“THE PLUMBER”
Executive Producer of Lovercall
“THE ELECTRICIAN”
Lovercall Producer
Hello!
We are The Plumber and The Electrician: two producers of the radio show Lovercall right here at SUNY Fredonia. Lovercall is an anonymous late-night talk show about love, relationships and more. Students who come on the show use a codename to protect their identities when discussing potentially personal topics, hence the codenames of the writers of this column.
On each episode, the hosts and guests of Lovercall participate in a variety of segments. The cast discusses a relevant news story, a date idea, a wacky discussion and finally a main topic for the episode.
Listeners also write into the show, either via Fredonia Radio’s Instagram, @fredonia_radio, or through the QR code listed in this column.
The show is streamed weekly on Thursdays from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. on WDVL 89.5 at www.fredoniaradio.com.
This column runs in conjunction with Lovercall and can be found both in print and online at fredonialeader.org.
“The Plumber” is a 21 year-old cisgender male who goes by he/him/his pronouns and is a senior at SUNY Fredonia.
“The Electrician” is a 20 year-old cisgender female student who goes by she/her/hers pronouns and is a junior at SUNY Fredonia.
Together, we hope to provide our best advice about college relationships, dating, friendships and other aspects of college life.
Date idea of the week
We also hope to provide our fellow students with a fun and unique date idea in every column. For this week’s issue, we at Lovercall think going into the countryside and going apple picking is the best way to spend a date this fall!
With the leaves just about to change color, now is the perfect time for the annual apple harvest. Some local orchards let you pick your own apples, and this could be a fun date for the month, or even as a double date!
While most of the local apple orchards are located in Buffalo and Jamestown, there is one in nearby Forestville.
Meadows Farms is only a 20 minute drive from campus. They offer apple picking and fresh pressed apple cider. This locally owned orchard is the perfect place to spend an hour or two picking apples with your significant other.
Besides eating the delicious fresh apples, you can make them into a sweet treat as well. Making caramel apples or baking an apple crisp could be another fun date with your partner after the apple picking.
“I tried this date idea out with my boyfriend last weekend, and it was a ton of fun making something together and then getting to eat it after,” The Electrician said. “Baking is a great way to get messy and having fun with your partner.”
Lovercallers
We call those who reach out to us “Lovercallers.”
This week, we got a lot of responses from those looking for advice. We utilized Yik Yak, a distance-based anonymous messaging forum, to gather our responses.
One caller wrote, “What do you do when a relationship gets toxic?” We at Lovercall recommend communicating with your partner and taking a step away from the relationship. Being in a toxic relationship isn’t healthy for either you or your partner. To avoid becoming drained and unhappy, we recommend taking a break from your relationship and reflecting on the aspects of the relationship that got toxic and why.
After that reflection period, then you can take stock and see if the relationship is worth pursuing or possibly ending. Your happiness is what’s most important, and if a relationship isn’t providing you that in the long term, it may not be worth your time.
Another Lovercaller asked, “How do you deal with being in love with your hookups? Like, I have a crush on both of the guys I slept with and I want them both to be my bf but they don’t want me unless we [are having intercourse].” We have dubbed this caller, “Purple Cookie” after their Yik Yak icon. We strongly advise Purple Cookie to consider that these guys are likely not looking for a serious relationship like they are.
Paul, a host of Lovercall, recommended that Purple Cookie put their time and effort into a person who does want that same level of seriousness in a relationship.
This could again be solved through a simple conversation to see where their minds are at. But don’t pursue a relationship without a conversation surrounding commitment. That could lead to problems very quickly, hurting both you and the other person involved.
A third Lovercaller reached out to our Yik Yak message asking for advice. This user, who we dubbed “Pink Reagan,” asked for advice regarding being ghosted. Pink Reagan had been persistent in their efforts to reach the person who ghosted them.
We here at Lovercall strongly advise against continuously contacting someone who has ghosted you. While it may be difficult and painful, giving that person space is the best you can do from a distance.
It’s difficult to expect, but this person has moved on and you should try to do so as well. There’s no worth in pursuing someone who doesn’t share the same feelings.
If the relationship did pan out, consider how this person’s behavior would make you feel. If this person makes a habit out of not being responsive to you, perhaps that isn’t a relationship you’d like to be in anyways.
To all of our past, present and future Lovercallers, we are dedicating this article to you all. Confronting and facing problems head on is scary.
Talking about personal issues such as love, sex and relationships can be especially difficult. This can be doubly so if it concerns a friend or someone close to you. We want to offer ourselves to whoever needs unbiased advice under the protection of privacy.
We have all been in a place where we needed advice on love and couldn’t reliably talk to someone about it. We hope this column achieves two things:
First, we hope it offers an outlet to ask questions in a safe, anonymous environment free from bias and judgment. Through the QR code, Instagram stories and Yik Yak, we encourage anyone with a question to ask it. We will try our best to answer it.
Secondly, we want to show that talking about these questions isn’t something to be ashamed of. To be curious about sex or wonder about love is a normal human process. Sometimes it is easier to talk about it anonymously, but it is nothing to be ashamed of. That’s why we inspire you to ask all types of questions here on Lovercolumn.
We are honored to be the ones writing to the community about the issues of love, and hope you turn to the Lovercolumn where you have a question about it.
Reach out!
Do you want to ask the authors of Lovercolumn a question? Do you need advice? Fill out the form by using this QR code.
Interested in being a guest on Lovercall? Email frs@fredonia.edu or visit Fredonia Radio Systems, located in McEwen Hall 115 and open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“The Plumber” and “The Electrician” are members of Fredonia Radio Systems and are involved in the production of Lovercall.