Please Remove The Boob Tube

Well said. I usually arrange to turn the TVs off. There are two methods. Once I was in the hospital waiting room at midnight. I gently verified that the other couple of people weren't watching. Then I asked the nurse to turn it off. I'm a middle aged tall respectable looking fellow, and that carried the day. She was shocked but complied.

The other method can be lots of fun. Get the device called TV-B-Gone. For a little under $30, you gain the power to turn off nearly any television. It works just about everywhere. I first tried it in the Sears TV department. Couldn't believe it. Blam blam blam. Off they went. Then I was in a casino in Albuquerque and randomly turned off giant TVs. After those tests of my newfound powers I became more socially responsible, and only turn off TVs that need killin'.

Great article. I just returned from donating blood at the Red Cross where previously there were no TVs. Today, I was subjected to a very loud "Law and Order" episode. My request to turn the volume down so that I could read went unheeded and my book went unread. No one was watching, so perhaps it is a form of "white noise" that some (most?) people are uncomfortable without. As for me, I'm with you and find it next to impossible to do something productive with the TV on. Incidentally, who decide that we have to watch CNN or a sporting event at every airport in the country??

Perfectly written! I write about amusing family issues for a website (http://www.thecommishonline.com/foulterritory.html) and had intended to write about this very same issue. I no longer have to because Allison said exactly what I wanted to say!

A few months ago I had to wait in line two and a half hours to make a purchase at a city facility. There was no TV, just many many frustrated people. I got to chatting with four people in line near me. Before long, we were sharing stories, laughing, even developing inside jokes and borrowing each other's phones. By the time we were finally finished waiting, we were all sorry to say goodbye to one another. So sorry, in fact,that we exchanged phone numbers. I made four new friends that day! So sad to think what we all could be missing by the ubiquitous presence of info-tainment.

Hi "eyedvmtech" - I appreciate your comments and certainly agree that there can be a place for televisions in public, esp. in a situation like your clinic, where folks can face a lengthy and emotionally difficult wait for news of their pet. My article specifically focused on places like the grocery store or the post office, retail establishments where such a wait is not to be expected, and yet TVs lurk around every corner. We seem to have convinced ourselves that we NEED them everywhere - that's what I can't stand. As I wrote in the article, I am OKAY with waiting - it doesn't make me throw a tantrum, as you suggest. And by the way, I have struck up a conversation with a stranger in line - and it worked out just fine. :-)

Allison Wood's "Please Remove the Boob Tube: is neither a temper tantrum nor obsolete. It is just a sample of sanity in a world gone insane. Just because someone wrote about this phenomenon 9 years ago does not mean that the few people left with brain cells unaltered by 21st century monster technology should not write about it over and over again until most people actually HEAR and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
TV's INCREASED invasion of public spaces is no longer a mere annoyance. The phenomenon may have started in the late nineties but it was nowhere next to where it is now. Those nasty screens constantly spitting off grotesque commercials are literally everywhere, at all times: bank, public transportation, doctor's office, resaturant, school, stores - EVERYWHERE. She nailed it perfectly when she suggested that this almost feels like a conspiracy to further separate people from one another and enclose them in a frightening Huxleyan techno-bubble. As usual, the "choice" argument in such situations is as ridiculous as the people who adore to abuse it. Even if I failed to take a book with me, I would still expect not to have my ears and eyes bombarded with junk just because I stepped outside of the only space I own: my house. Besides, having a book with me and attempting to read instead of watching TV will not change the fact that the nasty screen will manage to ruin my perfectly good intentions. It is annoying enough that I am forced to swallow huge commercial billboards every single yard I travel. How about taking this commercial insanity a notch down and just dismantle the mostruous creature - or lose my business, whatever that is?

Allison Wood's temper tantrum regarding why there are TV's in public places are exactly why there are TV's in public places. So people will have something else to keep their attention instead of throwing temper tantrums because they have to wait. I work in a high end, specialty vet clinic and we have a TV in our waiting room for this reason. Sometimes clients have to wait upwards of 2 hours to see the doctor. The doctor always spends as much time with every client that they need in order to understand what is going on with their pet. People in the waiting room don't always understand that the doctor is going to spend the same amount of time with them, more if needed. Mostly, we play movies to keep everyone pre-occupied and to keep their minds off of that fact they've been waiting for an hour to see the vet. We also provide snacks and coffee and have an array of magazines (including Newsweek, of course). If Allison is soooo bothered by all the TV sets hanging around, why doesn't she just carry a book with her everywhere she goes. Or a crossword puzzle. Or a sewing kit to darn holes in socks. Or take an MP3 player to listen to her own music. Or she could take her coupon book for organization while waiting in lines. The list goes on an on. Of course, she will probably just do what us in the retail business don't want...stand around and complain about it.

Allison Wood's My Turn column is right-on and funny. The only point I would make is that the television is everywhere phenomenon is nothing new. I wrote essentially the same article nine years ago. Take a look: http://philosophicalpotpourri.blogspot.com/2007/11/ubiquitube-television-as-muzak.html#links

I'M TURNING MY TV OFF MORE AND MORE AND ENJOYING SOLITUDE, MY ANIMAL, M KEBOAD IS NOT WOKING WELL.
I'M EADING SOME NEW ATHOS, WOMEN, M.D.S, PSHIATISTS.
THIS LAPTOP IS NEAL BAND NEW AND ITS NOT WOKING WELL.