Skip to main content

You Can Call Us Crazy...

We don't have a TV in our house. I have lived without a TV for the past five years. And really, I don't miss it one bit.

We started working out at the local gym, if you can call it back. When we started one of the perks was that it they have lots of TV and the Dish Network. It was like a little reward for working out. Sometimes, we even went to work out at certain times knowing that a certain show show would be on.

But now, I find that I am bored with TV even then. I have a few channels that I check each time, but if nothing interesting is on, I really don't want to watch it. I have now started to take my book along, so I can read if nothing interesting is on. I can only watch people renovating their kitchens and patios so many times or see people cook with ingredients I have never even heard of, let alone purchase at my local grocery stores.

My students think I am nuts when they discover we do not have a TV. "How can you survive?" they ask. "When I get my own place, that is the first thing I will buy," a few always comment. After I explain that we do watch movies on our laptop and we get all of our news on the Internet, a few always decide that it is not so strange them.

But those comments make me sad. Have we really come a the point where people think something like a TV is essential to survival? What would happen if there were no TV? It makes me wonder about the digital turnover that is supposed to be happening in the near future. Would it really be all that bad if not everyone's TV worked?

I hope I can stir a few if not all of my students to think a little bit about what is really important in this life.

Comments

Unknown said…
I think I have only looked at your blog once before, so it was interesting to read your thoughts on TV. I lived without one for 2 years and loved it too. I found I really didn't miss much. My students are six and seven years old. During our unit on needs and wants, they tried to argue that a TV is a need. According to them, a TV is a need because you "need" to know about things that happen in the world and you "need" to know what the weather would be so you know how to dress. I hope reading this doesn't distress you, but regardless, it is an interesting thought.
February 6, 2009 at 9:02 PM
Rachelle said…
kudos to you. I have a tv complete with 75 channels, but only because it comes with my apartment. However, I can get everything I really want off the internet (even the few TV shows I do really like are just one click away!) and with that I don't end up sitting in front of it all night flipping through shows I don't really like anyway.
February 19, 2009 at 12:21 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 49th Mystic by Ted Dekker

In the small town of Eden, Utah, a blind girl named Rachelle Matthews is about to find out just how wrong. When a procedure meant to restore Rachelle's sight goes awry, she begins to dream of another world so real that she wonders if Earth might only be a dream experienced when she falls asleep in that reality.  She is the prophesied one who must find and recover five ancient seals--in both worlds--before powerful enemies destroy her. If Rachelle succeeds in her quest, peace will reign. If she fails, both worlds will forever be locked in darkness. I am a big Ted Dekker fan, and became a fan when I read the Circle Series. So when I heard Ted was writing more books in the Circle world, I could not wait to go back. And Dekker did not dissappoint. The only thing I don't like about this book is that I have to wait until October to get the second half of the story. Dekker is a master world builder and write interesting a complex characters. And Dekker masterfully weaves truth throu...
Post a Comment
Read more

American Thanksgiving

One nice thing about being from two different countries is that we can celebrate more holidays. And since there are a few more people from the states here, last night we had our own American Thanksgiving feast. There were six couples and all of the wives and two of the husbands were from the States. So the Americans out numbered the Canadians, which doesn't happen very often. And we had a feast. There was turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread, stuffing and three different kinds of pies for dessert and a pumpkin cake. It was wonderful. And the fellowship was great too. The hosts said there was no assigned seating, so the ladies all sat together at one of the table and guys at the other. It was funny how it worked out, but we had great conversations full of laughter. It was a great way to celebrate a holiday. Hopefully we have started our own tradition here.
1 comment
Read more

A Perspective

I have already mentioned my "Word of the Day" screen saver that I have on my laptop that is hooked up to the projector in my room. I am learning that the words go in cycles a bit, so the same word will pop up in several classes during the day. Today's popular word was "entitlement." A fantastic word to share with teenagers who often think they are entitled to a whole lot of stuff. In fact, we as humans often think we are entitled to a whole lot of stuff when really we are fallen people who deserve nothing but death. We so often miss how wonderful and blessed our life really is and we get caught up on the little things. This video sort of puts that in perspective in a rather humorous way. I am by no means promoting this comedian, but if you take what he says to heart, it is so true. We live in an amazing world, created by an amazing God. We really should be happy with the blessing we have been given.
2 comments
Read more