A Visit to the Octo-Mom house...

I never know what assignment I will be thrown, day to day, at EXTRA.  Well, I should say I rarely know.  For instance, I DO know I will be interviewing Julia Roberts next week, and thank you Julia for requesting me to do the interview.  Looking forward to that immensely. That is what I do best, in my estimation... have casual, fun, interesting conversations with celebrities.  That's where I am most comfortable, and that's what I love doing.  

So you can just imagine my HORROR when I am called at some ungodly hour of the morning and given my assignment for the day (a week ago Friday):  I was going to Nadya Suleman's house, a one hour plus drive, in traffic, and I was to be there at 6:30 in the morning.  Why? Because she supposedly takes her kids to school at 7am and gosh darn it, I just might get a chance to talk to her.  WTF?  NBC News has already done an in-depth interview with this woman about her life with her now 14 children.  Dr. Phil has just done another in-depth interview... who's exploiting whom, I'm not really sure... what kind of money (if any) is being spent on these interviews, it's not my place to say, nor do I know, nor do I care.    But I'm expected to have Nadya single me out of a crowd of paparazzi and assorted other TV types, gawkers, etc... and she's supposed to welcome me in her home, pour me a cup of coffee and say "let's talk???"  Not so much.

However, I have a job to do.  I travelled to her home.  I kept a safe distance, unlike alot of the other TV crews up there camped out with lounge chairs in the woman's driveway, and while there were NO signs of Nadya that day, I had a quick exchange with Nadya's father (who had just done an in-depth interview with OPRAH) about the "irresponsibility" he had spoken about with Ms. Winfrey as it relates to his daughter.   I was respectful when he said to me, "it's too early to talk about any of that"  and I said to have a good morning.  This is a man, no matter what irresponsibility his daughter (and the fertility doc) exhibited, is merely trying to take care of those kids who are at home.  Taking them two by two to school.  Carrying the autistic little girl to the special school bus that backs down the street right to the driveway, so she doesn't have to walk too far.  No matter how any of us feels about this story, there are children involved, and those children need to be treated with dignity and respect.

I backed off.  I felt dirty.  I needed a shower.  No matter what you feel about this woman, her situation, her mental state, what-have- you...  I didn't feel it was my place to be on this woman's street, a quiet little cul-de-sac, with neighbors who are at their wits end because of the media circus which has decided to camp out on their street.  Yuk.  I didn't want to be a part of it, nor will I ever be again.  

I went back to my bosses at EXTRA and told them so.  I will report on the story from a distance, if they require me to, it's their candy store,  however, I will never return to that house again under those circumstances.  I needed a shower.

Certainly, I hope that this woman gets the much-needed help to provide and care for these children, whether it be from Child Welfare Services, or from some other source.  Should she be able to keep all of those children?  That's a decision that I truly believe she needs to do some deep soul-searching before making.  

I need another shower.