trying to escape reality...

Long time regular readers of The Shelf will remember our weekend correspondant in the trenches, Baravelli. Recently, he has been discussing with us what he thinks are the "real" reality shows. We asked him to put down the remote and let Shelfer's know how he really feels.... By the way, voting in the Superman poll continues through the weekend, so don't forget to scroll down on the sidebar and vote! And now to Baravelli...

Why hello again. I hope that all is well. I have been dealing with the everyday occurrences in my life. This led me to think about my “reality” life. It consists of getting up at the crack of daylight and getting ready for work. During the day I will endure trials with a variety of outcomes. Once at home, it does not stop. I will run around a 2 yr old and make “boo-boos” better, hit the repeat button on the Wiggles CD, and make sure that the Pull-Up is properly secured! Note: I am not complaining about my life. I love being a family man. I am, however, tired of all those lame far fetched shows out there that are characterized as “reality shows”. You know which ones I am referring to. The ones where a group of people get left alone in some far out place with only a “few” supplies and they little by little get sent home to their original life. Oh yeah, the lucky one to survive this terrible ordeal; poor thing, being so abandoned; will get a million dollars! Please!!!

We need some real television shows. A show where it will show a boss make you work late, where a diaper will explode right before you get it off, a show where, right as you sit down for dinner, the phone rings and you are asked if you have a minute for a questionnaire. This is REALITY!!!!!!
The Discovery Channel has almost captured this with its line up.

1. Dirty Jobs
2. American Chopper
3. American Hot Rod
4. Deadliest Catch

These programs display hard working, blue collar individuals, dealing with deadlines. They deal with their bad days. They get angry, they get tired and they get disappointed. They even have to deal with their co-workers. Yes Sir, this is good stuff!

My favorite, by far, is Dirty Jobs. The show’s host, Mike Rowe, will go out and do the dirtiest things ever thought of. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE HERE, THAT HE IS DOING SOMEONES ACTUAL JOB!!! It is not some summer made up task, or finding a buried treasure. It is the way that person supports his or her family. So far, there has not been one show that I have seen or heard anyone say “let’s make a golf date.” In Deadliest Catch those men leave behind their families in search of crab. They fish off the Burien Sea. Those waters are rough, cold and miserable. Yes, they do it for the money, but they are also doing it because of supply and demand. Yeah, every time someone goes out to the ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT BUFFET, and gets plate after plate of crab legs, they need to remember how that crab got there. It did not just jump out of the sea like Ariel’s Sebastian and talk to the cook. Someone had to catch it and deliver it.

I hope that you get a chance to watch an episode of Dirty Jobs or any of the other Discovery Shows. It will open your eyes to good people trying to make a living. It will make you appreciative of what you are doing for a living and make you appreciate what your neighbor may do. In a time in our society where there are Martha’s and Enron’s, it is nice to see what hard working Americans do elsewhere.




You can't fool me! There ain't no Santa Claus!