Officemate John just got back from a fabulous trip to Europe (bearing Belgium chocolate - yay, John!) While he was in London they went to Jerry Springer the Opera which he says everyone should see if they get a chance. We talked a lot about Jerry Springer back when I was running the Women's Shelter. We'd banned professional wrestling at one point in the regular shelter because of the language and anti-woman attitude it had at the time. I applied the same ban at the Women's Shelter to be fair and Jerry Springer promptly replaced it as the favorite show after the local news. Although I don't know how you would quantify it, the show did have an affect. A lot of the women started calling each other bitches and 'hos. When I objected (because cursing is banned in the shelter and I just generally wanted an atmosphere or mutual support and respect), they complained that the use was affectionate and in fun and I just didn't understand. Some of this talk was just part of the normal street culture they lived everyday outside the shelter, but I know it's spread since Jerry Springer started airing. The worst part of it is that so many of the women think that whooping ass and threatening to whoop ass is the only way to handle interpersonal conflict now. Well, love it or hate it, Jerry Springer is part of the American popular culture now and it does seem like it would be a great subject for an opera. John said that the second half of the opera involved Jerry's trial to decide if he would go to heaven or hell. If it were up to me...