random thoughts – Day 1,847 – (Monday) – noticing things

Woven around and between the movies I recently watched and episodes of the two weekly HBO series I like (The White Lotus, The Righteous Gemstones), the fill-in show is Love Is Blind. The show has women and men dating without seeing each other. This is accomplished by having each person seated in a pod, talking to the other through a wall, and if they eventually connect and like each other, they can get engaged and then they finally meet each other. They go on a vacation, then they go back to the home city and meet the families and friends and prepare for their wedding in two weeks.

Official show drinkware in a bar.

I’ve watched other seasons, and never have I once seen an unattractive person as a contestant. Almost all the women are an 8, 9, or 10, have movie star white teeth and are attractive in a conventional way. The guys will have one or two who are slightly more everyday looking, pulling the range down a smidge from 7s to 10s. Love might be blind, but on this show, you are at least spared dating an ogre.

The current season has me noticing some things. No matter where the scene is set—the men's quarters, women's quarters, the date pods, on vacation, or in the city, the drinkware is always the same. Gold-toned metal wine goblets and stemless drinking glasses were used everywhere, including the family homes and the restaurants and bars when they are back in the hometown. They are nice glasses, but come on. They hide the contents, but it seems weird the production company would dictate the drinkware used in a restaurant.

Joey, flossing his teeth.

Then I googled “Love Is Blind drinkware.” It turns out the show has an official drinkware line, which can be ordered from the Netflix Shop, so even we plebian non-contestants can “Impress with trendy drinkware from the official Love is Blind collection.” The show is essentially a 12-episode drinkware commercial.

The quarters are full of cameras, and the participants know they are on camera, but it doesn’t stop them from doing dumb things. In an episode I watched last week, the guys were in their living room area talking, and one guy, Joey, 34, Physician Associate, stood behind the bar flossing his teeth for several minutes that felt like forever. 

Dude! You are on camera, in a show that will be seen by a lot of people, with your fingers jammed in your moth flossing your teeth with your stupid little floss pick. Go to a private place for your hygiene practices. Please.  

Dental picks in a grocery store parking spot.

It was funny seeing the flossing episode because earlier the same day, I was at Hannaford. In the parking space next to mine, there were dental floss picks scattered on the ground. Was Joey, 34, Physician Associate, there and left his calling card? Also, I see those things on the ground everywhere. The bank parking lot, the parking garage, on the sidewalks, shopping center parking lots. Everywhere.

What is the deal people? Is everyone sitting in their cars doing a floss and toss? Maybe meet up with your friends, circle the cars and do a group event? Gross. Or maybe it's a panic purchase on the way to an event and the person realizes there is something in their teeth. Then, opening the bag in a hurry, it explodes open and the picks fly everywhere. Could be. Noticing things and then thinking about them can make my head spin.