![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I Didn't *Think* I Was Pathetic
Feb. 18th, 2004 02:10 pmMy cable went out some time on Thursday. I didn't get it back until late Saturday afternoon. By Friday night, I was jonesing so bad, I pulled out old tapes from the drawer. You know the kind—the ones where you taped something but failed to label them and now you're not sure what they are but you're afraid to tape over them because they might be something you need but you're not quite interested enough to actually stick them in the machine and find out what they are? Anyway, I started sticking those mystery babies in the machine and watched them, commercials and all, just to give me the illusion of having TV. And when cable was finally reestablished Saturday afternoon, I sat there for at least a half hour, surfing through all the channels over and over just to make sure they were still there and that they weren't going to go away again.
The upside of this is that all my mystery tapes are now labeled or recycled into the "okay to tape" pile. The downside is…I'm pathetic. And I really didn't think I was.
All right, okay, listen up: I don't have to watch TV. I could give it up any time. Seriously. Mostly I just have it on in the background while I'm doing something else: like, doing the dishes, working on the computer, or reading. Oh yeah, I've always read with the TV on. Pick a show that's just interesting enough not to need your undivided attention, but not so bad as to be distractingly irritating and you, too, can read with the TV on.
Why would I want to? you might ask yourself. Well, why wouldn't you? I mean, aren't you afraid of a totally silent room? Oh, uh, me neither. Just thinking that some people, you know, can't stand the sound of silence. Makes 'em feel like maybe there's a colony of ants living under their skin or maybe something really awful is going to happen if there's no noise to drown out the awfulness—kind of like leaving the light on so the monsters under the bed are afraid to come out.
Or so I've heard. I wouldn't have any personal knowledge of such obvious pathetic psychoses. And anyway, I've got my TV again, cable's working fine and it's all right to turn it off now. I know it'll be there when I need it, so it's all right to turn it off. Besides, I don't need it. You hear?
The upside of this is that all my mystery tapes are now labeled or recycled into the "okay to tape" pile. The downside is…I'm pathetic. And I really didn't think I was.
All right, okay, listen up: I don't have to watch TV. I could give it up any time. Seriously. Mostly I just have it on in the background while I'm doing something else: like, doing the dishes, working on the computer, or reading. Oh yeah, I've always read with the TV on. Pick a show that's just interesting enough not to need your undivided attention, but not so bad as to be distractingly irritating and you, too, can read with the TV on.
Why would I want to? you might ask yourself. Well, why wouldn't you? I mean, aren't you afraid of a totally silent room? Oh, uh, me neither. Just thinking that some people, you know, can't stand the sound of silence. Makes 'em feel like maybe there's a colony of ants living under their skin or maybe something really awful is going to happen if there's no noise to drown out the awfulness—kind of like leaving the light on so the monsters under the bed are afraid to come out.
Or so I've heard. I wouldn't have any personal knowledge of such obvious pathetic psychoses. And anyway, I've got my TV again, cable's working fine and it's all right to turn it off now. I know it'll be there when I need it, so it's all right to turn it off. Besides, I don't need it. You hear?