Accessibility

There's another debate tonight. I plan to listen to at least part of it. But I have a beef.

We're one of those rare American families without cable or satellite TV. We can afford to pay for it, but where's the sense it in? A couple months ago someone called trying to sell me a satellite TV system. He offered 80 channels. I said we're too busy and we can't watch 80 channels. So then he gave me a quote for 40 channels. I repeated that we're too busy to watch that much TV. I'm not sure if he ever understood what I was saying. Of course, I could have hung up on him but I did telemarketing when I was in college and I know what a tough job it is.

So we have a run-of-the-mill TV, the kind that probably won't get a signal in a couple of years, and we receive the networks, PBS, and local access. But the presidential debates are always carried by CNN. The only way I can watch them is online. And frankly I have other things to do on my computer. I'm trying to decide how long I'll want to listen to a string of political rhetoric--which is nearly impossible when I'm trying to write a novel.

I hope next year's debates are carried by major networks. They need to be accessible to everyone. Not just those who are rich enough, or willing to go into debt, to get CNN on TV or online.

Or are we really the last family in the country without cable or satellite TV? My kids think so.