Sometimes You Eat The Bear....

I love cliches. Seriously. I do. I like to use them, I like to to make up my own, and I just like them!

I'm a sucker for romance. The ooey-gooey, sickly sweet, over-the-top, roses and chocoloate and champagne romance. The fireplace with fire, candles, soft music, fluffy rug and pillows kind of romance. The everyone-gets-their-happy-ending romance.

I'm addicted to Reality Television. Yes, I capitalized it, sort of like the American Revolution, the Resistance...etc. Because to me, Reality Television is taking over. I like to watch shows where people put themselves out there on the line, where cliches are the norm, where people vie for the attention of each other. I loved "Rock of Love," and I watch every incarnation of "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette" or any type of these shows.

This leads me to my reasons for posting ABC's Reality Dating "Game:" "The Bachelor" -- I've watched this last season of "The Bachelor," where they constantly hyped "the sexiest bachelor in Bachelor history," and "watch Brad break so-and-so's heart," and "the most shocking/emotional/romantic moment/rose ceremony in Bachelor history." Yes, I did. I stuck it out. Why? Because I genuinely liked this season's bachelor, Brad, AND I liked the final 4 girls! I couldn't find major faults with either of the final two girls. Sure, DeAnna had her moments of "B*tch*ness" and she had her fair share of run-ins with other girls...and Jenni did seem less-than-genuine at times....but from where I sat, it looked like they both had true and genuine connections with Brad. I watched him string them along, I watched him tell them how much he was feeling for them. I watched him tell the camera how conflicted he was, how much he was feeling for BOTH girls. I watched him meet their families, I watched them meet his family. I watched him trade places with his twin brother (who is married, by the way) in an attempt to find out which girls were "really there for him." And then I watched "the most shocking ending in Bachelor history." I watched him reject not only Jenni, but DeAnna too. I watched in open-mouthed horror as he dropped the bomb on DeAnna..."I just said good bye to Jenni..." and then he freaked out, walked in circles with hands on top of his head, and then he came back to DeAnna..."I want so much to look you in your eyes and tell you I love you...but I can't...I have to say good bye." WHAT?!?!?!?! You are seriously kidding me, right? I was shocked. And, despite myself, I cried. Yep, I'll admit it...I cried. I cried for the two women who were so obviously heart broken. I cried at the genuine emotions I was seeing on the screen. I cried for the simple fact that they both laid their hearts on the line and told this man how they were feeling. And it backfired...on them both. It made me feel so horrible, I could see myself in that position and I felt their pain. I can understand if he choked, or if he "just wasn't feeling those things" for either girl....but if that were truly the case, why'd he allow ABC to buy the ring? Why'd they fly DeAnna's father out? Why didn't he stop the thing earlier in the season? Surely he had to know before that final ceremony? I just can't believe it.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you. And, sometimes you're lucky enough to have a national TV company hand pick 25 women for you -- which you then get to narrow down to 12, 8, 6, 4, 2, and finally one -- the girl of your dreams, and then sometimes you fly in the face of those conventions and you don't pick either of those final 2. And you never actually have to answer for your actions, because really --- isn't falling in love supposed to be sacred?? Isn't it supposed to be private, until you want it to be public? Maybe this pointed out everything that is wrong with that show...with the fact that it takes online dating to an ultimate new extreme. Or perhaps he really didn't find what he wanted, what he was looking for....and maybe he found everything he should've been looking for...but we all know that we don't always do what we're "supposed" to do. I hope they give those two girls a chance at finding their Prince Charming...maybe a "Double Bachelorette" show? Where they both get to date guys, they get to share a mansion and dish about the guys. What a cool idea!

If anyone out there knows either of those girls, tell them I'm sorry for what happened to them. Tell them a silly girl in Texas cried for them. Tell them that I didn't just see nameless faces on a "silly reality game show," but I saw REAL people with REAL emotions. And I hurt for them, just as I hurt for them watching the "After The Final Rose" special last night. Wow. I wish I could've seen Mama Womack's reaction to that final episode......