As a recovering addict
I have to be careful
during vacations
not to have the TV
on channel 6
at 1pm
because that is when
Days of our Livescomes on and I don’t
want to get hooked
again.
It started in college.
I’d get back from class
and it was nice
to sit in the TV room
with friends
and watch the happenings
in Salem.
As a newlywed,
I brought the characters
with me as I started
this new life,
hoping never
to repeat their
mistakes.
Once the kids
started school,
we’d get home
in the afternoon
and sit together.
Erin and Nathan took
turns getting up
to fast forward
through the commercials
in those pre-remote
VCR days.
We always got excited
when a young Carrie
was on because
I’d try to imitate
her hair-do
on Erin the next
day.
Even after they graduated
I continued to watch.
It was like a big, fat
juicy novel
and I’d turn to a new
chapter every day.
Two years ago
I went cold turkey;
I just couldn’t take
any more of that
sappiness.
Oh, sure, my heart
does a little flip-flop
whenever I see their faces
on Soap Opera Digest
at the grocery store
and the occasional
commercial for it
pulls me in from
the next room
but, so far,
knock on wood,
I haven’t watched
a single episode.
Today is Saturday
after a week of being home
and I didn’t fall
off the wagon
even once.
Sometimes, it feels
like I’ve divorced
part of my family
but, most of the time,
I’m happy to be
free of cliff-hangers
and stupid decisions
and titillating sexual
tension
and kids who grow up
from babies to teenagers
in five years
and I just couldn’t take
another Christmas
watching the Hortons
hang ornaments
with their names
on them
on that perfect tree.
18 comments:
Very unique and so true. I have dropped "All my children" which I watched since the seventies...but I'm still roped into Y&R...lol
What did you say you took for that?
You described it so well. I imagine a little poetry writing goes on instead!!
Excellent poem!
Hugs Giggles
Cold turkey - not an easy way to leave Days of our Lives. I've never watched and consider myself lucky because foregoing is tough for me. :)
Nice post!
How true! As a lapsed follower of All My Children, I recognized myself all over this one :)
Although I no longer follow the soaps, I think I've simply replaced them with following blogs!
The only soaps I've watched were the ones my mother watched before I was old enough for school. I don't remember the shows so much as the theme songs. Namely Edge of Night and Young & the Restless. My grandfather watched "his soaps" every afternoon until he died. Even when he wasn't at home! Never felt guilty a bit
Great poem!
I've never seen it, but your words speak about Soaps the world over.
great description of a soap addict!
haha
thank goodness I've never been hooked on any of them.. (but of course on many other tv shows)
p.s.
your comment made me feel so good linda!
thanks!
I was a Guiding Light junkie. I did cold turkey 25 years ago. I had to go to work after my son was born.
I remember days at work looking at the clock with longing.
Even after I quit working and the show was available to me, I refused to get sucked back in.
It is just too hard to leave it all behind.
Thanks for sharing your recovery story.
Oh back in the days of Julie and Doug - my mom was the enabler. Later John and Marlena. I haven't watched in years but I still jones for it every now and then. (and I LOVED Carrie's hair styles!)
Now I follow blogs with an even stronger addiction. The future will hold support groups for blogaholics!
lol , I have watched a couple of Indian soaps and I know what you are talking about :D . . Nice post :D . .
Very very true.
I think all soap operas are addictive. once yo followed it, you would want to continue following it, suspicious what would happen next.
that's why I never like to. I'd rather watch shows that I can finish watching in a time
nice...
i follow beind my kids
I like this. It reminds me of all the years when my grandmother and great aunt faithfully watched "As the World Turns" after lunch every day. I wasn't at their house on weekdays much, but it didn't seem as though much progress was ever made in the plot lines from one moth to the next.
very interesting perspective on "follow" --- i like to rationalize my addiction by calling myself a faithful viewer, but bet my last buck that when mr victor is no longer on the y&r i won't be, either!!!
Yeah, I know what you mean, I used to watch The Magic Roundabout cartoon every night.
Very vivid.
You got it right. We get so addicted to soaps that many a times our lives revolve around those. I stoped following those three years back and now happy for it!
Had to laugh while reading this one. As a recovering DOOL addict, I could identify with everything in this post. If I remember correctly, we bought our first VCR so I could tape the show and watch it when I got home from work. Like you, I also quit "cold turkey" but still get a little excited when I see the characters on the cover of Soap Opera Digest. Good take on the promt!
Nice sentiments. My daughter will be turning 12 next week. We are entering the drama zone....
the second to last verse is the best. i love it! always enjoy reading your poems. :)
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