Wanna Win $10,000?

Wanna Win $10,000?

By Heidi Corey, Harwinton

Just listen for your chance every hour and be the 100th caller. It's that easy! Gimme a break.

One day when I attempted to call the radio station's toll-free number it was busy (as I had expected), but I couldn't understand why it was still busy even after they had announced a winner. Maybe they're paying actors to play the "winner" part, because the phone line remained busy even after the contest became invalid! Did the radio station forget to put the phone back on the hook? And where do all these radio stations get this kind of money anyway (especially when it's a million bucks) to be giving away to all us freeloaders out here?

When I turned on the radio I heard the "triple songs of the day," where they make you tune in all day long to listen for three specific songs in a row. Meanwhile, on another station you had to register your name on a toll-free line and then listen for your name on the air four times a day at specific times—and you'll have twenty minutes to call back to claim up to $10,000. After listening to one "winner" being told that he had just won a million dollars, his reaction was simply and weakly, Yeah, whatever. I don't know about anyone else out there, but I'd be giving a shout for my million dollar holler!

Could the radio stations be that desperate for listeners, or are we performing these comical acts out of desperation ourselves? We just have to realize that there's no such thing as easy money.