Television ate my Soul

Kill your television before it eats your soul. Seriously.

I spend a significant portion of my week with geeks and nerds in training. They start off each class telling whomever will listen that they didn't have enough time get whatever it was that they were supposed to do done. The conversation generally moves to boasting about how high a level their character is in the game-of-the-week (which is World of Warcraft). They may or may not stop briefly in the topic of which comic book is being made into a movie. They never discuss the merits or detriments of such projects or of movies that have already come out, but they sure will (mis)quote a lot of dialogue from the films. Inevitably, the conversation winds up on the television shows watched by one and all, well almost all as I am not really up to their level. I've made it clear that I watch three shows which equals four hours of programming per week, and none of it on an actual television. Any viewing above and beyond this comes from Netflix, as there are so many movies and so little time. Without fail I am asked day in and day out if I've seen show X or Y or Z. I haven't, nor will I, as apparently everyone I know is incapable of discussing a show apart from regurgitating events that happened - especially when they are trying to convince me to watch a show. Hmm, let's see, it's a suspenseful show to which you've just told me the twist ending; odds are I'm not going to freaking watch it. Okay, 'freaking' is not my first word choice.
As inevitable as ruining a media format for me, the topic turns to who watches the least amount of programming. It is always the biggest nerd/geek in the room who claims to watch the least amount of television, you know, except for the two hour-long dramedy, investeality shows, and the news, oh and don't forget Letterman, and since they're up they watch Conan; but seriously that's all the television they watch, oh unless you count what they stream to their computers which doesn't really count because they're reading their emails on the commercial breaks.

I'm pretty addicted to the shows I watch, so I understand how one could slip away into the nether regions and blow four or five hours a day. But, I guess I'm also on the path to recovery if I can admit how much I watch and understand the trade-offs of time spent watching television programs versus everything else life has to offer.

As you look up at me sitting on my high-horse, you're probably wondering what I think the geeks and nerds in training should be doing with their time. The obvious answer is reading for class and oh, I don't know, maybe their homework. Or instead of talking about how someday they are going to ... oh never mind. They're not listening anyways, as I'm sure the commercial break is over and they've forgotten that I'm still here.