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Glued to the Tube -- Invitation to Write #51

For Writers:

A number of years ago, I experimented with living in the dark ages. Have you ever lived without a TV in the house? I did it for about a year, and I can’t say that I was any less happy. But we live in a culture where a TV (or three) in every house is the norm, and in the days before the Internet, not having a TV did make it more difficult to stay up on current events – at least current events related to TV viewing.

And I still remember how absolutely shocked I was the first time I went over to Linda's apartment. Her TV only had a 13 inch screen, and that to me was almost a “deal breaker.” How could I date someone with such a small TV? I joked to her that watching her TV was about as satisfying as watching the radio. It’s funny looking back because after all, that screen was little bigger than the screen on my current Ipod.

For years I thought a 25 inch screen was a good-sized TV, but that was before the days of cheap large-screen LCDs and Plasmas. We currently own a 42 inch Plasma, but 50 inches is now my goal, and TV makers are always bringing larger-sized screens to market. Pretty soon we’ll need a bigger room in the house to handle the new massive screen I lust to buy.

Today, think about your TV viewing habits. How much time do you spend watching TV on a daily basis? Is your viewing planned, or do you generally just flip to see what’s on? What do you think about people that don’t have TVs?

“Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other.” - Ann Landers

“I find television to be very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book.” - Groucho Marx

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