Consolation Prize
My ex wife was the consolation prize in a radio contest. Well…kinda.
I used to co-host a morning radio show back in the 90s, and we did a version of “The Dating Game” on the air. Just like the classic TV show, we’d have a woman choosing between 3 eligible bachelors, or a man choosing between 3 “bachelorettes.”
The winner would get a date paid for by the station, and the runners up would get a consolation prize. Part of my job was to coordinate everything between the contestants. This one day, we had the bachelor in the studio, and three women on the phone. He picked one for his date (it was tickets to a baseball game and dinner at a nice restaurant), and afterwards I got all the information from the runners up so that they could get their prizes.
One of them sounded really fun on the phone, and we hit it off. Our studio window looked out over the station’s lobby, and I told her that if she came in to get her prize while I was still on the air, she should turn and wave at the window.
A few hours later, I looked out the window and saw her waving. My first thought was “holy moly…she needs a date?” Turns out she was pretty hot…and it turns out that I had her phone number.
So I called back later and asked her out. Relationship lasted 7 years.
Story credit: Reddit / gogojack