Who is the stranger?
A few 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 longtime 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 strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.
More than fifty 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'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."
(Note: This should be required reading for every household!)
He has a wife now....We call her "Computer."
A few 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 longtime 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 strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.
More than fifty 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'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."
(Note: This should be required reading for every household!)
He has a wife now....We call her "Computer."
for a minute, i thought YOU were talking about your dad and a real human stranger!
ReplyDeletelj
Lol and very true!
ReplyDeletehttp://journals.aol.co.uk/jeanno43/JeannettesJottings/
A cleaver way of telling us how we having given up the simples pleasures of converstion, and making our own entertainment.
ReplyDeleteYasmin
You had me believing your tale right to the end, you rascal you. Dawn
ReplyDeleteI've known very few households where the stanger was told to shut up unless he had something educational or worthwhile to say. Including mine. - Barbara
ReplyDeleteA very true to life tale Guido. I am often asking Bryan to chuck the blessed things out of our house as we managed without them once before, many years ago I admit. But no...he is upgrading this year to a flat screen one. I must admit though we are very choosy these days and use the on off switch quite a lot.
ReplyDeleteI bet he wishes he could do the same with my jaws when I begin to break the silence which has descended from that 'stranger' in our corner. hahahahaha!
I enjoyed this entry.
Ta Muchly!
Jeanie
I also was caught up till the end. What a wonderful unknowing, peaceful world it was before this stranger invaded. But oh well I guess they call it progress. Joni
ReplyDeleteExcellent ....you had me there lol.. well done ...love Jan xx
ReplyDeleteTV and his wife, Computer....hee hee....funny...
ReplyDelete~Amy
I realized where this was going at about paragraph six. This really should be requried reading, because it is so true and puts the TV in perspective. We seldom think of it this way, I believe.
ReplyDeleteLori
Ah, so true......It definitely should become required reading. For all the reasons listed and more I seldom turn on the tv any more these days. (Hugs) Indigo
ReplyDeleteThis is excellent...I never saw "TV" coming.
ReplyDeleteLisa
Very good. I'm happy to say they aren't allowed to advertise cigarette's on TV here in the U.S. but unfortunately alcohol is still glorified on the tube. And our young people (as well as others) continue to die on our highways in alcohol related auto accidents. Linda
ReplyDeleteI must say I was not looking for this one. You got me again. I was starting to analyze what the relationship between your dad and this stranger must have been as my grandfather actually brought home a boyhood friend and said he had a home for the rest of his life with him. I think the whole family was relieved when he got bored and left to go live with his daughter. But this story is right on with the end. I just got through reading a book though about what having TV did for the people of Ireland. I can't recall his name but he eventually made his life in that world. He thought that on the whole it broadened the horizons of the poor. In a good way. I think we lost and we gained. We entertained each other a lot more when we had no TV I thought. Gerry
ReplyDelete