Saturday, May 30, 2009

Which way did they go?


(go left! go right! NO! not THERE!!)


It was kind of sad, watching Jay Leno's last Tonight show episode. It reminded me of Bob Barker's last Price is Right, another milestone in my admittedly shallow life.

How shallow am I? Well, when my kids were small, my ambition was to get a job that would allow me to watch The Price is Right every day at 11 am. For years, I managed to do just that. I taught piano lessons, and accompanied choirs, and worked at churches doing various jobs that might have generated a salary if I had a lower voice and maybe a beard.

But no matter what else I had going on, every day at 11 am I was glued to the television set, rooting for contestants to spin a dollar on the big wheel so they could win $1,000 and get another spin, and following that Plinko chip as if there was actually some way to control it, and scoffing at the ignorant people who bid $1259 when the person before them bid $1260 and any IDIOT could see that the correct bid was $1.

My youngest son used to watch with me. By the time he was 4, he knew the price of Westinghouse refrigerators and Broyhill living room sets. He knew that the prices in the Ten Chances game always ended in zero or five. And he loved watching that Plinko chip.

When somebody bid $1259 we would both throw our arms up in the air and shake our fists at the television set and yell, "WHAT are you THINKING??!"

Then we would eat grilled cheese sandwiches and take a nap.

Ah yes. Those were good times.

~~~

6 comments:

Fran Hill said...

Shallow? No, no, of course not. Not at all. Nowhere near. How could you think so? Not in the least. Not in the slightest.

Oh, okay, then. Yes.

Lesley said...

Shallow - but happy. There's something to be said for that, I think.

Ziggy Stardust said...

Oh those are good times, I did something simular with my daughter and we still love game show.

Anne

Rae said...

I am sure I am in the minority but I never liked the Price Is Right. If I was at home, I ran to the TV the minute that irritating intro music came on to get the darn thing turned off.

While working as a chemotherapy nurse, every day in the treatment room the TV would be on and at 10 AM promptly every patient would request the Price is Right so they could start their bidding. I would sit and give their IV treatments all the while chanting in my head at least it isn't Jerry Springer.

Lillian Robinson said...

I have boycotted (OK, there've been exceptions) since Letterman did not get the job. I'm a night owl. But you took me back to the stay-at-home-Mom days. Chores and errands were scheduled around my favorite game shows and soaps. And men thought we were the 'lesser' sex...

Brilliant Sulk said...

The Price is Right reminds me of being sick and home from school for the day (sometimes I would do a very good job feigning a stomach thing just to watch)

Can't wait for Conan....

Christmas contest

We're having an office decorating contest at work! With prizes! So in my usual quirky way, I'm being as competitive as possible. ...