The almighty television

Today in the mail, I received an invitation from Direct TV to enjoy 150 channels at the low price of $29.95 per month for an entire year. Since television was the first expense we cut out in our household in order to save money, I figured the cable and satellite television companies would really suffer during a recession. Then I remembered... this is America. Where would most Americans be without television? How would they know what to buy, where to shop, what to eat, or what to drive?? The TV addiction runs very deep for the majority of this country.

America has a love/hate relationship with television, though. I've noticed that whenever I tell people that we don't watch TV, almost everyone will say something along the lines of, "Well, I don't watch that much, mostly educational channels and the news." Also, no one likes the look of the big gray box in their living rooms. Hence, the invention of pop up tv furniture and armoires to hide the TV behind doors while not in use.

I've never heard someone proudly announce that they watch four hours of television each day, yet this is the average for the American public. This saddens me, because this is essentially time that is wasted. This is time that could be spent with loved ones, strengthening family bonds, working on hobbies, exercising outdoors, or simply relaxing and having some real meditative "down" time.