Last night I posted on Facebook that I considered Guns & Roses one of my guilty pleasures. A couple of friends commented that Guns & Rose really should not be considered a guilty pleasure. Not fully agreeing with the sentiment I decided to look the phrase up. Wikipedia supplied this definition: Guilty pleasure is something one enjoys and considers pleasurable despite feeling guilt for enjoying it…
Upon reading that description I have to say, no, enjoying the music of Guns & Roses is not a guilty pleasure, at least not for me. I definitely do not feel guilt for enjoying Axl Rose sing/scream Welcome To the Jungle. Not in the least. But by that definition I can honestly say I cannot think of one guilty pleasure I do have. Even if I added the idea that I was embarrassed by something that I found enjoyable I still have to say I cannot name anything. Does this make me boring? I don’t know. Maybe. Or maybe I just do not feel the need to feel guilty for enjoying innocent things like music, food or cheesy television shows.
I think when I was thinking guilty pleasure last night I was really meaning “out of character.” When I think of G & R I zip right back into my teens when they were one of many hard rock bands that I just did not care much for. I was more into U2, Depeche Mode, Echo and the Bunnyman and the like. Don’t forget my favorite band since I was 12 has been Hall & Oates. Heavy metal just didn’t fit in my “style” back then. So me walking around with my iPod blaring Sweet Child of Mine 20+ years later (even though I now listen to Linkin Park and Green Day regularly) still seems out of character. Don’t try to make sense of it; it’s just my crazy way of looking at life.
So now I pose the question. What do you think is a guilty pleasure? Maybe I just need help with the term. Is liking a TV show like Glee a guilty pleasure because it’s really geared towards my daughter’s age? Is eating Nutella out of the tub with a spoon (in small amounts) a guilty pleasure? I don’t know. Isn’t the whole thing relative? One person’s guilt/embarrassment is another person’s norm? Help me here!
To be continued….(if I can get some response going here!)
On My Mind 
Something that you love to do, but you just cannot admit that you do it.
some of my favs that fall into that definition:
1) listening to 70’s disco…really loud while driving
2) watching English sitcoms on PBS
3) gardening
4) looking clients up on FB within minutes of meeting them ( electronically )
5) reading religious books like the Bible, Book of Mormon, Koran etc etc.
like that…
I think of guilty pleasures in 2 categories – the things that people think I should be ashamed liking that I’m not (e.g., Hanson or the Spice Girls) and the things I am genuinely worried about telling people because of what they might think of me (*blush*, watching Real Housewives of Whatever).
How odd. Just yesterday I was thinking about how much I enjoy Welcome to the Jungle. What have you done to me?
Ok, I had a friend (male in the 40ish range) admit sheepishly that he loved to watch the “golden girls” when it hits TV land. I must submit this as a guilty pleasure as a) he got really odd pleasure from it and b) felt so guilty about doing it that he was ashamed. No, not talking about me, but i think that it clearly defines the definition. My guilty pleasures: music that my heavy metal friends would laugh hysterically if they knew i liked it….something really embarassing to admit. so I won’t do it. But I sure get it!