#$*&!#@% Board

I worked for several years at a small AM-FM radio station in the Midwest.  Since we had a small staff and a limited budget, I did many jobs...copywriter, announcer, Public Service Director, occasional DJ and frequent audio production...even occasional bill collecting!  

One of my jobs was to host a call-in buy, sell and trade show 6 days a week.  It was an easy job because most of the time, the callers carried the program because it was a very popular show.  One day, however, I added some very unwanted "spice" to the show.  The control board in studio B where I did the show was an old 5-pot McMartin B502 (translated, it means a boat anchor) that frequently would have drop outs,  meaning it would, mysteriously stop feeding the signal to the processor.  Most drop outs I dealt with patiently and after jiggling the board the problem was usually corrected.  

One morning while doing the intro to the show, I had the mike open and potted up when a drop out occurred.  In frustration I yelled "this #@*&%$### board is a piece of ##@*&%%%##! junk!"  Little did I know until the break when the boss came by that my remarks went OVER THE AIR!  You can't believe the mail I got and the comments I received from listeners.  I was even awarded with the coveted, "Free Speech Award" (tongue-in-cheek) from a coworker for exercising my rights of free speech!  It was embarrassing but I lived through it.  Oh well...it was just another old radio story I can tell.