Recently it has come to my attention that television has sucked up most of my youth. It was a sad day when I discovered this. It amazed me whenever I heard stories of communities that didn't allow television. I'm not speaking of the Amish community, no I'm speaking of normal families, leading normal lives. Like when my parents were young, and lived in Honduras, they had no television and they did just fine. So why is our generation so obscenely addicted to reality television, to prime time dramas that make us feel more live than living our own lives. Instead of vegging out on the sofa watching reruns of Grey's Anatomy because the writers are still on strike: take a walk, read a book, have a conversation with your family, play with your children. We're always saying how we don't have time, well turn off the television and I just bet you'll have extra time to finish that book you were reading, you'll have time to catch up with friends, and you'll have time to have that "talk" with your son or daughter. I'm not trying to preach, I was stuck on the television diet too, I'm slowly weening myself into the mentality that, life does not revolve around what patient House insulted, or if Izzy is going to end up with Alex, or will she and George work out their intimacy issues.
My resolution this year is to get out of the make-believe world of screenwriters, and into the world around me. Sure, it may be a scary place, but I would rather my world; my life; my ups-and-downs; than the sugarcoated crap I watch(ed) on television. Case in point: American Idol.
Thanks for your comments. The poem is about Obama in Wisconsin, it was for a Creative Writing assignment for school. read more
on Wisconsin