Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea. —Henry Fielding

02 January 2005

Bad Grammar

When I had a cd player at my desk at American Accounting, I mostly listened to my own music collection, which is quite varied (say, The Lion King to Cesaria Evora to Cristián Castro to Rufus Wainwright to Igor Stravinsky) If I listened to the radio I almost always listened to KPCC 89.3 (which is NPR) or if someone I didn't like was talking, KUSC 89.3 (which is classical public radio.)
In my department at Avjet, however, we are forced to listen to the DJ's choices on KBIG 104.3 out here in Los Angeles. It is the absolute worst kind of pop music: Ashlee Simpson, Cristina Aguilera, Céline Dion, 98 Degrees, you get the picture. Most of the singers are people I had never even heard of before this job. It's not like KOST 103.5, which plays sappy love songs from primarily the 1980s: REO Speedwagon, Air Supply, Tina Turner, etc. Those at least I could sing along with. KBIG plays drek drek and more drek, punctuated occasionally by a Madonna song or something good by Prince.
I put up with this, though, because the girls in accounting seem to need it to keep awake.
On Monday, however, it took a turn for the even worse. They started announcing the following before every commercial break: "More music; less commercials." That's right: "More music; less commercials."

I responded out loud "Less commercials?!" "Less commercials?!" Can they not even speak English on this radio station? I shook my head and went back to work, but the folks at KBIG were not to be corrected. They continued their slogan every thirty minutes on the hour and half-hour: "More music; less commercials."

By 4:00p I had had enough. I told the girls I was switching the station. I just couldn't take the abuse of my language. And sure enough, KOST had a slogan of their own: "More music...

fewer commercials."

The music still sucks, but at least they remember how to speak English.

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