Confession Time: I Voted for a Reality Show Contestant

Would you vote for this man?  I did.  His name is Gregg Chavez and he is a contestant on American Inventor.  What you've never heard of American Inventor?  It is a a reality show wherein people bring in their inventions, the 6 best get $50,000 to invest in their idea then America gets to vote for the best of the top three.  I have never...never...NEVER voted for anything remotely related to a reality show.  In fact, I am more than a little embarrassed to say that I voted for Gregg Chavez, but his invention was just that cool.

Gregg invented the Guardian Angel, which is a Christmas tree topper that attaches to a small tank of water (disguised as a present) under the tree.  Should the tree catch on fire, the topper becomes a sprinkler to put out the fire and an alarm sounds to warn those in the house to get out fast.  Gregg, a firefighter from Camarillo, CA, came up with the idea after seeing too many houses destroyed by Christmas tree fires.  Watching the demo was breath taking as it was shown in a split screen with a tree that was not being protected by the Guardian Angel.  The house with the Guardian Angel was barely damaged while the other house was totally consumed in a matter of minutes.

I can already hear it, "OK, sounds cool, but you voted on a reality show.  You are now that kind of person.  The kind of person who votes on silly television shows."  True, but this thing was really cool and it is going up against a backless bra and motorized paper airplanes.  I felt a moral obligation to vote.  I mean which is more important, wearing a backless dress without showing straps or saving people from fires?  Besides, I am not one of those people who votes for television reality contestants but then doesn't vote in real elections that elect real people who can have a very real effect on our lives.

I'll find out Wednesday if my guy won.  So don't call my house between 9 and 10, I'll be watching the returns come in.