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April 11, 2006

The More You Know...

Some would say television is rotting our brain cavities. Some might be right. Some often pontificate to the malleable who believe everything they read. Who are these some? That is not for me to say. However, I am here to tell you that there are valuable nuggets to be absorbed through gazing at the hypnotic screen. Even through that most denigrated of genres—reality television.

Let's take last night's second Apprentice episode, where the reward for the winning team was a trip to Washington, DC, to spend time with congressman Charles Schumer. Schumer told the Apprentice wannabes that he believes in the Monday morning gut check as the litmus test he applies to choosing a vocation. On Monday mornings, do you feel an excitement in your gut to be starting your week or do you feel an apprehension or sick feeling (I'm paraphrasing)? If you're not feeling an excitement, you probably should be doing something else.

The second morsel gleaned from my catatonic hours in front of my TiVo last night came when I was watching the Surreal Life contestants appear on a segment of Action News. CC DeVille was so nervous to be sportscasting that he pondered the possibility of having a drink (he's an alcoholic). After he passed the test with flying colors, DeVille said to fellow Surreal Lifer Tawny Kitaen: "We're really going to grow doing this. This is really going to make us grow as people because we're being thrown into shit that we wouldn't do—that I'd be scared to do. And you face the fear—you go through it."

Within these two shared reality television experiences lie two essential truths of life. We receive messages like these at random times, when we least expect it, and they can come through any medium, from a television show to a person that you might meet in your daily wanderings. You can either absorb the lessons or ignore them, but they are there. End of sermon.

Posted by timothompson at April 11, 2006 11:14 AM