An exchange I heard on an AM radio sports talk show in 1985 between a caller and the host, a former NFL player:
Host: You're on the air. What's on your mind tonight?
Caller: I just wanted to say this much. If I (were) going to take the time and call you, I would never give you the kind of a conversation you had not too long ago. And I think that you give your guests on there more time than you give yourself.
Host (chuckling:) OK. Thank you.
Caller: Those kind(s) of things (bother) me.
Host: OK. Don't let it bother you. Thank you.
Caller: Goodbye.
Host: OK. You're nice to call. When somebody calls up and gets on me a little bit, I really appreciate your calling and coming to my defense, but that's really not necessary...Believe me, I've had criticisms before that weren't nearly that well-phrased, and a lot of them came from (my former NFL coach.)
Even back then, both sides of that exchange stood out to me. I haven't often heard listeners calling in to defend a talk show host that way, and it was considerate of the listener to expect a certain level of civility in her fellow callers. It was also impressive how the host thanked the listener, didn't let the previous criticism get to him, and got in a dig at his former coach without belaboring the point.
Thirty-two years later, I still say, "Well-played, both of you."
