Announcing spoilers

An open letter:

Dear Friends & Family,

If you keep a blog or send out any sort of regular email update, please be aware of the fact that many television programs about which you may be tempted to write actually air here in Israel up to a week later than where you live.

This slight misalignment of broadcast schedules raises the specter of my reading your blog/email and accidentally finding out about some critical plot twist or voting outcome in a TV program before I've been able to actually enjoy the show in which said plot twist and/or voting outcome takes place.

When this happens (as it invariably will if you continue to refuse to post a 'SPOILER WARNING' at the start of your posts and emails), it ruins the enjoyment for me and, quite honestly, makes me want to spit in your coffee and sneeze on your food.

Adding a spoiler warning is such an easy thing to do, and is a thoughtful gesture - not only for the benefit of those of us who live abroad - but also for your busy friends and neighbors who might be TiVo-ing certain programs in hopes of enjoying them at a more convenient time... like say, when the kids go to college and the dog dies.

I'm not asking for a complete moratorium on discussing current television shows... just an itty-bitty little disclaimer that will give me the choice of whether or not I want to know in advance that one of my favorite American Idol contestants has been voted off the island.

Of course you are free to ignore this request and do as you please. After all, it's your blog and you can do with it what you like.  But then again, you may also want to think twice about accepting invitations to eat any meals I've prepared... or to which I've had unfettered access.  I'm just thinking out loud here, mind you.

Thanks so much for your help with this oh-so-easy-to-solve scheduling problem.

Warm Regards,

Treppenwitz

"Laying the groundwork for an insanity defense since 1961"