Why am I hugging two K-EARTH 101 Street Teamers in front of our Surf Pig? Which is, literally, a van with a pig on a surfboard on top.
I got to be a part of Tell Me Something Good Tuesday, which my friends Gary Bryan and Lisa Stanley do every week on the K-EARTH 101 Morning Show. The idea is that people share something positive that has happened to them on the radio with our millions of listeners, and that makes everyone happy.
We took it to the streets (Ventura Boulevard and Allott) of Sherman Oaks early this morning, and we were looking for someone who wanted a $100 Starbucks gift card for breakfast.
It took about 30 minutes to find someone, but a beautiful and sweet mama named Alicia walked up with her little daughter, Zoe, and asked, "What are you guys doing?" As people tend to do when there is a pig on a surfboard on a van behind you.
We told her about the gift card, gave Zoe a Barbie DVD, and then told her about one small twist: We asked if she would be willing to pay it forward and spend the gift card money to buy breakfast for everyone in Starbucks.
She didn't even hesitate, and gave us an excited yes! She called her mom to tell her to listen, went on the air to talk about what she was doing and how K-EARTH used to be her mom's station but is now her station (yay!), and then we headed inside.
It was a joy to see the surprise on everyone's faces when they placed their order and were told their coffee and food were being paid for by Alicia. One gentleman we talked to, Jacques, said he had been coming every morning for years to have breakfast and talk with his buddies (most of whom are veterans), and that this was the first time that anyone had bought him breakfast. And btw, the Starbucks manager, Ashlyn, and her team were AMAZING.
The money went quickly, as it tends to do when there is life-giving hot coffee and breakfast paninis, and when it was all gone we went back on the air because we had a surprise for Alicia: Tickets to see The Who in concert!!! She got super excited, and we were all so happy to see that she was happy.
I noticed that, for the rest of the day, I did things like let people merge in front of me on the 101 and 405, and I smiled at people when I might normally have had RBF (resting b*tchy face), and I talked to the people around me and asked how their day was going. Mainly, I was inspired to share how Alicia didn't hesitate to share what she had been given, and I am now thinking of ways that I can give back. A day like today is a great example of why I love radio and how it still has the power to make a difference in people's lives.
