Seinfeld

One of the things that I believe is that if you are trying to understand what a person is saying, it is helpful to try to understand that person, at least in part. If you have no idea who I am and you just strolled here by accident, there are a few things you should know about me to help you digest anything you read here. One of those things is Seinfeld.

Simply put, Seinfeld is a picture of my basic personality.

I started watching that show a while ago. I remember a few years back when I discovered that it aired for two episodes from three to four every day after school. So the ritual began. All throughout high school, if I did not have a sport or school commitment, I would watch my favourite show. My friends generally kept hang out time reserved for the weekend and since I have only done about 50 hours of homework for the last 18 years, little kept me from my daily ritual. I loved the show and I still do.

Looking back, I wanted Seinfeld's life to be my life (No wait, the other way around but it did not really matter what happened to him). I wanted to have friends walk into my apartment; we would have crazy conversations and then later pose as Nazi imposers. I wanted to have THAT table at the coffee shop and a crazy neighbour to boot. I really wanted to be the guy that people would come to with their problems and a few sarcastic jokes aside, everything would be solved in 22 minutes.

I kept watching that show and eventually the day came when I realized that it was also on at ten, again for two episodes. With two hours of a show about nothing, each day, I soon ran out of new episodes. But that did not stop me. I still watched it and today I can recall most of the plots with a few prompts. It is safe to say that it went beyond a little healthy obsession. Seinfled shaped my life.

That's no hyperbole either. If you look at the characters and myself, it can be a little scary. George, with his ridiculous theories, characteristic story-telling and an ability to talk his way out of anything; Elaine's furiously dominating personality when something goes wrong and a strong belief in the truth; Kramer's monologues filled with strange voices, even stranger gestures and unlikely situations; Jerry's sarcastic wit and the faint light of sense and reason he holds; all of these things are within my life. All these things, are in my personality. Even the systematic analysis of every social norm: from how long before you can dump someone who turns out to be a recovering drug addict to the social status of a make believe architect. An episode of Seinfled fairly accurately describes my life.

The question I leave you with is this. Is it because I intuitively or subconsciously knew, at a young age, that all these things were part of me that I love Seinfled or is it because I love Seinfled that these traits are now in my life?