Runnels Rhapsody

Why We Don't Own a TV

I saw this article recently and can really relate. Both my husband and I grew up in homes like the one described here. And this is a big part of why we have decided to live without a TV in our home. Over 6 years now and going strong! There have been only 2 occassions (presidential inaugaration and 9/11) when we missed having a TV at home. And now with our daughter, not owning a TV is one of the best things we can do for her mind, her innocence, her faith, her emotions, her health, and for our overall family relationships. 

OUR HOUSE GUEST (author unknown)

A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small Tennessee town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.

As I grew up I never questioned his place in our family. In my young mind, each member had a special niche. My brother, Bill, five years my senior, was my example. Fran, my younger sister, gave me an opportunity to play 'big brother' and develop the art of teasing. My parents were complementary instructors - Mom taught me to love the Word of God and Dad taught me to obey it.

But the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adentures, mysteries and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spell-bound for hours each evening.

If I wanted to know about politics, history or science, he knew it all. He knew about the past, understood the present, and seemingly could predict the future. The pictures he could draw were so life-like that I would often laugh or cry as I watched.

He was like a friend to the whole family. He took Dad, Bill and me to our first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several movie stars.

The stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn't seem to mind, but sometimes Mom would quietly get up - while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places - to go her room, read her Bible and pray. I wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave.

You see, my dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, fo example, was not allowed in our house - not from us, our friends or adults.

Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four letter words that burned my ears and made Dad squirm. To my knowledge the stranger was never confronted. My dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in his home - not even for cooking. But the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened us to the ways ofl ife. He often offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages.

He made cigarettes look tasy, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestives and generally embarrassing. I know now that the stranger influenced my early concepts of the man-woman relationship.

The stranger began to discuss personal issues and ailments without regard to the tender ears that might be listening or the fact that it was mealtime. Some of the topics caused mom to leave the table! Time after time he opposed the values of my parents. Yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave.

More than 30 years have passed since the stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Drive. He is not nearly as intriguing to my Dad as he was in those early years. But if I were to walk into my parents' den today, I'd still see him sitting over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

He never told us his name - we always used his initials: T.V.

No TV

11:47, 2006-Aug-8 .. Posted by Anonymous

What a great article! It is interesting to look back and see how a lot of us grew up just accepting this "stranger" into our homes. Watching TV is a constant struggle in our home; we long to unplug the thing and throw it to the curb, but often find ourselves wasting valuable time "zoning" in front of it. We recently made the commitment to turning it off for the entire summer and what a difference it has made in all our lives. I just may have to strength to follow through with that curb thing.