Leagues from reality
Author’s note:
In my younger days as a police detective in Auckland, New Zealand, I viewed keeping up with soap operas with the same of sort urgency and enthusiasm as I did to a call over the radio of “burglars on” — that is to say I would race from one end of the city to my home in order to catch the latest episode of a certain soap opera on television. To be completely honest I ranked soap operas perhaps a little higher than burglars, after all burglars were a dime a dozen — not so with re-runs or catch-ups in those early days which hardly existed.
The year of this story is of no real importance although the characters and situation in the soap opera mentioned will date it almost to the month and year for some of the older house-wives today.
I was engaged on a rape investigation in Mt Eden (suburb of Auckland) at the time and we were doing door-to-door enquiries. At a certain point during the day I kept a close watch on the time and cursed that I couldn’t slip away and get to a television to watch my favorite soap opera: “Days of our lives.”
I went to one house and knocked on the door but nobody answered. I knocked again and still nobody. Then I noticed the door wasn’t closed, but ajar. I gently pushed it open, just wide enough to put my head through and at the same time hailed: “Anybody home?” Again there was no reply.
I thought I heard the noise of people speaking somewhere deeper in the house, so I ventured to step inside. I should point out that Mt. Eden in those days was a bonanza for burglars and in many streets no house had been spared — so you will understand my caution.
Giving my voice a little more volume, I called out again — nobody responded - so I walked along a corridor until I became level with the kitchen where clouds of steam rose up from a pot boiling over on the stove. I promptly removed the pot and turned off the element.
I could still hear voices coming from a room further along the corridor, so I walked on still calling out as I went:
“Hello, anybody home.” But no answer.
I then reached a room that appeared to be the lounge and from which the noise was being emitted, and what did I see?
Seated in front of a large television was a lone woman on a couch, there she sat with her elbows on the knees and her chin cushioned in palms of her hands deeply engrossed in a program she was watching. I entered the room, she did not look up, but seemed to be unaware of my presence.
To my joy she was watching the program: “Days of our lives.”
For the benefit of those who have never watched the show and probably were too young to have seen the sequence that I’m about to refer to, as the title suggests it was about the day-to-day lives of the people in the town of Salem, USA. Among the main characters were Julie and Doug — she a vivacious, attractive, middle-aged woman, and he a pleasant, easy going, likable fellow who tended bar. They were very much in love, recently married, and it was unthinkable they should ever part.
Naturally there were the villains and people you loved to despise on the show as well. One such character was Don Craig (played by Jed Allan), successful attorney. Not exactly a villain but definitely somebody you could readily loath for he had an eye’ or Julie and would have done anything to drive a wedge between Julie and Doug in order that he could steal her affection. As with all shows of its type it had many more characters involved in their little intrigues, but for the sake of my story that is all you need to know.
My story continues…..
I couldn’t believe my luck, for she was watching the very show I wanted to see. I stood beside her and quickly picked up the threads of the story.
I was in a very nasty shock, somehow that conniving Don Craig had done something to cause Julie to fly to Mexico to get a divorce from Doug- I was shocked to the core, devastated, I couldn’t believe it.
I said to the woman (who was still oblivious to my presence): “Julie’s getting a divorce — is it true?”
Without looking up she said tearfully: “It’s true, Oh! My God it’s true — it’s terrible.”
“Can’t be,” I exclaimed, still in a state of shock. “I refuse to believe it.”
“How could she do such a thing to poor Doug,” said the woman who was totally distraught.
“What could have caused it?” I said in equal disbelief.
“She won’t go through with it — she can’t,” sobbed the woman.
“I agree, their love is too strong,” I said supportively.
What could have caused this dramatic turn of events? I sat down by the woman totally absorbed. Suddenly there was a commercial break and the woman was suddenly catapulted back from Salem, USA, to Mt. Eden, Auckland, N Z, and there seated beside her was a young man dressed in a suit (me).
She jumped up off the couch and screamed: “Who the hell are you?”
“Oh, I’m Detective ………,” and I fumbled in my back pocket to find my I.D card. “We’re doing enquiries in this area ……..”
Suddenly, the commercial break was over and “Days of our lives” resumed.
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The woman then turned her attention from me back to the TV screen again and was instantly transported back to Salem, USA, without even looking at my ID card or hearing the rest of my explanation. Her only further acknowledgement to me was her patting of the seat beside her as an invitation for me to sit down, which I eagerly did and joined her in her fantasy world.
Time has now erased from my mind why Julie went to get a divorce, I think it was merely a knee- jerk reaction over something Doug may have done, or something she thought he had done. Don Craig may have had nothing to do with it, but as I say he was somebody you loved to despise anyway for he was so bloody confident, swamy and smooth towards women.
At the conclusion of the program both the woman and I were trying to recover from the shattering news regarding Julie and our conversation when something like this:
“She won’t go through with it, she loves Doug too much,” said the woman drying a tear from her eye.
“I agree.” I replied. “What would possess her to do such a thing?”
“It’ll be that Don Craig, you can bet. Something he said or a false rumor he created about Doug — after all Doug was married to Addie Banning before she died you know.” Observed the woman.
“Good Heavens,” I exclaimed, “You mean he was married to Julie’s mother?”
“Yes he was, and you can bet that despicable Don Craig would have ‘made capital’ out of that, for he had been engaged to Julie prior to her mother dying and leaving Doug a widower — did you know that?”
I nodded in disbelief saying: “So Julie must have secretly loved Doug all along, even while her mother was alive?”
“Yes, so when her mother died she broke off the engagement with Don Craig to be with Doug.”
“Oh! I see, no wonder Don Craig was miffed.
“I don’t care he was a worm anyway,” spat the woman.
“He certainly was a worm,” I said agreeing and continued with: “I think you’re right, that Don is a slimy individual, he’s had affairs with so many women in Salem and now wants to add Julie to the list — he’s conniving philanderer.
“Doesn’t he think he is so smug and smart being a big, successful attorney and poor Doug being just a barman,” observed the woman.
“I thinks he’s a bounder,” I said?
“Yes, he’s a bounder,” she agreed.
“I hate him,” she returned.
“I hate him too, he’ll come to a sticky end one day, you wait and see,” I said trying to sound consoling.
“Oh! I hope so,” she said, dabbing her cheek with a hanky.
Then in a sudden swoop to earth she said: “What was it you wanted anyway?”
I went onto explain about the rape and the purpose of our house-to-house enquiries.
“Oh! I heard about that — terrible — but sorry I can’t help you I was probably watching TV at that time of day.” Said the woman.
I left the house and started to walk to the next house when the Detective Inspector drove by.
He called out: “Have you gained any useful information detective?”
I was going to tell him about the earth-shattering news about Julie going to Mexico to get a divorce but wisely decided not to.
Epilogue: the main purpose behind this story is to illustrate just how absorbed in a fantasy world some people can become that they are oblivious to what’s really going on around them.
As an interesting aside the program ran for another 14 years before the fictional character, Don Craig, left his home one day to post some mail and was never seen or heard of again. So, it seems he may have come to a sticky end after all — well we can all hope.
And what of Doug and Julie? They lived happily ever afterwards.
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