I don't know if it was Don King who coined the term 'Only In America!', but the man sure said it quite often. This phrase could also be used to describe this country's strange fascination in doing things that we know aren't healthy but still do them in the hopes of fitting in with the trendy crowd. It seems that for some of us, peer pressure doesn't really end until you're dead. And even then, you might be ostracized from the afterlife if you're not buried exactly six feet under like everyone else.
If you're a TV watcher and especially if you're a Netflix subscriber, the really popular thing is to 'binge watch' your favorite TV programs. I guess you could also 'binge' on a program you couldn't stand but I really don't see the point. Netflix and other similar services will make all episodes of a certain program available for viewing at one time. This means a person could spend (or waste) a dozen or so hours watching all episodes of their favorite show at once. I could rationally see someone doing this if they were stuck indoors because of a blizzard or some other reason that you couldn't leave the house. Being ill would also seem acceptable here. But anything else? Choosing to ignore your spouse and/or kids? Choosing to procrastinate cleaning your 'something'? Choosing to back out of some previously scheduled 'anything'? I see an unwise pattern developing.
Personally, I don't belong to any of these types of subscription services but I have bought box sets of an entire six season series. Even then, I can only watch two or three episodes before I'm 'episodically exhausted' and feel the need to move on to some other form of activity. That thing I said before about moderation.....I meant that! Is a human being doing something sensible now akin to Superman freebasing Kryptonite?
I know that the days of standing around the watercooler at work and chatting about the previous evening's episode of "Knot's Landing" are gone but I'll always be one to believe that common sense never goes out of style.
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