The Ultimate Reality Show

Remember the days when the TV Guide consisted of variety shows, dramas and sitcoms?  “Those were the Days” sung by Archie and Edith Bunker in the popular sitcom, All In the Family, well-written and funny as it was tended to be more a reality show than a sitcom.  Time, however, marches on and our viewing culture has moved full tilt to reality mode. Survivor, Desperate Housewives, The Bachelor, The Kardashians and Jersey Shore, just to name a few have replaced Mary Tyler Moore and Little House on the Prairie.

The newest and most interesting reality show recently was the “Government Budget (or Shutdown)” show.  It gave Cable News one more chance to hammer their totally biased views as the networks wrestled with limited time slots to tell their side.

The goal of this endeavor was to come up with a budget that would allow the government to pay bills and keep operating. Millions of Americans tuned in to this drama on an hourly basis to check progress as the clock ticked to the midnight April 8 deadline. A potential shutdown was imminent and would have negatively affected many lives, including our Armed Forces.  It couldn’t have been better scripted.  This was the ultimate reality task, requiring elected officials with differing opinions the job of setting aside political agendas to achieve what many of us ordinary citizens have been forced to do…live within our means. 

As we are held accountable for our personal financial choices, so are the lawmakers we have elected to make the best decisions for our country’s budget. Just like us, they had to prioritize and make painful choices. It was time to set aside how this affects upcoming elections and PAC contributions and focus on the job at hand.

Fortunately, no one got booted off the island.  With 90 minutes left on the clock, the outcome of this reality show is that the greatest country in the world, the United States of America, can continue to pay bills.  Hopefully, we will not have a second season.  As gripping as this show was, our wish is that lessons are learned across the board.   I am for a consistent reality of setting aside personal differences to make our homes, communities, government and the world a more united place.    

Still learning,

Honey