The Curse of the Idiot Box

"Gather round the box boys and babes it's time for your all time favorite radio program. Little Orphan Annie. Brought to you by rich, chocolaty Ovaltine. More Ovaltine Please." Oh the days when the family would gather around the radio each evening for quality radio programs.
This possibly should have been included in a blog I wrote previously called "Card Games, TV, or Video Games, but since it just recently happened I will report it anyway. Obviously I don't remember the days of family radio. My family has had a color TV for as long as I can remember. Yet I still remember gathering in font of that Television to watch many different quality programs. For some reason our society thinks that the radio is just more wholesome than the television. Why is that? The reason that I ask, is because of an instance that happened at work this last week. I work with mentally and physically handicapped adults. Because of privacy laws I can't mention the resident's names. But because no one cares about the staff's rights I can tell you the staff's names. We have hired a new lady to work with us. Her name is Anastasia. She has previously worked with handicapped children and you can tell because it carries over into the job she has now. She has yet to get it through her head that they are adults and most of them can make educated decisions. And the ones that can communicate will let you know the decisions they've made. So last Tuesday while watching American Idol, one of the resident's favorite shows , Anastasia came and turned off the Television and said "music time" and then turned on the radio so we could now listen to music. Before I could even say anything, the resident who's favorite show it was said "what the hell are you doing?" "It's music time" said Anastasia. "No it isn't" said the resident. I decided to step in before the use of a power wheelchair as a weapon became prevalent. I turned off the radio, turned the TV back on and then asked Anastasia to come in the office with me. "What are you doing?" I asked. "It's music time." She replied. I told her "that the residents were not children and you don't have to govern what they do at certain times." Her response is what inspired this blog. She said "too much TV will rot their brain out." So to much TV will rot their brain out, but in her eyes it was alright to listen to the radio all day. Now if there were programs on the radio like there were back in the day, when the family radio ruled the roost, I would agree. To listen to those would be better than modern television. What is on the radio today? Well, depending what station you listen to, you may here anything from something slightly wholesome to shootin' up gangstas and slappin' biatches with my homies. What I think the problem is that many people can't adapt to new technology or new situations. It seems to me that 9 times out of 10 the people that can adapt are more intelligent and are more successful. For instance Anastasia is in jeopardy of losing her job because she will not let go of her old ideas of working with children and let the residents do things for themselves. She has tried to force many of the residents to do things "her way" after being repeatedly asked by the boss not to. Her way is the way of "I am the parent and you are the child." Is this intelligent? Is she going to be successful? I think the answer is no for both questions. There have been may technological advancements in my life and I consider myself intelligent enough to have kept up with them. I just hope one day I'm not saying " turn off the 3D image replicator, it's time for some television. " Because the day that happens I will have fallen victim to The Curse of the Idiot Box.