TV 1: TV sets

We don't have a TV set* or at least we've never bought one unless you count the VCR that came with a built in TV screen that we picked up at the thrift store for 5 bucks. The thing is, if you don't have one, people pity you and give you free old sets (see footnote - none of them are plugged in). I remember working in the slums of Dublin. The towers of Ballymun were housing projects that were established in the 70's to temporarily answer a housing crisis (not enough houses) several 13-storied towers were assembled from pre-constructed concrete apartments like Lego building blocks. They were only meant to last 7 years. There were still up when I was there in 2002.** They were decrepit, dirty, smelly and one of the most unpleasant places I've ever visited. Graffiti, broken glass and garbage were the general decor on the grounds and in the halls. We would take the stairs to avoid the urine-stench of the sometimes working elevators. Anyway, the point was, even in this area, the poorest I've ever lived or worked in, it was not uncommon to see several satellite TV dishes on the sides of the towers. I don't understand that.

Growing up we didn't have cable (although we sometimes watched it at my grandmother's and aunt's houses. We certainly didn't have satellite, and we didn't even watch our broadcast stations very much (occasionally Jeopardy and "family shows" like "Doogie Howser, M.D."). Because of the Utah mountains, we don't get any broadcast stations (and we don't have one of those switch it to digital boxes anyway). We don't feel deprived without cable and aren't envious of my Dad's 1000 satellite stations. We do use our laptops to watch DVDs and the internet to keep up with our favorites shows (like Monk and Psych) but more on that next post.

*not true, we have three in the basement
**Thankfully they have finally since been demolished
After that sad story about Ballymun, enjoy this more inspiring story about poverty.