The news is always urging you to do things: vote, unplug your appliances, watch out for phony doctors, get a concealed carry permit. It makes you sit up straighter, like the anchor’s hands are cupped under your armpits. But you just change the channel. Maybe if they knew your name, they asked you personally, you’d actually do it. 

The public radio donation drives are the soundtrack to your commute once every three months. Every time you hear them say, “Only YOU, our listeners, keep our stations running,” you think today is the day you will donate.

In an emergency situation, you must point at the nearest person and say, “YOU, in the red jacket,” make eye contact, and yell, “Call the police!” This way, the responsibility will not be diffused. You heard this on a six o’clock special report.

Shannon McLeod