Hello,

This morning I woke up to what was going to be day 21 of no home internet. I haven’t been the only one. A big chunk of the Gardena area was and still is out. Initially, the neighborhood Ring chat was all grumbly with who has Wi-Fi, who doesn’t, and what the heck! I’m sure we’ve collectively spent at least a week’s worth of hours on the phone with an automated system that has had no choice but to throw in the towel and transfer us to the nearest weary human. And really, what can the humans say but that they’re working on it? 

As the days have dragged on, people piped down and made alternate arrangements. Some joined the backpacked nomads at local coffee shops and others spent more time at the office (me). I also took refuge at my parent’s place just a few doors away where I’ve had to endure, for example, egg and machaca burritos and coffee waiting for me in the mornings, tortitas de camaron with nopales and warm tortillas for lunch, and shredded beef cocido with lots of squash for dinner — it’s been tough. Still, I’ve powered through 😋. My mom also makes sure my feet are warm (it’s a no-shoes household), which is going too far, I think. 

Well today, as I was working, my mom called to tell me to go back to my place to let the internet man in. What? She had seen the AT&T truck outside and she cornered the technician to say that her daughter works for a radio station and her daughter needs internet, wasn’t there something he could do? Embarrassing! But you know what? Her mother’s pride landed with the right person. Enter James Rios, community helper and hero, one connection at a time. 

James patiently waited and detoured from his schedule to problem-solve my place. He went so far as to move furniture, navigate my mess, find new wires, reconfigure where my modem should be, teach me how to get the most out of my signal, reconnect my OG landline, and even be late to lunch! It was he who told me my mom said I work in radio when he asked which station I worked for. 

Now, I always wonder if the person I’m talking to will know what KCRW is, so I have two answers handy. One needs no explanation if the person is already a fan. The other has me first explaining the concept of public radio by comparing it to PBS (something many people are familiar with, especially if they spent their childhood with Sesame Street) but on the radio; and then I go into the podcasts, streaming, and events if they’re genuinely interested — if they’re not, I go into it even harder, ha! Over the years I find that some areas know us better than others. Which do you think he was? A connoisseur or not? 

Well, as soon as I said KCRW, he said, “KCRW? I’m a member! A sustaining member!” I can’t tell you how happy that made me. Of course this helpful person was a member, because like he said, “People who care about community find KCRW.” I had asked him how he found us — he was born and raised in Compton, the next city over, we were roughly the same age, and let’s just say public radio was hard to find in our circles back then. But we each stumbled on it and agreed that it opened up our worlds and here we were relating through the similarities of our environment (that I could tell we were proud of), the fact that we had kids of the exact same ages, same Latino background, both worked with communications, and had the same admiration for community and Steve Chiotakis! Gah, who isn’t a fan of Steve’s? 

How cool is that? And now I leave you as he left me — well connected to my internet and to my desire to double down on KCRW’s mission to make it easier for everyone who needs to find us, finds us! You can help by telling a friend or ten about a favorite show, and bringing them along to one of our many FREE events. Sometimes you don’t know what you need until you get it.

Connie Alvarez

Your KCRW Insider since 2001

P.S. He let me in on the source of the big outage — someone had pried open the door to the neighborhood AT&T box and cut the wires, most likely for copper. Yikes!

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"KCRW is a sanctuary for me. There’s a program and host for every moment of the day and night. You are a constant source of fuel for my imagination, education, and good vibes. Thank you!"
– Elaine (Redondo Beach)

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