Gimore Girl Syndrome: Symptoms Include Coffee and Chinese-Food Cravings

I have Gilmore Girl Syndrome. I watched this television show through all seven seasons, and as each season passed, my Gilmore Girl Syndrome became a bit more severe. By the last episode of the last season, I had a raging case of Gilmore Girl Syndrome.

For those who never watched the show, some explanation is needed. The popular show Gilmore Girls centered around Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter Rory. It began as Rory, just turning 16, entered Chilton, an exclusive private high school. We all watched as she struggled socially, fell in and out of love, succeeded academically, and progressed through Yale. Lorelai meanwhile suffered her string of failed relationships, but managed to open her own business, the Dragonfly Inn. The curtain closed as both women, newly single, prepared for Rory to take on her first post graduate job.

What you may be curious about is just what Gilmore Girl Syndrome is. It is a gradual onset of characteristics displayed by the character themselves. For instance, both Lorelai and Rory drink coffee like it is their job. I can no longer watch the show without also getting a cup of joe. In fact, I have become addicted to it and am now a coffee fiend. They eat atrociously, pigging out on foods that make people's arteries clog just by thinking about them. But junk food is necessary when watching each and every episode, and I now crave pizza, pop tarts and Chinese when reading and doing research. They also consistently talk about obscure movies and bands, which have left me curious enough to go take a gander at these on my own, and some of them have become my favorites.

But it goes beyond the above mentioned. Gilmore Girl Syndrome becomes ingrained in every fiber of your being. It affects what you read, what you wear, and even how you talk. Both Rory and Lorelai are famous for their fast paced, witty, sarcastic banter. I have found myself speaking similarly on several occasions. I end up speaking so quickly that the person I am conversing with has to prompt me to take a breath. Even their relationship with each other is contagious. My mother and I share a very similar relationship. We are more best friends than mother and daughter. We enjoy doing things together that others would never understand. Heck, I even have the usually absent father and the wealthy grandparents!

I am not some weirdo who tries to compare her life to fictional television characters. My life is my own and it is very real, while the Gilmores are just a big game of make believe. But this show has touched me personally, due to so many similarities, and has really impacted me. I never attended a school as prestigious as Chilton or Yale, but I was a good student, and like Rory, I pursued journalism with the hopes of becoming a foreign correspondent. (This, by the way, was my dream long before Gilmore Girls ever aired.) The parallels are sometimes uncanny, and because of this, I have let the show into my life in small ways.

For instance, I could really use some more coffee and a danish at the moment.