Says who?

I heard a great quote this past weekend but, for the life of me I can not remember where. To paraphrase, makeover type shows (people, homes, rooms, closets etc.) often require that people get rid of what they love and replace it with what they should have. What you should have is based on what is updated, trendy or in style. Who dictates all this? I'll tell you about my triad conspiracy theories another time. For my immediate purposes I am more concerned with the recipient of the great reveal.

Around 6am one morning recently I watched a repeat of the show, Cash in the Attic. The show's dupes usually want to finance some trendiness they think their family needs. This particular show featured a woman who had recently married a shaved ape with three adolescent sons. Dad and the boys wanted a flat scene television set yet, they had no way of financing their dream. The very timid new wife and mom had dozens of second, third, and even fourth generation antiques to which she appeared to be greatly attached. Watching, I could see in the woman's eyes that she was in torture. In the end she let the show's hosts and her new family sell her cherished family heirlooms at auction. Personally, I did not believe that the items were hers to sell. One is the guardian of heirlooms, not the owner. One keeps such items in trust for the next generation.

The absolute horror here was that as oft happens at auctions, they did not get nearly as much as they wanted. The show ended with showing the new flat screen television that the family purchased with their proceeds. It could not have been more than 20 inches. The dad smiled broadly as if the TV was actually three times as large and new mom looked as if she might never get over her own foolishness. She got rid of what she loved and replaced it with...