Law and Order

“In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these crimes are known as the Special Victim’s Unit. These are their stories…”

Some of you just heard the two-tone clank of a slammer door hitting home in your head. Some of you are lost but don’t worry you’ll catch up. I don’t think you can get much more “guilty pleasure” than Law and Order: SVU. Honestly, what is the appeal? It’s a show about sex offenses, you really can’t get more “socially unacceptable” than that can you? So why do I like it so much?

I remember when I was younger, my grandpa always had Law and Order of some kind playing in the background. This was a man whose father was sold into child labor during the Great Depression and as a result, wasn’t the best father he could be to my grandpa. My grandpa had a hard time showing affection and he could be difficult to connect with at times. He was certainly a man who had been weathered a little by life if you know what I mean. Not only did he have radically traditional values he also just honestly wasn’t much of a talker unless the subject was religion or politics, subjects I rarely care to discuss. So, what did we do together?

We went to church and we watched Law and Order (I know, it's a strange series of events). Every Sunday morning he would take me to Yoke’s Fresh Market for a donut, we’d go to church, and then once we were home he would turn on the tv, and Law and Order reruns were on. I was pretty young, so I wouldn’t say that I ever paid attention (thank god because the content was not appropriate for my age bracket). For me, I guess my guilty pleasure is less about the actual content of the show and more about the feelings of nostalgia I get when I watch it.

Something about it just reminds me of where I’ve come from. During this time frame I mentioned, my family and I were living with my grandpa and all four of us were sharing a room because we had nowhere else to go. My brother and I had a bunk bed on one side of the room and my parents had their mattress on the floor on the other side of the room. It was cramped and it was uncomfortable, but it was also the most time I had ever spent with my grandpa in my entire life. It was the first time I really saw him smile and laugh or experienced his personality.

My grandpa was a man of many strange tastes. He ate peanut butter and onion sandwiches, burned hashbrowns on purpose because he liked them “crunchy” and tried to catch something on fire or cut himself by accident at least once a week, but we loved spending time with him. He actually did things with us and he never talked to us like we were kids. He was quirky, and kids get quirky better than anyone else. Over the years, my relationship with my grandpa became strained because that’s just what happens with family sometimes. I couldn’t tell you the last time that I saw him or even talked to him, but any time I want to access that nostalgia or any time I am just so unbelievably grateful for how far I’ve come in life, I turn on Law and Order: SVU and it takes me back.