never know otherwise. Woohoo!

Book, it IS an age-old question! I wouldn't mind finding an answer someday. Thanks for the empathy. :)

Cardine said...

I think that the guys hang out at:

1- Carl's Jr
2- Nerdy movie openings

That's my guess.

That's awesome that you had a good radio experience! I wish I had known about it; I would have come. Ah well. I don't listen to the radio.