True Confessions !

[Boomer Chick]

OK, I have to have closure on this! I have a son who was on a reality TV show last summer! Yes! It is something I'm not proud of, and often wonder why we supported him on his decision to appear! The young man didn't know what hit him! They approached him at a night place in Denver, two girl scouts (well you know), and asked him to do a video interview. He did. He didn't think anything of it until they called him and flew him out to Hollywood for another interview and taping! They liked him! He was one of five guys who originally appeared on the show as the original group of guy and gals on Paradise Hotel. Between the time he first interviewed and the time he went to Hollywood for the final one, he vacationed with one of his bosses down in Puerto Vallarta and met and fell in love with a Canadian girl who he married last Nov. He didn't play the game like Survivors and never thought about alliances and such and was going to do the best he could, but he told his roomate, Toni, all about his new love, so word got around with the girls. As it was a coupling game to begin with, he was the first guy of the originals to be booted off Paradise Hotel. He had a great time, though, but we were busy comforting our future daughter in-law after every episode! He was on five episodes and all the originals who were booted off appeared for one to two more episodes later on in the season. It was a high and a low all at the same time for us parents! We were glad when he finally came home and got back to REAL LIFE! His boss, at the design firm (his first year and 1/2 after graduating) wouldn't keep his job for him when he asked if he could take a break and do the show. She said "you go, you lose your job!" He couldn't resist. I guess the excitement of being on TV was too much of a temptation and she wasn't the nicest boss, anyway! Luckily he did get paid. I saved pics from the PH site and others and made him a scrapbook. Now he's started his own business and struggling to make a living to keep his new little wifey, whom we love, happy!

The originals, he's the bottom right:



Andon and Charla. Charla won the big prize and didn't share it with her male runner up. Charla invited my son on a skin diving trip on the show and watching him skin dive in the Mexican Riviera was the biggest treat for us as parents. That's his future wife's hat he's wearing! He promised he'd wear it on the show for her!



This is his promo pic that was shown at the beginning of the episodes. Everyone on the show had one!



I confess, we were proud and also humiliated as he had himself a good time, and that means he was fun to watch and also was drunk some of time! Why what do you expect? This was paradise with all the drinks and food they could ever want, pools and beaches, sleeping in the same room with their opposite-sex partners -- OMG, it was scandalous, but guess what? It turned into the same group dynamics as Survivor after about half way through the season. After Dave, from Boston, came on the show the "game was on!"

[JerseyBluEyz]

Boomer said:

It is something I'm not proud of, and often wonder why we supported him on his decision to appear!

I'm not sure why you are not proud of his decision - but you and your hubby supported him, right or wrong at the time, right or wrong after the fact, BECAUSE you are his parents. That's your job! To be supportive regardless of what YOU think is right. Right? Hopefully he learned from the experience. Even if the lesson has not hit him yet, it will one day.

If I had a chance to be on TV at his age, I'd have done it too! Wouldn't you? Come on!!! To have them pay for you to stay in Paradise, with the beaches, the water, the clear skies, the diving, the game itself! Yeah, I'd have done it! I can't imagine at that age having the restraint to NOT "sleep" with the opposite sex especially when liquor is invovled. SOOOO, he deserves some kudos for that at least! ha! LOL!!

Loved those pictures too!

[Boomer Chick]

Thanks, JBE!

Yeah, you're right! We supported him because we knew we could not deny him the experience as it came to him, and beckoned to him, and it was exciting for him at this stage of his life and evolvement -- the ego development stage. And you're right again, that the lessons learned, if not immediately learned, will be processed through retrospection. He learned a lot and expressed it to us when he got back and over the past year!

I do feel it destroyed a fantasy young people often have -- the fantasy of being a media personality. This popped him back into realizing his own talents, the talents he was born with, adn that they deserve development and attention. He also realized that his relationship with his girlfriend was far more important in retrospect, than this experience, but yet, the experience involved learning about people. He also had genuine fun and I know someday he'll look at himself on the tapes and smile!

Thanks so much, JBE, for the empathy and insight! Sometimes, because we went through so many levels of emotion over this and certain amount of stress, we still wonder, but your feedback really helps! We only received feedback from relatives and friends before the broadcasts, but after, everyone was silent except to say he looked good. We thought this was strange, so we tended to feel neglected and isolated and little judged by their silence.

Thanks again!

[thomas95521]

Thats funny!What a small world this is!I watched a few episodes of that show,and I remember seeing him.I hope life is good for him,and everyone else involved.
Take care all.

[Boomer Chick]

Hey, Thomas! ;D

Thanks for expressing our good wishes! Actually, Andon is having a difficult time. There are marital problems, organizational problems in both of them, maturity problems, money problems, and life is not easy for him. He was offered a great position in a design firm in Denver by one of his college instructors, and his wife insisted he not take the job because SHE wants to move to LA. It's been hell I'm afraid.

Please send prayers!

Thanks, Thomas!