Soap Operas

 I've had the pleasure of taking my father-in-law to the dentist.  He had three appointments with in one week.  They are one-hour long appointments, so I always make sure I have toys to occupy myself.

There is a television in the waiting room.  It is muted, but has closed captioning.  The favorite show played during these visits has been golf  a soap opera.  I'm not even sure which one, that's how close attention I am paying to the television.

On the first visit, I started watching this soap opera and noticed a few things.  I think that this is the recipe on, "How to write a soap opera," so, pay close attention.  

There is always one "colorful" character.  The one that dresses odd, mixing up patterns and colors. 

There is a couple who sneak around (have an affair).  

There is a character that is in the hospital.  They can be awake or in a coma. 

The character that gets stabbed or shot.

The character that develops some strange/weird illness.

And of course, the outlaw.

Back in the day, I used to watch, "All My Children."  And, thinking back to that time, all of these types of characters were present on the show.

I believe all soap operas have the same plots.  There are rich and poor families.  The rich families are snooty and don't want to associate with the poor.  But there is always one family member from each that fall in love with each other.  There seems to be a lot of cheating on spouses/girl/boyfriends that happens on these shows.  A lot of revenge stories, lies and rare illnesses.

I wonder if anyone's life is really like these soaps?