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dave 45-90
01-02-2018, 08:11 PM
Some On Here May Be Clueless
But those that understand will smile

Five years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger

Who was new to our small 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

From then on. As I grew up, I never questioned his

Place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche.

My parents were complementary instructors:

Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey.

But the stranger... He was our storyteller. He would

Keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures,

Mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history

Or science, he always knew the answers about the past,

Understood the present and even seemed able to predict

The future

He took my family to the first major league ball game.

He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger

Never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of

Us were shushing each other to listen to what he had

To say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet.

(I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions,

But the stranger never felt obligated to honor them.

Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home - not

From us, our friends or any visitors. Our long time visitor,

However, got away with four-letter words that burned my

Ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.

My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol, but the

Stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made

Cigarettes look cool, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished.

He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments

Were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally

Embarrassing..

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were

Influenced by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the

Values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked

... And NEVER asked to leave.

Almost sixty years have passed since the stranger moved in

With our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as

Fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my

Parents''s den today, you would still find him sitting over in his

Corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch

Him draw his pictures.

His name?....

We just call him 'TV.'

He has a wife now...we call her 'Computer.'

Their first child was "Cell Phone".

Second child "I Pod "

And JUST BORN A FEW YEARS AGO WAS a Grandchild:

IPAD
And One It Goes

Elkins45
01-04-2018, 11:33 AM
All that stuff has an off switch, you know. And it’s a bit ironic that you posted it to an Internet forum using a computer.

Friends call me Pac
01-04-2018, 01:25 PM
I though it was interesting & true. Good job.

D Crockett
01-04-2018, 01:33 PM
that was a very good read thank you D Crockett

yeahbub
01-04-2018, 05:59 PM
I'm reminded of Frank Zappa's words in that song I can't remember the name of, ". . . Have you guessed me yet? I'm the slime oozing out of yo' TV set."

bedbugbilly
01-05-2018, 12:24 PM
A good read and right on the mark. People have "free will" though and they have the ability to get up and hit the off switch. Well, find the remote anyway since everything has advanced to making people lazy. It started years ago and whether a person wants to admit it or not, it also started the decline of our society. We have all these "wondrous ways" of communicating now - cell phones, e-mail, etc. and yet people, especially younger ones, don't have a clue as to how important the ability to communicate on a personal level is. Think it isn't so? Arrange for a repairman to fix something and have the tell you when they'll be there and then they don't show up when they set the appointment for - and they don't have the ability to use their cell phone to call and let you know they'll be delayed. Funny though, they don't have any problem texting somebody while they are there to do the repairs . . . .

Ickisrulz
01-05-2018, 04:49 PM
Radio, TV, computers are great inventions. They have no morals, they're just tools like guns. It's up to humans to use tools properly.

Smoke4320
01-05-2018, 05:34 PM
Radio, TV, computers are great inventions. They have no morals, they're just tools like guns. It's up to humans to use tools properly.

Well said

OS OK
01-05-2018, 05:55 PM
Does that 'remote' thingy wiggle the rabbit ears for ya too?

GhostHawk
01-05-2018, 10:35 PM
A hammer has no brain, nothing to tell it this is good to hit, this is bad to hit.

It is left to the user of the tool to decide.

Same is true of Radio, TV, computer, pad, phone.

I grew up in a house where the stranger did not come until I was 8 or 9.
My uncles had color, my cousins watched tv shows we were not allowed to watch.

Tv was not turned on until after supper, period. Ohh the walking on the moon, but it took a really special occasion.

Funny I don't remember learning swear words from the TV. Local 3.2 beer bar/diner, locker room at school.

Yes morals on TV were not up to Dad's standards. But if they were too bad the channel got changed or it got turned off.

Responsibility is the users. But there are whole generations of people that do not understand that.
They will in time.

Goatwhiskers
01-05-2018, 10:43 PM
I think I might have posted this before: "I fear the day when technology will surpass our normal human interactions. We will have a generation of idiots." Albert Einstein. Personally I fear that the day is here. GW

OS OK
01-05-2018, 10:50 PM
When I watched the little Black & White as a kid in the 50's we actually learned morals, good sportsmanship, fair play and the whole nine yards from shows like Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, The Life of Riley, Sky King, Roy Rogers, Sunday night with Disney but...soon came the late 60's and it all went to heck from there.

We were fortunate too with 3 different channels to choose from...most of the time.

MaryB
01-05-2018, 11:14 PM
Black and white until I was 4. Local news, Lawrence Welk, Hee Haw... then a 25" color TV. We were allowed 3 hours Saturday morning for cartoons then it was do chores. No watching TV before supper unless all your homework and chores were done, then we watched Hogan's Hero's, Gilligan's Island...

But we spent far more time outside playing, working the gardens, helping neighbors who were elderly or disabled...

abunaitoo
01-07-2018, 03:46 AM
When I first started to read it, I was thinking Radio.
More i read it sounded like TV.
Very interesting story.