Guns

I usually enjoy Morgan Spurlock's "walk a mile in another person's shoes" television show 30 Days. Sometimes the episodes are really thought provoking, such as when a professional athlete lived life as a paraplegic in a wheelchair for the month, or when a laid off employee traveled to India to see who would be taking his job ("Outsourcing").

The best episodes are probably those in which Spurlock himself is immersed in some new activity/place for 30 days. The last episode to air had him living on the Navajo Reservation for the month. At the beginning of this season he was shown working in the coal mines of his native West Virginia. Last season he spent a month in jail, and in the series premiere he and his girlfriend lived on minimum wage for 30 days.

Sometimes the show misses, as when a mother took up binge drinking to better understand (and control) her daughter's college/party lifestyle ("Binge Drinking Mom"), or when a Mormon woman went to live with a family headed by two gay men ("Same Sex Parenting").

Still, 30 Days is almost always more interesting than whatever else is on in its time slot, even when the episode is unsuccessful at revealing any breakthroughs. But one episode recently got me so riled up in the first five minutes that I couldn't even watch it. It sent a gun control advocate to live with a father-son pair of gun enthusiasts ("Gun Nation"). I'm pondering what this says about me, and whether to be concerned about it or not. In the meantime, here's a lovely gun related headline to share:

Small Texas school district lets teachers, staff pack pistols

Come on, you know you want to read the whole story at Star-Telegram.com. Then come back here and share your thoughts.