Around the Bluhmin’ Town

By

Judy Bluhm

Shark Week. One entire week of television, devoted to sharks. Is it science or entertainment? Or maybe both? It is thirty-seven years of “must watch” television, viewed in seventy-two countries, with thirty-four million folks spending a week engrossed in the shenanigans of sharks. Another 48 million folks are watching the sharks on social media. It is hard to define what makes Shark Week such a cultural phenomenon and a beloved “staple of summer.”

The concept of Shark Week all started in 1988 at a bar in Los Angeles, during a brainstorming session with a few executives from Discovery channel. Discussing how amazed they were at the public’s fascination with the movie JAWS, they wondered what programming would boost the new channel’s ratings. Suddenly, sharks were the “big thing” and Discovery wanted to replicate something just as “thrilling.” Sharks? Yes. A few beers? Heck yes. Scribble ideas for a show on a bar paper napkin? Of course! And here we are three decades later.

My own Shark Week story is that for over twenty years my family rented a beach house in San Diego, and it always seemed to coincide with Shark Week. Nothing like boogie boarding in the ocean and then coming into the house to watch an episode about the Great White Sharks. The grandboys would be thrilled, scared and stay “alert” for shark sightings when we swam in the ocean. It was all good fun and that week of televised shark encounters made the beach a little more interesting. Watching Shark Week is still a family routine, since my grandson in the Navy texted me to remind me “the sharks are on.”

Shark Week has found the balance between education and thrilling productions. The episodes can take us up close with some terrifying, jaw-dropping (no pun intended), underwater scenes that promote understanding and respect for the species. Once considered mindless killers that needed to be extinguished, the show has helped people grasp that sharks need to be protected.

Getting back to the bar and a few drinks, it appears that there are many genius startups and inventions that were “born” by scrawling ideas on a cheap paper napkin. From the invention of Ethernet to companies like Southwest Airlines, and product goals from employees at Cisco and Facebook, there are plenty of successful “it started on a napkin” enterprises. So, a little booze, brainstorming with colleagues or friends, and a few ink-stained napkins might be all we really need to discover the “next big thing.”

Do you have a “napkin moment?” I do. When I was a young nurse stuck in an Ohio blizzard on my way to work, I stopped at a gas station. Two older men gave me coffee and a paper napkin with a stale gooey bun, which I devoured. Marooned all evening, I wrote the words “moving to a warmer place next year” on the small flimsy napkin. I put it in my pocket. And moved to California the following Spring.

Okay, so not exactly a “Shark Week” success story. But life can change quickly, so jot down a few ideas on a napkin. Life’s a cocktail. Mix it up.

Judy Bluhm is a writer and a local realtor. Contact Judy at [email protected] or visit www.aroundthebluhmintown.com