What's bugging me more about Drew Basille, 6-day Jeopardy winner and 23 year old graduate student from Michigan, is something much closer to jealousy, but schadenfreude is definitely a catchier word and more fun to say. I will enjoy Drew's pain when he inevitably loses on Jeopardy as everyone does. It just hasn't happened yet. Schaden means pain in German, and "freude" actually means "joy." I never pieced that together with Sigmund Freud whose last name means joy, but I guess that means sense. I actually rarely root for other people to be in pain, I would much rather everyone go through life painless and carefree, but when it comes to watching Jeopardy and all reality TV shows, I am savage at willing for others' demise. I root for the new contestants on the show and are happy for them to win their first game and experience the joy of winning (as I one day hope to experience), but as soon as that contestant wins their second game I start to get a mean streak and the schadenfreude truly kicks in as I revel every time they miss a question, look stumped, or in general get knocked down a peg.
Why do I get this jealousy/schadenfreude, or jealafreude, as I newly coined it? It's because Jeopardy actually lets real people on, as do reality TV shows (back when Reality TV actually chose real-life people instead of recycling cast members from other shows who have done well or are fan favorites guaranteed to have ratings, or who have at least some social media presence already) and I wonder if that could have been me. It's petty, but true: I don't get the same jealousy about professional sports stars, movie stars, or most celebrities, but it hits close to home that the reality TV/game show could have been me. And Drew has been on Survivor (last season I think) AND been on Jeopardy. AND is 6 foot 6, a natural physical gift. AND went to Oxford and got a free trip to Italy while I had to pay quite handsomely for my trip right after the pandemic. AND he's just 23 years old. I wish I had achieved all of my dreams and ambitions at 23, which Drew is seeing play out for him. Part of me thinks maybe he's peaking too early and life will never get better for him, it's all downhill from here, but in reality he's got his whole life ahead of him and it's much more likely he gets called back for Survivor again (could really enhance his "brains" profile) and is already coming back for Tournament of Champions in Jeopardy. It's the nature of America, you make it big in one thing, it actually makes it easier for you to get even bigger, have more star power. It's great for the one Drew out there, it's bad for millions of Bobbys who don't get that chance. He got an Italian cities category in his fifth game! What luck!
Some people just have all the luck. The Chinese people have a saying, "People born into good luck don't know that they're lucky." It's probably true; I was born lucky and here I am complaining about other people who have been just a little luckier in life. We're never satisfied, it's the hedonic treadmill. After making $100,000, the next goal is $200,0000, then $1 million, etc. That's the human in us, but I guess it also keeps us hungry, more driven. For Mr. Drew Bastille, I just hope he understands that life is not always this smooth, there are so many bumps and unexpected turns along the way, you don't always get what you want (me), you discover you're not as smart as you thought you were (definitely me), and things you took for granted (ability to make a baby naturally) go away without warning. Or loved ones suddenly are taken away quickly. Or you go up in the attic of your parents' house and find rat droppings indicating presence of rats. I think Drew will eventually find those things out, but for right now, night after night boy am I hoping he finds out what a loss feels like sooner rather than later.
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