A Choice of Words

Even the word sounds unpleasant.  It evokes images of gluttony, lack of self control and possibly gross obesity.  Still I find myself tempted.

I have conquered a few challenges in my life relating to the condition, namely, ice cream.  While I doubt if I ever needed professional counseling on the topic, during times of stress it always seemed an antidote, as unrealistic as it was.  The solution was not having any available.  My freezer has been ice cream free for several decades.  I do indulge when dining out, but the portions are never memorable.

However, in the past year or so, binging seems to have found acceptance.  It has other more pleasant or euphonic names now.  Streaming certainly has a nicer connotation than binging.  And I do find myself incredibly tempted.  Not by everything offered, but The House of Cards seems to be calling me.

It is a series especially appealing as the tom toms are beginning to beat louder and louder for the 2016 Presidential Candidates.  The rhetoric will certainly dominate our airwaves more each day as the press coverage and the issues and qualifications begin to be discussed.

And, of course, I am beginning to justify in my own mind, the necessity of watching the entire season of this political thriller all at one sitting.  It is close to an addiction, I must admit.  I am so fascinated b the series that I even watched the original version that was done on BBC.  Between that and the two Netflix seasons that followed, I feel almost qualified to be considered an expert on the topic. Now Season three has been released, and it seems an eternity before the DVDs will be released.  But, and it is an important “But,” I could finally succumb to streaming, aka binging, and watch them all in one sitting.

Would that have the same physical effect as overindulging in ice cream?  Perhaps, and possibly, there is another lesson here.  For most of my life I have tried to observe “Moderation in All Things,” and reluctantly, I am forced to admit it probably also includes watching House of Cards for hours on end. I hope I can resist the temptation, but I am uncertain I will. Maybe it is time for the professional counseling, or perhaps time to remember I conquered ice cream and I can conquer the new challenge of streaming if I continue to think of it as binging.  That sounds so much worse