Friday afternoon I took Josie over to Durham to meet one of my childhood idols - Mr. McFeely from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. He was the mailman who probably taught me the joy go getting boxes from postal workers. He was doing a reading. A few years back he had come to a kid museum in Greensboro. I couldn't see him then since the rule was adults couldn't get into the place without a kid bringing them. Guess that cuts down on the child abductors. But this time, I had a baby and I wasn't going to back down. He was a nice guy to the kids. At the start of his time, he asked if any of the kids wanted to sing a song for the group. Josie didn't raise her hand even though by now she must have memorized the best of the Free Design. He brought out the puppets for Owl and King Friday.
During his talk with the kids, he talked about how happy he was to be their TV friend. And it struck me how rare it is to have TV Friends anymore. Do any of those creeps that get face time on VH1 and MTV really want to be TV Friends? Judges on TV aren't really our friends because they won't have your back if you get dragged on their shows. Talkshow hosts aren't friends since they just want to exploit the freakshow elements and make their guests cry. There are only a few people that you feel would be friendly if you bumped into them at an airport that they'd be nice to you. That they wouldn't turn into self-centered jerks without the cameras. That if you weren't a guest, you'd be brushed off like dirt. Or their so famous that they're surrounded by goons and weasels forming a protective coating around them - like Miley Cyrus and Handy Manny. Right now the list of modern TV friends is reduced down to Al Roker and the folks on Ace of Cakes.
It was so nice to finally meet Mr. McFeely. He posed with Josie and we joked how she's going to appreciate this moment and the picture 5 years from now when she's old enough to understand Mr. Rogers.
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