Don't Sit so Close to the TV

I had very few friends as a child. I was an outcast due to my inability to play sports and my more matured nature. My father was not the most sensitive creature in the world and my mother always seemed busy. I had two siblings but my sister was five years younger than I and my brother actually had friends.

The one best friend I did have though was the television. It was a behemoth encased in black that lived in a bedroom that I shared with my younger brother. It was black and white with tubes glowing and had to warm up. It received seven stations, the three major networks, three local stations and PBS. The remote control involved how fast I decided to get up and switch the channels. It was a hand-me-down from some relative in the Bronx who could actually afford a new TV.

I would get up in the morning and switch it on to watch cartoons while I dressed for school. I would come home from school and watch 1960’s reruns while doing my homework until dinner was ready. After dinner I would vegetate there during the family hour, when there still was one, until bed time and while in bed I would turn it on with the sound off to the same station my parents were watching in the next room. Saturday mornings were of course special because of the omnipotence of cartoons. Occasionally we would all board mom and dad’s king size bed for family watching of Emergency or Chips. My mother often told me I sat to close to the television but never pulled me from its trance-like airwaves. I could recite the TV Guide schedule at will and was proud of it.

The Brady’s, the Partridges, the Cunningham’s were all my virtual friends. I could always rely on them to be there for me when I needed somebody. Captain Stubbing took me to new places while The Wonderful World of Disney gave me magic to believe in. Archie Bunker gave me adult insights while Fonzie watched over Milwaukee and I hoped me as well. I Love Lucy made me laugh while Little House on the Prairie gave me family. All these shows and many, many more contributed to my future being.

While I was in high school we got our first color TV. It was placed in my parent’s bedroom and was mostly off limits to us kids. My senior year we finally got cable and were exposed to thirty stations which seemed to good to be true. Today I have friends and family that do not involve a remote control and teach me about the same things just in live action.

My old friends on the little screen are still there for me though. The old and the new continue to teach me, keep me informed, make me laugh and most importantly are always there at a moments notice.

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