I sat in Rosies café the other day and I saw, in the course of one hour, over six women that looked like Rachel and over a dozen guys dressed like Joey and Ross. We are a culture built on Friends, even if we dont know it. Its been ten years since Friends first stepped into our lives and its been one hell of a ride. Starting out fresh, original and funny, Friends captured our admiration and our hearts.until the end of season six when Chandler and Monica got engaged. The final episode of season six is my favorite episode. Its really when the series ended. Every character has a shining moment. Since that episode, however, the show has been lifeless, like a zombie, reanimated and walking around with nothing to do. Friends has become a rehash of bad, clichéd subplots and character arches, complete with immoral, horrible human beings.

Now, to be fair, the show was never all that moral. It promoted casual sex (Im surprised Joey hasnt died of AIDS yet), lying, stupidity, immaturity (mainly Rachel) and physical attraction as the only reason to date someone (i.e. the whole Joey/Rachel thing this past season). These are some horrible, horrible human beings. Seinfeld realized this with their season finale. While many hated that finale, I thought it was brilliant because it got it. That finale knew its characters were worthless, horrible human beings and they finally got what was coming to them. Friends on the other hand, actually promotes being a horrible human being. Now, the newest immoral promotion, and possibly the most dangerous, is irresponsible parenting.

            Now, I have to let it be known; I hate babies on T.V. shows. It ruins a show mainly because a baby causes the cast to focus on the child and nothing else making the show rather boring. In real life, children are amazing, often difficult, but fun. We mature as human beings as they mature into adults. On T.V, babies are ratings killers. Babies have killed several shows including Murphy Brown, Mad About You, Perfect Strangers and Baby Bob, to name a few. So, you can guess that I wasnt excited when Rachel got pregnant.

First off, if there is one person in the T.V. world that I dislike, its Rachel. She has single handedly ruined Rosss life yet she wont date him, nor will she allow him to date anyone else without making him feel guilty about it. She has made him the most ineligible bachelor on the planet. She has screwed with Joeys feeling multiple times over and she has ruined elements of Monica and Chandlers life, not to mention Phoebes. She is a horrible, horrible, horrible human being. She has not taken any steps forward in her life since the beginning of the show, she has taken steps backward. She doesnt care for anyone except herself, which of course makes her the perfect candidate for a mother, right? Yeah, sure.

            With everything Rachel does being played off for a laugh, I figured the writers would have Rachel kill the baby off by accident after a few episodes and play it up for laughs. Why not, they played up Rachel breaking up Rosss marriage for laughs. Wasnt that a hoot? The happiest day of Rosss entire life, ruined. How funny. The sad thing is that Rachel has become some sort of an icon or idol to people. Men adore and love her and women imitate her style and some even act like her. This makes me genuinely nervous. About midseason last year, the writers actually did write the baby off the show, yes thats right; they wrote the baby off the show.

            I was glad to see a babyless Friends, but, to be honest, I was very nervous about this. More or less, what the writers have done is promote irresponsibility among parents, single parents in particular. No one is seen babysitting. In fact, in many episodes, we are never even told where the hell the baby is. I get a little nervous sometimes watching, wondering where the baby is. Is the baby dead and everyones just in denial? Did Joey think the baby was a sandwich and eat her?

Im left to assume one of two things based on empirical evidence. One: Rosss parents are raising this child single handedly as though it is their own. Two: the baby was dropped into a sewer last season in the lost episode and is currently being raised by a colony of rats. You can pick any one of those theories, which ever you prefer. As far as I know, in reality, babies cant be raised by rats (the nanny business would be bankrupt). So what does this lack of baby responsibility show us, the loyal impressionable viewers who look up to these characters as though they were demy-Gods? Well, it shows us that its okay to leave you baby for days on end. Dont kid yourself, babies dont need a parents love. Thats an old wifes tale. Youd be silly not to continue your life the way it was before the baby. Nothing changes. Be selfish, its okay. Baby-schmaby. Blah, blah, blah.