This time you've gone too far, Intervention.

I was laying in bed the other night, and mentioned to Dylan that my favorite shows are as follows:

1. The Sarah Silverman Program (or any other show about Sarahs)

2. Intervention

I work with addicts all day. It can be sad, sad, sad sometimes, but it can also be downright entertaining... A fine concept for a TV show.

The world works under the assumption that all addicts are bummed-out and want to turn their lives around. The truth is, a lot of addicts are quite content with their lives, and spend most of their days 'walking on sunshine'. That's not to say that most of the same addicts aren't totally ruining the lives of their loved ones, but most addicts are too junked-out to care, and spend most of their days in a shiny wonderland.

Intervention is a really amazing show, because it shows you both sides of the story. My favorite episodes are typically the ones about alcoholics, because drunks can do some pretty funny shit sometimes, and the families aren't usually as hopeless and desperate as the families of the people that are constantly poking themselves with needles.

That being said, for the first time ever, Monday night's episode of Intervention was all about a guy that should have been poking himself with needles a hell of a lot more often. The week prior, I had seen a brief preview of the episode, and all I had been able to discern is that there was a young diabetic fella that was somehow abusing his insulin. This piqued my interest.... I have seen addicts abuse just about everything that could possibly be abused. Between Intervention and work, I thought I had seen it all. In fact, just yesterday, I had to have a gentle discussion with a couple of gentlemen about how it's really 'not very cool' to be drinking mouthwash in the bathroom of your doctor's office.

All week, I tried to figure out how someone could possibly get high off of insulin. Growing up, we had a diabetic cat. Every once in a while, he'd get a bit of an overdose of insulin, and would start acting a little funny. We'd give him a little syrup to balance out his sugars, and he'd be good as new, but this was the first thing that came to mind when I started pondering insulin-abuse.... I couldn't have been more wrong.

Monday rolled around, and I stayed up late to watch the episode. I have seen a few non-drug episodes of Intervention before, and they are typically less watchable than the drug-based ones. There have been some people with eating disorders (which are more disgusting than entertaining), and there was the one episode about the obese guy that ate a million cheeseburgers every day, but at least those guys were enjoying themselves in some form....

I was shocked to learn that Monday's kid had no joy at all. No getting high, no fun drunken antics, no beautiful vomit-sculpted bodies, no delicious cheeseburgers... He was just not taking his insulin, and not following a proper diet for no reason at all. Proper diabetic care is all about routine. I firmly believe that a little bit of routine is good for everyone. Each day, right as I arrive home after work, I cue up Kris Kross' 'Jump' on my Ipod so that I can listen to it in the morning as I walk to the train. I only ever drink Coke Slurpees, and do all of my morning grooming in a very strict order (teeth come first, obviously... 27 years, no cavities!). These things keep me balanced. If you are diabetic, your whole life should be about about balance, so you don't die. Some people don't realize this, but if you die, there is a strong chance that your family is going to be pretty bummed-out (p.s.- this kid's family was the most bummed-out family of all time).

Anyway, for the first time ever, I couldn't even finish an episode of Intervention. The episode is up on Youtube, and I guess you guys can watch it if you want, but I'll warn you, it's a bit of a downer. Hopefully next week's episode is easier to watch (it's all about meth, yessss!).

As my second favorite show, I'm counting on you, Intervention. Don't let me down ever again, or you're off the list.

~sarah p.

p.s. Check out this 'Message from AETN' on the bottom of the episode synopsis. Whoops!