Encourage entertainment on the radio with #AtoZChallenge

Every Monday at 10:00am is the best start to my week.

NJ 101.5 is the New Jersey talk radio station whose hosts talk about everything entertaining.  Weekday morning commuting hours feature mostly news, politics and serious stuff.  The fun part of each radio day begins with the 10 am morning hosts.

Every Monday, Dennis and Judi ask the question, “Where are you now?”  They joke about how this question sets the tone to New Jerseyans in how the answers balance the mindset and creates the pulse of the upcoming week.

For me, this is true.

No matter how mundane something is, the hosts say, we want to know what that is because we all learn something about this great Garden State.  I schedule tasks and meetings around that hour as much as possible because it’s surprisingly true.

A person calls in saying he or she is on the parkway driving to the dentist.  Sounds pretty commonplace, right?  Why would a caller–heck, anyone in general–think that trip is talk show radio worthy?  The hosts ask  how the caller found that dentist. That answer leads to the caller’s biannual treat eating lunch at the diner down the treat, a restaurant favored by locals for the banana cream pie.

Listeners have just learned about a recommended doctor (dentist) and where to look for him/her (that small town).  If I want to try a new restaurant, I know one (diner). It’s a good diner because trusted people (locals) flock there for restaurant’s specialty (banana cream pie). One caller’s commonplace dentist appointment provided so much information about the state.

Because of that 10-11am hour, I know fishing techniques, cheese delivery, pizza in the town next to me, specialty shore towns, Meals on Wheels, au pare services, highway history, tree care, dancing, airport travel, yoga, car maintenance, libraries and dentists.

Where are you now?