Glee spoilers - like eating a burger and chips

So, over the past few weeks Glee has been on a "hiatus".

This is despite the fact that the series was only three episodes in before it went on its break. But baseball season or something got in the way, so it had to go off air. 

Anyway, American television scheduling and its utter ridiculousness is a blog post for another time.

This post is all about spoilers - one of the most annoying things the development of social networking has brought with it.

Since Glee has been on hiatus, there are a lot of impatient people awaiting its return, and I am one of them.

Because when Glee comes back, it's not just returning. Oh no, it's returning with some massive storylines. There are new characters causing conflict, old characters returning, and an episode called The First Time.

It's that episode that has been driving the fangirls and boys to distraction on Twitter, Tumblr and any and all other social media.

I stayed firmly away from spoilers for a long time, even though I, like anyone with half a brain who's been watching Glee for two and a bit seasons, could partially guess what the episode is going to be about.

And then, one day, I found myself reading something non-spoilery, but alluding to spoilers, and before I knew it I'd pulled up a new browser tab, brought up Google, typed in a search term and read spoilers.

Oh, it felt good for about 30 seconds, and then I was consumed with guilt and disappointment, guilt and disappointment in myself for giving in.

You see, a spoiler is a bit like having a burger and chips. You sort of know what it's going to be like and how good it's going to taste. Then one day you find yourself irresistably drawn to a fast food restaurant*, and for some reason think it's going to be the place for you to indulge. Before you know it you're scarfing down the aforementioned burger and chips from this fast food place.

It feels good. For about an hour, and then it just feels rubbish. It makes you feel sluggish, and you wish you'd waited to get home and make your own burger and chips, because that would have been tastier and healthier and much more satisfying.

I felt a bit like that after reading those Glee spoilers. I wish I'd just waited for the episode to air, because it would have been so much better.

Yes, it's still going to be brilliant, but half the fun is in the anticipation. And now there's going to be no anticipation. I'm just going to be expecting (not anticipating - there is a difference) certain scenes, and there'll be no surprises.

In the days before the internet was the place you could find out everything, spoilers were much harder to get hold of, and a younger me actually enjoyed reading them when I found them (and then being really mean and spoiling things for my friends - to an unnamed friend, I'm really sorry about telling you how Cruel Intentions ended).

But the older, more mature me understands that anticipation is a great part of life, and that sometimes waiting for something makes it better.

I just wish I'd remembered that before I'd typed those fateful words into Google.

*Insert name of your fast food restaurant of choice here.