There must be a light under the bushel!

I'm So Ashamed!

I want to stop myself, but I can't seem to figure out how to do it. Once you're drawn in, it takes control over you. I know it's not good for me, but I simply can't help it. I've avoided them for so many years, while others succumbed willingly and actually embraced them.

Those damn reality TV shows! Now, I don't watch them all. I don't have to tape one because two are on at one time and I can't miss either of them.

However, I'm slowly adding more to my list, and I'm afraid that someday, I'll refuse to leave the house because I want the screen to glow all day and all night with other people's so-called reality.

The worst part is that I'm really not much of a TV watcher. I don't know what nights most shows even come on. I'll watch movies, but I actually plan to sit down and spend a couple hours being entertained. I don't often just try to fill up the minutes of my life with something so passive.

However, now I find myself actually planning ahead to the times I'll be sitting in front of the TV.

It struck me last night as I was watching the second episode of The Apprentice. I had no intention of watching this show, but I walked into a room where the TV was on channel 2 when the first episode was beginning. Rather than turn the TV off or walk out of the room, I slowly sank down on the couch and started picking my favorites. That's when your life is set for that one-hour block each week. Then, they started changing the day and time when they were going to air the show, and I began to feel little flutters of panic.

What if they changed the time to a night I was in school? Or, worse yet, what if they changed it to a time that conflicted with another reality show that I absolutely could not miss? I laughed at myself out loud, but I was still cringing inside.

The one show that I absolutely cannot miss is The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Why???? I won't even take phone calls during that time. Basically, the real people in my life take a back seat to my reality TV friends. How awful is that?!

OK, I realize what you're thinking about me now, but I'm afraid it gets worse. Average Joe. It's a horrible show. After I watched the entire first season, I said no way am I watching that again. It's sad what they do to those dorky guys. I even felt sorry for the pretty girls to have to be in such an awkward position. However, once I realized they were bringing pretty men in again, I thought, OK, maybe she will find someone she's attracted to and find happily-ever-after, so this week my fingers, against my will, turned to the channel and my eyes fixed on the screen.

I'm afraid it's hopeless. As long as they offer these terribly addictive shows on TV, we will be drawn to them like moths to a flame. Cliched, I know, but true.(sigh)