This is 2020.
But radio to me is just as miraculous as it was in 1920-s. Seriously, because I’m no TV person. I hate TV and the reason why I loathe it is because I’ve been working all day long with screens. My smartphone, and my laptop.
Therefore, I make a pledge to myself that I won’t torture my eyes even longer staring at a blue screen during my spare time.
Radio is my choice of media to obtain information from. And when I tell people that I’m voluntarily listening to the radio in 2020, they sneer. They look down on me, thinking: “What are you, old soul?”
These days, the radio is a channel of information for drivers. I mean this. The one and only group of people that I usually catch in the act of listening to the radio while working is taxi drivers. The radio tells them what happens with the world and most importantly the traffic around the route they perhaps are about to take.
Though I’m no driver (I have left that driving license unrenewed for years), I still loyally listen to the radio.
I thank God for the integration of radio chip into my Samsung Android phone because this is so useful and helpful. The radio helps me kill the time when I want to save my data plan for more ‘serious’ purposes (a.k.a work). For leisure listening, generation Z and millennials might go for Spotify or any other smaller and less popular music streaming applications but I consider them ‘unnecessary purchase’. The radio on my phone can give me a totally free access to information and music without having to let it suck my data plan up in the process.
While you might think I should use wifi connection to use Spotify, I think I wouldn’t agree on this idea because my home is only an hour train trip from Jakarta and unfortunately the wifi network isn’t there just yet. It sucks to be me, I know.
So to cut the story brief, I really enjoy this radio broadcast and some stations. A favorite station that I regard as a trustworthy news source because it’s been in the air for quite some time broadcasts this program from Japan’s NHK.
Japan, like Indonesia, is also hit badly by the coronavirus. And the radio program in May 2020 was full of pandemic updates. NHK allows listeners to send their questions and answer them publicly so the misunderstanding and doubt can be dispelled once and for all.
The program aired at night just before my bedtime told us that it is important that we wash our hands often as soap can destroy lipid membrane of coronavirus and other pathogenic microbes.
Another question was intriguing: “Can dogs be infected by coronavirus?” People got curious over time as news of dogs in Hongkong infected by the virus from their human owners.
“Yes, it is true that Hongkong Government confirmed that two dogs are tested positive for Covid-19. The owners are different people but both are Covid-19 patients. But what is interesting is that neither of the infected dogs showed any signs or symptoms!”
The rumor that pets like dogs can be a vector of coronavirus is then busted. There’s no scientific evidence of this, the anchor said. I have no dogs, but I was relieved on hearing this.
So what do these pet owners have to do with their canine kids? The anchor firmly advises that they wash their dogs regularly with shampoo and make sure that no canine bodily liquid lands on their body. Silly, I think. So should you wear a hazard material robe to protect yourself while bathing your dog? Or is a raincoat enough for this purpose? No one can answer. (*/)
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