Neither a TV child, nor adult be
I've come to realize over my lifespan so far that my life-long habit of not watching TV is a detriment to my social life. We had a TV when I was a wee child. It was a green and white thing (we didn't get a true grey and white until I was much older.) My brothers watched the Lone Ranger and other stuff, but for the most part I ignored that box, favoring books and the erector set or self-made fantasy worlds in the back yard. I didn't watch the TV reports of the Kennedy assassination or the Whitman shootings and though I knew about such things from the newspaper, I don't have vivid memories of the televised events like many of my peers. I saw some of the news reports on the Vietnam war during dinner time, enough to place me firmly in the anti-war camp at the time and that's probably the biggest influence TV has ever had on me. Over the years my parents watched TV at dinner and in the evenings so I have a vague familiarity with Ed Sullivan, Red Skelton, The Honeymooners, Dragnet, Mannix, The Carol Burnett Show, All in the Family, Baretta, Columbo, and more. However, I rarely actually watched these shows, so my memories are just tid-bits that I happened to catch while eating dinner or passing through the room. TV just didn't hold my attention then nor does it do a very good job of grabbing it now. And so, in many social settings when the topic turns to TV present or past, I'm at a complete loss. Captain Kangaroo passed away today and my memory of that show is nothing more than the theme song, his face and a brief bit with Mr. Green Jeans. I probably only saw that show a few times and that's true of most TV programs. As a result, there's always this gap when it comes to connecting with my peers, most of whom were raised on TV and continue to be avid consumers. I simply can't connect on that subject with Rob or others because it's just not a part of my experience. At parties or gatherings, I'm often left without a damn thing to say because the conversation has strayed to TV topics and I'm the only one standing there who is competely clueless. Now I could, thanks to cable TV, catch up on all this stuff I've missed over the years, but quite frankly, I don't care to do that. I'd rather spend an hour at a party with nothing to say than to spend hours watching reruns of The Brady Bunch. Improved social interaction just isn't worth it.