Friday Afternoon Confessional: Infected with sin

I confess that I missed Spoiler Alert Thursday because for the first time ever, I watched The Walking Dead during its regular programming time. I was very curious as to why Shane (and the others) turned without having been attacked by a walker. Once I watched the episode, I was a little vexed by some of the characters’ reactions.

Rick’s wife – Lori(?), I’m terrible with TV characters’ names – was apparently pissed at him for killing Shane, but it seemed to me she spent the previous three or four episodes basically petitioning for him to kill Shane. Also, the group reacted pretty strongly to finding out everybody was already infected with the virus that turns people into zombies. I can see how this would be upsetting, but evidence suggests you have to die first to turn. Since in this new world, pretty much everybody dies via zombie anyway, I fail to see the huge significance here.

Although, now that I think about it, that would be kind of creepy in the long-term. Assuming the living survive and eventually get a handle on controlling zombies, the new handling of the dead – regardless of their means of passing – would have to include shooting them in the head. Or perhaps there could be a more ritual and aesthetic means of destroying their brain.

I confess Rick’s little speech at the end of the episode had me on his side right up until he said, “This isn’t a democracy.” I’d be a little pissed if I were listening to that. After all, Rick has made it pretty clear he will put the group in danger for the benefit of his wife and son. So should he be the boss because he’s willing, able and has at least as much to lose as anyone? Or does that fact actually make him the least fit to lead because he’ll bypass the good of the group for a few of its members?

I confess I am following the Trayvon Martin case pretty closely. I confess to believing, no irony here, that the internet saved his story from being swept under the rug. I think maybe even ten years ago this would have been the kind of case that would have been an obvious injustice that Time or some similar magazine would have done a story about some years later. I further confess that in the early days of the story going national, I wondered a) if inaction would win out even in the face of all the outcry and b) how widespread the resulting riots were going to be if that happened.

I confess to not having worn a jacket to work (or anywhere else, I suppose) in over a week.

Final confession. My NCAA brackets were so bad they may actually have been a sin in the eyes of God.