I'm very fond of NPR, but I do get tired of the constant fundraising. If you've never given money to public radio or television, you may be unaware that in addition to the tote bag, Car Talk CD, Morning Edition mug, or other tchochke you get as a reward, you are also signed up for an eternity of junk mail and solicitous phone calls. One of the two NPR stations in the DC area, WETA, sends me something about once a week.

Recently, after endless hounding on and off the air for money to support "the kind of programming you've come to depend on", WETA quite suddenly changed formats from news to 24-hour classical. This is a bit like Amnesty International soliciting donations from you in desperate tones and then declaring that they've decided to devote all of their efforts to restoring historic houses.

So today I sent WETA a donation with the following letter:

Dear WETA:

Please accept my enclosed contribution of $500 as a token of the esteem in which I hold your programming.

Sincerely,

Robert Ryan-Silva


P.S. You may notice that while my past contributions have been denominated in US currency, on this occasion I am enclosing Monopoly money. I hope you will join me in celebrating this exciting change in format.