One night while Poseidon (oh I nearly forogt, Zeus now wishes to be called Poseidon) and I were driving back from somewhere, we were listening to the local classical station and he was giving me some background on this particular station. A few years ago, some people were up in arms when a rivaling classical station went off the air. There was a big to-do because now there was only this classical station and the station seemed to cater to the "blue collar" classical station listeners because they only played well-known pieces, nothing avant garde. This of course upset the ruling class in the area because they would not dare bring themselves to listen to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." That "pop" piece is for "commoners."
This story annoyed me. At the time I was going through a great deal of personal stress, with having been unemployed for the better part of the year and worrying everyday whether or not I would lose my new house, my sanity, and if I would have to start pilfering the neighbors' garbage cans on Monday nights (Tuesday morning is trash day in my neighborhood) in order to eat. I'm a bit of a music snob myself. I don't like "pop" or "rock" stations much, preferring college stations playing indie and non-mainstream stuff, but that's my preference. I'm not going to throw a fit if another pop music station comes on the air. The majority of people listening to radio prefer those stations.
Of course things are better now, I'm employed and I've been able to go to Kroger for my groceries instead of fighting my neighbor's dog for his scraps during the middle of the night, but I'm still annoyed by this story. If the only thing in my life I had to stress about was a radio station, how wonderful would life be? The existing station plays classical music that some listeners, who aren't particularly educated in every nuance of classical music, but have listened to a little of it, can enjoy (thus having expanded their horizons). I think that is awesome. How great it must be to be a member of the "ruling class" in this area, since their lives are so obviously stress-free that they can devote their time to worrying about the lower classes enjoying a bit of Bach. Let them eat cake.
--Your humble servant, Fortuitous Observer
