[UPDATE] David And Alli Get Their First Complaint Letter
UPDATE 12/5/19: We got in touch with Megan and she (with her Dad) came into the studio to talk with us. Much like her letter, she impressed us in person. You can hear our interview with her Friday morning. If you don't know the story, see below.
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Yesterday Alli and I talked about Oxford Dictionary's "word of the year" for 2019. That word was "Climate Crisis". I mentioned that I was disappointed by the word chosen and that I was expecting something...I don't know...better. Something to wow me more. Plus it's not a word. "Climate" is a word. "Crisis" is a word. "Climate crisis" is a phrase. But mostly I said I was disappointed just so I could say it was "anti-climat-tic"...get it? Well, I thought it was funny.
Anyway, one of our listeners was none to happy with that and she decided to let us know. Here's what she said.
Dear David Black,
Hi, my name is Megan. I am an eighth grader in the St. Cloud school area. On the bus this morning, myself and my classmates were listening to your talk show, as we often do on the bus. We were both shocked and appalled by your reaction to the Oxford Dictionary word of the month, Climate Crisis. On the air, you publicly scoffed that such a word would be chosen, saying that Climate Crisis is a word that people in California would use and not people in Minnesota. As the youth of the future, we believe that climate change is a very serious threat and have taken action to do our part in limiting the effect. As of right now, we have gathered 500 signatures of support from the public, as well as 21 letters of endorsement from local business, in an effort to charge 10 cents in Sartell for plastic and paper single-use carryout bags. This would help encourage consumers to choose more sustainable options such as bringing their own bag. Climate change is a very serious threat facing our world and we would appreciate it if you would not publicly denounce those threats.If you would like to discuss this further, I would love to hear your thoughts! My email is ______ or my phone number is _______. Thanks and have a great day.
Yours Respectfully,
Megan
I have to say I was thoroughly impressed with this young lady and the very well-written letter she sent. It was articulate and not something I would expect from an 8th grader. I love how passionate she is about the subject and what she is doing in her community. I could see this girl being President someday.
Now, I am all for conservation and protecting the environment. We recycle a lot in our family and we avoid using plastic bags as much as possible. I do think we need more renewable energy and can't wait for the day when we're not putting pollutants into our skies and littering our oceans with plastic.
Sometimes in radio we take a point of view just for the sake of the bit. Like in this case, it allowed me to make a cheesy joke.