Two Rooms of One Zone

I once heard Oprah Winfrey tell her viewers that she was "opposed" to people having their offices in their bedrooms, that the bedroom should only be used as a sanctuary.

That statement seemed so disconnected from what the reality is for most people but I wondered if some of her followers, after that comment, actually decided to refinance their homes in order get their offices out of their bedrooms and start living a life that Oprah would approve of.

What alarms me about Oprah is the power she has. She can turn an unknown book into a best seller simply because she likes it. By donning her sneakers on camera, she can raise Nike stock. She has her buddies on her show, including Maria Shriver and her benign and lovable husband Arnold. But when is it about home decor and when does it, ever so subtly, become about politics? When is it about what not to wear this spring, and when will her message affect what happens at the polls, let's say, in California? Regardless of the good she has done, there is something unsettling and unhealthy to me about Oprah's level of power and the weakness of her viewers.

So even if I win the lottery or make a million bucks on a horserace, I'll stay right here in the confines AND tranquility ... of my room.