Stop Being Polite and Start Getting...Shameless?

Oh my. Here I am, a mere twenty-one years old and faced with the most daunting existential question of my mortal life:

Should I or should I not audition for The Real World?

Ever since hearing about the open casting call that will happen a few blocks away, I've been racking my brain to the point of sleeplessness and self-starvation. On one hand, there is the potential for reality-based television stardom and all of the perks of actually getting on the show. Free rent for a few months. A cushy job. A series of promotional gigs and lectures after the taping. All of that good stuff. And if for some strange and unlikely reason I'm not chosen for the show, at least I could get a funny story out of the audition and the chance to wear the "Yeah, I auditioned for The Real World" badge for the rest of my young adulthood and beyond.

Yet, there is always the other hand to consider. I suppose the chances of me getting on the show are a weensy bit slim. Moreover, the audition might not even be interesting enough for any sort of story, funny or not, and it certainly doesn't help that I don't have anything remotely interesting about myself to say. But most importantly: the shame. The shame of actually showing up to a Real World audition and whoring myself out with my peers. Of having to share a campus with a group of other shameless losers not even losery enough to get on the worst show on television, and consequently spending the next year avoiding eye contact with each other so that no one else may know our shame. Yes, we were rejected by the goddamn Real World. Does that make us unworthy people, I ask you? Does it?

So is it worth it? I'm looking for some answers before next Thursday. And maybe a buddy to go with. Who'll get a stiff drink with me afterwards. So that we may laugh and forget, forget the shame.