Going to India!

Hi, this is Kris, and I'm going to India. But, before I head to the airport, I want to share with you a cultural mother-daughter experience Mira and I shared yesterday. We were in the NBC Tower to pick up my visa for a trip to India (the Indian Consulate is in the building). In the lobby, we noticed a long line of people holding tickets for the Jerry Springer Show. Ready for an adventure, we decided on the spur of the moment to take in the show. Why not, I’d never been to a TV screening before, in fact, I had never even watched the show on TV before. Mira has much more experience in show business than me; having been on the The Price is Right, with her college softball team. In fact, Mira’s teammate won a Dodge Dakota truck – with the help of the rest of the team.

So, we went through security, waited expectantly in the “holding room”, and finally arrived full of anticipation. I called Jim – Mira’s step dad - who proceeded to remind me that this show is “really low-rent”. Being adventurous, we were up for anything.

Since Jerry Springer is Dancing with the Stars this week, he was in LA. The host, Steve, was a huge, bald, commanding, former Marine – with good common sense & values (“a voice of reason”). It was interesting to see how the host gets coached by someone else on the side. Also, the bouncers added their own little flair by egging on the audience during the commercial breaks [the beefy guys danced around a pole and took their shirts off]. Steve was actually a voice of reason, wisdom and sanity on the show.

In the studio while waiting for the actual taping to begin, we got to view Jerry Springer's "Too Hot to Show on TV" with much brawling, hair pulling, stripping, clothes ripping, etc. Boy – are we in for a treat, I thought. What did we get ourselves into? We did get to watch a cat fight, hair pulling, complaining, blaming, etc. And - one of the guests was truly a sleaze ball.

For all of you Jerry Springer fans, you already know there is a segment at the end of the show where guests sit up front on stage, and the audience gives their comments. I was actually considering telling the sleaze ball just how bad he was. However, there is one part of the show that many folks do not know about. After expressing their comments, the women in the audience have an opportunity to earn "Jerry beads." The way to do this is by lifting your shirt & flashing their assets to the audience. Of course the audience goes wild and rewards them with hooting, hawing, cheering, etc. I was quite shocked when the girl next to me was the first person to get up to “share” with the guests. I quickly changed my mind about expressing my sleaze ball comment.

As a parent, I really do try to give my family a wide variety of cultural, educational, inspiring experiences. Even though Mira is now an adult, I find that my job as a role model and mentor is never done. It is so reassuring that I can continue to make such a huge difference in Mira’s life! Well on to my next adventure – a spiritual trip to India.