Whatever Gets You Through the Night

We're all susceptible to it. Hell, we're encouraged to do it. A little retail therapy here, some People magazine there, maybe a late-night pint of Haagen-Dazs. Indeed, we are a culture of the Guilty Pleasure.

But where do these habits come from? How did we get to this place? I'm thinking the guilty pleasure is merely a side effect of a culture with leisure time. I mean, would we have naughty little secrets to keep if we were busy digging in the fields or, say, chewing animal tendon to make the glue for our new bow and arrow? Unlikely.

They must be called guilty pleasures for a reason, though. Some might suggest that this sort of luxury is a real curse to our society. Morally speaking, we should probably feel at least a little bad about such self-gratifying activities that certainly aren't contributing to the greater good. We should probably make a few more personal sacrifices and redirect our energies in ways which would help out our brother men. It's the only proper thing to do.

But, yea...whateva! Honestly, what harm could come from watching The Biggest Loser from bed while mowing through a pile of Halloween candies? Uh, er, not that I know anyone who does that. But if I did know such a person, I'd know that she surely does not feel guilty about any of her pleasures.