Wheels up in thirty
I occasionally watch “how-to” shows with zero intention of actually ever doing the things discussed. The genre was invented by This Old House with hosts Bob Vila and Norm Abrams which first aired in 1979 and now in its 45th year . Spoofed by many – the entire show Home Improvement with Tim Allen, but a profane but hilarious take on it was the HBO version This Old Whorehouse.
I have watched a lot of these how-to’s without ever raising a munion or replacing a transom or making Quaker furniture using precise joinery and no fasteners of any kind. I still find them entertaining and at least part of me will keep a deception that someday I might need to do one of those tasks.
This is why my family gets annoyed and nervous when I jokingly say, “Let’s watch my favorite how-to show, Criminal Minds.” For several years we have slowly been working our way through the series and have become quite attached to Hotch, Morgan, JJ, Reed, and Garcia (et Al.) Now that our kids are old enough we enjoy these darker shows. There was a time, long ago, in high school I watched and fell in love with a less dark show – The Princess Bride. I was happily pleased when the loves coalesced and I got to watch Inigo Montoya go after bad guys (some might call him Mandy Patinkin, but they would be wrong. He is Inigo Montoya.) He quit after a season. At one point the writers had him say with shock and sadness that some unsub was killing for public enjoyment – “murder for entertainment” he sadly said. Unfortunately he listened to himself and didn’t think it was right for him to continue with the show which was dark, grisly, and “murder for entertainment.”
The head of the BAU then became Hotch, played by Thomas Gibson. He played that role for 11 years. (There will be a point eventually.) For 11 years he was told to look unemotional – somewhere between constipated and seething rage that was barely controlled – as he immersed in unspeakable parts of humanity.
His tenure with the show came to a sudden stop when the actor had a disagreement with one of the writers that was also a producer. The report is that he began hitting and kicking and threatening as part of the discussion. He was immediately fired and written off the show.
Is anyone surprised? He had immersed himself in depravity and violence for over a decade and when a serious disagreement came up violence was all that was in his toolkit. People act shocked when football players are involved in domestic or other forms of violence and are arrested. No shock allowed! They have been literally praised for strength and violence since they were 12 years old.
So why bring this up in this blog? Because we must be careful to not immerse ourselves in negativity all the time. There is so much in healthcare that is negative. There are wrongs, there is disrespect, financial, time, and emotional tolls on our souls every day. We are immersed in pain everyday.
But there is good. Find and focus on the good. These people we call patients – they come to us, they trust us. They show us their pain, their vulnerability, their bodies. We are their safe place. It is an amazing privilege to be that for them.
Keep peace and laughter and joy in your toolbox. Remember to get back out from time to time too, but the patients are waiting and we must go into that dark world. Wheels up in thirty.
That’s why I watch “Cheers.”
Thank you for the reminder that we are what we consume. Thank you for the reminder to look for the good even when we are surrounded by unpleasantries.
Good point, well stated. Thanks.
This used to be one of my favourite series! Then other characters joined in.