Summer is turning to fall, children are returning to school, and I? I am waiting for my shows to return. Yes, I know. Television is a drug, and I need a fix (hangs her head in shame) .
I need to drool over House, as he viciously scorns and spurns one and all. How can anyone be so delicious? I want to see what happens to Hiro and the un-special Ando. Will they be back? What about my beautiful Michael Scofield and his yummy brother Lincoln Burrows? I want to see forensic anthropology at its finest with Bones, the ever-so-yummy Seeley Booth and the rest of that super-smart Jeffersonian team. I’ll take a side of CSI while I’m at it, because I love me some dry, erudite and nerdy Gil Grissom. And a weekly dose of Denny Crane and Alan Shore I cannot do without. I want to cringe at Michael Scott’s latest inappropriateness, and laugh out loud at Dwight’s antics. I love tv. It soothes me. (How I hate to admit both of those things, the love, and the solace.)
I am not quite ready for the 12-step program. Because it’s not all mindless drivel. There are lessons to be learned. Illuminations. Life lessons.
For instance.
We watched some of the American Idol auditions last year. The contestants came in all shapes and sizes, and so many had a remarkable lack of musical ability, yet nearly all of these fine people have something I admire. They believe in themselves and their abilities with a fierce and defiant passion. They put themselves out there on national tv, and they told the world face on that they believed they have what it takes to be the next American Idol. And then they began to sing. As painful and entertaining as it was to see these people humiliate themselves in global proportions, I couldn’t help but stand in awe at the level of self-esteem and self-confidence they flaunted. And they weren’t alone. They had people. People who believed in them. People who supported them. It was a beautiful thing. I was envious.
Once in a while we watched Beauty and the Geek. I love the geeks! Of course. I mean, come on, these are my people! Those beauties, though? I assume they find the most vacuous people they can, in order to maximize the benefit of the show. The general lesson that comes to light is that the beauties get a lesson in the beauty of true character, of which the geeks are rich, and the geeks get a lesson in self-confidence, of which the beauties are rich. How great it is to see those geeks grow in confidence. I cheer them on. They are my people.
Mostly, though, I love the diversion that tv provides. The humor. The antics. The laughs. So yes, I am ready for my shows to return. It’s been a long summer of prohibition, and I’m ready to whet my whistle, jump off the wagon and start my fall/winter bender.
