Could I go without?

A friend of mine doesn't have a TV. And hasn't had one for a few years now. In times when even big flatscreen TVs can be bought at reasonable prices, I had assumed that surely everyone had a telly. My first thought was: where do you watch DVDs? And he said he watches them on the laptop. And in addition you can download films, and with iplayer and TV on demand, you can actually watch most TV via the internet, too.

I myself have always been a bit of a TV junkie. When I was growing up, I knew the TV programme by heart. Well, maybe that wasn't that much of a task in our household, as my parents refused to get cable TV, and we therefore didn't receive many channels* (nowadays they have of course more channels than I do...).

When I get home after work, I usually switch on the TV straightaway. I've noticed that I even get a bit uncomfortable if there is no noise in the flat. For some reason, I hardly ever put music on. A TV ban would certainly do me some good. I often end up watching just anything that's on and have started to follow the horrible reality TV shows like Big Brother, Made in Chelsea and The only way is Essex... Once you start, you (or maybe just me) get addicted quickly, always wanting to know how the story - no matter how silly - continues. I still remember, my serious concerns when I left Germany to move to the UK after my Abitur: how would I survive without my (near-) daily fix of 'Verbotene Liebe' and 'Marienhof'???

Well, I somehow did. And replaced it with other stuff, unfortunately. Paradoxically, I don't watch DVDs very often. So, it didn't really make sense, that that was my first thought with regard to my friend's TV-less life... I love watching films, but rarely take the time to watch them. Usually, being on the computer while the TV is on in the background.

So, could I go without?

Lent is gone, but maybe I should start a little project. My friend commented on how it was strange at first, but how he now had so much more time for other things.
For tonight, the telly is off. Let's see how it goes.



*I think five to start with, which then increased to ten or so over the years