how could I include background color when printing a text file?

[Dan McManus]

In my fantasy land, I want to take a text file, feed it to lpr, and have it print every other line with a light gray background. I have been googling like mad but I can't find a good solution. I would imagine that I could take the text file, feed it into another application and print from there, but how I would be able to script such a thing is beyond me. Any suggestions?

Thanks