Seeing how I like to air my confessions via my monthly blog, please be forewarned this month is no different. Please, take a seat, hold on to something. I need to share something that has been a part of me since I was in junior high. And as you prepare yourself for some riveting new, believe you me, I am preparing myself for the onslaught of comments both in what I am about to share and the later ramifications for today.
I… I… I really had a huge crush on Julie from ABC’s The Love Boat. Please stop. Before you read any further take a deep breath, breathe. Please do not be so devastated that you don’t read any further. Yes, while my brothers were both enamored by Christie Brinkley and Farrah Fawcett, I was stuck on a never ending cruise ship. But boy was she ever hot! And talented! Julie always had a way of finding encouragement in all the crazy scenarios she’d find herself in week to week. She and Gopher were always up to doing something to make something wrong right again. Come to think of it, funny how the whole premise of the show was to go from broken to fixed in the different lives that boarded the boat that Saturday night. I liked that. In fact, I still do like that. Funny how TV shows have changed.
So from Gilligan’s Island, Brandy Bunch, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Mork and Mindy too, oh let’s pick one, Real Housewives. Wow is TV viewing so different. So in 30 years we go from laughing at fictional situation before us to full blown brawls between two educated females in a restaurant. BUT hear me say, it’s not just this TV show, there are plenty out there.
What got me to pondering about TV viewing (since I have so much time to ponder), was tonight as I watched a group of 10 men and women try to out play, outwit, and outlast the other 9 on a remote beach on the other side of the world. As the 10 crawled and fought for the reward of the week, ice cream (I’d ask for Blue Bell chocolate), there was as much physical jockeying for position as there was personal interaction between contestant. I found myself appreciating the “Survivor” in a new light. What was before me was not the shoot ‘em up drama of a murder mystery or that of a few figuring out who the bad guy of the week was. Nope, it was about people interacting with people.
So as in months and months that I’ve done that which I’ve done (writing this) and you’ve now done what you’ve done (reading this), I leave you with an assignment, one I’m gonna do too. The next time we sit down to watch our favorite fictional drama, figure out the time you’ve just spent watching the flat screen and make a note to self, go then and spend the same time with somebody. Go do something with a friend, your family, a neighbor, just somebody. Go get a cup of coffee, sit on the porch with them or do what many of you do, just hang out at Eagle Hardware and visit with your neighbor as they walk in. Just do something with someone, anything. TV is entertaining but your involvement in someone’s life can be inspiring, encouraging, helpful, a blessing…you see my point.
So go!