Trying out for Survivor: Why Not?

The announcement was a commercial, it said that the T.V. show survivor [CLICK 1] was going to be holding open auditions for an upcoming show and anyone who would like to try out should show up at the address given and do their best. [CLICK 2] That was it. It was all I needed; it was a chance!

It isn't about odds; we all know that the odds favor the house, right? A person isn't likely to win, are they? [CLICK 3] [CLICK 4]Most of the Salmon who try to swim upstream, don't make it, do they? [CLICK 5]But the likelihood of a win, or loss, doesn't have a thing to do with the try, and the fact that Salmon are going home to breed, well, we'll let that one go for now... [CLICK 6]

Are you bored with life sometimes? In this day and age of miracles in virtual reality games, [CLICK 7(!)] in conversations over cellular wonders, [CLICK 8] in work that is sometimes tedious inside a little cubicle, [CLICK 9] it gets tough at times, for some, including me, to stay connected to the thrill of it all. Our life becomes more of the song "is that all there is..." [CLICK 10] than "Shining Star." [CLICK 11] So we look for something to bust us out of that, and just because we are looking we should know, that tells us something about what we're willing to get into.

They put a packet for printout on the web, it contained a disclaimer form about what we wouldn't be allowed to sue them for when we got wild, and if we didn't get wild, and it also offered us the chance to volunteer our adventures for free when we did this try out. So the two minute commercial they were going to film, could be used by the show, even if we never got to be a Salmon. Free fish for the television audience, at the fishes expense, "well", I thought, "it's always at the fish's expense, isn't it?" So after going through this nineteen page wonder, and dotting each "i" and crossing each t, the week couldn't go bye fast enough for me. I was excited and waiting for the chance to swim, run, jump, act crazy, or do whatever it took.

Three days past the "I can't stand another single minute", point, the day actually came, a Sunday morning, cold, with the wind coming off the Red River in Bossier, Louisiana, the try out was set at the local "Horseshoe", casino. [CLICK 12] One of the local T.V. stations, channel 12, had volunteered their camera crews to help us film the two minute tape to turn in to the producers to choose the next group who would get to try out. It was cold, had I mentioned that(?), the crowd of about three hundred were allowed to stand out in the freezing, sub thirty degree cold for a couple of hours at least? It was...well, you get the point; let's put it this way, birds had huddled together by the sewer grates because they weren't even going to try and fly in that wind.

The audible gasp up front singled that the doors were open, precisely at ten, as they had said, which we all thought was pretty gruesome, given that they could've let us in, but we laughingly suggested, after all, "Hey, its survivor man...we gotta survive right"? So after standing in the freezing cold for several hours, which seemed a lot longer because of the cold, we the frozen chosen were allowed to rush through a registration line that was wonderfully organized and helped to get ready for our filming moment.

This is human drama of sorts because you are standing inline with strangers, but you have something in common, that common ground allows you to discuss some neat things. One man with me was from Oklahoma, he had driven from that state, the night before, to be present for the trials. Another man had the unique talent of being a snake handler, not your everyday career, and he was fascinating to listen to as he explained having an Albino Python that he loved. The concept of loving a snake fascinated me; it is way above my play zone.

As we were ushered inside we turned in our pre filled out packets, with our dossier sized photo, continued on around a rope line, and then waited briefly for one of four ten by twenty filming tents to come open. As the tents became open you were led into one, introduced to the filming crew and told to "do your thing." You had two minutes to say and do whatever you felt might impress the producers to bring you into the show. The best advice we were given was to be yourself, they would believe you that way, and often that was what they were looking for, a believable person.

As we did our two minute spiels it seems to me that everyone there enjoyed themselves, had a great time, and really gained, if for only a brief instant, a sense of what it means to move into that very special category of person who puts it on the line, a survivor.

References:

1. TV Guide listing for survivor show: http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/survivor/204718

2. Homepage of CBS - Survivor broadcast: http://www.cbs.com/

3. Do the odds really favor the house in gambling? http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/161683_gamblingodds23.html

4. Gambling college study by Jarvis: http://www.math.byu.edu/~jarvis/gambling/gambling/gambling.html

5. Salmon spawning: http://www.mgfalaska.com/salmon-spawning.html

6. Salmon on the web: http://www.rivernen.ca/reptile5.htm

7. (!) You Have Got To See This One: http://www.activeworlds.com/#

8. Cellular wonders: http://www.articlestree.com/communication/arrival-of-4th-generation-wireless-technology-and-its-effects-on-daily-lives-ov-tx300910.html

9. Cubicle workers: http://www.wisegeek.com/do-cubicles-make-workers-more-productive.htm

10. Is that all there is? http://www2.hawaii.edu/~lady/snapshots/peggy-lee.html

11. Earth Wind & Fire on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLfVPBgGXqI 12. Horseshoe Casino, Bossier Louisiana: http://www.harrahs.com/casinos/horseshoe-bossier-city/hotel-casino/property-home.shtml