“Why are you playing Christmas music on Election Day?”

The complaints pour in.

“Why are you playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving?”

Think about it. If I’m driving around in my car and I tune in to your radio station in the middle of November and hear Burl Ives instead of Matthew West, I could be confused. Unless I understand “the why.”

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. And what you do serves as proof of why you do it.”

Simon Sinek, “Start with Why”

On Election Day our station votes for comfort and joy. In this political season our station is an escape from the negative headlines.

As you’re reading this you’ve probably seen people celebrating in the streets over the results of the election. But you also know that challenges are going to be filed in court this week related to possible voting irregularities.

So, who won the election?

More specifically for our little radio family… did your station “win” during this election?

That can only be answered, obviously, if we DEFINE the win.

These are curious times. Perhaps you’ve noticed.

“Everyone is upset about something today. As a result, a growing dearth of kindness is apparent in our marketplace interactions, most notably in our media and political discussions and debates. A spirit of unforgiveness has been unleashed in our land, and it’s consuming us.”

Joe Battaglia, noted author and Yankee fan

Recently our niece shared how much she loved the Hallmark channel’s “Christmas in July.” She said, “I’m just looking for anything with a happy ending.”

Tuesday morning is coming. Election day is near.

There is an election coming up next week. Perhaps you’ve heard something about it. It’s been in all the papers.

Perhaps you’ve heard from a listener wondering why you’re talking about Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Maybe you’ve received a friendly e-mail from someone questioning your personal salvation because your station aired political commercials for You-Know-Who!

Maybe its even more personal that than. Maybe you’ve unfriended “friends” on Facebook for their political rants. (I know I have). Maybe there have even been conversations at your dinner table that have resulted in awkward pauses, or worse, name-calling-finger-pointing-and-gnashing-of-teeth.

What’s going on here?

When I was growing up we actually had a favorite gas station. I can only imagine the reaction from Gen Xers and Millennials.

It was Obie and Doc’s and we had “traded” (as my dad would say) with them for years. Friendly. Full service. Check the oil. Check with wiper fluid. No cash? No problem; put in on my tab. We never considered going to another gas station unless we went out of town.

That sounds so foreign today with gas stations and oil company brands seemingly racing for the generic. What’s the difference between a Shell and a Mobil? Sorry, Exxon/Mobil. The ubiquitous nature of gas stations makes even location (“closest to me”) no longer as significant as is which side of the intersection is it on. (There is a Shell station near me that recently went out of business because its NE corner was not as convenient to traffic flow as the NW corner where the BP now thrives).

While Shell, BP and Exxon/Mobil all arm wrestle for low price and convenience, there is another company that has embraced a different strategy. It is described in “Blue Ocean Shift” by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, as “shifting away from the red ocean of competition to a blue ocean of differentiation and low cost.”