Why DVRs are Bad.

The other day I was watching a show and had to get up to do "something". I confess I actually had to go, well I had needed to go for a while. Little boys/ big boys; don't fool yourself, we all can't be bothered to get up and go when we need to. Big boys just don't hold themselves and dance, so its not as obvious. (Well we do dance but its more subdued, and we actually can't think either.)

Back in the day I would have to wait for a commercial, then I would have a true dilemma. There were really three choices, sing my favorite jingle, you know "What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs..." or maybe "Two all beef patties, special sauce, cheese..." or maybe I couldn't tear my eyes away from the crying Indian or I was gripped by the son who called his parents just to say "I love you". The other possibility was to grab a snack or a drink or the obvious, pee. All this had to be done, as Chuck Woolery would later remind us, in 2 minutes and 2 seconds, before Mork and Mindy or The A Team would return.

The benefit to all this was that we all could not live without a Rock'em Sock'em Robots game, we had to have a Happy Meal and knew that 4 out of 5 dentists preferred Trident for their patients who chewed gum . We don't litter, we prevented forest fires and now know what our brains on drugs look like. We also had stronger bladders and learned to wait, and we weren't as fat because we had to run to the bathroom.

We now live in an age where we can pause the T.V. The days of holding it to the last moment are over (this is not a bad thing, moms are not yelling at you to "Aim", or to "stop holding yourself") and the stress of not making it is gone, which in my opinion actually helps with the aim issue. However, without the need to hold it, kids these days have weaker bladders any one taking a road trip with kids can tell you that, and I am sure Freud would have something to say about this causing the need for immediate satisfaction.

We all know where the economy is - could this be because no one is watching commercials? Check the sales numbers of Stretch Armstrong or the Evil Knievel Super Stunt Set - I bet they are down.

Finally we are fat. Instead of grabbing an apple or a carrot, in order to get back in time we can now pause the TV and make a grilled cheese or a whole plate of grilled fajita beef nachos and run to the 7/11 for a big gulp. Or even worse -better- we can go all the way to Rudy's for some great Texas BBQ.

I am not saying that the cause of some of our social issues is the DVR, but ask yourself next time your kids pause the zany antics of Sam and Carly on iCarly or the joy of Sponge Bob and Patrick bugging Squidward to do wees, think about the implications.