Wendy from Jersey—she lives near Montclair now—doesn’t smoke. She worries that her 5-year-old might not get into the right elementary school, and so reflect poorly on her parenting. Indeed, Wendy, despite the raunchy talk, is a purveyor of middle-class values, a sneaky vehicle for Tom and Shirley’s suburban virtues. She may bring the Wendy, but, really, she wants listeners to know she’s respectable. And they should be, too. No wonder Wendy leans into the mike at the end of a segment and dreamily says these words: “Finally maybe I can get a bit of what I deserve after a long hard career and finally get my parents’ approval.” She eyes an intern, who doesn’t know whether to laugh.

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Articles by Steve Fishman
• Table of Contents: Oct 24, 2005 issue of New York | Subscribe!