JANUARY 9, 2007

       “A brand new refrigerator” or “an electric skillet” were the announcements on game shows that used to have people jumping for joy and unable to contain their excitement.  Now, those two prizes would have people saying, “Boring… I want the big money.”

       In fact, the term “big money” was used on game shows in the 70s and 80s,  By today’s numbers those amounts aren’t nearly enough compared to the high expectations game show contestants have today.

       But there’s a fine line for people as to how much they want to win when being a contestant on TV.  It makes for good ratings to risk it all.  Maybe the snap judgments people make can be clouded by the excitement of being on television. 

       I’m amazed when I watch game shows – especially the ones on American networks – to see how far people are willing to push their luck for even more money.  While it used to be all in fun, now it just seems downright greedy.  I never thought we’d live in a society where $100,000 isn’t enough for a person.  And it’s probably a safe bet to assume we’d all like to have that much money.

       Recently I told a colleague that no matter where my career takes me and how successful I become I still want to look at $100 as being a lot of money.  I don’t ever want to get to a point where I look at one of those red or brown dollar bills and say, “Yeah, this is fit to blow my nose in.”

       The response is disappointment from the people who don’t win the big bucks on the game shows.  (Typically the prize is $1 million now.)  There are sighs from the crowd if a contestant only wins one thousand dollars, or $500… or worse yet $250.  When did 250 free bucks become such a bad thing?  I know many people who jump up and down at winning $20 on lottery scratch tickets. 

       And for me, that’s the kind of attitude that I always want to have.  I hope I always look at winning prizes or money as being fun and not something I want so intensely that I’m heartbroken if I don’t get it.