TV Addiction, Revisited - The Ultimate Distraction Edition
Hello, my name is ______, and I am a TV addict. It has been 18 hours since I last turned off the TV. My heart is beating slightly fast. I'm already planning my next viewing experience... with eager anticipation.
TV, for me, is the biggest distraction of all. At several points during my life, I have sworn off TV, and most of its related addictions... VHS, DVD, and cinema. I have probably gone an entire month... but I have always found myself back again... justifying my addiction by the educational value of the content.
I have attempted to minimize my TV viewing by cancelling cable/dish and coming to hate commercial TV. Still, I have discovered all new ways to feed my addiction...
1. Free rentals from the public library. Yes, it's true. A week free, and then only $1 per day, each day after that. And, if I am feeling particularly needy, it is possible to order the DVD's online, so I get a nice phone call telling me that my addiction is can now be fed... at least as quickly as I can get to the point of dispensing. Hours wasted on "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "King of the Hill", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", "Stargate SG-1", and various other assorted films and TV shows.
2. One dollar rentals from the grocery store kiosk. Yes indeed, this is a machine that dispenses films like Mountain Dew to a caffine addict. DVD's come out in stylish red case, with a hi-tech bar-code core label... To return, just return to the same machine, and push it back in... Now, if only pop machines would take back empties...
3. "NetFlix". Oh, this is the evil of all evil, to those addicted to TV. Yes, I have already calculated that I could have recieved SIXTEEN free disks (during the 2-week trial period), had I only been able to watch all four films on the day I recieved them in my hot and sweaty hands. I have adjusted my calculations, and the order of the DVDs in my queue, so that I'll be able to get a movie every night, and a TV series every weekend. Yes, a TV addicts dream.
4. Be a houseguest. Yes, being a houseguest is a great way to catch up on films, new and old. I recently visited my sister, and I now have vivid memories of "Knocked Up", "Wild Hogs", "National Lampoon's Vacation", "Porky's", "National Lampoon's Animal House", and some other films whose titles escape me. Clearly, I am learning very important educational things here.
In the back of my mind, I recognize that I am wasting the most important time of my life. The collapse-of-society-as-we-know-it (COSAWKI) is getting closer everyday, and I still am nowhere close to being prepared. If the COSAWKI happened today, I probably would be out of gasoline, water, food, and heat before the month was out. It is a depressing thought.
Addiction... I know myself well enough that I know my best hope is to redirect my addiction to something productive... because, honestly... truly... deeply... I think I am weak for letting my precious life be wasted away in front of TV.
TV, for me, is the biggest distraction of all. At several points during my life, I have sworn off TV, and most of its related addictions... VHS, DVD, and cinema. I have probably gone an entire month... but I have always found myself back again... justifying my addiction by the educational value of the content.
I have attempted to minimize my TV viewing by cancelling cable/dish and coming to hate commercial TV. Still, I have discovered all new ways to feed my addiction...
1. Free rentals from the public library. Yes, it's true. A week free, and then only $1 per day, each day after that. And, if I am feeling particularly needy, it is possible to order the DVD's online, so I get a nice phone call telling me that my addiction is can now be fed... at least as quickly as I can get to the point of dispensing. Hours wasted on "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "King of the Hill", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", "Stargate SG-1", and various other assorted films and TV shows.
2. One dollar rentals from the grocery store kiosk. Yes indeed, this is a machine that dispenses films like Mountain Dew to a caffine addict. DVD's come out in stylish red case, with a hi-tech bar-code core label... To return, just return to the same machine, and push it back in... Now, if only pop machines would take back empties...
3. "NetFlix". Oh, this is the evil of all evil, to those addicted to TV. Yes, I have already calculated that I could have recieved SIXTEEN free disks (during the 2-week trial period), had I only been able to watch all four films on the day I recieved them in my hot and sweaty hands. I have adjusted my calculations, and the order of the DVDs in my queue, so that I'll be able to get a movie every night, and a TV series every weekend. Yes, a TV addicts dream.
4. Be a houseguest. Yes, being a houseguest is a great way to catch up on films, new and old. I recently visited my sister, and I now have vivid memories of "Knocked Up", "Wild Hogs", "National Lampoon's Vacation", "Porky's", "National Lampoon's Animal House", and some other films whose titles escape me. Clearly, I am learning very important educational things here.
In the back of my mind, I recognize that I am wasting the most important time of my life. The collapse-of-society-as-we-know-it (COSAWKI) is getting closer everyday, and I still am nowhere close to being prepared. If the COSAWKI happened today, I probably would be out of gasoline, water, food, and heat before the month was out. It is a depressing thought.
Addiction... I know myself well enough that I know my best hope is to redirect my addiction to something productive... because, honestly... truly... deeply... I think I am weak for letting my precious life be wasted away in front of TV.