Tales of a teenage DJ
my sandwich. “You want me to do WHAT?” I didn’t say it out loud, but I’m sure my fearstricken face reflected that emotion. After about five seconds of silence, (it seemed like a minute), he repeated his request. “Go ahead son, give thanks to the Lord.” Let me be clear: I had never prayed publicly. Still, I was on live radio. There is nothing worse than dead air. So, summoning all my courage, and my best recollection of what people said in church, I mumbled “Father, we thank you for this food…um, that sure was a good service, and we thank you for that, and uh, have a good day and Amen.” Now I don’t know if that’s exactly what I said, but I’m sure it wasn’t any better than that.
It was not my best moment as a broadcaster, but it taught me a lesson: be ready for anything. Ever since then, I’ve tried to make sure that I’m never caught by surprise, when I’m on the air. It didn’t seem like it at the time, but my prayer “blooper” was a blessing in disguise.
A few years later, I was on WFLI in Chattanooga. One day I met some cheerleaders at a restaurant. I was doing a remote broadcast, giving away albums, when they invited me to their pep rally later that week. “It would mean so much to us if you help get everybody fired up, and give away some albums,” they said. I gladly accepted the invitation.
I loaded up some albums and headed for the school. The cheerleaders escorted me to the gym, where I marched on stage. As the students were being seated, a lady tapped me on the shoulder. “The principal would like to see you,” she said.
The pep rally was still a few minutes away, so I headed to the principal’s office. I figured he was going to thank me for visiting his school, spreading David Carroll at 16
joy and love.
I was greeted by the menacing glare of an angry man. “What do you think you’re doing here?” he demanded. I stuttered, “Excuse me?” It looked like smoke was coming out of his ears, and the veins on his neck were about to pop. “Do you think you can just come in here and take over my school?” he shouted. I said, “Well, I just came to give away some, uh, you know the cheerleaders invited me to…”
“Well nobody told me about it!” he yelled. “You need to get out of here now!” Always good at taking a hint, I exited the building. I didn’t even go back to the gym to get the albums.
A few days later, I saw those cheerleaders again. “What happened to you?” they asked. “We looked around, and you were gone!” I guess they never got the word.
Now, all these years later, in my current job as an education reporter, I still visit that school quite often. The old principal’s portrait still hangs on the wall, near the front entrance. I stop, smile and wave at him every time, whispering, “I’m back!”
David Carroll, a Chattanooga news anchor, is the author of the new book “Volunteer Bama Dawg,” a collection of his best stories, available at ChattanoogaRadioTV. com, or by sending $23 to David Carroll Book, PO Box 15185, Chattanooga, TN 37415. You may contact David at 3dc@epbfi.com