This struck me enough to share; A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small <st1lace w:st="[/IMG]<st1:State">Texas</st1lace> town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on. As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors. Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies. If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind. Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.) Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home... Not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush. My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave. More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures. His name?... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . We just call him, "TV" He has a wife now....We call her "Computer."
You and I have talked so many times about this Tracy... It's so true! I remember people talking about how televisions would bring families closer together....and now people have one in every room...... I'm glad my dad didn't let us have one when I was growing up....Books are still my window on the world.....
We have one small tv (we have to change the channels ourselves) in our family room, with no cable. Only PBS is allowed on when the kids are awake, and we don't watch it that much when they are asleep. It amazes me how people have hi-def this and plasma that, and what they spend on it. I agree with you CRC, books are the thing. Our kindergartener (going to 1st grade this year) is already at the end of 2nd grade reading level-and by now is probably at 3rd grade. Let's hope his brother is the same way. Oh, and our computer died 1.5 years ago. We now go to the library.
I have one tv, jash....a little , old one..... When we were growing up...Dad said people would stop reading with all the television programming..and the advent of cable....He did not allow one in the house... Eventually, no one would babysit us, so they got one..but our viewing time was strictly monitored...There were 2 shows we were allowed to watch...... I did the same with my daughter...blocked so many channels I shouldn't have paid for cable...but there was literally no TV reception where we lived without it...you could get Fox, but it was fuzzy ....that's it... I still read all the time and will not go to bed if I don't have something to read in the house...a lifetime of habit..and one I'm grateful for.... On the other hand...I had a teacher tell me "Not having the internet in your home, is the same as neglect for your child"....Because of papers, projects, etc....all the information at their hands.... I also still have encyclopedias...outdated, sure...but I have them...lol! I remember reading them, and even the dictionary , as a child...just because... I did not like my father at all for his decisions when I was a pre teen...but today, I'm grateful he did what he did....
