I Work Here...

One phrase that I am getting so very tired of saying is, "I work here." I say it a lot. Too much.

The problem is that I leave Arizona so much that I have to get hired and quit frequently. Since I am gone from the radio stations that I usually work for nine months at a time, I am forgotten and not known to the new people. Radio has a high turnover rate, so there are many new people that don't know me. When I get rehired I become a second class employee. I don't have e-mail accounts, access codes or security cards to get anywhere.

Just this week I was working some hours at WestStar Talk Radio Network. I didn't have any codes to the doors. A guy walked out as I was walking in. I started to walk in through the first of two security doors. He looks at me for a moment and asks, "Excuse me, can I help you?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks." He keeps looking at me. It's not like I was wearing a brown paper bag as a hat, using an extension cord as a belt and pushing a shopping cart full of plastic bags and empty faded Crystal Pepsi cans. "It's O.K. I work here." He was skeptical, but he let it go and left.

I then came to the second door that I can't get into. I ring the bell. The person there was hired just as I left to Hawaii last year. When she asks, "Yes?" I answer, "It's Jared."

"..."

"Jared...I work here..."

"Oh, come in." Keep in mind that I was let in the day before by her as well. And the day before that.

Then we have my lost glory at KFYI.

This is me back in 2001 when Pres. Bush came to Mesa. It was not long after this when September 11 proved to be the defining moment of the then new president.

This is the board I control that all of the audio you hear on KFYI comes through.

One of my small moments on air with the host.

I was recently rehired there for the summer by the replacement of my usual contact. He hired me because KFYI was short on staff and I was available for any shift. He had no idea what I was capable of. He had me start on a cruddy weekend shift with caution. There were some available shifts during my old shows. He did those himself. On my first shift he called to see if I was doing alright. It was a watered down, weekend, no-one-would-listen-if-you-paid-them, shift. I think I can handle it.

What I can't handle is getting in the door. Since I don't have a access card, I have to walk out of the basement, make a call begging someone will let me in, and go back down hoping some local vagabonds don't gang me while waiting. So far so good - keep your fingers crossed for me.

When trying to get tickets to KFYI's 20th anniversary party I had to try hard to jog people's memories. I don't think I should tell you how many people I had to sleep with to get tickets, but let's just say that I got 4 instead of the usual 2.

When there, I sat with the I-have-no-life-and-listen-to-talk- radio-all-day-and-talk-about- it-to-my-friends-whenever-I-can crowd. Not the best considering that I have worked on every one of the shows of the hosts present. During the celebration my replacement, Andrew Babinski got quite a few shinning moments on stage. Every time he came out the crowd went wild cheering for him. I realized that would have been me - and I gave it to him. I try not to think of myself as an ego driven, adoration seeking freak, but I felt a tinge of jealousy. I miss the notoriety. The crowd really gave all of their love for Andrew. The technical director never spoke to the host or took part of the show until I broke the rules and did it anyway. I did it well and made myself a part of his show. Andrew walked into my spot not having to break ground, he just had to try to be me. He took a gig that I invented and gets all of the attention for what I created. It's not becoming, but I do miss what I feel is mine. I just keep telling myself that mine is on it's way.

Being a temporary fill in every few months gets old. I think that one thing I look forward to is a future where I am known well enough so I never have to introduce my self at any business or attraction again. Instead I will say, "Do you work here?" Or better yet, some day I may get to say, "It's O.K., I own this place..."