With an Accent from Holland

April Fools Day

I didn’t update yesterday on purpose. Something really wicked went on in the podcasting community. Yesterday morning when I arrived at work, I saw that I had 7 new e-mails. I though: “Wow, I am popular”. But then I read them and I was very distressed. They said the Daily Breakfast was going to stop. The Daily Breakfast is the podcast I listen to everyday on my way to work. I went to the SQPN website and I checked the news. I downloaded the latest podcast and I listened to the last 15 minutes, because I was at work and I wasn’t able to listen to the whole show. At the end of the show I was actually crying, right at work where everyone could see me (but luckily there was no one there). Fr Roderick, the host of the DB, told us he might have to stop podcasting because the management of his diocese thought it was consuming too much of his time, and because the podcast is in English it doesn’t serve any direct purpose to the diocese of Utrecht. My colleague just arrived then, so I called my boyfriend, I awoke him actually, and I was very upset that the DB might be cancelled. Fr Roderick asked us to write a short testimony and send it to him via e-mail so that he could take these with him as evidence to a meeting with the bishop he was going to have today, on Saturday. Yes, indeed, April 1st.
When I got home last night I wrote a very personal testimony why I like the DB so much and why I wanted it to stay. I mailed it to Fr Roderick and I posted it on the blog on the website. Later that night someone at the forum mentioned that the meeting was due on April 1st. That’s when I started to suspect things might be wrong. That’s also why I didn’t update this on my blog last night. I was afraid this was a hoax and it would make me look really stupid if I had a complete story on my website about me being really upset.
This morning I read a lot of other testimonies on the website and again, I cried a little about it. This show means so much to so many people, it’s unbelievable. The meeting with the bishop was scheduled at 2 pm. At 1.50 pm I saw that Fr Roderick was on the forum. That was really strange to me, and that confirmed my suspicions of foul play even more. And then at 4 pm there was DB #100. And yes, Fr Roderick announced that it was all an April Fools Day joke. I wasn’t very much amused, but I wasn’t too angry either. Some people at the forum were really upset that it all had been a joke. Fr Roderick even recorded a special message afterwards that he hadn’t meant to offend anyone or hurt anyone. He has received about 500 testimonials from people all over the world. He had thought in advance he was going to receive like 10 or 20 e-mails. This all just got a little crazy and a little out of hand. Apparently Fr Roderick made a joke about this subject, because a couple of weeks ago this really was the case, but luckily they have given Fr Roderick permission to continue podcasting.
But everything is all right now. I am really relieved the DB is still going to continue for a very long time and at least Fr Roderick now knows how much we listeners appreciate his work and his dedication. You can check out the website at http://www.sqpn.com

posted by Charda @ 1.4.06