Yup! It happened again. Somebody found me in the plant section of my local Home Depot, somewhere between Triazicide and Mole Cricket bait, to tell me how much he hates all the national news. The bad thing about being in TV is that most people think as the anchor you know everything or have control over everything. And of course, you are their absolute best friend and they never miss one of your shows ever.

They also think I have some kind of divine connection with everyone who is famous. I can’t tell you how many times people will say to me , “Now you tell the President that blah de blah de blah…” as if George and I chat every morning over an early morning coffee. Once a sweet little lady wanted me to tell Peter Jennings that it’s okay that he’s starting to go bald on top. Just don’t let him start combing it over. Please, not that!

And last week some guy give me a hand written note he wants me to deliver to John Kerry when I talk to him this week. I can see it now, “Mr. Kerry, this nut case gave me this personal note for you that he thinks will help you beat George Bush. I very carefully shook off all the white powder that was sticking to this note when the guy handed it to me. I’m sure its just powdered sugar. I mean the note is written on a Dunkin” Donut napkin, for Pete’s sake.”

So back to the pesticide aisle at Home Depot! This guy goes on to tell me that he has been diagnosed as clinically depressed. He says he used to spend 10 to 15 hours a day watching TV, almost every waking hour. His doctor was the one who suggested he lay off the tube for a while and concentrate on his real world. Things like brushing your teeth, getting your groceries, cleaning your house, and having a few meaningful relationships outside the home. So that’s what he does. He swears it completely changed his life. He doesn’t care what Bush or Kerry does! He doesn’t get wrapped up in Crossfire, or in American Idol, or listen to Chris Matthews, Larry King or Bill O’Riley. Survivor made him nervous. He always had the answers before Alex Tribeck. He tried eating pig intestines once like he saw on Fear Factor but threw up all over the place. He does turn on the local news, me at 10 PM, but only for five minutes. He watched a Victoria’s Secret special once and his mother threatened to kick him out of the house. Yes, he’s still living with his mother and didn’t mind telling me so. Are you getting the picture!

Then he goes on to tell me that watching so much TV gave him a false sense of reality that he was living through the events he saw broadcast. He said he didn’t have any strong convictions about anything because there would always be somebody on TV changing his mind. He wanted to know from me if that was okay! He wanted to know if any other people had the same problem. About now I’m looking for one of those guys with a nametag on a friendly orange apron.

It’s not that I’m a sucker. I truly enjoy talking with the folks who watch me on the news night after night. True, many of my more memorable encounters have been with people who are, just a bit different. Yet, I believe in every encounter there is a bit of truth hiding, if you look for it closely enough.

Too much TV is a bad thing. All those channels! What are we up to about a thousand now? Unfortunately, in our society TV has become babysitter, counselor, best friend, and an endless stream of noise that some mistake for living. It cannot replace human interaction. It grieves me to see some many nursing homes with rows and rows of wheelchairs aliened in front of the tube. Sure, it passes the time away and programming can be genuinely interesting. Seniors like to feel there are connected to the daily news events. The problem with most news, by definition, is that it generally involves a very small number of people who are experiencing very dynamic events in their lives, usually unpleasant. Every plane crash, every fire, every tragedy is replayed over and over again. This isn’t reality. The truth is that millions and millions of people fly each day in planes that do nothing but land and take off successfully over and over again. The percentage of homes that catch fire on any given day in America is less than .000000001 percent of all the homes in the country… or smaller. As David Brinkley used to put it, “The truth is 99.9 percent of the time absolutely nothing news worthy is happening. We just tell you about the other .1 percent each night.”

TV commercials are meant to persuade and often times use exaggeration to bring home their message. Most normally people understand that. But there are plenty of folks, like my Home Depot friend, who can’t separate the “film at 11” from their own lives. And, yes, I can’t help but believe that for many, comparing what they say on TV to their own lives, often leaves them wanting. Heck, one of the reasons I think I enjoy going on vacation is because I don’t watch any TV, I don’t read the newspaper, I don’t want to get caught up on life around the beltway or in Asia. All I care about the forecast is that the sun WILL come up tomorrow.

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of TV leading to or contributing to depression or anxiety. It’s been an age-old theme from my days in college. On TV everyone’s life is exciting and all of the problems are resolved in a half hour. Your own problems seem small compared to the problems they concoct on the new reality shows. Everything is bigger and bolder and louder. On the news side people die over and over and over on the network cable shows. Issues are always analyzed from their most extreme position. If you don’t like one side of an argument you simply switch stations and hear another.

No, TV isn’t all bad. For the well-adjusted and fully functional adult it can be informative, entertaining, exciting, and offers an eye on parts of the world that none of us will ever see in person. It keeps us plugged into the issues that ARE important to our daily lives.

But if you are ever feeling overwhelmed, or bored, or depressed, or disconnected, or feeling like telling your favorite TV anchor your life story in the middle of the pesticide row, trying turning off the tube for awhile. You just may find it’s the most liberating thing you’ve done in years.

Al Ruechel, Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved

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