Amusement Costs

Americans are crazy about entertainment. I've been traveling recently and I notice that Americans start to get kind of antsy if they are left without entertainment (stimulation) for even short periods of time. In the airport, I noticed people plugging in laptops, firing up iPods, and using their cell phones (plus reading books and magazines) to pass the time. There is almost a frenzy to amuse oneself, even if a wait is just a few minutes.

You can't try one of those Mommy-SUVs unless you have DVD screens in the back for the kids. Even a 20-minute drive to run errands would be insufferable for children without having outside entertainment.

My TV went on the fritz recently and we spent about five days without TV. It was sort of wonderful but in a painful way. I think I made a lot more money because I work freelance mostly and it forced me to work more. Maybe that's the wrong way of looking at it. No TV allowed me to carve out more of my time in productive ways.

But it was an uneasy feeling.

Now all of that entertainment comes at a very high price. The gizmos and gadgets aren't cheap. Cable TV (if you have it) can run $80 to $100 a month without even getting anything too special. Buying or renting DVDs, going regularly to movies and concerts. It all adds up.

If it really added depth to our lives, I would be all for it. I'm not opposed to spending money (even lots of money) on things that add worth and dimension to your life. But I think our craving for constant entertainment adds a lot of bills but not a whole lot of depth. It just makes us nervous when somebody unplugs us.

I felt that way when I was traveling. I was on a business trip, traveling alone, and here and there I found myself being asked to sit quietly (on a short plane ride, in a cab) for a brief period of time with no form of amusements available. It was a little unsettling. I think I forget how to amuse myself or just think or strike up a conversation.

Yet those are the things we remember. I have probably seen every Law & Order episode ever made, and yet what has it really added to my life? But I can remember some accidental conversations, chance encounters, that I seized upon. I have benefited from long hours spent struggling to learn German vocabulary words (I'm a translator, among other things) or sort out the meaning of difficult Bible passages. All fitting and beneficial things.

But our non-stop addiction to outside electronic stimulation ... expensive and scary!