My ex-wife knew that college football and a comfortable chair would put me to sleep. But my favorite for naps is the show about real life murders called Forensic Files. The narrator of the show has such a soothing voice!
People call it “background noise” because it’s basically the equivalent of “background music” - it’s on, you’re not giving it your full attention but you will if you catch something interesting. For example, right now my husband is watching a baseball game and I’m paying just enough attention to know when one of the teams scores. I’m not looking at the screen but I’m also not completely ignoring it.
The Black Rock rangers at Burning Man are supposed to help keep the event from being too fatal but one of our many mottoes is Safety Third. One of us contemplated, “What could be more dangerous than Lawn Darts? … Flaming Lawn Darts.” A bit later he’d brazed some fins on pointy brass rods, wrapped the pointy ends in some Kevlar, and at the event doused the Kevlar in white gasoline and ignited it – routine stuff when you have fire spinners handy for consulting.
At the event there was a plush Barney the Dinosaur available so after another application of gas, it became the target about ten yards away. First thing we learned was once the tip was ignited, keep your arm moving as the flame wanted to go straight up. It took a while but Barney’s eventual immolation was most satisfactory.
And that’s fine. Modern TVs don’t use much power, and people should be free to do have a TV on in the background if they want and aren’t bothering anybody else.
What I don’t get is the judgmental attitude about it. Live and let live, for goodness sake!
My grandfather watched a lot of TV in his later years as he didn’t have the energy to do much else. After he died, my grandmother left the TV on all day. Otherwise the house was just too quiet and empty.
Last week, I was helping a new hire (mid-20s) clear out her new desk. It was full of stuff from the last 10 years worth of cubicle occupants. In the top drawer, with the stapler and some paper clips, was a metal letter opener. She had no idea what it was, and when we told her, she had no idea of why you would need one.
How about stand-alone cameras? Cheap, film-based, “point-n-click” cameras were everywhere. And even digital stand-alone cameras are a rare sight nowadays.
Hanging files. We have lovely furniture for hanging files and we have stacks of hanging files.
I came a cross a package of tag inserts for hanging files and asked the apprentice if she had any idea what they were. She had no idea and even when I showed her a hanging file, she was a bit amazed.
Apparently old school point and shoot digital cameras have become trendy among Gen Z, or at least they were when this story was published last December.
https://www.npr.org/2024/12/09/nx-s1-5209770/gen-z-digital-compact-cameras-millennials-trendy
45, and same.
The youngsters from my school are coming to recognize them. This year, we’ve instituted some pretty strict rules against cell phone use, but there’s no restriction at all against non-phone cameras, which has led to some enterprising students seeking them out (mostly from thrift stores, because where else will you find one?).
How often do you even get metal letters?
52, and to me it is completely utterly normal. Not only was the TV on almost all the time when someone was awake dawn to beyond dusk during my childhood, but there was also a police scanner on at the same time. The police scanners (starting with this model) were on in my childhood house 24/7/365 from the time my mother bought her first one in the late 1970s until my grandmother died in 2010.
I’m mid 60s and have never done that.
I watch TV or don’t.
I even watch “TV” on my phone while I’m using it. My media player can play in a window that I can adjust to any size and move about the screen, so unless something else I’m doing on the phone or something I’m watching merits my full attention I’m usually doing both at once, like this. (In fact my phone is the only “TV” I use anymore.)
I had a friend who not only left the TV on most of the time for background noise, but would leave it on when he went out of town for the weekend to keep the cats entertained.
My parents used to leave the TV on whenever they left the house on the theory that it would discourage potential burglars by making it appear that someone was home. If we were going on vacation they’d put the stereo on a timer so that it would turn on and off every day for the same reason.
For those who say the idea of keeping the TV on for background noise is foreign to them, what exactly do you mean - that you don’t do it, you don’t understand why people do it or you’ve never known anyone who did it? I don’t normally leave the TV on for background noise but I don’t see how it’s different than playing music in the background. In fact, some types of TV shows are pretty much designed for people paying partial attention - there’s a reason soap operas and game shows are so repetitive.
Speaking only for myself, my view is that it would be intolerable (for me). I guess I understand why other people do it, but those reasons don’t resonate with me at all. I’m much prefer quiet over the sound of TV. I like TV. I watch a lot of it. But when I’m watching, I’m watching. (if my wife wants to say something to be, I hit pause.) I would definitely get agitated if the TV was on competing for attention with something else.
That’s an astonishing statement - but then you top it by equating music with soap operas and game shows. The mind reels.