Goodbye Cable

We are taking the plunge. Or, more accurately, we are removing ourselves from the vat of overpriced sludge. (ok, sludge doesn't exactly rhyme with plunge, but it's close) That is we are discontinuing our cable service. Yes, you heard us right, goodbye cable. We really don't watch that much television as it is. We enjoy the occasional Patriots or Red Sox game, but after that, it's pretty much all down hill. Between all of the violence (I'm sorry, Victor and I just can't handle watching C.S.I. or even Law and Order -- horrible things happening to people, why watch??), the low budget brain-numbing reality t.v., and the sensationalized news channels, we are done. We will keep our television for dvd's and the programming that comes to us for free - especially PBS. And that's it.

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My brother, Scott has many fun toys and creature comforts, but one thing he has never caved on is cable television. At first it was largely in protest to their monopoly - charging outrageous prices without competition. When I asked him about it last night at our Father's Day Family Night he said that now he also doesn't like having the temptation to burn up his time at home and "check out" (ie: turn into a tube-zombie). Growing up, we were never allowed much television. I can still hear my father shouting "Turn that thing off!" Today, when we go to our pediatrician, we are asked how much television our children watch. Our doctor is always pleasantly surprised when I answer that, if they watch any at all, they watch a 1/2 hour a day.

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When I start to consider how commercialism, consumption and big business have gotten so out of hand in our society -- turning off my television is my way of saying "I'm not filling my head with your lies!"