Teachable Moments from Big Brother

Okay, so yes, I watched Big Brother. It’s a guilty pleasure. I just have so much fun hating every single contestant that I can’t stop watching it, even though it’s on three nights a week.

Worse still…I let Alyssa watch it. I know! I should be ashamed.

But I’m not. See, this season has a dude who is so obnoxious about his feelings for one of the female contestants that I am using every episode as a teachable moment for Alyssa.

This guy, we’ll call him Caleb, since that’s his name, has fallen hard for Amber. He thinks she’s so hot and so awesome and well, he’s just stupid about her.

The problem, as he sees it, is that she’s just not that into him.

One week Caleb threw a competition so Amber could win. And then he expected her to agree to go on a date with him after the show. Amber didn’t ask him to throw the competition. She owed him nothing, certainly not a date.

I told this to Alyssa. I explained to her that sometimes guys think girls owe them something after the guy has paid for a date. I told her that this is not true. I also tell her that she never, ever has to agree to anything with a guy just because he likes her. She has her own mind, her own heart and if she’s not that into a guy, she doesn’t owe him anything.

I’m not sure how much this is actually sinking in with Alyssa but the Big Brother season is long and full of stupidity, I’m sure we’ll have many more chances to have this discussion.

And better still, I have a feeling that Big Brother will be back for many summers to come. There’s no shortage of people out there willing to give up several months of their lives for fifteen minutes of fame. I’m sure those people in the coming years will be equally stupid and give us lots of chances to learn more about relationships, selfishness, and yes, perhaps even insanity.