The Amazing Race

I don't watch much reality television and I've never paid any attention at all to The Amazing Race. But a few weeks ago, between the late afternoon football game and the night game I watched 60 Minutes and didn't turn the channel when The Amazing Race came on. I was pleased as punch to see that one of the couples competing on the show were a coal miner and his wife from rural Kentucky. They were amazing contestants. They played kindly and fairly and approached all the new experiences with eyes and hearts and arms wide open. They were one of the four final couples but they lost this past Sunday. I was sad for them but their parting words were so moving that I'm glad I got to hear them. David spoke about how proud he was of his wife for going on this adventure with him and Mary talked about how the trip made her realize even more that Kentucky was where they belonged, it was their home. But she also said that she was so glad to see other parts of the world and that it made her realize how much she wanted her children to see and experience the world and life as well. It was really beautiful.

Cut to today. It's a very overcast rainy day and I got a late start. So I make it to the gym and back just in time to see the beginning of The View. Rosie's talking about how much she loved Mary & David, how great they were on the show and how excited she was that they were going to be on The View. When the couple came out Rosie talked about how kind and generous they were with the other contestants and the people they met along the way. She also showed a clip of Mary talking about how she'd never known any Asian people before and that she was so happy that she got to know the Cho Brothers (a pair of Asian contestants, actual brothers I think but I'm not sure). Then another clip talking about how she'd never spent any time around gay people but she like them (one pair of contestants was two gay models). Rosie went on and on about how great they were. She then proceeded to give them a ton of gifts including a car, a house, a cruise, and family vacations every year for 3 years. I confess, I got a little weepy. These are the kind of people that a show like The Amazing Race is custom built for. People who never would travel the world any other way. People who don't have the time and resources to just take off and experience things like that. It was so happy-making to see them be such great representatives of Kentucky and to see them so handsomely rewarded even though they didn't win the show. Can we have more stories like this on tv please?*