I have just suspended our Satellite Television Service beginning March 31, 2012.
I did this because as the days grow longer we plan on doing more things outside in the evenings..
I wonder how this will truly change our lives...for change it it will. Perhaps we will eat at the kitchen table once more. Perhaps we will take more walks. Perhaps we will have fire in the fire pit on the deck more often. Maybe we will play the CD player again while delving into Gin Rummy or Chess on our treasured Wedding Gift to Each Other Chessboard.
Reading and Embroidery will be done.
There will be a certain type of quiet in the house.
Our home will not be bombarded with unexpected and unwanted advertisements encouraging us to buy something that up until that moment we didn't know existed let alone knew we needed. ( I still rue my Slap Chop envy).
A friend of mine who taught school in Resolute Bay, in the then North West Territories 40 years ago told me that the residents there had great difficulty understanding that what was seen on television was not reality. I am not sure of the reason for this. Perhaps they didn't understand the concept of drama or acting. Perhaps it was the not having any other contact with southern culture, that these people actually believed that what was shown on the box was how people lived in the other parts of the world.
I wonder if we as a society haven't fallen into that same trap as those people in Resolute Bay. I wonder, has the repeated exposure to violence, both emotional and physical, sexual freedom, pain free marriages and divorces; along with problems being solved within a 30-60 minute time frame, made it so that we, also, are not too sure what is and what is not reality? Have we, over the years, been so tied into 'what's on' that we don't know 'what's happening' in real life anymore than our northern friends?
I think I am just realizing how much power I have given to all those directors, producers, and marketing agencies in my life. I have allowed those people to dictate to me through cleverly written, and carefully selected scripts just what is and what is not acceptable in terms of some of life's most important issues.
The only thing more bizarre than the loud and fast paced commercials filled with unproveable short quips are laugh tracks. I wonder how much the use of laugh tracks has actually effected what people think is laugh worthy. I suspect that whoever invented laugh tracks had a firm understanding of Pavlov and his dog experiments.
Yes, the next 5 months will be quieter and with the quietness will come more freedom. I won't be 'tied' to when Big Bang is on. I will probably sit in other parts of the house more often. For sure I will sit on other sofas and chairs in the living room not having to be within "television view.
AND...after 5 months of not having Satellite Television I will be $250 richer, which is sort of laughable... with or without a laugh track.
My first clue that we were watching too much television was when one Sunday in church my 3 year old ...wanting to sing along...handed me the hymnal and asked me to 'put it on the right channel'.
I did this because as the days grow longer we plan on doing more things outside in the evenings..
I wonder how this will truly change our lives...for change it it will. Perhaps we will eat at the kitchen table once more. Perhaps we will take more walks. Perhaps we will have fire in the fire pit on the deck more often. Maybe we will play the CD player again while delving into Gin Rummy or Chess on our treasured Wedding Gift to Each Other Chessboard.
Reading and Embroidery will be done.
There will be a certain type of quiet in the house.
Our home will not be bombarded with unexpected and unwanted advertisements encouraging us to buy something that up until that moment we didn't know existed let alone knew we needed. ( I still rue my Slap Chop envy).
A friend of mine who taught school in Resolute Bay, in the then North West Territories 40 years ago told me that the residents there had great difficulty understanding that what was seen on television was not reality. I am not sure of the reason for this. Perhaps they didn't understand the concept of drama or acting. Perhaps it was the not having any other contact with southern culture, that these people actually believed that what was shown on the box was how people lived in the other parts of the world.
I wonder if we as a society haven't fallen into that same trap as those people in Resolute Bay. I wonder, has the repeated exposure to violence, both emotional and physical, sexual freedom, pain free marriages and divorces; along with problems being solved within a 30-60 minute time frame, made it so that we, also, are not too sure what is and what is not reality? Have we, over the years, been so tied into 'what's on' that we don't know 'what's happening' in real life anymore than our northern friends?
I think I am just realizing how much power I have given to all those directors, producers, and marketing agencies in my life. I have allowed those people to dictate to me through cleverly written, and carefully selected scripts just what is and what is not acceptable in terms of some of life's most important issues.
The only thing more bizarre than the loud and fast paced commercials filled with unproveable short quips are laugh tracks. I wonder how much the use of laugh tracks has actually effected what people think is laugh worthy. I suspect that whoever invented laugh tracks had a firm understanding of Pavlov and his dog experiments.
Yes, the next 5 months will be quieter and with the quietness will come more freedom. I won't be 'tied' to when Big Bang is on. I will probably sit in other parts of the house more often. For sure I will sit on other sofas and chairs in the living room not having to be within "television view.
AND...after 5 months of not having Satellite Television I will be $250 richer, which is sort of laughable... with or without a laugh track.
My first clue that we were watching too much television was when one Sunday in church my 3 year old ...wanting to sing along...handed me the hymnal and asked me to 'put it on the right channel'.
I phoned to stop my tv etc. for very similar reasons. "Oh, is it the cost?"
ReplyDelete"Well, yes the cost, but I don't need all that stuff; it is summer."
"Would you keep the service if we take $30 off each month for the next 6?"
So, I agreed with the understanding I can remove some packages in a month or so and save another $12 and believe it or not, I'm told I will still have the basic package. Go figure. To watch anything more than a fuzzy CBC on my attic arial since the wave changes in delivery last Sept. I am obligated to have some service.