The Family Market of What to Watch and Read

My family got together for a birthday dinner last night. 

Like usual, there was discussion of what we're reading and watching. There always seems to be a push to get other people to watch and read what we're reading.

I really think there's some kind of human drive to get people to have the same favorite shows, movies, books, songs, etc. that we do.

Maybe it's partly about power and influence. There's satisfaction of someone liking something, and we're able to think or say, I'm the one who introduced them to that.

I think it's also about the desire to have someone with whom we can discuss the book, movie, show.  

  

Anyway....

Last night, there was a lot of that happening.

It felt almost like some kind of market.  

My younger sister was selling Fleabag. I've heard of that show, and I think I might actually have it on my massively long to-watch list.  

She mentioned the show was British...and it was almost like a warning/disclaimer. 

Uh...hello?

In the past, I've done major marketing of Coronation Street to my sister. I mean I wrote long rambling texts about it, pushing her to watch it. 

I mentioned it again last night in response to her saying the British thing.  She didn't seem to have any memory of me mentioning it in the past. That was kind of frustrating.  

My mom started a book conversation with me.

She was selling a book called Queen Bee by Dorothea Benton Frank. 

I tried to sell A Marriage Story by Tayari Jones. My mom didn't seem too keen. But she did like my suggestion of Ghosted by Rosie Walsh.  She told me it was going to be next on her list. That made me feel kind of bad, because though I added Queen Bee to my list, I use Random.org to pick from the list instead of going in order. I don't know when I'll get to it...or if I'll ever get to it.

As for past successes in buying and selling.

Tim, Jack, and I had great success selling Modern Family to my entire family. I think we all became fans for a year or two.

In terms of buying, the best success was probably a few years ago when my mom suggested we watch Ugly Betty. We ended up loving the show.

Now another thing I'm wondering. What's more aggravating?  Is it someone not taking our suggestions and loving what we love?  OR is it when someone ends up loving a show or book and completely forgets that we had suggested it.

Once my sister asked for TV show suggestions. I enthusiastically offered a handful. My parents suggested some as well. My sister took their suggestion instead of mine.  I was a bit disappointed. Maybe a bit wounded.

Then sometime later, she started selling the TV show Limitless to the family. Hello?!!!!  That show was one of the ones I had suggested that day! She had no memory of that.

No. Sorry. You don't take what I've sold to you and try to sell it back to me. With TV show, book, and movie suggestions you pay it forward...NOT backwards.

What would our world be like if we

 knew for sure there 

was life after death, and 

we could easily talk to our 

dearly-departed on the Internet?

The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts