When people visit my home, the first thing they notice is that there is no television in the living room. Usually it’s a laid back “so where’s your television?” but more often than not it’s an incredulous exclamation, “you don’t have a television?!”
Nope.
My tv-less living room
I used to, long, long ago, when I thought it was something everyone should own. Something to watch movies on from the library. And I’ve lived in four different houses that were cable-ready but never once called the cable company to set it up (too expensive). My uncle once complained to me about his cable bill; I told him, “so stop getting it.” He looked at me in disbelief and said, “you’re so funny!”
But when the government switched from analog to digital a few years ago and said that we’d have to purchase a converter (which may or may not work), I said forget it. I’m not doing it. So out went the television on the porch on Freecycle.
Truth is, I’ve never liked television. It’s noisy. It’s flashy. It’s too fast. It takes up space. It gets dusty. I want a calm, zen atmosphere in my home. Perhaps it’s because I grew up in a home where the television was always on. Me? I preferred to be outside. Or reading. Or listening to music. Or writing. Or…you see how much time not watching tv frees up?
I once read a book called Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander but, in my case, it was really preaching to the choir.
In fact, did you know that, in the UK you’re required to pay a television licence fee to watch television? Can you imagine the probable riotous uproar if such a thing were required here?!
So what do I watch movies on? My laptop, when I feel like it and that’s usually only in the coldest, darkest days of winter.
~Maria, who bought a house with both a built-in microwave oven & a dishwasher, but uses the microwave as a cupboard and stores pots and pans in the dishwasher.*
*Microwave ovens scare me and I do not own enough dishes to run a dishwasher.
Eleventh Stack 