You're the Ninth Caller

I've always loved listening to the radio.  When I was a kid, I would listen to my cool transistor radio and call the radio stations in feeble attempts to win their contests.  During my years of listening, I was only able to get through twice and be the acutal ninth caller.  The first time was when I was 10 years old - I won $100 for answering a trivia question about the rodeo; the second was when I was 35 years old - I won a pair of tickets to see Kenny G. (Note: I won the tickets for my Mom.).  Radio stations still give away concert tickets, cash, and other cool prizes, and thanks to the cell phone, we can even try to call the station from our car.  I still try to win concert tickets, but don't have any luck when I call from my cell phone.  I've spoken with others and this seems to be a universal problem: you call the radio staion, it rings enough times to make your heart start pounding while you think you're actually going to be the winner, and then you get the pre-recorded voice "Thank you for using Verizon Wireless (or insert any other cell phone company).  We're sorry but your call did not go through.  Please try the number again." It's frustrating, but not nearly as frustrating as when the people that win don't even know what they've just won.

It seems like very seldom do I hear the winners yelling and being excited because they've won; instead of hearing them yelling "Oh my goodness!! I can't believe I won tickets to see _____!",  the first words you usually hear from today's radio contest winners is "What did I win?" They probably could not care less about what they won; I think they just want to be able to say they won something.  And if the truth be known, they probably won't even attend the concert or event they won tickets for.  

There's another thing about radio contest winners that frustrates me. After the DJ informs them that they are the correct caller, they'll ask for the winner's name.  Then they ask the winner where they live.  Invariably, the winner will hesitate and say "Uhhhhh, Louisville (or substitute any neighborhood or town.) Not only do not know what they just won, they're not real sure where they live, either.