It was an ordinary day. Phone is ringing! I know I shouldn't answer it, since I don't recognize the caller ID number, but I do anyway. And then when they didn't talk to me when I said "Hello", I should have hung up, but I didn't. "Hello, LDub, this is Arbitron calling to see if you could help us by filling out a rating form for radio broadcasts in your local area," the voice on the other end of the line said to me. Hey, I never had been one of those people who they say - three out of four people do ...... - so they had my interest right away. "Do you listen to the radio during the week?" she asked. "Yes," I said. "Then all you have to do is fill out a diary for one week telling us which radio stations in your listening area you listen to." Simple enough I guess. "So what's the catch?" I asked the girl on the other end. "That's all you have to do, sir," she told me. Stills sounds simple. "We will mail you the instructions as well as a diary along with a gift for participating in our survey," the voice said. "How much time does it take to fill out the survey," I wanted to know. She responded with, "You have to log the time you start to listen to the radio and the time you stop. If you listen several times during the day, you should add all of them to the diary. Then you must list the station and if you were in your car, at home or at work. Simple!" "OK, I think I can handle that," I told her. Within a week a package arrived from Arbitron that had two diaries, instructions and a gift of two crisp $1 bills. I was to start recording information on May 23 through May 29. Letter told me that someone would call to make sure I got the package and to answer any questions. Sure enough, the following day someone called and I answered again. Still didn't recognize the ID, but I answered again. You would have thought I learned my lesson by now. Speaker asked if I had opened the package and looked at the information. I told them I was set to go and thanks for the two bucks. Next day another letter with the Arbitron return address in the top left-hand corner arrived checking to make sure I got the survey. Oh yeah, they added another $1 bill in it. Well, today is the third day of the survey and I'm doing great. Yesterday in my diary I logged the 10 minutes it took me to drive to my wife's place of business to help her with a project and the 10 minutes it took me to head home. In the afternoon I logged in the 5 minutes it took me to go to work at the framing gallery where I work, the 2 1/2 hours I was at work listening to the radio, and the trip home. That's it. Today my wife is off work so we took a few trips together in the car she drives and listened to CDs the entire time. Nothing to log. Matter of fact, she is off work for 4 days so I won't be listening to the radio for 4 days. After the final two days I drop the diary in the pre-paid envelope and drop it in the mail. Simple, just like they said. I probably will have listened to the same oldies station for maybe 8 hours total, but they said they were interested in each log, regardless of my handwriting, whether I listen a little, a lot, or not at all. And, I'm $3 richer for the experience! And, I probably will still answer the phone, even if I don't recognize the caller ID, so give me a call anytime you want. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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