Ron & Jen’s Great Escape, June 28, 2023 – Ron St. Pierre and Jen Brien

by Ron St. Pierre and Jen Brien, commentary

Last Man Standing

Wayyyy back in middle school I learned right away how it felt not to be popular or athletic. We would go out for recess and play kickball. Captains would choose their teams and if you were picked last that meant, literally, you sucked. You were not first, or second, or third or fourth… you were second to last, or last. I was a fat kid at various stages of my early life, and I wasn’t picked a lot and ended up lots of times almost last.

Whatever, right? You’re just a kid, you don’t pay taxes, and you haven’t figured out what you want to be yet. Fast forward past my DEAD HEAD days and youthful partying days… to the Army. I knew there was a basic standard and I never met it. I ALWAYS went beyond it. I never wanted to be mediocre in the service – and I wasn’t. I had a hell of a career in all ways and rose to the top in many things.

Fast forward to my radio career. It just happened. I was getting work anywhere and everywhere and my phone never stopped ringing. I landed a 6-figure gig in Boston and really made it. (Stay with me here, I’m not being prideful… you’ll see).

Well, that only lasted 3 months. The undiagnosed PTSD from military sexual trauma screwed me up in 1 million ways and I lost my home, my life, my career, my dogs, my dignity. Fast forward to 2017 – the year I finally turned it around. God sent the right people into my life and sent me to the right places so I could get on living. Funny thing is though, on the way to my life again, the thing that I valued and loved so dearly, my radio career, never bounced back. After 16 years in the business the phone stopped ringing, the emails stopped coming, and the inquiries dried up.

I watched all around me as others thrived. People who were hacks (I thought) were getting work, barely listenable – getting work, undeserving – getting work… it was blowing my mind. Then one day I heard a sermon and the teacher asked, “what do you do, when it isn’t you”? – “What do you do, when you’re not picked”… what do you do when you’re hoping, praying, fasting, believing for one more chance. What do you do when you’re the LAST MAN STANDING, and everyone else has been picked?

I thought about this, and have spent many, many hours, and moments with God about this and just this morning I said to God, “Lord please, I just need one chance”. But… “in the meantime, I’ll bless others, obey you, do what you put in front of me and trust you”. That is what we do when we are not picked. We must keep on keeping on, and walk into the life God gives us, and believe that his will is far, far superior than our wants, or what we think we NEED to be happy. It sucks sometimes because I have one gift, and right now God has me on a shelf. I truly believe, with all my heart, God will finish what he started in me. I didn’t get sober to stay holed up in a tiny apartment on a shelf. 

If you’ve been passed over, overlooked, sad about doors not opening, or crushed by doors that have closed, don’t give up on your dreams. Press on. We have dreams for a reason… fight the negative, get up each day with huge expectations, and do the best you possibly can, so you can sleep soundly at night knowing you tried your best.

I’ll never give up. Ever.

I believe in you, and I pray you never give up on yourself, or your dreams, either. It’s never too late to begin again.

Till next week my friends,

Jen

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COMING HOME

Just back from a wonderful Paris and Normandy river cruise and here are the two biggest thoughts I brought home with me:

First, although I know history tells us this, actually physically visiting churches started in the 1200’s that took 100 years to complete confirms that we are an infant as a nation.

Secondly, visiting the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial and being allowed to wander among the graves of nearly 9,400 war dead… most of those who died during the Allied invasion of Normandy and the months that followed, was a chilling reminder of what we asked these individuals to sacrifice for us. Let me stress, for US. It sickens me to think how entitled we all seemed to have become.

-Ron

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

My trip to Paris began at TF Green with a brutal 6-hour layover at Newark’s Liberty International Airport. Once there, I got a taste of the inevitable. Every restaurant and bar is cashless. You must use your smart phone to scan a QR code (stands for “quick response” which is a wonderful example of an oxymoron) to get a menu and place an order to which you pay with PayPal, a credit card, or several other non-dead president options. Of course, a tip is automatically added on no matter the quality of service (WHICH SUCKED, BTW).  All is done with ZERO interpersonal exchange.

Now, a side note on Newark Liberty International Airport. I believe all of us should be allowed our own interpretation of hell if you believe in such a thing. For most, it’s the traditional fire and brimstone. Hey, you can’t go wrong there. For those who wish to get creative, it could be an eternal loop of a relative’s vacation slide show with the grand kids to Disneyworld. For me, it’s to wander everlastingly through Newark Liberty International… without a charged cell phone or credit card.

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Read all of Ron & Jen’s columns, here: https://rinewstoday.com/ron-jens-great-escape-may-10-2023-ron-st-pierre-and-jen-brien/

Ron St. Pierre is a veteran broadcaster whose career has spanned over four decades. Ron has programmed, performed on and managed WHJJ, WPRO, WWRX, 790 The Score in Providence, as well as WBZT and WKGR in West Palm Beach and WABC in New York City. Ron also anchored sports on WPRI Ch 12 in Providence. He is a member of both the Rhode Island Radio and Television and the City of Pawtucket Halls of Fame. He was born and raised in Pawtucket.

Jen Brien has over 20 years of radio broadcast experience having hosted shows on WPRO and WHJJ with Ron as well as her own shows on WRKO and WBZ in Boston, WXTK on Cape Cod and WHAM in Rochester, New York. Jen was born and raised in Woonsocket and served six years in the Army MP Canine Unit.

Hazel, Ron’s dog, makes regular appearances.

“Ron and Jen’s Great Escape” podcast, a more lighthearted look at the events happening around us, can be found on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts, with new episodes premiering each Wednesday and listen to Ron and Jen’s Great Escape on NewsRadio 920 and 104-7 FM, Saturday morning, 7am!