The Day that Changed How I Watch TV

I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day. I woke up to a beautiful sunny morning. The air was crisp and cool and I had planned on spending it with my beautiful new granddaughter. But first I had to go see if my friend Mike had sent me an email telling me how his weekend with his wife up in Maine had gone. Sure enough, there it was, a long missive about what a great time they had and about the goodies (antiques) she had discovered and brought home. I wrote back thanking him for sharing a bit of his time with me, then went to call my granddaughter’s mother to see when it would be okay to pick her up. She was 9 months old at the time and there was nothing I enjoyed more than the time I spent with her. The phone rang and I was greeted with, “Mary do you have the TV on?” No, I replied as I picked up the remote and turned it on…..and there it was, right before my eyes…just before the South Tower had been hit…and I watched the entire scenario knowing that my friend, who had just emailed me, was in harm’s way. My knees buckled knowing and fearing the worse. Oh my God, NO!!!!

At that moment, my husband came into the kitchen (thankfully he also had the day off) and saw what was going on, and knew what I was thinking. Mary, he’s okay, I just know he is. Let’s go get Lilah. It’ll keep your mind busy. Right. No Way I thought. But she did help to keep me busy, and as I fed her lunch the phone rang. It was my friend Mike. “Mary, it’s me….I’m okay. After the first tower was hit I went down to the trade floor to see what happened. It was all over the television monitors. Then the South Tower was hit and we were ordered to evacuate the building. We ran down Broadway to Mid Town and I’m now waiting for the ferry to take me over to New Jersey.” Oh thank goodness I cried!!
The rest of our lives would never be the same. My attitude about TV would never be the same. The attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and what happened in western Pennsylvania played over and over again to a point where I felt as though I couldn’t get away from it. The relentless way the media shoved that nightmare down our throats was ridiculous. How many times did they need to play it? The thing is, is that it’s how it goes with every other “event” or “catastrophe” until the next one comes along and diverts their attention. All it does is traumatize us and make us believe that this craziness that goes on in the world is an every day event. It makes us live in fear.

As a consequence of that day I watch much less TV. I stay current with the events of the world by reading the newspaper or going online and reading what has been going on. I have taken control of what comes into my home. My home is a sanctuary in which I can escape from the insanity of what goes on “out there.” Although my husband feels a TV is necessary, I would love to get rid of it. Other than a few movies I’ve enjoyed over the past 10 years, the weather station, and HGTV, I could live without one. And I know I can live without the media terrorizing me.


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