by B. Thomas Cooper

Created on: August 11, 2010

What is it about television programming that so often causes to us to regret our time invested? And yet it’s hypnotic glow beacons us back, show after mundane show, night after interrupted night, wreaking havoc upon our otherwise dependable sensibilities. 

If ever there existed an intellectual pool of thought on the matter, it has long since been drained, revealing enormous cracks in our foundation and plugs in our plumbing. In layman’s terms, we waste too much time watching television. We have become a culture of voyeurs, rather than participants, satisfied to watch others humiliate themselves in H.D.

The introduction of so-called ‘reality television’ has only served to further blur our perception. It may be reality, but at best, it’s someone else’s reality. Chances are, if you’re real lucky, it will remain someone else’s reality. Real housewives? How did we get here? Imagine if a television camera crew appeared in your driveway every time you dragged your lawnmower from the garage, checked your mailbox or carried the trash to the curb. Are you feeling a tad punked yet? Do you develop a rash at the very mention of Lindsay Lohan or Heidi Montag?

Perhaps it’s time to cut the strings that bind you. Shut the blasted thing off! Unplug it if you have to. Cancel your service and kill the brain… the body will soon follow. There is so much more we could be doing with our valuable time. I’m not even going to pretend to know what’s good for you. Only you can decide what to do with your new found wealth of time once you wean yourself from television addiction.For starters, the lawn needs mowing and the aforementioned trash has taken on a life of it’s own. 

Of course, your options are endless. Television can be a wonderful source of information and entertainment, and obviously not all programming is bad. Still, it is not beyond the pale to get up and go for a walk on occasion, perhaps stare up at the stars or read a good book. Give it some thought. Not enough to cause yourself injury, but at least give it some thought, and then take your new imagination for a test drive. Don’t let some terminally distracted television programmer do your thinking for you. You have wonderful, imaginative grey matter of your own… get up off the couch and put it to use.

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