John Proffitt wrote:

>I certainly don't deny Eric his opinion, but I don't exactly understand it:
>if one desires to reflect in silence, one merely has to turn off the radio!
>Of course, you need to avoid the local mall or supermarket, where the Musak
>is likely to be both loud and out of your control.  But your own radio at
>home or in the car?--turn it off, but don't begrudge those who do
>appreciate appropriate music.

As two camps have emerged on this thread, I would like to give my thanks
to John Proffitt and KUHF, and defend them a little.  I was working in
Houston that day, and in the car I only tuned to KUHF so that I could
catch the latest NPR news.  Here in Houston, as I'm sure all over the
country and especially in the bigger cities, any given moment felt pretty
chaotic.  The 10 o'clock traffic turned into the 6 o'clock traffic, with
everyone emptying out of all high-rise buildings, tyring to get home either
to safety or their loved ones.  By noon the streets were emptying, and that
evening when I took a drive to the local video store to return a movie
(Fight Club, of all things), a major Houston intersection was completely
desterted.  I mean, I could have sat down in the middle there and eaten a
sandwich at my leisure.  It was eerie, to say the least.

My point in mentioning these things is to point out that nothing was normal
on that day (or even for a while), and I think that most of us didn't know
what would be happening next.  Every big city (and perhaps even the smaller
ones) seemed a possible target, and suddenly it seemed that most of us were
somewhat fearing for our lives.  I listened to KUHF only for the news, and
I would have been understandably upset had they carried on their regular
programming.  But at times like this news comes in trickles, and some facts
can only be repeated so many times.  So between the latest updates, what's
a station to do? Stay silent? Not practical, because listeners tuning in
might think they'd gone off the air.  So they played music.  I'll admit
that the first time I heard it (I've already forgotten what piece it was)
I couldn't believe my ears.  I was shocked, and immediately went to another
station.  But after hearing the exact same reports on other stations, I
began to understand that all we could do was be patient, and wait, and hope
for the best.  And I went back to the KUHF.  In retrospect, the playing of
these pieces, as irrelevant as they might have seemed during the urgency of
the moment, managed to bring a faint measure of coherency to my personal
situation, that is, my fears of what was happening.  In the steady stream
of reports of endless chaos coming from up north, the music helped reassure
me of my humanity (if that's the correct word).  And it reassured me a lot
more than silence would have.  So, having justified the precedent John
Proffitt's station set on 9/11 by having a "program," I think it would make
perfect sense to remember that day on KUHF with music.  Thanks, John, and
thanks to all your staff at KUHF.

hector aguilar