Yeah, this from a girl who on occasion has watched Jerry Springer.
Heh.
Anyhow, I started watching it about the time I moved from Virginia, probably when we stopped in Huntsville to see Michele and Ben. From that point on I was kind of hooked. It's sensationalistic enough to appeal to that side of me, yet it's applicable to everyone's lives. I mean, who wouldn't want to see Dr. Phil telling a mother that six years old is too old to NOT be potty trained?!
However, the great state of Washington allows me to blow off the NBC showing of Dr. Phil at 3pm because I can catch it a week from that day at 8pm on the NBC sister station. Yeah, and get this. Channel 5 here, which is NBC, is called KING 5. Its sister station is called (and I shit you not) KONG 16. So yes, we have a pair of stations called KING and KONG.
And I thought Norfolk was wacky having WAVY.
At least we're not a gun-toting populace like Tucson with a station called KGUN, which one pronounces Kay-Gun. Did I mention that there a LOT of people there with concealed weapons licenses, including my father-in-law who rarely goes ANYWHERE without a concealed gun on him??
Yeah, I feel so SAFE around him. Ahem.
I digress.
Back to Dr. Phil. So I haven't been watching Dr. Phil's Family in Crisis segments because I just figure I could watch them the following Thursday at 8pm. It's on a family in which the mother and father are on the brink of divorce, their 15-year-old daughter is pregnant, and their 12-year-old daughter has fallen by the wayside, as her sister is the favored child. Which brings me up to today's intended topic for this, by now, very disjointed diary entry.
What the HELL is that guy Marty thinking?!?! Keep in mind, folks, I'm a week behind. Don't tell me what today's episode was about because I have it on tape and will watch it tomorrow.
Marty is the father in this family, and he has cheated on his wife twice. I can sort of forgive him that since there are so many people, male and female, that have cheated on their spouses. But his cheating is not even really the problem. He and his wife Erin can't fix the problems in his marriage for several reasons, but one of them is because Erin says he's a compulsive liar.
Dr. Phil asked Marty tonight if he has a problem lying, as you would ask a compulsive gambler whether s/he has a problem gambling. You know what Marty said?!?!
Looked Dr. Phil right in the eye and said, "No."
Hah. The compulsive liar says he doesn't have a problem lying. Is that a lie?! Who knows?!
All through that entire Dr. Phil episode, I just got the feeling that Marty was just saying whatever he thought Dr. Phil or Erin wanted to hear. Erin says she doesn't love him anymore and doesn't even like him, but yet Marty maintains that he loves Erin so very much.
Every time Dr. Phil would ask him a hard question, Marty would pause for a moment, a moment just a little too long, which would be fine because it makes it seem as if he's really considering the question. But you can see the wheels moving behind his eye, calculating the outcomes if he tells Lie A, Lie B, or Lie C. I don't think it even occurs to him to tell the truth.
Dr. Phil asks him if he's willing to work on the marriage, and he says, quite emphatically, "YES!" But I don't get the sense he actually MEANS it.
And the youngest daughter Katherine believes her father is having another affair because he gets suspicious calls on his cell phone and he goes off by himself a lot after he gets these calls. Marty vehemently denies it. But you know, it's a heck of a lot harder to fool a 12-year-old than people think.
I don't take divorce lightly. My parents were divorced when I was two and I don't remember any time when my parents were married and living in the same house. I would not wish that on anyone.
But for the health of this family, I think divorce is the only option, unless Dr. Phil can really get Marty to look hard and deep at himself. Marty is just going through the motions at this point, saying all the right things and wiping away the perfectly poignant tear at just the right time.
Personally I think it's bull.
A marriage can only work with complete honesty and trust between the partners, and this family is just completely beyond that right now. Maybe Dr. Phil can bring them back from the brink.
Maybe not.