NOTE: I wrote this column a while back when it was really cold, but never posted it. Since it was in the single digits this morning, I thought I’d finally get around to doing that. I know it also snowed so some of this isn’t relevant, but just deal with it
Usually, I try to keep an even keel. I don’t let things get me too upset even though some of the stuff I write might not seem this way. Typical every day things should not get any of us bent out of shape.
But I tell you, this cold weather is pushing its luck.
I know that it’s winter, and we all should expect some harsh weather once in a while. I have lived in Maryland or Pennsylvania all my life so I understand how winters around here can work.
For four years in college, I lived just about 40 minutes southeast of Lake Erie. Snow turned into an almost everyday part of life from Thanksgiving to past Valentine’s Day. You just dealt with it.
Last year’s huge snow storm didn’t both me because those sort of things happen once in a while. That helped me look at the snow a week ago and just kind of laugh. Sure, we got a lot, but we dug out and got on with our lives the next day.
Storms like those actually make me appreciate winter. Whether you go out and play in the snow or just sit inside wand watch it fall, the whole process feels like it has a purpose.
The bitter cold does no such thing.
We have a ton of options on television these days. Personally, I love this fact. I can do nothing but scroll through the options over and over again seeing what I could watch if I really wanted to settle on one thing.
Some people see this development as a negative. They say we have too many things to choose from or that the choices aren’t good enough or that no one makes television like they used to.
I don’t like those people, especially those who focus on that last point. Sure, the shows that pop up on channels like MTV don’t qualify as family fare, but since we have more options, it seems logical that there will be as many junk options as good ones.
Unfortunately, these people who complain don’t seem to want to send press releases out about the shows we should be watching with our kids. So I guess I have to do that for them.