America's biggest challenge? Cell phone bills
By Staff
Leada Gore, Editor
Being home on maternity leave has been an interesting experience. There's a whole world of activity that goes on during the day that those of us at work are missing out on.
Who knew that the grocery store was empty at 11 a.m.?
Who knew so many door-to-door salespeople showed up at 2 p.m.?
Who knew our mail doesn't actually arrive until 4 p.m.?
I've worked since I graduated college, so the luxury of being home during the day is new. And while the baby takes up most of my time, there is some downtime in which I find myself flipping through channels looking to see what's on television during the day.
The short answer? Nothing.
I was shocked to discover what America is watching during the day. It basically breaks down into three categories:
I do watch some of the news shows but they can be a bit depressing, not to mention so full of breaking news that I lost track of what's breaking and what isn't. I can't stand soap operas (I don't care who fathered Hope's baby or whatever else is the topic of the day). This leaves courtroom shows, that, amazingly enough, are strikingly similar to the soap operas.
These type shows are on all day and feature Judge So and So dispensing wisdom on cases involving runaway dogs, overdue rent and, more than anything else, cell phone bills.
It turns out that while most of us are at work, hundreds of people are out there buying cell phones for boyfriends, girlfriends, family members and complete strangers only to end up suing the person when they don't pay the bill. Each one of these courtroom shows features at least one cell phone dispute, leading one to wonder if the greatest problem facing American today isn't Iraq but the cost of text messaging.
In addition to cell phone problems, there are also numerous complaints about bad roommates, minor car accidents and wayward children. I'm not sure where these shows find their participants but there obviously is no shortage of people interested in appearing on television to discuss why they don't like their neighbors.
After several days of turning on the television only to find Judge Judy yelling at someone, I decided to do some visual editing of my own. I turned off the television. Instead, Sutton and I enjoyed the peace and quiet – at least until a salesperson knocked on the door – and then headed to the grocery store – which, if you didn't know, is pretty much empty during the middle of the day.
