Thursday, 1/26

Okay, maybe “All in the Family” DID have a small impact on me. Not as much as “MASH”, but a very weird one nonetheless.

Yesterday, of course, I talked about how on character on “MASH” may be responsible for me turning out the way I did. It was all brought about because I'm reading the autobiography of Norman Lear, who created, among other shows, “All in the Family”. I said his shows didn't have as much impact on me as did “MASH” (and “Star Trek”), but in a way it did.

It's just a very STRANGE way.

Here’s the deal--I went running yesterday. Now, that in itself isn’t out of the ordinary; after all, I’ve been doing it for over 25 years now. But as I was getting ready to run, I noticed that I have a habit that’s so ingrained in my subconscious that I don’t even pay attention to it, a habit I'm sure I've been doing for all of those 25 years. I’ll first put a sock on, then the shoe that goes over that sock. Then I’ll put my other sock on, and put my other shoe over that.

And that's the one way I've been affected by “All In The Family”.

Don’t laugh; I actually think it’s true. When I was a real little kid, I used to watch the show during its original run in prime time, and one of the things I actually remember retaining from the show is a discussion between Archie and Mike, who could never agree about ANYTHING. This particular discussion revolved around putting your shoes and socks on. Archie was fuming because Mike put his on the way I do, and not the way that was “normal”, according to Archie (socks on both feet first, then shoes over them). Archie thought Mike was doing it that way just to irritate him, which was a possibility. But, as Mike explained, there was a reason.

What if, Mike said (and I’m paraphrasing here), there was a fire, and you only had time to put on two of your four pieces of foot apparel? You could put on both your socks, but then you’d go outside, step in water, and get both your feet wet. But if you only had time to put on two pieces of foot apparel, and chose a sock and a shoe, then you could hop on that one shoe-d foot, and both your feet would stay dry. That response turned Archie apoplectic (actually, most things Mike said turned Archie apoplectic), and the argument devolved into something else.

Now, for some strange reason, that scripted exchange of dialogue has stayed with me for almost 40 years now. I’m guessing that not even the person who wrote it remembers it, but I sure do. That’s why, when I go out running, I put a sock and a shoe on one foot, and then a sock and a shoe on the other foot.

So while one character on “MASH” may have been a big influence on my entire life, two characters on “All in the Family” set the pattern for how I've been putting on shoes for my entire life.

(jim@wmqt), who obviously watched waaaaay too much TV growing up! 8-) )

(ps—speaking of 70s TV shows that influenced both Loraine and me as we were growing up, I was saddened to hear of the passing of Mary Tyler Moore yesterday. Like the shows I mentioned above, her show was one I watched every week and, I'm sure, had some kind of influence upon me, as well.)