Lucy's a pretty crappy person

Maybe you missed my point! I readily admit that she acted like a sociopath in many ways. But she wasn't. I meant that the descriptions here were so serious and depressing that they missed the comedic elements of the show.

The diagnosis of 'sociopath' gets tossed around so easily these days. But really, some people are just extremely immature and impulsive, as Lucy Ricardo was. They are not intrinsically evil or without a conscience, just very self centered. A show about a true sociopath would not be funny in the least.

I.E.- Hey isn't that neighbor of ours Charlie Manson so funny? When he doesn't get his way he threatens to kill you. Isn't little Teddy Bundy a scream? His girlfriend with long brown hair dumped him, so now any girl who resembles her is on Ted's hit list.

Of course there are many sociopaths who are very successful in all walks of life. Sociopath does not automatically mean serial killer. Even though Lucy exhibited some decidely anti-social traits, she did not have the major earmarks of a true sociopath.

I come by this knowledge of sociopaths the hard way, my ex-husband who incidentally was a physician(!) was much closer to being a true sociopath than Lucy ever was. I thought he became a doctor because he cared for people and wanted to help them. No, he wanted to make money and thought that was an easy way to become rich. To hear him talk about his patients, how "crazy" THEY were, how they annoyed him, how he dismissed their pain, was truly chilling.


Once a patient of his called in the afternoon about her sick child. She was very concerned, as any parent would be. It was not midnight. It was two o'clock in the afternoon. He was very upset of her "nerve' in bothering him at home. That was his time, as most afternoons were, for him to sit in front of his computer and play on-line poker. Sick people were just a bother and an annoyance to him. Anyone who called at home was told to go to the ER.

The exception he made was a man who was an electrician and did all our electrical work for free. Then my ex would rush to help HIM, yeah, because he got HIS services for free.

He could pretend to be charming and caring and concerned about people. But it was all a facade. Lucy truly loved her family and friends. She didn't always think about the consequences of her actions. But she DID feel love and guilt for some of her dumber behavior. And unlike my ex, she had a lot of friends. She was sociable and had people in her life not just for what they could do for her. My ex was friends with people he could use. Once they outlived their usefulness, they were history.

My ex, like other sociopaths only aped human emotions to manipulate and get what he wanted. If there was nothing in it for him, he could be downright ice cold to your feelings. For example, my beloved pet, my dog of almost fifteen years died. We had other dogs and he supposedly loved them. I was so downcast and sad for days. But he was so cold and dismissive. Just could not care less that I was hurting, not a hug, not a kind word. His wife was grieving, but all I got was, "So what's wrong with you?." It didn't affect his little world so it was just "so what?"

There were a number of incidents when Lucy was embarrassed or upset and she apologized to Ricky for her actions. Of course she was in the wrong and usually knew it. She fought with Ethel and then would be sad without her best friend until they made up.

A sociopath, again like my ex, feels NO guilt or remorse and NEVER apologizes. He would go off and scream at me for the most trivial nonsense. I would be reduced to tears and he would nonchalantly go off and sit in front of the TV, usually feeding his fat face with another snack. Well, his work was done! He was so abusive and intimidating that my son finally went to live with my parents when he was twelve. He couldn't take the abuse and screaming anymore. He was smarter than I was! It took me several more years of abuse to finally have enough.

To live with a true sociopath is emotionally painful beyond belief. Lucy was a nut, a schemer,childish and vain, an ambitious star struck woman who wanted to get into show biz,etc. But if Ricky had been living with a true sociopath the way I was, he would've experienced a living hell instead of an overdrawn checking account, new furniture, and crazy stunts in his livng room. Real sociopaths are NOT amusing.