I do not own a televison.
Well i do, but it’s on loan to a friend of mine and lived in a back room unplugged for some time before-hand.
I last watched a television (apart from in waiting rooms and such) when last in the UK I think. Perhaps at Christmas. I know I watched England win the test series, which may explain why! No seriously it has been 2 or 3 years since I had a regular television watching schedule.
While I do occasionally "binge" on the pay TV when at my mother’s
place, this is basically on the house and home genre and very occassionally on the "Oprah"
genre. In the case of house and home stuff certainly is currently pointless. I suppose a girl can but dream?
By and large I find I don’t miss it. Or at least , not nearly as much as I thought I would. Not that I was ever that keen on television post uni days. It probably helps that the only program I was ever really a regular viewer of, has gone downhill. Occasionally I wonder if I miss out on conversation, but not regularly enough to do anything pro-active about it.
I know a couple who are raising a young son, and as far as I know they still do not have a TV and haven’t had for years. They sparked my interest . Then I read the (auto?)biography of Rev. Peter Marchall. Then I spoke to other friends, then a movie where the gypsy free spirit protagonist used her TV as a fish tank or such. Then I realised how much time I was in fact wasting, being shown images I had no need to see but felt compelled to watch.
Typically of me, (see this entry) I had an unrealisticly romantic notion of how life would look without television. To some extent I was right. I do read more. I den’t succumbe as much to advertising, etc etc. I haven’t missed out on anything vital news wise although I have been a bit slow on thec uptake at times. I haven’t had to watch planes crashing in the US or buildings burnings.
My food is no better. My sense of culture is unchanged. Life is simpler and quieter however. I have choice.
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I have a TV but I manage to be selective in what I watch. I get the ‘point’ in this day and age of not having a TV or not having a car. Maybe the same can be said of a dishwasher, mobile phone or ‘heaven forbid’ a computer. Maybe there is no harm in having them – maybe the harm comes from how they are used.