Dingong.

Oh, hi, it's me, Meg Wallet, sir.

I know, I didn't call before showing up on your doorstep, but listen.

I've got Willa Cathar, Patricia Clarkson, and a nice coffee cake with me.

So you don't mind, do you?

Great, let's chat, eat cake and get comfortable. Selected short starts now. You're listening to selected shorts where our greatest actors transport us through the magic of fiction, one short story at a time.

Here at the top of the show we usually address everyone who is tuned in because we don't play favorites.

But listen, wise elders, we love you dearly, but this intro isn't for you. Of course you should feel free to eavesdrop. Now young people, lean in. Closer. That's it. Now let me tell you a little story. There was a time long

long ago, the 1970s say, when showing up at a neighbor's place or a friend's apartment or even the family home without

announcing yourself ahead of time was considered completely normal.

I mean, what would old sitcoms have even been about if people didn't drop in on each other?

Mary and Rhoda.

Do those names mean anything to you younger listeners?

That beaded curtain in the doorway of Rhoda's apartment and Mary poking her head through?

Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about.

Ask your mom.

But maybe not in person unless you call first.

Showing up unannounced also happened a lot in real life back then.

Ask your mom about how a person would just ring the doorbell or drive over on a whim,

maybe bringing some coffee cake and was always

welcomed in or well if not welcomed at least thoroughly tolerated. The idea of

the pop-in or maybe the drop-in is long gone, but back in the day it could really

...