Second Family

I am obsessed with television and movies. I can't help it. I love watching TV. I love watching movies. Some people may call it an addiction, but I'd explain it a different way.

My favorite shows and movies are those with lots of dialogue. Lots of talking. I love seeing how people interact with each other. I love seeing how people react to what other people say. It's hard to explain some times. Whether a comedy or a drama, a documentary or a sit-com, there are always great relationships. There are always great conversations. There are always interesting characters.

And I absorb it all. Maybe it's because I'm a writer. Or maybe I just really love to people watch.

But lately I have been feeling jealous of the people I'm watching. And this worries me a little.

I have always wanted to be part of a group of people that was like my second family. A small group of friends that hang out together all the time, go to the same bars or restaurants a lot and spend holidays together. I used to be part of something like this, but I was a teenager. I want a grown up version of that. There are tens of hundreds of movies and television shows that depict this kind of group. And most every time I see them, I get this sinking feeling in my stomach.

Why can't I hang out with these people?

I bet I would totally fit in with that gang!

Am I missing out on something more because I'm not part of some second family existence?

But then I think about the fact that this is all fiction. These are characters written for entertainment purposes. They aren't real. People like this don't exist. Right? But these characters and conversations and scenarios were written by somebody. They had to base them on something, right? They probably knew people like these characters or they were the people in the scripts they sold.

And now I'm all depressed again.

Who wants to help me out with this? Who wants to be part of my Second Family? We can spend holidays together with lots of food and inside jokes and create great memories. We can also find a great bar or restaurant that serves great drinks and has a killer jukebox and maybe even has live bands on the weekends (but absolutely no karaoke, sorry). We would sit in the same seats every time we hung out there and the bartenders and waitresses would all know our names and our usual orders and... doesn't that sound awesome?? Wouldn't you love to be a part of something like that?

I know I would.