Dear Elders, Have you guys (and dolls) ever watched soap operas on a regular basis? If so, will you admit it? I for one haven’t missed one episode of “One Life To Live” for over a year. Would 16-year-old Starr keep her baby? Would Shane’s transplant take?! I HAD to know.
– Frivolous Sal
Roioli Schweiker
Dear Friv:
Yes, I used to love soap operas when I was in later grammar school. My mother was recovering from illness, and I was having trouble with colds and sinus problems and missed a lot of school. We would listen to them
every day while we sewed or crocheted, and we would discuss better ways to handle their problems during commercials. Of course, we listened on the
radio – there was no TV. I would fix lunch for us and afternoon tea, and bring it on a tray.
By junior high, Mother and I were both better. She worked part time and I enjoyed more school activities.
Casper Kranenburg
Dear Frivolous Sal:
Thank you for the courtesy to differentiate between “guys” and “dolls” as, regrettably, this does not happen too often anymore. Some of us do not like this single gender approach, and I wish that more of us addressed in this lazy and erroneous way would indeed speak up. But back to your question regarding soap operas: my answer is “no,” as I spent most of the time that these are shown on TV in an office without TV or radio (and come to think of it, without a computer for a long time, too!).
Steve Leavenworth
Dear Frivolous Sal:
I will be kind and refrain from nasty comments about soaps (and game shows). I am PROUD to admit that I have never watched one episode of ANY soap! Sorry – I think they are a waste of time. I used to watch “Jeopardy” fairly often. I like quiz shows that concentrate on difficult questions and interesting information, which I get even when I miss a question. I just don’t care for the shows that concentrate on amusement. But if they entertain you, enjoy!
When I was at university, my landlady was quite deaf and used to sit for the whole afternoon with her ear glued to the radio. When I was a kid, I used to listen to all the five o’clock adventure shows, e.g. “Green Hornet,” “The Shadow,” “I Love a Mystery,” “Jack Armstrong,” and so on. They were all put on just before dinner so that all the kids would be inside when Mom had dinner ready. We played in the street then. After dinner we went out again and had to be in “when the street lights come on.”
Different time, different world.
Bill Twibill
Dear Time to Move On Sal:
You seem to have too much time on your hands. I have never watched any soap opera. Honest. Not that I’m a snob. Just not interested or give a hoot what happens to a gorgeous, dysfunctional group of characters with the most outrageous names and situations.
“Taylor loves Melody but has a child with Purity, the local barmaid, who is in turn having an affair with the local Sunday school teacher, who in turn has unknowingly married Draculetta, a vampire from Romania. She is dying from yellow fever, gout and lots of New Hampshire mosquito bites.”
Here’s a little secret, Sal: Starr is going to have octuplets and move to Los Angeles and Shane will be cared for by Dr. Frankenstein and move to Transylvania to start a new life and make horror movies. Move on, Sal, before it’s too late.
Jan Stickler
Dear Sal:
You sound a little OCD regarding soap operas. Do you really schedule your life around episodes of “One Life to Live?”
I believe I only have one life to live, and that is what I prefer to do – live it, not watch imaginary lives on TV.
No, I have never been hooked on a soap and if I were, I probably wouldn’t want to admit it. It seems like a terrible waste of time.
