Radio ads

Most days I listen to J-103, a Christian radio station in the area, while I drive to campus. On my way to my 9 a.m. class I like to listen to the weather and traffic reports and then the two-minute news, which all takes place just before I get to the Brock parking lot and have to run in to class. It's all very handy. Usually when I travel to my afternoon classes I'm stuck with annoying ads or Christian music. Although I've noticed that J-103 does like to play the same type of songs quite often, the music is typically pretty good. However, the ads are very much NOT-good, at least in my opinion. I'm always astonished by the variety, from pastors of area churches essentially bragging about how good their church is to retail ads from hair salons or pizza restaurants. I always surprised when the Christian-y ads are followed by profit-motivated ads. Anyway, off-topic . . . So today on my way to my 2 p.m. class I was stuck with listening to ads (Don't ask me why I never change the station. I have no good answer for that question.) and was just tuning them out when one I hadn't heard before began. Ahhh, another of those "Christian" ones, I thought to myself. Then I heard these words: "There are many people in the community who don't have anything to keep them warm. No hats, toboggan, or scarves." That's as much as I heard of the ad. My immediate reaction was, Toboggans? How can people here even USE toboggans. Then my brain actually processed what had been said. Toboggans? How in the world do toboggans help keep people warm?!? I giggled out loud the rest of the drive to campus and repeated the phrase to myself, determined not to forget it before I could get into Brock, take out my notebook, and write it down. I shared it with my classmates just before class started. They found it amusing as well. I thought you might too.

The ad was additionally hilarious to me because it reminded me of a time when my family was crossing the border into the U.S. on a quick trip to Spokane to pick up my older sister from the airport and do some shopping. My older cousin had come with us and got grilled at the border crossing, since he wasn't "part of the family" and didn't have his "mother's permission" (he was 21 and most definitely an adult at the time, in any province, state or country). The border official must have been a learner because, after finishing the questions for Nathan, he asked my mum if we had any citrus fruits, "like oranges, grapefruit, vehicles, or lemons," in the car. Somehow my mum kept a straight face and answered his question seriously but as soon as he let us through and she rolled up her window we all burst into gales of laughter. This ad very much reminded me of that incident.