Catfish Corner!

Here in the North Georgia Mountains, we used to have an all you can eat "fish house" called Catfish Corner. I loved the place because on Friday or Saturday nights, our parents would take us there for the all you can eat buffet and we'd try all sorts of Southern delicacies! For example, I had my first fried frog legs there! (I was 8 years old at the time- maybe it was just the novelty- but they really did taste like chicken!)

Anyway, now I have a new obsession with Catfish and it's not the food...it's the TV show!

If you haven't watched Catfish on MTV, you're missing reality TV at its best! It's a documentary-esque show about a twentysomething guy named Nev Schulman who (after discovering that his online love wasn't exactly who she portrayed herself to be) helps others discover the real identities of their online lovers.
Ok, so far, I've seen every episode and never has the other person turned out to be exactly who they say they are. Are we really surprised by this? So you text and chat on facebook for months (and in worse cases, years!) only to discover that the hot, blonde chick who may be the love of your life is really a college flunkie dude with waaay too much time on his hands.

The sad reality is that this is not a novelty. Real people are really getting hurt. It's sad, but the good news is that there are lessons for these kids (and sometimes even adults!) to learn from this show:

1. Don't believe everything you see online (or in the movies or magazines, for that matter!) Haven't you seen this commercial?
2. If you are going to believe what the person says, Google Skype. Then use it.
3. If 1 and 2 don't work, contact Nev and see if he'll do the investigating for you!
4. Some online relationships work. Some don't. If yours is the latter, find out what went wrong and try again (just maybe not online this time.)
5. You deserve for someone to respect you enough to be honest with you. NEVER settle for less!

Maybe this show will fizzle out just like Catfish Corner, but as long as there are people looking for love on the Internet, I suspect Nev'll have his work cut out for him.