So, those of you who listen to public radio are probably familiar with the pledge drive, in which the radio waves are taken over for a week by obnoxious appeals for money. I kind of accept the pledge drive, in that I just don’t listen to the radio during the week in which the pledge drive occurs. (And, yes, I do donate, I just can’t stand listening to it.)

But now, the station I listen to has started running ads about the pledge drive, even though the drive isn’t scheduled until the 21st. Discussing this with Tristan, we got into a brief argument, because apparently the Chicago station is running ads which say “the more money you give us, the sooner this thing ends,” and he couldn’t understand why I was annoyed, because he thought that my station was running those ads.

But no. My station is not running ads asking for advance pledges to end the pledge drive early. My station is running ads…to let us know that the pledge drive is coming. That is all. Oh, and won’t we have so much fun during the pledge drive? (Uhm…no. No, we won’t.)

Seriously, people. The pledge drive is bad enough as it is. I might forgive a station for running advance ads to shorten the pledge drive, but running ads about the pledge drive which serve no function? Please, stop.