Last night we found Cheers.
Everybody in our generation knows this show. But somehow, neither Adam nor I had ever watched it much. I'm not sure I ever watched a whole episode. And I wondered ... why not?
Was it because it was set in a bar? Because it was a little raunchy? Because the lead character seems to churn through girlfriends like his patrons go through beer?
When I was in high school, my parents were pretty picky about what we could watch at home. Cheers probably wouldn't have passed the test. When I checked the dates for this show, however, I found the reason I never watched it. It played from 1982 - 1993.
I went to college in 1981.
I had the crazy experience of living in a castle-like structure for four years while getting an education and having fun. However, I recall only one television set on that campus, in the student lounge on the far end of first floor. Whenever I walked past the room, a group of fevered soap-opera addicts were huddled in front of the screen. I never watched anything there.
I never watched TV at all, for four years, even in the summers. We had no computers, no cell phones or screen-like devices of any kind. So ... I never watched Cheers.
It's not necessarily better to be screenless, nor is it bad to watch screens every day. But I do miss a world without screens. They give such convenience, but I don't remember ever being frustrated because I didn't know the: time/weather/news/stupid trivia/what my friend had for dinner. Life included planning ahead for simple things like directions and phone numbers. Part of the fun of life was having to stop at a random gas station and use a pay phone, asking a stranger for the time, asking for directions, or pausing in a store to watch the news on their TV. Cell phones allow us to do that alone, and even though they connect us to so many people far away, I can't help wondering if they put walls between us and the person right next to us, usually a neighbor.
I'm wondering what the friendly neighborhood bar scene in Cheers would look like if they all had cell phones. Instead of watching the Red Sox together on the big Motorola set hanging from the ceiling with chains and yelling at the umpire together, they'd all be shushing each other as they squint at their phones.
Will we get a generation in the next 25 or 50 years that decides cell phones are detracting from their quality of life? Perhaps damaging society as a whole? I won't be here to see all that, but I do hope a middle ground is found. I kinda miss 1982.
9 comments:
I think technology is a necessary evil. We were having the discussion at our Girl Scout meeting about our 8 year olds having phones. Part of me knows that an 8 year old has about as much business having a smart phone as I do trying to be an opera singer but, in this day and age, I find safety and security to be an issue as well -- a flip phone maybe -- circa old school? I do think we were better off with the 6 o'clock news and the newspaper. We read books, we played with each other, we went outside in the fresh air. And yes, I believe that if the characters on Cheers would have had cell phones they would never have looked up at that tv. Sad thought, actually.
I am with you. I kind of miss the days before computers and cell phones.
I often wonder why these items are so addicting (I do consider myself addicted). I love the fact that if I have a question about ANYTHING, I can Google it and get an answer. Before you had to check out a library or an Encyclopedia. (Does anyone even own Encyclopedias any more? Are they still printed?). It took time to find an answer. I love having GPS - I never worry now about getting lost. But I do have a crazy good sense of direction in my brain - is that because I didn't have GPS for so long? Will our brains lose that ability to remember a place you have been in before even if you don't remember the actual trip? I love reading end of the world stories where all communications have failed, but I get frustrated when the main character can't whip out a cell phone and call their comrades - to warn them about stuff.
Thank you for an interesting thought provoking post!
Agreeing with everyone's thoughts here. I think it's good to be informed...up to a point. I don't think we were designed to carry all the sufferings of the entire world on our shoulders. I suspect we have a lot more anxiety and depression in our world because of it. I do like being able to keep in touch with loved ones who are scattered around the country.
Cell phones frustrate me ( I don't even own one) and the thing that gets me is people come over ( this includes my kids) and carefully set their phone beside them with the screen up so they can keep 'surreptitiously' checking them every 2 minutes. GRRR.
I feel your same confusion - the phones are necessary, but they have not improved the quality of our lives. I do wish we could find a solution to this!
I agree. I love some of the conveniences - they really improve life! But other aspects have robbed us of some of the delightful slowness of life too.
Yes, Lisa - this is one aspect of technology and social media that is most distressing. I read today that it is called "human scale" -- the scale of life that is limited (wonderfully so) to normal human existence, both in space and in time. We shouldn't have to extend our concern to encapsulate the entire world, and all time. It's too much.
Yes, GM, I saw this just last night at a gathering. Teens on their phones, dashing to the restroom to engage in social media instead of the meeting they were supposed to be involved in. That's a rudeness and immaturity that I hope they outgrow.
When I worked in a library, I lost count of the number of adults who had to be shown the wonders of using an index. They managed to get through school without looking at the back of a text book! Computers would have made my school days easier, but I learned how to read a book, which is priceless.
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