People Will Even Prank Drying Paint

Lately I've taken to watching C-Span's Washington Journal show in the morning while I'm getting ready and having my coffee. Sometimes it's like watching paint dry, to be sure. It's not the most exciting thing ever, obviously, but there is absolutely nothing on in the way of actual news on the Big Three stations. They're usually discussing Michael Jackson's kids or the latest in baby strollers. The hosts over at Washington Journal have eleventy-thousand newspapers on the desk with highlighted articles -- literally where they have taken a highlighter pen to the article so you are sure to catch the most relevant points -- and they let people call in and have their say about the items. They only really respond to callers if they have a guest on the show. Otherwise, they just let the callers speak their piece and then they move on, which is kind of weird to watch. It's like you get to participate, but not really. There are three separate phone lines for Democrats, Republicans and Independents, who all call in and say pretty much what you would expect them to.

Occasionally, though, as in at least once a day when I watch it, WJ gets prank callers. Which is hilarious. Here are two suits sitting at a desk with important papers only to have someone call in and say, "Yes, I'd like to ask a question about the bailout for these businesses you were discussing, and -- AAAAHHHHHHH! *click*". That happened this morning. One creepy dude called in and asked the lady guest, "I have a question about this topic ... what size are your feet?" LOL. I know it's immature. But it's also kind of disruptive in a way that I find oddly human and very funny. Some people call in and want to rave about things not on topic, for example the corruption among West Africans living in New York. There are apparently known trouble makers, as I've seen the host respond to a caller who said, "Am I on the air??" with a "Not anymore!!" And hung up on him. He must have recognized what was coming. YouTube has some of these crank calls.



More pranks:


In the cases where people want to ramble about stuff not on topic, I think they just want to feel like there is a space, any space, that will acknowledge their concerns. But with the prank calls, well, it's just damn funny to be sitting in your work clothes, drinking coffee, thinking about the political issue, only to have someone freak out for a second. Or maybe that's just me.

-- DV