You’d be surprised who knows

In the year 2021, you can assume that anyone who wants to know, can find out. There are search engines on smartphones and cameras just about everywhere. Well, things were simply different in the seventies. I was a pre-teen who thought that the teacher knew what was going on in her classroom, the minister knew what was going on in his church and even though they pretended to know everything, my parents did not have eyes in the back of their heads.

On this particular day, my Mom earned some real cool points with me. I was about 12 years old and every twelve year old thinks they know it all when it comes to pop culture. Our favorite radio station - the urban music station - WWRL 1600 on your dial - had a contest going called Name That Tune. The DJ would say two lines of a song and the contestant had to give the next two lines.

It’s time to play, Name That Tune. We’re taking CALLER # 16.

I raced to the black rotary phone and dialed. A woman answered, “WWRL, you’re the 16th caller. Let me get your contact information before we go live on the air.”

I yelled “Ma, I got through”

I sat on Mom’s bed tethered to the black phone and eagerly awaited my turn to shine.

DJ Enoch Hawthorne Gregory: “Christine Harper from Brooklyn NY are you READY to play Name that Tune?”

YES. (full of confidence).

DJ: “Summertime and the livin is easy”

I FROZE.

Standing nearby, Mom said “The fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high”

I repeated that line into the phone receiver, doubtful that she would have known this. Yet my mind was completely blank.

DJ: “Christine Harper from Brooklyn NY, You just won $100!”

I jumped around and screamed like I had seen winners do on The Price is Right. At twelve years old, $100 is a lot of money.

I was an honor student in school and listened to the radio daily. I thought I knew everything about pop culture and music. That attitude comes with being twelve. But I didn’t recognize the first line from the Gershwin classic Summertime from the musical Porgy & Bess. My Mother did. 

You have to be open to learning. You never know exactly  where the right information is going to come from. In fact, you’d be surprised who knows something that you need to know. I learned something that day. 

Be open to learning from multiple sources. I hope you get the lesson.