Reality TV? Seriously............

Ok, not a reality TV fan, not really a TV fan but reality TV is like the shit you scrape off your shoe, you keep looking at it because you have no idea how it got there.

It seemed innocent enough, American Idol, of course I only watch the first few episodes where they have the people who are so horrible you just have to laugh. My favorite was Keith from season one with his "Like a Virgin" remake, he is my hero.

I hear people at work talk about these shows all the time, but I never watch them. The funny thing is, even if you have never seen them there is no escape.

Jon and Kate plus 8. What the hell is that? I only saw commercials and Kate was always yelling at someone. Does having eight kids really make you TV worthy?

And then there are the Duggar's. A quiverfull? That's a religion? You know why God said go forth and multiply? Because people rarely lived past thirty and you needed kids to work the family farm and take care of the ones left behind when Mom kicked the bucket from having too many babies.

I don't know about the rest of you but pushing one screaming six pound person from my vagina was enough to last me a life time. Pregnancy was great, it was giving birth that sucked. Although I imagine that being pregnant while you still have three under 5 would not be so much fun.

If only I had continued until my uterus needed rebar to hold it in then I too, could have my own reality show. Cheese and rice.

Still, those shows are fairly benign, as long as you don't think of the damage being done to the children when everything they do is played out in front of a TV audience.

Then there is the Octomom. What was she thinking, and how did it ever sound like a good idea- even in her head?

" I know, I'll have fourteen kids, no job, no spouse, call 911 all the time because I can't keep track of all these kids, fight with my mom, have the maturity of most twelve year olds and America will hate me so much they will be compelled to watch."

Nothing is as bad as the balloon boy saga. This kids parents have already been on wife swap, they love the lime light. Their fifteen minutes of fame was over. So what do they do? Concoct an elaborate scheme to get all of America involved in the fate of their youngest child, tell the children before hand and coach them on the lies they will have to tell, and then set their plan in motion.

I, like everyone else, was holding my breath, praying that their little boy was safe. All while thinking, what were they doing, why wasn't that balloon secure so a little boy couldn't get hurt in it. And when the balloon landed and there was no one inside, the image of him falling 8,000 feet or so to his death would not leave me.

He wasn't in the balloon because he never had been, when they interviewed him, he vomited, twice, trying to keep the lies he was supposed to be telling straight.

So, someone, in their infinite wisdom, gave this child's parents exactly what they wanted, a TV show of their very own. Where are the people who are supposed to be protecting these children? Certainly their parents are not up for the job.

What happened to the days when it was a parents job to teach children that lying is never appropriate? Now, parents coach their children on the lies to tell during interviews.

What happened to child labor laws? Now, parents have more and more children and put them in danger, just to get their own TV show.

But, before you get on your high horse and say " How dare they?" Think about the reality shows you watch. Maybe they are not even close to being like these but they all lead to one thing- the exploitation of someone for someone else's gain.

Seriously, would you have ever though about the Kardashian sisters if it were not for reality TV?