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are we?

Posted on October 21, 2015 by thirdstoryies

2014-10-27_1414416568

If you live around these parts and if you listen to public radio, then you know that it is the Fall Membership Drive. I’ve gotten used to these drives over the years, and I still tune into the station even though the endless chit chat about donating can get more than a little tiring.

NPR is the standard in my car – the girls listen to music in their dad’s car, but I have little tolerance for commercial radio. Like zero tolerance. The girls used to have zero tolerance for NPR, and F’s favorite refrain in the car is that “all this talking is giving me a headache”, which is interesting because all this whining about the talking is giving me a headache too.

But… there’s a subtle shift going on these days. There’s less complaining from the backseat. Occasionally a question is asked about something they just heard. More than once F has berated me for turning off the car in the middle of a story that I had no idea she was even listening too. The other morning, on the ten block drive to drop off E at school, Morning Edition was playing another installment of their series on being a fifteen year old girl in various places around the world. This particular morning the story was on being in high school in Kabul, and the girls were describing how much they dreaded the walk between their homes and school each day because men and boys would yell at them for pursuing higher education as they walked by. I was listening, but I always sort of assume that I’m the only one. I pulled up at E’s school and she didn’t move. “Are you listening to this?” I asked her. “Yes, could I listen to the rest of the story later?”

F and I continued home, and at the end of the story they asked the listeners to send in their own stories about what was tough about being fifteen. F asked me “Mom, what was hard for you about being fifteen?” She’s not only listening, she’s thinking about these stories enough to want to continue the conversation.

This morning the radio was on low, and even I had tuned it out. Outside of the radio chatter, the car was quiet until F piped up with a question.

“Are we?”

“Are we what?” I asked her.

“Are we members of this local radio station?”

Ha! Yes we are, although I need to ask M if he sent in this year’s check. She told me when she’s older she’ll give them three thousand dollars a year. I told her membership isn’t quite that expensive. Five minutes later we were at school, and when I dropped her off in her room she reminded me to ask dad about our financial support of public radio and headed into her classroom for another day.

Hmmm, I’m starting to wonder if this station is worth more than my forty dollar annual membership fee.

What’s your favorite public radio story? What was hard for you about being fifteen? Are you? (a member?)

…..

P.S. I was looking for a photo of F in the car for this post – this one was from this very week last year. She looks so young in that photo! And she still loves those glasses! 

7 thoughts on “are we?”

  1. Sue J. says:
    October 22, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    love this…

    Reply
  2. CarMar says:
    October 23, 2015 at 10:42 am

    That is awesome! (And good motivation/reminder to send in our membership!)

    Reply
  3. Allison D (appstatelady) says:
    October 23, 2015 at 1:17 pm

    Life has been hectic for us lately, but I’m catching up on your posts, finally!

    Huzzah, NPR, may you broadcast forever! It’s the only station I keep on in my car as well, and I love their balance of news and human-interest pieces during the week, and downloading podcasts of their weekend programming (Wait, wait, don’t tell me/Fresh Air/This American Life) to enjoy on longer car-rides. Totally worth being a sustainer (the chance of a surprise phone call announcing I’ve won a trip abroad ain’t a bad reason either!). It’s awesome your girls are starting to pick up on the programming too– the intro-music to All Things Considered still takes me back to childhood car rides with my dad on his way home from work 🙂

    Girl, I’m with you on the commercials. It’s unreal how much they fray my nerves when I’m listening to the radio or even watching TV. We got rid of cable a few years ago, and only subscribe to streaming services (blessedly, Hulu has added a commercial-free option for only a few extra dollars!). Being away from commercials for so long has made me even crankier when I have to suffer through them!

    I’m all over the place here, but speaking of TV, do you watch “A Chef’s Life” on PBS? They’re in their 3rd season now, but I feel like you and your husband would enjoy it 🙂

    Hope y’all have a great weekend!

    Reply
  4. Kristin says:
    October 23, 2015 at 2:15 pm

    Girl, I’m always all of the place.

    Commercials suck. We only had streaming services, but last year we were “forced” into cable for internet reasons. We still just DVR a few things, and FF through commercials when we ever get around to watching anything.

    I’ve seen “A Chef’s Life” and did like it, but we don’t watch it because I try not to watch too much TV.

    I love all the NPR shows you’ve listed. I also have this sort of geeky infatuation with Marketplace – they simplify a lot of market / finance related things for me, and I like Kai R.’s voice. Diane Rehm’s Friday News Roundup is the gold standard as well.

    And completely off topic, but related to your IG comment – the tortilla dinner was good – but be warned that there’s double the filling you need, so maybe have four more small tortillas on hand to double the amount you make to four. And I thought the cheese was really melty and ran out the sides (with the kale), so it’s not as pretty in real life, but tasted good. I never have great luck with tortillas that are fried in a little bit of oil – they never seem to get really crispy, more oily and chewy. Not sure what my problem is. All in all, a decent meal. Avocado redeems most everything.

    Have a lovely weekend.

    Reply
  5. Kristin says:
    October 23, 2015 at 2:16 pm

    *all over the place
    Kristin recently posted…wednesday morning in the gardenMy Profile

    Reply
  6. NSK says:
    October 24, 2015 at 9:59 pm

    I’m a member (shocker) but only because I subscribe to Serius/XM…no commercials – bonus!

    Where to start with my new obsession…I can really only go with the three-word phrase that my husband and I use when there are more lovey-dovey words to say than time: blah blah blah. And then, totally with you on Kai’s voice. I learn a lot from that show too. On Point is the same. That nutty Tom and all his very many questions. Fresh Air is lovely although I find Terry Gross to be a little obtuse sometimes. I struggle with Diane’s voice…but I have my undiagnosed sensory disorder that I blame for that.

    Driving to and from IVF appointments (2 hours each way) lets me OD on all my favorites…I’m going to miss the quality time if the IVF works. 🙂

    Best story I’ve heard is the one On Point where they discussed what makes people gay. Super interesting discussion. I found myself actually driving the speed limit, vice bat out of hell, so that I could listen to all of it. Now THAT’S a good story.

    Reply
  7. Kristin says:
    October 26, 2015 at 9:15 am

    I hear on DR, it takes awhile. Depends on the topic too, but I really love Fridays to get up to date on current events.

    A two hour drive – my goodness. I’ve been thinking about you, now I’ll add copious amounts of car travel to the long list of things that aren’t a lot of fun about that process. You’re amazing.

    I’ll check out that other story, thanks.

    Have a good week.

    Reply

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