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I have a complaint...
I'm tired of being followed around by TV sets. It seems everywhere I go they lurk; around every corner, behind every door. They are there...blathering, blithering.
Now don't get me wrong, I watch TV, but I watch it in my home where I have full control of the on/off button. (Umm...don't tell Heather I said it quite that way.)
What I tire of is the constant assault that I did not ask for.
There is a conspiracy in the world against reflection and quietude, against thinking and musing...even against reading. And TVs are one major tool of the conspiracy.
In airports they're everywhere for example. To find a quiet place to read is next to impossible. I like to read. I don't like to read with constant noise in my face.
The fascinating thing is that very few people watch the TVs...they are simply there squawking. How many people would complain if they were simply removed? Who assumed we wanted them there in the first place? Did they do a survey of fliers? A study? A poll? I never got that questionnaire.
When I get up in the morning in a hotel, I'd prefer a quiet, reflective start to my day. You know...the free breakfast, the paper and a nonchalant meander back to my room...my mind peaceful and focused on what lies ahead for the day. That's very difficult with a large head and a large mouth spewing at me incessantly from a huge flat screen.
Next time you're having breakfast in a hotel, look around the room. Count how many people are actually watching the TV. Glancing doesn't count...one can't help but do that. I mean really interested and watching. I promise you it's almost none. I love when I'm the first one down there because I turn it off. Shhh...don't tell.
More restaurants have them now, even McDonald's and Burger King. Even there few watch them. Blah, blah, blah...it never ends.
Many Wal-Marts and similar stores have them for running ads 'n stuff. I want to see the marketing study that proves that those incessant noise machines draw more customers than they drive away.
If it's true what I've said many times-and I believe it is-that the best decisions are made with a quiet mind, then we have a problem; quiet is so hard to come by. We seem to be chased by noise and stimulation everywhere we go.
Taking the time to reflect, to think, to muse, to consider, to contemplate, to study and weigh, to comprehend, understand and to cerebrate...cultivates the creative powers of man, superior decision making and focused, productive days.
We are instead distracted, stressed and discombobulated by the pummeling of the constant pounding of noise that somebody has assumed for some reason we want.
I don't. Leaders find quiet. You'll be better for it. | 
