O...O...OPRAH...

“Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”
(James 4:13-15)

I don’t get it.

Late last week Oprah Winfrey announced that her daily “Oprah” show will end in September of 2011- around 22 months from now.

O.K.

The story was covered as some sort of major, almost catastrophic event...well, certainly as a major historical milestone. And I don’t get it. I was having my hair cut at Collotta’s Hair Styling on Saturday and this story was blaring on their television set. It included a teary Oprah who seemed almost beside herself. (You’d think she’d been given 3 months to live, or something!) Collotta’s youngest (and only female) barber “Kelly” was cutting my hair. We talked about it, agreeing that the intensity of the story made no sense. Kelly speculated that maybe Oprah did this to increase her ratings, and that maybe in 2011 she’ll say something like, “My ratings have gone up so much, that I’m going to STAY!”

I used to watch the “Oprah” show fairly often, but that was back in the 1990s. I’d say that over the past three years I may have watched “Oprah” fifteen times. The daughter of a personal friend of mine has a pretty good job at Oprah’s Harpo studios, so I feel a bit of a connection there. I think Oprah is a nice and well-meaning person, BUT her new age philosophy...you know, all her touchy/feely “Kumbaya” stuff does get old! Oprah frankly has some dumb beliefs. She believes all spanking of children, for instance, is child abuse. If that’s true, then something like 75% of American parents are child abusers.

The Oprah show is going off the air in 22 months! That’s quite awhile! What’s all the crying and hand wringing for? And, I don’t THINK the syndication company pulled the plug on her. Like Sarah Palin, whom Oprah recently interviewed, she’s quitting. That’s it.

I was not a big Ted Kennedy fan at all, but what a contrast! Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer a year and a half ago. Was he wringing his hands and whining? No. Did he quit? No. Whatever you think about Chappaquidick or his politics or his drinking escapades, etc. he DID do his job as a U.S. Senator, and he remained optimistic.

I wonder how many people with terminal cancer watched weepy Oprah last week and thought (rightfully so), “Give me a BREAK!” And, how many people are losing their jobs? How many businesses are “going under”? But Oprah is crying because she’s going off the air in 22 months and it’s her own decision.

Again, I don’t get it.

Oprah, have a Happy Thanksgiving, if that’s possible!