I participated in a couple of comment threads the other day where the subject du jour was Flo… that perky lil spokeswoman for Progressive Insurance. And here she is… in the unlikely event you don't know who I'm talking about:
It should be obvious why I picked this particular commercial… as in, "what's not to like about a woman who rides a 900cc vee-twin?"… providing it's a Duck and not one of those Milwaukee Vibrators, of course. But we digress almost before we've begun.
It came to pass that not a few people in the second linked thread advised the rest of us that they didn't have a TV. At least one commenter went beyond advisement and bordered on flaunting the fact… as in "isn't it nice not to have a TV?" This attitude amazes me. But it's not like I haven't been there…
There was an extended period of time in my (adult*) way-back when I, too, had no teevee… like from 1974 until late 1980, or well over six years. It began when The First Mrs. Pennington and I split the blanket and all our worldly goods… including the teevee but NOT my stereo and record albums… went south to California while I remained in Oregon. I was relatively young at the time (not yet into my thirties, but close) and my social life was such that I really didn't need a television. So I didn't replace it.
Fast forward to my next assignment… which was in Tokyo… and the social life picked up a bit while the need for a teevee decreased in an exponential manner, what with me understanding only about 26 useful words and phrases in Nihongo. And then it was on to North Dakota, where we got all of ONE teevee station during my one year, three day, and eight hour sojourn up on the border of NoDak, Montana, and Canuckistan. (Full disclosure: There was no cable in the town of 250 souls in which I dwelled and my housemate of six months had a very small portable black and white teevee… which I don't recall watching. Ever.) It went on like that when The Second Mrs. Pennington and I married and moved out to Oregon, where we survived without a teevee for about two years.
All that changed when we were transferred to Ol' Blighty, whereupon shortly after our arrival I suggested that the Beeb's quality was far superior to American television and wouldn't it be a wonderful window on the culture, besides? Much discussion and debate followed, and much was apparently at stake… in that it seemed to pain TSMP to give up the cachet that came with NOT having a teevee. But I prevailed after about a week of batting it back and forth and we made the journey from High Wycombe to RAF Upper Heyford and returned with a rather spiffy Sony Trinitron SECAM/PAL/NTSC-capable teevee that would receive broadcast signals in nearly every corner of the Free World. We secured our telly license from the local Post Office and we were in bid'niz.
And never really looked back.
Well, that was us. TSMP has since dispensed with HER teevee and hasn't owned one for a few years now. She gave up television For The Children, or rather for one child specifically: SN3. The way I heard it he was heavily addicted to the box and much too whiny with a teevee in the house. So the teevee went and he stayed, with much improved behavior. So I'm told.
So… there you have my story about having no television and you may feel free to read between the lines, Gentle Reader. If you choose to infer there was some sort of snobbish reason for not owning a box I'd disagree with you as far as the early years went. But we'd come closer to agreement beginning sometime around 1976 or so. "Not owning a TV" did become a cultural statement after a bit.
And so we come full-circle. I'm of the opinion those of us who choose not to own a TV do so largely because it's cool. I'll grant you that the times they are indeed a changin', and there's precious little of value on TV that cannot be had on the 'net. But I've also found that watching streaming TV on my computer (think: C-SPAN) is not nearly as pleasant as it is on the Big Screen. And then there's sports… and I AM male. I'd be lost in the Fall without the Saturday Football Orgies and I'd rend my garments and rub ashes into my skin were I deprived of the hockey playoffs. The Weather Channel. The aforementioned C-SPAN. The History Channel. All sorts of stuff on PBS… even including the moonbat shit.
There ARE great good things on The Idiot Box, and every single one of those boxes has an on/off switch as well as a remote control. What you watch and when you watch it is entirely in your hands, literally. One of the things you're telling me when you say "I don't have a TV" is you lack a good amount of self-control, in addition to being susceptible to certain cultural memes. Those aren't Good Things, Gentle Reader, but I'm open to being persuaded if you have other arguments.
Just sayin'.
* I also spent five years without a teevee as a child in the '50s, when my father was stationed overseas in the UK, France, and Turkey between 1953-1958. I have NO idea why my parents didn't "do" teevee back then... except for when we were in Turkey, where it was largely non-existent at the time. A TV was one of the first things they bought when we returned to the US, however.
There are two TV's in my house. I think that I watch a combined total of 2 hours per week. And the only channels I watch are RFD TV, Discover, History, and the Military Channel.
ReplyDeleteI've honestly lost interest in sitting in front of the idiot box. I'd rather be outside, or readinga book.
I was a little put off by the self righteous tone of the non-tv owners, myself. We have two and I don't log in more than a few hours of viewing on any given week. I couldn't agree more your take on their lack of self control and cultural belief that tv is a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteMind, my minimal viewing isn't exactly high brow fare but I do love watching Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs, Amazing Grace and Ghost Hunters. Good stuff.
*Once more for the record, I was just pulling y'alls chains on Flo - sometimes you guys need a little picking on over the small stuff. Hell, I'm usually beating the women over the head with a large crowbar.
We have 2 TVs as well. Many of our friends are quite shocked when they find out one of them isn't in the living room. One is in the family room in the basement and the other is in a spare room we haughtily refer to as "the study". We rarely use the one in the family room; I confess we do use the other one frequently but it's more about watching DVDs and some non-mainstream programming (History, Military, NatGeo, etc...).
ReplyDeleteDon't think I could do without it but then again, a large screen on my PC would do the trick for the DVD stuff.
I'm an only child who, as a youngster, plopped down on the couch and read the encyclopedia in my spare time and during long, hot Arkansas summers when the folks were at work. The thing is -- the tv was always on in the background. It was my "company," I suppose. And so it goes to this day -- we have 3 downstairs and 1 upstairs, but none in the bedroom, 1 or more is always on, unless I'm listening to talk radio.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing is -- I'm usually not paying attention to it. Kinda like a mother learns to tune out a yammering child. It drives my husband crazy that I can appear to be listening to/watching a program but have no idea what was just said or done. I also read while I'm "watching" tv. That's not the case during football or basketball seasons, though -- I do have my standards!
And we watch a lot of fluff stuff -- with the state of the economy and Korea fixin' to blow Hawaii out of the water, we figure we need a little distraction.
Oh, and we like Flo. She's sassy.
Buckskins sez: I think that I watch a combined total of 2 hours per week.
ReplyDeleteI watch two hours of news every (week) night before we get to mindless boogie or elevating stuff. :D
Daphne: I'm glad we're of the same mind here. I held my peace (piece?) at your place coz ranting is what MY blog is for.
I've been known to do a lil bit of the mindless, too!
Kris sez: Many of our friends are quite shocked when they find out one of them isn't in the living room.
TSMP and I never had a TV in our living room or our bedroom. I'd still be living that way if I were living a conventional life, too. But... I'm not.
Moogie: Interesting! My little quirk vis-a-vis TV is I cannot watch it unless I'm vertical. The danged thing puts me to sleep if I try and watch in a prone position. Even hockey games. :D
I'm one that has at least one tv on most of the time. And usually it's the kids watching it. Sure, some people say the kids need to be outside more. But after they found a rattlesnake right outside the yard in the driveway yesterday, I'll let them watch tv or play video games and it doesn't phase me a bit. At least I know they are safe.
ReplyDeleteMy girls do, however, love to read. They always have their noses in a book.
For the record, 3 TVs: one in the bedroom (Drew needs his PBS cartoons to fall asleep by), one in the kids' living area (that also has the video games hooked up to it), and one in the living room (which has DVR, a Godsend in itself. Love to watch Ice Road Truckers and other history/TLC/military channel stuff. Oh, and I watch Hannah Montana and Jonas brothers. I do love Disney channel).
As '04 started up, I got kicked to the curb myself; there was no way I could pay child support and still stay in these palatial digs that she wanted in the first place. So I started in on my own "Exile in Fair Oaks." I moved in to a crummy little studio the day Ronald Reagan died. As I drifted off to sleep the first night, it suddenly hit me: "I'm almost 39, and this is exactly the same lifestyle I had in my first place, at half the age I am now." Same square footage and everything.
ReplyDeleteAnyway. Mansion Freeberg of Fair Oaks had one cut-and-dried rule: Rented DVDs okay, but no teevee. A little while after that the new one moved in (from across the continent) to the next building over...and a little while after that we moved together right back to Folsom. Same place I had with Kidzmom, four years earlier. Same floor plan, anyway. In fact that's exactly where I'm sitting as I type this.
But back to the subject at hand -- I had a good three years with no idjit box. I don't think that makes me a good person or anything. But I do have to say, I've never felt more alert. The evenings just stretch out in front of you, even weeknights...all those lovely hours with all that potential.
Oh one other thing -- my respect for TSMP just kicked up a couple notches. Depriving a babums throughout an entire childhood from the florescent glow, I think that is one of the most productive, beneficial, and kind things a parent can possibly do. Your son's a lucky boy and going to grow up to be a lucky man.
ReplyDeleteJenny: That rattlesnake thing is scary. I always have my eyes open for the damned things when I'm walking around, even here in Beautiful La Hacienda Trailer Park.
ReplyDeleteOur viewing habits are similar, except for the Disney thing. I wish basic cable included The Military Channel, though.
Morgan sez: "I'm almost 39, and this is exactly the same lifestyle I had in my first place, at half the age I am now." Same square footage and everything.
I had the same frickin' feeling, except I moved back into the barracks with about 40 of my closest friends (the "friends' thing is snark). That's not as bad as it sounds, since I was in the AF and was an NCO. I had my own room with an attached private bath, and the rent was reasonable... i.e., free. But still, one expects to be doing better at that age. And I don't wanna talk about my current living facilities, LOL! Although living in the RV is MUCH more about choice than necessity.
I hear ya about your three tv-free years. My earlier experience was exactly like that.
Thanks for the comment about TSMP. I agree with you.
Through the years I got my TV watching under control. I watch very few shows and read lots. Now if I could just get my computer use under control.
ReplyDeleteThere ARE great good things on The Idiot Box, and every single one of those boxes has an on/off switch as well as a remote control. What you watch and when you watch it is entirely in your hands, literally. One of the things you're telling me when you say "I don't have a TV" is you lack a good amount of self-control, in addition to being susceptible to certain cultural memes.
ReplyDeletePretty much sums up my take on the whole thing. I could do without it. There are some things I like on it. But nothing I just gotta have. Still, the wife loves it, and often if I want to spend time with her, I have to spend time with it as well. But at least as often I go upstairs and read, play the guitar, blog, fix stuff ...
There is a rule in our house. There's no TV in the living room. Family room, yes. You wanna watch TV, you go to it. It's not just "there" to be turned on, centered in your living room like some sort of altar to popular culture. It works well. My step son picked up on this and when they recently bought a house it had to have a family room and he implemented the rule there, too. It works well.
I hate going to people's houses to visit and you're sitting there in the living room with the TV on instead of talking to each other.
But I have nothing against TV in general. Most of the programming is trash, but there's enough that isn't to make it worthwhile for the choosy viewer.