"Whad'ya doing boy," my grandfather asked as he walked through the front door, "watchin' the 'idot-box"? Those words, to this day stick clear in my mind. As I get older they have a deeper meaning to me, especially now that I have children. What has the invention of the television done for us, as a society? Where is it going in the future? Can we get away from it's addictive pull?
I'm not the greatest fan of the television. I spend almost no time in front of its hypnotic array of pixelate motion. I can't talk about the latest sitcoms or who did what on any of the reality TV shows. I don't know which team won last nights game or who's going to what playoff. I have spent 3.5 hours watching something on the TV in the last 30 days, period.
I completely understand the draw. Sitcoms can be entertaining, sports are fun to watch and reality TV...well, I can't say much about it...I'm not a fan. When I was growing up I wasn't allowed to sit in front of the television and waste hours at a time. I was always outside or reading. I was a big fan of the "choose-your-own-adventure" type books. I was active, I played sports and ran through the woods and explored and had an imagination. As I got older I fell in with the video game crowd and spent incalcuable hours racked up on video games...another addictive activity. If I had the hours spent playing video game invested in the classics or learning a foreign language, I'd probably be a Rhodes Scholar or fluent in something besides English. It's sad really, looking back on it.
Even a few years back I was "hooked" on a video game that I could not break away from. I spent too much time sitting at my computer hacking away at images of creatures and collecting imaginary gold. What the hell was I thinking? The worst part of the game though was you could input a command into the game that would show you the hours spent playing the game. What a way to punch someone in the gut. I went back recently and did so, just for sh*t's and giggles...my reaction was shock! Over one-quarter of a year had been spent sitting and clicking buttons on the keyboard. Pure unproductive time wasted all for entertainment. What was I thinking?
I wasn't, and that was part of the problem. I was allowing my mind to slip into oblivion and become mush. The body was to follow. I became lazy, physically and mentally. I didn't want to "do" anything. Running was out of the question, I had no endurance. Weight-lifting? Hell no, I had a dungeon to explore...lol. What a fool I was! Then there is the impact on the marriage. When you have a wife who wouldn't mind living without electricty, explaining why spending all night on a "dungeon-raid" is important becomes quite a challenge.
Thankfully, I was able to pull myself away from this and put forth my efforts elsewhere. I look and listen to co-workers and at fellow citizens when I'm out and wonder what is it going to take to get "us" away from the screen? We, as a nation, are larger (obese) than any other nation in the world. Our diets' are made up of processed foods and sugar. We sit more than we sleep and the notion of being active is a fantasy. We idolize fictional characters because we don't know of any real ones. I won't get into idolizing athletes, that is a subject that could create a lot of controversy.
I look back and remember my grandfather who was alway fit. I don't remember, even in his 70's, him having a belly. He was either working with his hands or reading. The only TV he watched was the 6 o'clock news. He was also well educated. For a man who did not get past the 8th grade he could tlak about anything from quantum physics to opinions on what stock to buy to history. He self-educated and would carry on conversation with others in rhetorical discourse to improve his knowledge and share what he knew with others. Though a hard man to understand then I have a man with few emotions, he is someone I look on with admiration.
Reading is now one of my greatest past-times and something I am desperately trying to pass on to my children. They are at the learning to read stage of life and I hope to plant the seed early. They don't watch much TV now, my wife and I won't let them. I hope they never get caught up in the lifestyle of vegetating on the couch...being a "couch-potato."
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