Please Explain

can someone please explain to me why women (and some men, to be fair) watch soap operas? what's the appeal, exactly? i was just in our bedroom, folding clothes, when i decided to turn on our little TV. there, in all it's glory, is the Days of our Lives hourglass staring back at me. as i struggled to "watch" five minutes of the program, i couldn't help but roll my eyes and make gagging noises, all while wondering why so many people watch this stuff. i can't. it's just that difficult for me to watch.

but the Days of our Lives theme song and hourglass bring back good memories. i know that sounds weird after i just told you how much i loathe the show, but my grannie still watches it. she's watched Days since the first day it started. she knows all the characters and how many times they have died and come back to life. i remember during the summers when i was growing up, she'd always turn it on at 1:00 (east coast time), fix the four of us lunch (me, my two siblings, and grannie), and she'd listen to it while we ate. the weird thing is that she never actually sat down and watched the show, she was always racing back and forth between kitchens (she has two in her house), making jelly, or canning vegetables. i never understood how she could follow along since she never actually took the time to watch. but at the same time, that's what i loved about her. she's the queen of multi-tasking and makes no apologies for it. she's hardly ever just concentrating on one thing. i think that's where i got it from. i have to be doing a million things at once, and if i'm not, something just doesn't feel right.

so i decided to call my grannie and ask her if she's still watching the show. she said "of course!" and then proceeded to tell me that Calliope Jones is coming back to the show. that cracked me up because i remember that character from (literally) twenty years ago! she asked me if i watched "her soap" and i told her "no, but i had it on a few minutes ago while folding laundry". she said that she hates it but she can't stop watching it. she's in it for the long-haul.

i think it's part of her routine. i know all about routines. once you get into one, it's hard to break out of it. she's always put the TV on at 1pm, and snapped it off at 2. she doesn't watch any other soap opera, and my grandparents don't watch very much television at all, save for the news and (these past two weeks) the Olympics. although their favorite show to watch at night is Wheel of Fortune. that cracks me up, too. so i guess Days of our Lives is just part of her daily routine. and now it's part of my grandfather's routine too, since he was just laid off and is home all day with my grannie. i'm sure he's loving it.

so what attracts people to soap operas? are you a fan? if so, why? i don't understand the appeal, since it's a solid hour of bad acting, outrageous plot lines, and so many characters that it's hard to keep track. i don't know how my grannie follows along after all these years, that's for sure.

oh, and at the end of our conversation i told her about all the culinary delights i've made since we moved here, and before she hung up the phone she exclaimed:

"keep on cookin', girl!!"

i miss her, and her hungarian spunk.