MTV - My Archenemy

Preface: MTv (Music Television? hardly) is one of my top 5 'Worst Influences in American Culture' (right Ashlee Simpson?).

With that, I was watching a Real Life show last night about moving to NYC. My favorite fish-outta-water was an attractive young woman (I didn't catch her hometown). Her parents were providing $1,000 a month to help her cover rent. While sun bathing, she called her daddy with a dilemma; a $500 electric bill for which she was half responsible. She was concerned about her ability to pay such a large figure, so she begged her daddy to help, and he agreed.

The succeeding scene showed her shopping; she decided on two items totaling about $600. She then stared into the camera and asked "Was that retarded? Maybe I should return these... But I love them... I really love them..." Electricity or clothing... I guess they're equal priorities (the girl would disagree, the clothing took precedent), but only if you're without ANY clothing. By the way, she is in not retarded (retarded, adj. Relatively slow in mental or emotional or physical development), she's delusional (delusion, n. An erroneous belief that is held in the face of evidence to the contrary).

After a day of difficult decisions, our heroine tried to relax. She decided to ponder her financial situation that evening at a trendy nightclub with three friends. For those unfamiliar with NYC, a round of four drinks easily sells for $50. Luckily, she had mommy's credit card.

When the bills arrived home, her parents cut her off. How cruel! As a young Will Smith once said, "Parents just don't understand."

Postscript: I foresee more MTV rants to come...