As NOT seen on TV.

Just to restate the obvious--or not so obvious to my acquaintances--I have never had cable TV in my house since I was born. Well, actually, that is a minor lie. I have seen family videos of me as a baby sitting with my parents in the living room with a cartoon on. However, I have no recollection of a single episode or character, too bad.

Back on track...you're probably wondering, DON'T YOU GET BORED? Then I would answer, "It's okay, my mom sometimes connects the Internet for me...when she's in a good mood..." Then you would say, "YOUR PARENTS CUT YOUR INTERNET? HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?" And that, my friends, I don't really know. I guess it runs along the same lines as me going on 9 vacations in my whole life that I can remember-- Caribbean Cruise (taken by cousin, NOT even my own family), Turks&Caicos resort (Caribbean), two soccer tournaments to the states, and about 5 trips to Ontario resorts or cottages up north for the summer--I have no clue what I'm missing out on, so I manage to move on contently with my life. Essentially, I am pretty much trapped on this boring continent with no cable, and the rare spurts of Internet time. ALTHOUGH, I have been getting more time to work on academic material...heh...heh...

So yeah, I keep going off topic...ANYWAYS. What I wanted to preach today really was that there have been both benefits and lost opportunities due to my cableless upbringing. Lets start with the positives because that makes people happy (and it's probably shorter -_-"). Not having cable has helped me in the following ways:
-Watching fewer commercials has significantly helped me to avoid materialistic temptations.
-I am more tolerant of and don't mind boring situations in life (e.g. doing puzzles, reading, sitting around, awkward silences)
-I don't have to schedule my life around my favourite showtimes.
-My deteriorating eyesight can be narrowed down to other causes such as reading too close to the page, computer, or bad lighting.

ON THE OTHER HAND, Not having cable has disadvantaged me in the following ways:
-A major social handicap when it comes to talking about the latest episodes and the suspenseful wait between episodes. Since movies, music, and TV are key points of discussion in the typical teenager's life, I have shied away from public conversation and limited myself to the stereotypical Asian constraints of academic topics.
-lack of awareness about the latest trends and an unfamiliarity with the typical prices of things (e.g. music players, laptops, new restaurant dishes)
-I don't get to lazily absorb information, as provided on the Discovery Channel or Cooking shows.
-I am generally less knowledgeable about what's going on in the world--admit it, it's more fun/convenient to see the news instead of hearing it on the radio or reading it online because you don't have to be focused the entire time to be alerted of significant events around the world.
-Instead of taking advantage of all the movies playing on satellite or whatever, I have to find other..."cleverer" ways to watch movies (*coughchinesemalls).

But yeah, parents just blindly say TV is bad. Really, I think it's an important way for people to connect with the world and be informed of what's going on. It depends on what kind of shows you're watching, how long you're spending in front of the tube, and how much it hinders other aspects of your life. Like anything, doses of television, when taken in moderation, can be beneficial.

P.S. Yay for a short post.