Tuesday, March 16, 2010

My advice to you....

A little known quirk of mine is watching really weird t.v. shows on the Discovery Channel or The Learning Channel... things with titles like "300 lb Tumor!" or "Help, I'm Turning Into a Giant!" or "My Daughter was Born a Mermaid!". And they are real people suffering from real afflictions through no fault of their own. The strange diseases and issues in the human body and brain really fascinate me.

The other night, Furry Husband gave me the remote. (oh, will he ever learn?) I found a show called "Hoarding: Buried Alive!" on The Learning Channel. The show highlighted several people with hoarding issues, when the hoarding started, the psychology of hoarding and why it happens, how to help treat the people and the show talked to family members etc. about this person's hoarding.

One guy, a retired Navy man, trim, neat looking, attractive... lived in this house and had been hoarding for 20 yrs. He didn't know what was under all the layers and layers of stuff... it was piled so high in some areas it touched the ceiling... he had to climb over mounds and piles and heaps to move anywhere and most times his head was near or touching the ceiling.

He had a girlfriend who had no idea. She'd never ever been to his house. He always went to her house with the excuse of "my house is a bachelor pad - it's messy and cluttery and I'm embarrassed by it" I can see how a gal wouldn't think twice about that.

In the show, he takes her to his house for the first time. The camera shows them walking down the street arm in arm and she says, "Are you excited for me to see your house?" He replies, "Well, it's a little cluttered - maybe you can help me organize it" And I really don't think he was being mean - he's been doing this for 20 yrs and can't really SEE it anymore.

She walks in and is stunned... stunned to the point of shaking and crying and she's speechless. Poor thing.

So my advice to you:

Any time someone you love or care for wants to tell you something or show you something but they won't tell you until the camera crew arrives.... RUN.

Run as fast as you can in the other direction. Nothing good can ever come of a secret revealed by a person you love and trust when there are camera crews involved.





5 comments:

Angie said...

LOL, the camera crew should definantly be a big red flag. I can totaly see you watching odd things on TV.

Cheryl said...

I was watching The Bachelor recap show last night wondering how these women can all date the same guy on tv with the huge potential for humiliation in the end. The whole process seems so unnatural it's no wonder most of the couples end up splitting after the show.

And that poor woman! I hope the tv show people cleaned up his house for him instead of her!

SWiggins said...

I am facinated by those kind of shows too. The human mind and body are so interesting.

Shanster said...

Hey Angie - cameras always = red flag! :)

Cheryl - yeah and not to mention all the crazy mind games they play with those people! I can't imagine being on a show like that!

Galloping Goats - I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I can tell Furry Husband ... grin

Anonymous said...

This awful fascination with spilling all on TV is beyond me. The French are starting to go for that too. Alas!