For those of you who know my family (or at least knew us circa 1999) - this is unfathomable. We bonded over TV. We watched TV as a family. Our nightly viewing of Politically Incorrect (at which time we would argue over the inane responses of the guest that evening) was sacrosanct. There's a video of my brother at two years old saying he wants to go over to Nondie's (my grandmother's) house to watch MTV. Any one of us could recite the Primetime lineup of the major networks in our sleep. The advent of TiVo only served to make this addiction worse. For freak's sake - I was paid and got college credit for watching television - How could any of us LIVE without cable??
Though it may be hard to believe, I have not had cable in my apartment for a full year. Perhaps I should rephrase - I have not paid for cable in my apartment for a year. Realistically, I've been without cable since July, and, much like my computer, I don't particularly miss it. Please don't take this as an invitation to take my computer away from me for more than a week - such things will get you shot and killed.
My reliance on television probably ended ten years ago when I went to college and didn't have cable (or television) in my dorm room. Mind you, this changed by sophomore year, but I'd already been weaned off, so it wasn't as dramatic a transition. There were certainly shows that I watched religiously (The West Wing, Will and Grace, Once and Again), and was known to watch Friends in syndication as much as possible, but my life did not revolve around TV. That is, of course, until my Junior year of college. My cushy liberal arts education allowed me to do classes on The Cosby Show and The West Wing, which required reliable access to Nick at Nite and Bravo. I used the cable in the dorms until I lived in off-campus housing senior year, thereby justifying Satellite TV. If only I'd thought to use that as a tax-deductible educational expense at the time . . .
In my lovely post-graduation apartment, I couldn't dream of life without the Boob Tube, so HBO and the 1400 other channels became my haven, yet again. Life continued in a similar manner until I began working retail, thereby destroying my regular schedule and prime-time freedom. By this time, however, there was DVR, so my days off were generally dominated by all-day marathons of Law and Order SVU. And then - last year - I moved to an apartment on my own in an attempt to save money (and my sanity). Cable was most definitively not a necessary expense, and when the move to digital cut off my free (ok - stolen) access, I wasn't going to break down and buy something that would only waste my time. If I'm dying to see something in particular, I can usually go to Hulu and call it good. I still have broadcast TV in my house, but it's only on for the specific shows I watch (don't even think about taking away Glee). I will admit, most weekends are spent playing on my computer or doing something similar with DVDs in the background, but this has seriously reduced the mindless hours I could spend in front of a television on any given weekend.
How on earth could someone who majored in The Portrayal of American Politics in Television actually live without much of a TV? How could a former Journalism major live in a foreign country without a television in the house? Well, my faithful followers, people can change. Ha! Fooled you! That only happens on television . . .
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