Fish out of water

I am not a huge fan of reality TV. Don't get me wrong — it's not that I don't like it. I'm just not into the genre as much as Johanna, for example, who wrote one bestselling novel about reality TV and has another one on the way.

So until last night, I had never seen FOX's Trading Spouses. But after seeing a week's worth of crazy teasers, I decided to TiVo it. The premise of the show is that two moms (and I think they've done two dads, too) switch families for a week. The shows are aired in two segments. At the end of the second segment, each family is given $50,000 ... with one catch. The substitute parents get to allocate that family's money.

Last night, a devout Christian from Louisiana was switched with a neo-hippie hypnotherapist from Boston. The hypnotherapist seemed to really warm up to the Christian family, while the Christian woman flipped out because she said the hippie family was surrounded by "dark forces."

Things really became heated when the two families planned parties to introduce their new mom to their friends. The hypnotherapist was rudely grilled by some Christian women who criticized her and treated her like an outcast at lunch. On the other hand, the hippie family planned a solstice party/drum circle at which absolutely everyone was kind and friendly to the Christian woman.

As for me, I'm taking a long break from religion until I'm straightened out. Until then, here's my 30-second soapbox: Jesus was inclusive of social rejects. He hung out with and ministered to prostitutes, adulterers, and tax collectors. Why? Because when you share love, you never run out. Of course it's not that cut and dry. I know tolerant religious people and intolerant atheists (including one who's proud of being intolerant). But the message is the same. If you're not sharing your love and your time with those around you, then you're the one losing out.

P.S. Speaking of love and tolerance, today I found a nice surprise from Matt ... six months after he left Memphis. I thought that when he left, he stuck $5 in the console of my car. Today, when I opened it, there was a helluva lot more than $5 in there. Apparently, every time I gave him money for cigarettes, he put it in my console. It actually made me cry. I said I didn't miss him at all, but maybe I do just a bit. :-\