Prisoner of TV

How many of you walk straight to the television upon entering the house from work, and turn it on just as a form of having a little noise in the house? I know you do it. And I know some of you (you know who you are) who leave the TV on all the time, you know, so the pets don't get "lonely". Well, sadly enough, I do it too. I don't leave it on for the pets, though, just for the record.
    Lately I tend to notice things from a new perspective and now the world seems just slightly different. When I think of all the things Alice is taking in, the sights, the smells, the sounds, I think Holy Crap! I can't imagine all the new information she has to process. Sounds from her musical chairs, her jangly rattly toys, and the crazy energy filled television are echoing from all directions, stimulating every little nerve in her little tiny floppy ears. The colors on the TV screen, changing second by second, weird new faces talking at her, the silent but very present buzz of the frequency of media coming from all directions, how overwhelming....how....addicting!!! It's not until I turn the thing off, that I realize, this television has had me in shackles since I was a baby!!!! It's like a drug pusher saying, "aw, come on...one more segment won't hurt, everyone's doing it! Look at what's coming on next...don't you want to see how much weight this guy lost? You know you can't miss how OCD ruined her life! And just wait -- coming on next is yet another episode of Family Guy! This stuff is harmless! Have some more!" 
     So then, with the remote in my hand, still smokin', silence in the air, I have room to think. It's like the chains have gone, and I can move. I think about things that I could be doing that are more fun, more productive, and tons more educational for my child, like reading a book, cutting the grass, changing the light bulb in my closet that's been out for months, taking a walk, scrubbing the tub. It's almost like that damned power button on that little tool we call a remote control is the key to solving all of my problems. 
     It even crosses my mind sometimes to get rid of it all together. But then, my palms start to get a little sweaty, and I head back into the living room to turn the thing back on, because surely there's something I need to know going on in the News, right? Maybe if I watch how bad the oil spill is today, I feel less guilty about the fact that I'm not out there trying to do something about it. 
     Hello, my name is Ashley. And I'm a TV addict, working towards freedom, day by day.