I knew it would happen: Just a week after all three of my children came down with the flu, I found myself with a fever, chills, and laid up in bed.And, we all know what that means–junk T.V.! Well, I happened to turn on “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce,” and, as you probably guessed, it’s about divorce. In one episode, the main character and her husband decided to go through divorce mediation. However, after mentioning this to a friend, who shows up but the friend’s divorce attorney to warn the main character of all the pitfalls of mediation.

I loosely quote, “mediators prey on those who are desperate and guilty. If you make more money, then, you feel guilty and will give him whatever he wants, and mediators know this.”

Wha?!

Yep, by the end of the episode, the main character and her husband tried mediation, got in a big fight, and decided the attorney was “right”. It IS better to go to war and hire separate attorneys.

As sick as I was, I felt so irritated by the misrepresentation of mediation in T.V. shows and media (and, this, coming from someone who used to employed by the media). Why is it so much more salacious to watch two people battle it out in court than to watch them compromise and be civil in mediation?

Anyway, the show is on Bravo, so, naturally, it attracts a certain audience, much like myself, I admit. So, yes, the show isn’t intended to reflect reality. However, I hope I can watch a real mediation on T.V. one day and feel like someone got it right!

Britt