If you are in a position where you have a 1 in 6 chance of winning a million dollars you suck it up. I don’t care what your fears are, no matter how rational or irrational they happen to be. If you are on a TV show, they will not let you get hurt. No matter how many waivers you sign, they (the producers) would never do anything to purposely put you in harm’s way. There is an implied safety that you should feel that will allow you to overcome your stupid fears.
I, of course, am referring to the idiots who got kicked off of The Amazing Race because the girl on the team wouldn’t go down a water slide. A fucking water slide. Granted this girl had two (that we know about) major fears: heights and water. It was a tall water slide, but it was still a fucking water slide. This is a pair that had a legitimate shot of winning the whole thing.
I am afraid of snakes. Deathly afraid. So afraid that even I consider myself a pussy for how I deal with it. Put me in that situation (obviously adapted where snakes are somehow involved) and I do it, period. How? I take five, maybe ten seconds and find my center, calm myself down, and then I jump head long into the pit of snakes. Why do I do this? Because I am a rational (despite the fear of snakes) person who realizes that this is a very momentary event of extreme discomfort which will afford me the ability to walk away with one of those big golf checks that contains three commas. It is the about the big picture.
Now I control myself and how I do things, but what if it was my wife who was afraid to go down a FUCKING WATER SLIDE, what do I do? I make her do it. How? Depending on the rules of the game, by any means necessary. Maybe I push her down. Maybe I handcuff her, I don't know, but I make her do it. If need be I pull out the trump card: I will leave you if you don’t go down this water slide. No, a game show isn’t bigger than my marriage, but the inability to see the bigger picture and to put the interests of the family and the greater good first underlies a fundamental problem with that person. As I am fond of saying, “It’s not always about you, douche-bag.” I've swallowed my pride and done things I don't agree with for the good of the group, and this wasn't with a million dollar price tag attached.
I don’t know if this couple is still together. I can’t imagine that they are, because all fights between them would be ended when he brings up the fact that she cost him a half a million dollars. Of course, both of these people are virgins, but are dating (is that an oxymoron?), so I’m not exactly on their wavelength as far as thought process is concerned.
Lastly, and this is something that has bugged me across all reality shows I’ve watched. When you get kicked off, or eliminated, or don’t get a rose, or don’t lose the most weight, or whatever it happens to be, you should be upset. Not just upset, but pissed, distraught, angry, frustrated, etc. The whole, “It’s okay, we had fun…it was good while it lasted…we got something more important than the money out of it…” shouldn’t be said. If that is your thought process, why are you there? Going on a reality show requires some sort of sacrifice from a contestant. Maybe it’s losing your job, or being away from your family, or not eating, or getting out of your comfort zone, but for pretty much everyone that is on these shows they have to give something up to be there. If you’re not there with the intent of winning, and you’re okay with losing, you have to question why you’re there. This isn’t the era of the first few seasons of Survivor just being there is your ticket to fame. I think the experience would be fantastic, but I wouldn’t go at all if I wasn’t 100% committed to winning at any cost. The sacrifices I’d have to make to be there are too great. I take these people not caring about winning or losing (or even worse those who quit) as a personal affront to everyone that wants to have that challenge.
No comments:
Post a Comment