"Those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it." -- George Santayana
"Insanity is defined as doing the same things over and over, expecting different results." -- Dr. Phil
There's a new show on SoapNet, courtesy of the CBC, called "Being Erica". The premise is that every episode allows 30-something Erica a do-over, assisted by her mentor, the ever-wisdom-quoting Dr. Tom. Tonight's episode had Erica, newly hired to a publishing firm, arrive for her first day only to find that the human being that hired her had been fired and replaced by a self-absorbed, snotty little blonde bitch who ground people up into emotional hamburger for the pure pleasure of it. Erica was an assistant, which means basically she made coffee and took notes at meetings. Erica wasted no time getting on this C-word's doo-doo list with an ill-timed faux pas, and the little blonde no-talent wasted no time in turning our heroine into a stuttering, sniveling waterworks. But only temporarily. After advice intervention from Dr. Tom, Erica remembered a similar situation with a college professor who intimidated her until she fled his class, never to return, and received an F for her trouble. Well, before you could say "Quantum Leap", Erica was back in that class, and after a false start during which she quoted from a Britney Spears song that hadn't been written yet, Erica appeared at an Amateur Night at a club filled with her professor, her poetry class, and other assorted ninnies, recited a poem that the professor had trashed, and faced him down. This, of course, gave Erica the courage to deal with her little twit of a boss, who stole one of Erica's ideas, fired Erica, passed the idea off to her boss as if it were hers, and tripped up when the old guy asked for some details. She called upon Erica, who nobly helped her out of her spot. Then she was forced to re-hire Erica and give her a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
Well, we all wish for do-overs. I wish I hadn't blown 2003-5 spending what I didn't have; boy, could I be making hay now if I wasn't in debt! And didn't I know better, having spent 1998-2001 getting out of debt?
Well, the good news is, you don't have to be Erica to get a do-over. Chances are, if you divorce this ninny, you'll be dealing with his drunken, cheating, miserable ass all over again. No, not just in Divorce Court, sweetie. Across the breakfast table. With a different face and name. But that belch will sound awfully familiar. And, sure as the grass grows green, if you just cleared bankruptcy, without some money counseling, you're gonna wind up right back in credit card debt. Or if you had a problem standing up to that one 20 years ago, you're gonna have the same problem with this one now. Just like Erica. And you won't have Dr. Tom's words of wisdom to help you recognize where you went wrong then and how to fix it now.
But you will have a do-over. I guarantee it. Do-over after do-over. But will you recognize the opportunity when it comes? And will you take advantage of it?
Good vibes to all of you,
Claudia
