One of the radio stations is running a contest. If you hear your name and call in, you get on the "payroll" and win $50. You receive an additional $50 for every hour that goes by and the person whose name is called does not respond within the allotted 10 minutes.
This is a game that rewards you for someone else's bit of misfortune. Because the person whose name is called doesn't listen to the radio station or can't get to the phone or whatever, you receive more money.
I started wondering what someone would do if they were the person who was winning and the next name called out belonged to someone they knew?
Would you hope they don't call in, thereby missing out on $50?
Would you call your friend and tell them to call in right away and get the money, which means you would not get another $50?
If your friend was well off, would it matter as to how you responded?
What if it was someone who had lost their job? Would the circumstances matter?
And what difference does it make if you know the person or not?
Well, I wouldn't listen to that radio station, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteHans Christian Anderson tells a story about a man who once, when he was young, caught sight of a shiny metal coin in the gutter. He picked it up and thereafter always kept his eyes down on the road wherever he walked, in case he found another coin. It was only when he was old that he happened to glance up and see the sun and the sky and the light playing on the world around him - all the priceless beauty he had missed because he was looking for money.
Listening to that radio station would be like keeping one's gaze fixed on the gutter.
So I wouldn't be in that dilemma - but I would certainly tip off my friend, or acquaintance, if I were.
I rarely listen to the radio except when in my vehicle and for the most part forget to take the cell phone with me so I will certainly never win big by waiting for my name to be called. And the only person I would call to let them know their name was called would be you Anita.
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I actually won that contest when they ran it back in 1994. And the only reason I won was because a friend of mine heard my name and called me to let me know!
ReplyDeleteThis is kind of why I don't do radio contests. That, and I don't listen to the radio much.
ReplyDeleteLuckily I don't know many people around here so I probably wouldn't be put in that dilemma!
ReplyDeleteI hate the thought that they could call my name and I'd never know.
ReplyDeleteIf I heard my friend's name called, I'd definitely let them know...I wouldn't feel good gaining from someone's misfortune.
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