I realize that this will brand me a terminal cynic, but I really won’t sit through one more episode of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover”. I’m sure ABC’s crushed by this. For every person like me, there’s millions tuning in. After all, isn’t everyone reduced to a sobbing wreck every Sunday evening by yet another heartwarming story of a family that Truly Deserves to live in a house the vast majority of us could never afford?
The Hassall family of Cynthiana, Kentucky, are the latest to discover that an “Extreme Makeover” home is a nightmare dressed up in custom-designed rooms and really cool appliances. They’ve decided to put the house on the market after realizing they couldn’t afford it. After all, anyone who’s ever owned a house knows that there’s no such thing as a “free house”.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2009449905_gifthome12.html
With all the accompanying fanfare that ABC and an excited town of 6,272 and the Harrison County High School choir could manage, the family was given the keys to their brand-new home. The tears shed that day were real. The camaraderie of that day has lingered.
That is, until recently, when the Hassall family announced that they have put the house up for sale.
They have tried explaining themselves. Many of Michelle’s medical problems, she says, are exacerbated by stress, which will be eased when their household debt is erased.
They would also like to be closer to the center of downtown Cynthiana, to their families and a little closer to Lexington and to their medical providers.
Hey, ABC, I’ve given this at least 30 seconds of serious thought, and I have a few ideas for you. In a time that millions are wondering whether or not they’re even going to have a home, let alone the $1.1 million dollar one a woman from Kirkland received awhile back from your program (and yeah, I worry; she’s a single parent, and supports her family by giving swimming lessons — how can she even afford the taxes on that place??!?) why not give “Extreme Makeover” a makeover? I realize that Ty Pennington won’t be able to scream quite as intensely over a home built by Habitat for Humanity volunteers, or a modest remodeling that provides a needy family with a house that’s manageable and perfect for their needs. Sears won’t sell as many appliances. At the same time,wouldn’t the real “feel good” TV leave the viewer with the knowledge that the family in question will be in a house they can afford?
How many houses (and families!) could be helped for the price of ONE of those homes?
If ABC really wants to make a splash, buy the rights to Marilyn Mock’s (the “Foreclosure Angel”) story, and deputize unknown people from the production staff to go to foreclosure auctions around the country, buying back homes of those who had some bad luck. Hand ‘em the keys. Give them a gift certificate to a good financial counselor, and make sure they can stay in their house!
I can’t imagine why I’m doing this. After all, my ideas of what comprises great entertainment are obviously unpalatable to network executives. (I’m still irritated with ABC for cancelling “Life Goes On”, for instance.) Nobody wants to tune in to see a family that works hard and isn’t photogenic being handed the keys to their modest Habitat for Humanity home. (Well, nobody but me. Maybe I should look into volunteering.) Our society is undergoing a seismic shift, though. We’re all being reminded on a daily basis that there are many, many things we can live without. Happily. Why not celebrate some of this stuff?
Somewhere in this country today, someone is being handed a set of keys to a home they worked hard to get. Every story is different. For every family that moves into their “dream house”, there’s a family that worked and saved for that down payment, and are beyond excited to stand in their 1200-square foot townhouse. There is nothing like the feeling of waking up that first morning in your house. Why not help more people get, and keep, that feeling?
-S
