Mic Check

A couple of weeks ago I got to be on the radio again on one of my dear friend’s afternoon programs.  It was different than what I was used to.  I didn’t have to push any buttons, turn the microphone on or off, or worry about starting and stopping commercial breaks.  There was someone behind the scenes taking care of all of that. But the first thing I thought of was “what if he didn’t turn off our microphones and everyone heard us giggling, preparing for the next segment, or an impromptu burp and excuse me?  How embarrassing that would be.  The next day 2 more similar things happened.  I was on a conference call that included about 100 people and I have to sit in on it for an hour every month.  Usually, I have nothing to say, as a matter of fact, it is mostly a training for us to listen to.  But as the call began, someone had already placed us on hold and all we could hear was their hold music and beeping every 15 seconds. We had to restart the call. Someone was obviously trying to get credit for the training without even listening.  On the same call there were 3 or 4 people the trainer had to remind to mute their phones because they were going on with their day ignoring our call.  They too did not realize we could hear all of their conversations that had nothing to do with the training they were supposedly attending.  Then, as if I had not gotten the message 2 other times, while driving home I got a butt dial call.  Normally when someone’s name doesn’t appear I don’t answer, but it looked familiar as if I had called it recently.  Indeed, I had, it was someone whom I was actually meeting with later that evening.  Oh, what an earful I got.  I could hear every word good and bad.  I felt as if I was eavesdropping on them.  I finally hung up after trying to get their attention to hang up first.  It was the icing on the cake for my lesson that day.  What if people could hear everything I ever said?  What if there was a microphone in my car, in my living room, or if every ugly thing I said or thought was heard because of a butt dial? Just a small reminder that what is in our hearts comes out of our mouths. In radio or anything audio, we call it a mic check.  To see if everything is working properly.   I need to be sure that I check my heart, daily, nightly, minute by minute.  Is it working properly or am I angry, sad, disappointed, or discouraged?  Be sure to check your heart before your open your mouth and are stuck having to insert foot.