And the winner is...

The story that I am going to tell is, I imagine, quite unusual. This says more about the early 1990s than it does about me.

Whilst I was a newsagent I listened to one of the best radio shows at the time - "Great Yorkshire Gold". I did this every morning whilst opening up the newspapers. The radio presenter was a bloke called John Foster. I liked his show, especially the competitions. There was a competition that I never entered due to my phenomenal understanding of maths. You'll know the competition type - "Be caller 50 when I play Robert Palmer and you'll win a t-shirt."

That's right, a t-shirt. People of a certain age won't know how exciting this type of competition was. Anyway, I figured that getting to be caller 50 would be really unlikely. However the prize was a t-shirt that changed colour when it got warmer/colder.

I heard the "trigger" song - Robert Palmer. I picked up the phone, counted to 15, then dialled. John Foster answered the phone "Caller number 1!"

I'd peaked too early. Another 20 seconds counting so that I could ascertain the rate at which the rest of the county were phoning.

"Caller number 2!"

I was bemused. Had I counted too quickly? I decided to count another 30 seconds. "Caller number 3!" shouted John, extremely enthusiastically.

"Hang on a minute" I said. "I've been caller number 1,2 and 3. I think it's just you and me this morning."

We started talking. I could hear that the current track was getting close to finishing. He told me to wait a minute. He spoke on air, told the listeners that he was still waiting for his 50th caller. Another track was put on and he returned to me.

It turns out that John and I had a mutual friend from Middlesbrough. Her name was Karen Bartlett and John knew her from school. It is at times like that when you realise the world is smaller than you ever imagined.

I couldn't be caller 50 but I could find a DJ with a mutual friend. What are the chances?

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