Kill Your TV
I'm rapidly becoming one of those people who is almost belligerent about not having a TV. I used to think all those hippies and eggheads were just being annoying, no-fun, and holier than thou, but I kinda see where they're coming from now.
I don't have a TV. There are three reasons I don't, non of them having anything to do with not liking it or approving of it, and two of them being directly related to being cheap.
1. I didn't want to buy one.
2. I didn't want to pay for cable.
3. I spent half of last year traveling and didn't have a television, and found I didn't miss it.
I still watch a little bit of TV. When I go to my Mom's house there's usually either some sporting event or the travel channel on. I also watch stuff on my computer now and then. If I'm making dinner there's good odds that John Stewart is keeping me company.
I can't just mindlessly and passively sit down and consume TV though. Which has lead to a problem.
I've been stunned to realize just how much people talk about television. And how very very annoying it is. No, I didn't see the latest reality show. I don't care who was being an ass on FoxNews last night. I don't care who was being an ass on MSNBC either. No, I haven't seen that funny new ad. And the next person who just assumes that I watch Supernatural is getting strangled with their own cable cord. Can we talk about something relevant to our lives?
Which is of course totally hypocritical. I'm well aware that I've had hours long conversations about Lost, or zany British sci-fi, or the crappy shows of our childhoods, and probably will again in the future. But I'm still losing my tolerance for the sheer level of passive media consumption being indulged in and celebrated. I've lost my taste for it.
I don't want to be one of those people though, so when I say to you, "I don't have a TV," it is not with the tone of one looking down on someone, but sheepish and apologetic, like someone who doesn't know the right way to engage in the ritual of a foreign culture, a baffled stranger in a strange land.
I don't have a TV. There are three reasons I don't, non of them having anything to do with not liking it or approving of it, and two of them being directly related to being cheap.
1. I didn't want to buy one.
2. I didn't want to pay for cable.
3. I spent half of last year traveling and didn't have a television, and found I didn't miss it.
I still watch a little bit of TV. When I go to my Mom's house there's usually either some sporting event or the travel channel on. I also watch stuff on my computer now and then. If I'm making dinner there's good odds that John Stewart is keeping me company.
I can't just mindlessly and passively sit down and consume TV though. Which has lead to a problem.
I've been stunned to realize just how much people talk about television. And how very very annoying it is. No, I didn't see the latest reality show. I don't care who was being an ass on FoxNews last night. I don't care who was being an ass on MSNBC either. No, I haven't seen that funny new ad. And the next person who just assumes that I watch Supernatural is getting strangled with their own cable cord. Can we talk about something relevant to our lives?
Which is of course totally hypocritical. I'm well aware that I've had hours long conversations about Lost, or zany British sci-fi, or the crappy shows of our childhoods, and probably will again in the future. But I'm still losing my tolerance for the sheer level of passive media consumption being indulged in and celebrated. I've lost my taste for it.
I don't want to be one of those people though, so when I say to you, "I don't have a TV," it is not with the tone of one looking down on someone, but sheepish and apologetic, like someone who doesn't know the right way to engage in the ritual of a foreign culture, a baffled stranger in a strange land.