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We were over at some friends's house for drinks last night. Mind you, they invited us.
So we stroll over and guess what? The television is on. The idiot box. The one-eyed babysitter. Sure, the Olympics were playing. But it was still just the television.
It didn't matter what was on. The husband's attention kept straying over to the television. He would zone out and start staring at the flickering screen, as if he were mesmerized by the pretty colors. And this is an intelligent man.
I wasn't offended. I was more saddened that this couple, lovely in so many ways, can't surrender the idiot box for two hours to entertain company. What's more, I've found that it's more common than you think.
Now, I hate television. I will watch movies I'm interested in seeing. I will watch select sporting events. But I don't flick on the thing and idly flip through just to see what's on. Because there are so many great ways to spend one's hours. There are books to be read, music to be appreciated, loved ones to be adored, and chores to be done.
So here's my question. How much television do you watch? And don't you feel that television has really had a narcotic effect on your relationships with others?
I mean when you sit down to watch some vapid crap like American Idol or Survivor, aren't you really denying yourself a chance to strengthen the relationships you have with others?
I know.....I agree. Adults should be able to make the right choices for them but the thing that really gets me is when I see kids constantly sitting infront of them.....no wonder 70% of america's youth is overweight. we have a 30 minute rule.....our little one can watch 30 minutes each day when all chores, studying and family time have ended.....usually after bath and before bed.
I agree with you completely. I have been trying to find better things to do myself than watch a lot of television. I love to read and I just recently joined a Big brother/Big sister program where I can do something productive. I really like the idea of the 30 minute rule. I will remember that for when I have kids.
We do tend to keep the TV on most of the time. Yet, we are not usually watching anything, but we like the background noise. Usually I turn on the TV when I get home, I watch about an hours worth of news, but then I go online or do some chores, sometimes I'll just mute it while I'm making dinner and listening to music, but it's still on, at about 8 or 9 oclock I usually sit down and actually watch something for about an hour, unless there is nothing worth watching, then I'll read until bed. On the weekends we usually have a movie or sports on, but even when we are doing other things, the TV is still on in the background. But, we also have no children, when we do our TV rules will be more strict, when I was growing up, there were definite time limits put on television and I will do the same for my kids.
We do have one TV rule that we go by, no TV in the bedroom, bedrooms are for sleeping and *other* things.
We do tend to keep the TV on most of the time. Yet, we are not usually watching anything, but we like the background noise. Usually I turn on the TV when I get home, I watch about an hours worth of news, but then I go online or do some chores, sometimes I'll just mute it while I'm making dinner and listening to music, but it's still on, at about 8 or 9 oclock I usually sit down and actually watch something for about an hour, unless there is nothing worth watching, then I'll read until bed. On the weekends we usually have a movie or sports on, but even when we are doing other things, the TV is still on in the background. But, we also have no children, when we do our TV rules will be more strict, when I was growing up, there were definite time limits put on television and I will do the same for my kids.
We do have one TV rule that we go by, no TV in the bedroom, bedrooms are for sleeping and *other* things.
How can you stand that? Silence is one of the most beautiful things on earth.
How can you stand that? Silence is one of the most beautiful things on earth.
Silence is okay for awhile, but for some reason it just feels kind of empty when it's quiet for too long. A few years ago, we had a hurricane hit and we had no electricity for about 4 days, but we had a radio, so we had that on most of the time. We're both pretty quiet people so without some kind of background noise, I think we'd both go crazy.
Sometimes at my brother's house they'll have all the televisions on at once and you can sit in one room and see two TV's. It makes me crazy.
My dh and I watch no TV and my 9-year-old daughter only watches the Disney shows on ABC on Saturday mornings. But we have been watching the Olympics and I'm noticing how mesmerized my daughter is by the commercials. She repeats everything she hears as fact. And yesterday afternoon the Olympics led into an infomercial for Turbo Jam and she kept calling me in. "Mom--they say it's better than any other workout system! Mom--this lady lost 90 pounds!" And I'm telling her that I've worked out to TurboJam and it's just like any other tape, but she won't believe me. I'm sooooo glad we rarely watch it.
I have rented some tv series on DVD and watched The Office on the NBC downloads, but that doesn't feel the same. I guess it's the lack of commercials, and being able to zoom through the intro and credits.
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