Kick the Habit

My TV habit started when I was in the fourth grade, with Disney Afternoon’s kid-targeted lineup of Ducktails, Gummi Bears, Chip and Dales Rescue Rangers, and Talespin. The cartoons aired from 3:00-5:00 p.m. until our parents got home to direct us to our homework and make us dinner. In those two hours we lived like queens, like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. That year, almost everyday after school, my neighborhood friends and I ate Eggo waffles soaked in Mrs. Butterworth on the floor in front of the TV. And so it began. It became almost robotic the way I walked into the house, threw down my backpack and turned on the tube. Twenty years later, I’m stuck in the same habit.

Television really is the best companion when you’re home alone, but it’s also the worst time filler. I hate admitting that I can easily waste a rainy Saturday watching Dirty Jobs, E! True Hollywood Story, and a movie on TBS I’ve already seen eight times. Besides the characters I’m attached to on The Office, Greys Anatomy and Lost, I really enjoy the educational stuff on Discovery, PBS, TLC, or History. I do! Friends make fun of my gusto for nature shows. I’m not a sucker for Meercat Manor, but if a Planet Earth marathon is on, you bet I’m gonna ooh and ahh all day. I also like Ace of Cakes on the Food Network and half a dozen design shows on HGTV. But in the past 2 years I’ve switched to the Internet for most of the regular programs. They only have 30 seconds of commercials and are free! Sometimes when I go to bed I’ll even set the laptop on my belly and watch an episode of 30 Rock before I go to sleep.

So, we’re canceling the cable and saving $70/month. The habitual TV set has been abolished. ...In a way. I’ll still catch up on my shows online and fill a few hours on weekends with Netflix on demand movies. Just think of all the free time I’ll have now after work. I’ll throw down my satchel and turn on my creativity. And attempt to engage this brain of mine.