NPR Update

So I was in Utah this last week visiting Dane and Bridget.  As much as Dane and I love each other, we hate each other's taste in music.  I would describe Dane's music as tuneless and just a bunch of monotone yelling into a microphone.  Dane would probably describe my music as boring and lacking enthusiasm.  Despite this known distaste, every time he gets into my car, he wants to either pull out his iPod and have me listen to a song he is sure I am going to like (which I don't) or he wants to fish through my CDs and find some obscure CD of mine to listen to.  

So this last Thursday we were driving to the airport in the early morning and this routine started before I could even get the car started.  I told him to just chill out and we would listen to NPR.  I knew "Morning Edition" was going to be on and I was hoping that they would have a story on that would grab his attention.  

(As a side note, for those of you who don't know Dane well, his attention span is very short and so I knew I would have about a 15 second window before he would again start begging me to put in a CD.)  

So first up was a story about doodling and how even some of the smartest people in the world like Bill Gates and Tony Blair have been known to doodle during meetings.  At this point I am desperate for this story to end and another to start.  Dane is getting anxious in the passenger seat, I can tell.  

Next up was a story about Somali boys disappearing in Minneapolis.  It was about 7 minutes long and the whole time I didn't even see Dane move.  I thought he was asleep but every now and then he would exclaim something like "I can't believe they would just run away from home" or exhale at certain climaxes.  At the end of the piece he just leaned back a little in his seat and in a humble tone said "Wow!  That was a good story.  This is a pretty good station!"  

Mission accomplished.  No more trying to get the other to enjoy their music.  Now we know we have NPR in common.