Dr. Carolyn Lee reflects on a different cliché each week. Recently, in her blog “A Place for Everything,” she reveals her life-long interest in organization. This week Carolyn explores the cliché, guilty pleasures.

Learn more about Dr. Carolyn Lee on her biography page or investigate 29 more clichés in her latest book, Keep Your Eye on the Ball And Other Clichès to Live By. 

Guilty Pleasures

Okay, I have a drinking problem. Nearly every day of my life, I stop at a 7-11 and get a 32-ounce Big Gulp. Diet Coke is my beverage of choice. I have read scary articles warning me that my habit might possibly cause stroke, heart disease, kidney decline, cardiovascular issues, and metabolic syndrome, but let’s put that aside. I would not go so far as to say I am addicted to Diet Coke, but I do admit that I’d have a hard time giving it up. Actually, I’ve never even tried to give it up.  

Before Diet Coke there was Tab. I started drinking Tab when I was in college, so we’re talking more than sixty years ago. I figure if diet soda were going to kill me, it would probably have done it by now. So, I stubbornly continue this dreadful habit, but I’m admitting here that it does make me feel just a little bit guilty. If I were to see in one location, mounded in a huge pile, all the 32-ounce Diet Coke cups I have emptied, I would be mortified. If I were to learn the amount of money I have spent on this completely unnecessary and possibly unhealthy beverage, I would hang my head in shame. But I have a Diet Coke on the desk beside me as I write this, and I’m enjoying it. Think how much worse I would feel if my problem were Johnny Walker Scotch Whiskey. 

I’ve pretty much outgrown my embarrassing and undignified experiences with various high-calorie goodies. But, oh, there was a time, when I would consume a whole package of Pepperidge Farm Double Milk Chocolate Milanos or maybe a pint of Sealtest’s Almond Butterscotch Royale ice cream. Yes, there was pleasure, but it was usually spoiled by the guilt that followed.  

There are other behaviors that fall under the title of “Guilty Pleasure” that mostly just make me feel silly or foolish. For instance, I play solitaire on my computer every morning after I read the news on MSN. Solitaire is a game that doesn’t require much skill or card savvy—at least not the way I play it. This particular version can be played at different levels, starting with “Easy,” and working up through “Medium, Hard, Expert, Master and Grandmaster.” I chose the “hard” level, which allows me to retain a little bit of self-respect. I don’t care anything about being a Grandmaster at the game of Solitaire. What does that say about me? I don’t want much of a challenge? I think winning is more fun than losing? I have a low-grade spirit of competition? There are those who would say playing Solitaire is a complete waste of time. I cannot really argue the point. I can only say that it brings me a modicum of pleasure—along with a tiny bit of guilt. 

One definition I found for “guilty pleasure” was “something, such as a movie, television program, or piece of music, that one enjoys despite feeling that it is not generally held in high regard.” Operating under that concept, I would have to name watching true crime dramas as a habit of which I am not particularly proud. I have asked myself, while engrossed in a Dateline drama that involves kidnapping, murder and dismemberment, why on earth I would be so taken with this dark and disturbing genre. Is it just morbid curiosity? A weird form of escapism? I have come up with some reasons—or excuses.  

One is that I enjoy the CSI aspect of the story. I think it is fascinating that the team of detectives can find a 20-year-old fingernail or a cigarette butt and use it to track down the perpetrator of the crime. If I had it to do over, maybe, instead of becoming a teacher of communication and theater arts, I’d get into forensic science and solve grisly murders.  

The solving, itself, is very satisfying. Some true crime shows tell stories that leave you hanging. At the end of the program, you can’t be sure who actually did it or if anyone will ever be found guilty. No. I want to see the crime solved and the bad guy get what is coming to him.  

Some psychologists suggest that the viewers of these types of shows watch because it makes them feel fortunate that they aren’t the victims. Yes, I might have some issues, some problems, but, at least, no one has ever tied an anchor to my foot and thrown me over the side of a sailboat. Lucky me.    

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that “pleasure” is what I derive from watching true crime programs. It is more “satisfaction.” It is being reminded that justice will prevail, that the evil-doer will be caught and punished by clever people who never give up. When G.K. Chesterton was asked about children’s fascination with scary fairy tales, he said, “Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed.” Yes, it is comforting to know that bad guys go to prison and dragons can be killed. 

I am heartened to know that almost everyone has guilty pleasures they occasionally enjoy, and almost everyone is embarrassed to share them. Well, I’ve shared a few, and it didn’t hurt a bit. Here’s a quotation I came across that makes a lot of sense to me: 

“The truth is that these types of little indulgences make life more fun and bearable when you’re bogged down by a stressful work week or want to get out of your head for a while. It’s all about appreciating these guilty pleasures in moderation and not worrying about other people’s perceptions of them.”

I’ll drink to that—with a 32-ounce Big Gulp!

Want to Read More? 

Check out Dr. Carolyn Lee’s blogs on her website, she features a new cliché each week or you can order her new book, Keep Your Eye on the Ball And Other Clichès to Live By. Want to know more about the woman behind the words? Read more about Carolyn here. We hope you enjoyed this article learning more about the cliché, guilty pleasures