More "Work Spouses" -- WVON's Matt & Perri

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: 'Warped in the same ways' : 'WORK SPOUSES' | Matt and Perri 'fight like cats and dogs sometimes,' but click on air : April 2, 2009 : BY MIKE THOMAS | Chicago Sun-Times Staff Reporter : --------------------------------- : : Male/female radio teams -- like the ones we're profiling this week -- are especially attuned to the so-called "work spouse" phenomenon. They occupy the same small space for hours on end, day after day, as platonic partners who share bonds similar to marriage (but without the romance). Many offices have such pairings -- in one survey of 575 employees by vault.com, 23 percent said they had a "work husband" or a "work wife." Unlike typical work spouses, however, these duos live out their relationship before hundreds of thousands of listeners. Such intensely public co-habitation has its benefits and burdens. : Mia Cosley used to begrudge her fiance, Matt McGill, his frequent evening phone conversations with McGill's WVON co-host, Perri Small. : Not anymore. : "They would spend time discussing what they would talk about on the show, and I'm like, 'Well, that's my time,'" says Cosley, a longtime Chicago schoolteacher. "But you know how you adjust, and you get used to it. So when she calls now, it's not a big deal. But in the beginning, it took a little getting used to." : McGill, 45, and Small (ageless by request) have talked it up on morning airwaves for five years, during which time they've developed a warm and almost familial bond. They sometimes celebrate together during holidays. And Small, a trained journalist who served as an assistant press secretary to former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, says she worried for McGill when his father died. : "[Matt's] more than just my partner on the radio," she says. "He's a friend. We talk about things. I know everything about his kids. . . . And we talk about the problems children have so much. And other than my own godson, I don't have any kids. ... I just have a warm feeling for his entire family." : Small, who is unattached, says she's in no rush to find a mate. : "When it comes, it'll come. And I'm not one of those women that feels real desperate to be married or in a relationship. Because the one thing I have now is peace of mind. There's a lot of kids I grew up with that got married right after college. They're not with their husbands and wives today." : McGill, the father of three, says his on-air relationship with Small is "so unlike" his bond with Cosley. : "Having [Mia] is probably the thing that keeps me focused on things I should focus on and what my mission is in doing radio," McGill says. "And vice versa. I have to kind of let her know what her importance is with what she's doing. I think Perri and I have [what] would be described as one of those competitive relationships you have with a co-worker. Because it really is competitive to a degree. 'Did you see this story?' 'What'd you think about that?' 'I can't believe you think that. That's wrong. You're out of touch.'" : Perri, he adds, "is more of a romantic when it comes to the job and the relationship." : Though they both grew up in Chicago and knew some of the same people, their paths didn't cross until shortly before Small invited McGill (who wasn't yet employed at WVON) to appear on her evening program, "On Target," during a station Christmas party. WVON President and General Manager Melody Spann-Cooper paired them up permanently thereafter. : "We get each other's humor, we're both warped in the same ways," she says. "Now, we disagree on the air a lot about different issues, but basically we're kind of the same people." : When they do disagree, Cosley says, she'll always jump to McGill's defense. There's no strength in numbers, no sisterly solidarity in that respect. But otherwise, the two women say, they're very close. : "I accept Mia as Matt's fiancee," Small says. "We get along great; we spend time together when we're at functions or at one of his relatives' homes. And if I can't find Matt, I know to call Mia." : A couple of qualities McGill brings home from his radio gig, Cosley says, are better listening skills and a preference for civil dialogue. : "He tells me all the time, 'We can't talk over each other,'" Cosley says. "'This is what I tell Perri at work. You say what you're going to say, and then I'm going to say what I'm going to say.'" : But Small says there are times when polite discourse just won't do. : "Matt and I fight. We fight like cats and dogs sometimes," she says. "We have big blowups and arguments." : But they never stay steamed at each other for long lest listeners sense a rift. The show, after all, must go on. : "You would like to say it's the professional thing to do," Small says. "But it really helps in a relationship. I'm sure that if married people or people [who are] together had the same philosophy, that 'I can never stay mad at you,' their relationships would last longer and they'd have very few problems."

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