Since the internet is a little aflutter, I guess I’ll start with the elephant in the room. I don’t want to be weird or have a little cloud over Wheel of Fortune, but I do probably have to address it, so:
Everyone thinks I came across as a little crazy on my episode – and I definitely see why.
Not to be full of excuses, but – at the time of the taping, I had a semi-perfect storm of a lot of things not going great for me. In addition to how people’s lives wave up and down and I wasn’t particularly on a great upward wave… but aside from normal stuff, here were two semi-big things.
- I was working a night job at the time. You had to wake up at something like 5am to tape Wheel of Fortune. So, I had to start my day, just a couple of hours after I normally end it. Putting your sleep schedule on its head doesn’t usually allow for a greeeeeeat outcome with a beautifully functioning brain.
- We taped in March, and in February, I was in the hospital for like 3 or 4 days, because for the first time in 11 years, my heart was acting up. (And to some extent, so was my stomach.) Ultimately, I’m fine, but it was a long few days, with some tests and small procedures, and I was still weaning off some pretty intense pain meds that made me feel wonky (cannot have been good for focused game play). So, health wise, not the beeeest place.
So, this sleep-deprived, recently intensely-pain-medicated, wee-ly stressed out girl went to play Wheel of Fortune.
One thing I want to try to take away from this experience is a bigger sense of empathy for people who are strangers. It’s so easy to watch someone on a show and be like “what an IDIOT!” But you have no idea what they’re going through. Maybe their dog died that morning and they’re distracted or something. Maybe they just got a cancer diagnosis, and on and on and on. We don’t know.
(I mean… it’s also possible they’re just bad at the game. And if you’re just sitting at home, it’s okay, maybe, to have a little superiority for funsies. But, as far as how you’re actually gonna think about that person, if you remember them, or as far as what you say on the internet… just something to think about [especially for me, as I think I may have broken down people losing games on this very blog at some points].)
And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!