Thursday morning thoughts

I was off work for a few days and I did watch SOME daytime television.  It's changed somewhat since the days when I was home a lot during the day.  I don't think there are any soap operas left, which is a shame because now all there seems to be are talk shows that strive to be identical.  What ever happened to originality?  They all seem to have the same mix of people, you know, the black woman, the ditsy blonde the educated woman and the comic foil.  They have a male version of this as well.  UGH.   I wound up watching a marathon of "The First 48"  which is interesting, but a lot of it IS staged- the cameras always seem to be there when the cops get THE call that breaks the case.  Still it is a look into how real police work is done and far more interesting than the talking heads who bicker.

Which leads me to commercials.   Suddenly there are WAY too many advertisements for toilet paper.  "enjoy the go?"  The one with the bears that reminds us that we all "go" and we should enjoy it?  There is another that focuses on the musings of various bathroom statuary, remarking on what they have to look at every day.  Now , THERE"S a pleasant thought, but the one that got me was what I believe was a British commercial, where the woman stood outside a makeshift privy and asked guys if they felt secure enough to "go commando" after using this particular brand of toilet paper.  That to me was a new low.  Toilet paper commercials WANT yo to think about wiping your backside, which I suppose is the point , but they used to just talk about strength and softness,not the acts that led up to the use of the paper.

I was watching a Target commercial and it made me sad.  There was a young girl, lying on her back listening to music in her headphones.  The camera pans out to show about six other young girls in a circle with her , heads touching, all listening to music.  Is THAT how teens are? I remember sharing songs on the radio or on the record player, singing along or talking about the music or the band.  The only time I used headphones was when I was not with my friends and I wanted to spare my folks the "noise" while I knitted or embroidered.  It drove home the point that technology has really alienated us from one another.  A recent survey on AARP ( yes, I'm a member) cited the Internet as being the reason we don't know our neighbors.  I make it a point to talk to mine.  We live in a small old apartment building and I do know most of my neighbors, at least to say hello.  We have dinner and go out to do things with a few of our neighbors on a regular basis.  I wonder if the next generation will do that type of thing.  We are so often distrustful of other people's motives and I wonder why.  I wish that I did not find myself wondering sometimes if someone is just nice because they want something.   I would like to believe that most people are kind because they CAN be, not because they need to be for some goal other than to help someone in need.  I will strive for that.