Recently, the Discovery Channel bought Time Warner, or Time Warner bought Discovery channel. Or something. It was a $43 billion dollar purchase where one group of rich folks gave money to another bunch of rich folks and I still can’t watch the Royals on my YouTube TV system.
This got me thinking about how amazing the Discovery Channel has been in popular culture, then that got me thinking about all of the endless hours of documentaries I’ve watched on the Discovery channel. There’s the ones about the whales, and the MythBusters and, of course, Shark Week. (Note: I don’t actually watch shark week because I enjoy sleeping through the night.)
I was recently reminded of the Meerkat documentaries recently as the world has started coming out of post-Covid hibernation. The Meerkats adorably pop up through the ground and look around in just the cutest way. I’m not sure about anything else on the Meerkats because I just replay that scene over and over again.
It’s a lot like the past few weeks in Kansas City. Folks are venturing out past the grocery store for the first time. I’ve heard folks have gone to movies. I saw an art fair at Macken Park last weekend. People are excited to get out of their houses – their cocoons for the past 18 months. But, much like the adorable Meerkat, I’m still a bit hesitant.
It’s not the health risks that have me sluggish to be out in the world, it’s just the relative safety of the house for the past year and a half. Food has been delivered. The car doesn’t need filling up. The Internet has a wealth of entertainment and some of it is not pornography. What more do I need?
Well, it turns out, people need human interaction. Have you been the witness to an online argument about this or that in the past, oh, let’s say, 10 minutes? Folks have gotten so used to talking to their cat or their kids or their online echo chamber that they’ve forgotten how to interact with people who have obvious feelings and reactions. There’s a guy who shot another guy last week for entering a store that still required masks. There’s the idea of post-COVID stress disorder (because everything needs a name.) People feel anxiety to do certain things again, or be around people. And, frankly, some of these people I’m not sure I want to be around.
And yet, like nature, the Meerkat teaches us to start slow. Poke your head up out of the ground. Survey your surroundings. Jump to commercial as soon as the leopard starts to bear down on you. Admittedly, I probably should’ve paid more attention.
Let’s use a more realistic example. Life post-COVID should be like a visit to QuikTrip. Know what you’re there for. Open the door and smile to someone. Get in and get out and don’t forget the roller food. I’m sure they’ve happened, but in all my years of going to QT, I’ve never seen an argument, I’ve never seen a cross customer, and I’ve never seen the person behind the counter give you your change in anything over .0003 seconds.
Come to think of it, does anybody know anyone at Time Warner Discovery? I’ve got an idea for a TV show…
(Get face to face with Chris Kamler on Twitter, where he will entertain you as @TheFakeNed)