Daydreaming about the ‘right price’

When I was a little girl, wedged on the sofa between Allen and Granny (grandparents), my only goal was to be on “The Price is Right.”
Each day at 11 a.m., I would snuggle in my usual spot with cookies in hand, ready to hone my skills in bidding on grandfather clocks, brand new cars and bottles of oil. At the ripe old age of two, I could bid on anything for a dollar. It was the safest bet and to me anyone who wagered a dollar made it onto the stage.
My game of choice would be Plinko. After winning four additional disks, the game is quite simple and I think the easiest to win. Standing at the top of the Plinko board, the contest drops one disk at a time down, hopefully falling into the $100, $500, $1,000, $10,000 and $0 slots. I know me winning $50,000 will probably never happen, but I’d want to win enough money to cover my stay in California.
After my glorious win at Plinko, one of the Barker Beauties would escort me back stage where I would wait for the Showcase Showdown at the Big Wheel.
Granny hated the Barker Beauties, no, let me rephrase that. She hated what the Barker Beauties wore. “They’re wearing nothing but their step-ins,” she used to cry out. “Step-ins” is an old people’s word for underwear. Example, you have to step into your underwear. Grinning, Allen would agree with her.
As time passed and I started going to school, my dreams of being a contestant on “The Price is Right” diminished. Until I learned that after 35 years of being the host, Bob Barker would be retiring and would be replaced by Mark Steins, Todd Newton or George Hamilton.
So not only are my dreams of wearing my Southern University sweater on national television and winning big money up in smoke, but they’re replacing Bob with some greasy haired, over tanned, botox filled, second rate host! Trying to find a replacement for Bob is like replacing Hugh Hefner at Playboy. There are just some personalities that cannot be replaced.
After completing three semesters of writing this column, I’ve learned one thing. It’s not really what you want or where you watch it, but whom you watch it with. Whenever I see “The Price is Right,” “Dallas,” “I Love Lucy,” “227” or “The People’s Court,” I will always remember my grandparents and all the fun I spent with them everyday while my parents were at work.
At first I would fling myself against the window and cry, but once Allen would tell me about all the fun I would have-and all the treats that I would be getting-my tears dried and my day began.
So over the summer, pick a show your entire family can watch together. It’s not what you watch, but the memories you make. See ya in the fall!