To Be or Not to Be (Bitchy)

Recently, I had another epiphany. Or maybe it was just a really deep, meaningful, life-changing thought…which is essentially another way of calling it an epiphany, right?

I’ve realized that my two-hour-a-day commute, combined with a lack of serious shut-eye during the week has left me a tad…bitchy. I know…it’s hard to believe….but it’s true.

Besides that, I’m making knee-jerk assumptions and conclusions as a by-product of my bitchiness.

Yikes.

I’ll give you an example:

There’s a show on (I have no idea what channel) about a newly-blended family called “Downsizing”….or maybe it’s called “Downsized”. There’s the mom…whom we’ll call Judy (‘cause you know I cannot remember her name) who has like, five kids from her first marriage. The guy, (we’ll call him Doug…what the hell…) has two kids. So, they’re a blended family of nine. They were living the good life…in…Phoenix...or’Vegas...again, not sure…but sooooo not the point. Stay with me, people. Doug owns his own construction company and did very well until the recession hits and then his company goes belly-up. So, Kathryn (yours truly) joins this show as Doug and Judy are talking about how they’re way behind on their rent (I think they’d already lost the home they owned to foreclosure) and Judy’s asking Doug what he’s gonna do to bring in some extra green.

Kathryn’s knee-jerk, stupid assumption #1:
(I'm talking to Judy on the tv. I’m pretty sure Judy can’t hear me.) “Why don’t you get your sorry lazy ass off that couch and find yourself a job, missy? Your youngest kid is like, what? 10??…WTF are you doing all day?” (Okay, so I may have not said it exactly like this…but you get the idea.)

I come to discover that Judy has a master’s degree and works fulltime as an elementary school teacher.

**SUH-NAP**

Then the cameraman keep panning to the outside of their rental home, where there sits a white van and a lovely Mercedes Benz.

Kathryn’s knee-jerk, stupid assumption #2:
“Hey, if you’re in such dire straits, why don’t you try turning in that Benz for something a tad more...practical, bi-atch?” (Again, I’m paraphrasing.)

Turns out that the car is ten years old and was passed down to her by her deceased mother…it’s the only thing she has left from her MOM, she tearfully explains.

This is the part where I hang my head in shame.

I suppose everyone does it at one time or another…this snap-judgment…but I, for one, am going to do everything in my power to cut it out, dammit. I’ve always prided myself on being open minded. Whether you’re gay, straight, rich, poor, black, white, have no children or enough to form your own football team, it’s not my place to put you into some preconceived category under a predefined header…especially without getting all my facts straight. And even then…I haven’t lived your life…any more than you’ve lived mine. Especially in this season of giving, I'm going to do my best to try and be a better person. And I'm dragging all of you along with me...'cause no-one's perfect, right? I mean, we're all pretty awesome...but there's always room for improvement. At least, I think there is.

So, accept my apologies, Betsy and Bill…or whatever the hell your names are. I’ve learned a valuable lesson from watching snippets of your show.

I've got to seriously stop watching reality tv.