Coming off the heels of The Patriots being in another Super Bowl, it made me think of something one of my bosses told me years ago – “Karen, stop talking about the Patriots on the radio. Women don’t like football.”
Now let me just preface this by saying this manager of mine was from Texas and I don’t think he was in Boston for more than three months when he said this to me. Anyway, after he told me never to talk about the Patriots on the morning show, I said, “I was born and raised in the Boston area, and I am a woman. And I know for a fact that many, many women love the Patriots. You need to trust me as a talent and as someone who is very connected to what is happening on the street.”
He replied, “I respect your talent; that’s why you’re here, but I don’t want you talking about the Patriots.” Of course, I was upset, but not necessarily because he thought I was wrong, but because we wouldn’t be talking on the radio (specifically during the morning show) about what was topical and what people were talking about on the street! I thought it would be a disservice to our audience.
Well, to my surprise, about a month later, this same manager called me into his office to tell me he was wrong and that I should mention the Patriots from time to time if I feel it’s relevant. He said he started dating a woman from Boston and, apparently, she and all her girlfriends were big Patriots fans, and he then realized I was right!
I thought to myself, are you kidding me? You second-guessed a woman who’s been on the radio in the area for years and you came to your senses after you met some random woman in a bar who told you she loved the Patriots? Ugh! I couldn’t believe it! Then I took a step back and thought to myself I’m glad he was actually big enough to come back to me to say “You were right.”
So, I’ll cut him some slack because he was from Texas, but one thing I know is this – if you are a true New Englander, win or lose, you have to love the Patriots!
