I used to love to watch those reality
game shows like SURVIVOR and BIG BROTHER. I was never certain if I could handle
the physical athleticism of something like SURVIVOR but I always knew I would
win BIG BROTHER if I could get on the show. Before I started shaving my head, I
always used to joke that if I could lose about fifty pounds and gain about
three inches of hairline, I totally would have sent in an audition tape. Well,
one of the things that you hear contestants complain about on that show is the
amount of time that is spent with people. Because you are not just on the show
with people for 39 days, you are spending 39 straight days with people. 24
hours a day for 39 days.
I used to joke that during busy times
at work (Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving) when everyone was working
overtime that I saw them more than my family. And that was about fifty hours
for a week. We are now 143 days in of constant contact with one another. No
breaks. No getting outside or away from one another. Now, granted, the store is
big enough so that everyone can break up and do his or her own thing. And we do
all still take our meals together. I still truly believe that eating together
helps us stay bonded.
I guess it is only natural but I have
started to see little cliques forming amongst the groups. This is not a bad
thing. Hunter, Kanen & Lance are going to have more in common. They will
not hang out as much with Janet, Sharon, and Fred. I don’t see Kelsey having
long conversations with Judy about the plethora of things they have in common.
Now that is not to say that there isn’t some mentorship going on. Be it Sharon
teaching me the finer points of country cooking or Fred teaching Alex how to
strip down and clean the weapons, there is a parental vibe going on.
It works the other way too, I won’t
mention names but I saw a session involving some of the older ladies learning
how to do the “Dougie.” You might call it the “Cat Daddy.” Maybe it has a
regional name. I don’t know. It’s the Kate Upton dance.
Regardless, I do still think it goes
back to my September 1tth post. I think we all get along… because we have to. Back
when I was a kid, my family took a vacation down to the Bahamas. It was my dad,
my mom, my sister and me on a twenty-one foot sailboat. And there were times
where you could look around all 360-degrees and see nothing but ocean. In times
like that, you have to get along. If you don’t, you kill each other. I think we
are in the same scenario here.
As long as the zombie threat exists,
we have to get along. No other choice. I think you just let all the petty stuff
fall by the wayside for the betterment of the group. In that regard, I think we
all get along better than we did before the Apocalypse.
I suppose a family rat holed up in
their attic surviving on Spam and bottled water will find the children getting
along swimmingly. After all, vocal arguments will only keep the zoms around
that much longer. So I guess if you are looking for a silver lining in all of
this… there is that.
