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television uber alles?
Jan. 16th, 2006 09:54 amThere's something I don't get, and it seems to affect enough people I know that I ought to get it in self-defense. Some people prioritize TV shows -- which can be recorded and watched later -- over important things they would otherwise do with other people. Two examples from yesterday:
Yesterday afternoon I was helping a friend pack for a move. She expected another good friend to be there too (she'd said she would), but that friend showed up as we were finishing with the explanation that she had to watch the football game first. (The friend I was helping, on the other hand, was listening to the game on the radio while we packed.)
Our congregation is currently interviewing for an associate rabbi, and I'm on the search committee. A couple weeks ago we were given the date for a visit from one candidate. Last night we got the schedule of activities, which includes stuff on Sunday afternoon. A member of the committee (and one who really needs to be involved in this) sent mail saying he wanted to watch the football game for 4.5 hours out of the middle of that day and asked that we reschedule things. Sunday, by the way, is the only full day available for most of us; the candidate is flying in Saturday night and most of us work Monday. (He'll be spending Monday with synagogue staff.) Not to put too fine a point on it, but the choice of associate rabbi will affect us for several years; getting it wrong would be bad.
Now I understand that, to those who care, these are important football games. But in neither case are these people looking for excuses to avoid the other activities; they are just prioritizing the games over in the first case helping a friend and in the second case a significant congregational obligation. While I don't care about sports there have been TV shows (well ok, show) that I was obsessive about, ones that I made sure to see on the day of the broadcast because (1) I was eager and (2) I didn't want conversations the next day to spoil things for me. But I didn't stay home from places I would otherwise have been; I used the VCR. It didn't matter if I watched the broadcast at 9 or the tape at 11, after all. And this was true even for the climactic episodes, the ones we waited all week for. The only exception I ever made to this was for a season where the broadcast was at 11PM; I made sure to be home from the post-SCA-meeting socializing in time. Given that the meetings were at 8 and lasted an hour or so, I didn't feel I was blowing anyone off.
What is the thrill of watching a TV show live, a thrill that's significant enough that you'll pre-empt other plans?
Yesterday afternoon I was helping a friend pack for a move. She expected another good friend to be there too (she'd said she would), but that friend showed up as we were finishing with the explanation that she had to watch the football game first. (The friend I was helping, on the other hand, was listening to the game on the radio while we packed.)
Our congregation is currently interviewing for an associate rabbi, and I'm on the search committee. A couple weeks ago we were given the date for a visit from one candidate. Last night we got the schedule of activities, which includes stuff on Sunday afternoon. A member of the committee (and one who really needs to be involved in this) sent mail saying he wanted to watch the football game for 4.5 hours out of the middle of that day and asked that we reschedule things. Sunday, by the way, is the only full day available for most of us; the candidate is flying in Saturday night and most of us work Monday. (He'll be spending Monday with synagogue staff.) Not to put too fine a point on it, but the choice of associate rabbi will affect us for several years; getting it wrong would be bad.
Now I understand that, to those who care, these are important football games. But in neither case are these people looking for excuses to avoid the other activities; they are just prioritizing the games over in the first case helping a friend and in the second case a significant congregational obligation. While I don't care about sports there have been TV shows (well ok, show) that I was obsessive about, ones that I made sure to see on the day of the broadcast because (1) I was eager and (2) I didn't want conversations the next day to spoil things for me. But I didn't stay home from places I would otherwise have been; I used the VCR. It didn't matter if I watched the broadcast at 9 or the tape at 11, after all. And this was true even for the climactic episodes, the ones we waited all week for. The only exception I ever made to this was for a season where the broadcast was at 11PM; I made sure to be home from the post-SCA-meeting socializing in time. Given that the meetings were at 8 and lasted an hour or so, I didn't feel I was blowing anyone off.
What is the thrill of watching a TV show live, a thrill that's significant enough that you'll pre-empt other plans?