By the time my makeup was done I was ready to go home. My nerves were starting to get the best of me. I tried to pry my lips apart but my teeth seemed to get in the way. I needed water; my mouth felt like the sahara desert. Me and Jon were seated in two blue chairs; a picture of Pittsburgh stood behind us, the studio was poorly lit and the scene badly mimicked the city, the too posed backdrop looked fake and unnatural.
I occasionally joked with the camera man to pass the time asking unserious questions such as, if he had a skinny camera like the one Oprah has. Then the camera man placed an ear piece in my ear. The sound crew’s voice back in New York was hardly audible in my ear. Then the camera man placed a small black microphone on my blouse. We practiced counting to five, Jon first than me. My ear piece was not working properly so I was given another one. I did a sound test again. My sound piece failed. Jon’s passed and unfortunately I was given a third one to try. They say threes a charm but not in this case. I still could not hear the sound man back in New York.
We were given the ok from New York- two minutes to broadcast. Then I heard the camera man say “What Louie, the satellite is down.” To some that is no big deal but for me and Jon it was a big deal. You see- my brother Louie died four years ago and he has sent signs from beyond the grave before. This was surely another sign! And to make this a little more eerie he has a star in his name in space! My first thought was let’s get the hell out of here! But I froze and just sat there dumbfounded for about five minutes and then without warning the camera man said,”Were live!”
To made matters worse I still could not hear Geraldo and I sat with a stupid confused look on my face. I had no idea what I said until I saw the footage of myself when I got home.
Geraldo never asked how he heard of our story; he made my son look like he was in trouble. The psychologist and the judge who were also on the show took my words right out of my mouth, and said exactly what was in my blog and what I told his producers.
As soon as I walked out into the lobby my son Mark and his girlfriend were laughing and said I looked like I was pissed off. I was pissed off and I was disappointed. The whole drive home all I could think of was what just happened. I never noticed that the driver was weaving in and out of lanes!
The purpose of us going on Geraldo’s show was to inform parents the dangers a camera cell phone can bring. That was my understanding as to why we were asked on the show. I left disappointed ; I felt used by Geraldo and his producers. I felt that he took advantage of my son. The whole segment looked liked Jon was in trouble when in fact he was just telling what was sent to him on his cell , as Geraldo would say– by some little tramps! The good thing that came out of this was someone read my blog and it got someones attention! When Jon goes back to school and the teacher asks, “Did anyone do any thing interesting this summer,” Jon has something to talk about!
It was a learning experience good and bad for me and Jon; hopefully not our only five minutes of fame but the beginning.
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