In recent years, the potato has gone through difficult times. The chunky vegetable, considered by many nutrition experts as the perfect food, has become Rodney Dangerfield’s veggie field.
First, the potato was trivialized as a children’s toy known as “Mr. Potato Head.” Then in the 60’s it became a fashionable dance known as “mashed potatoes.” Today, the versatile vegetable is experiencing its worst indignity since the great Irish potato famine in 1845. Its name has been associated with that notorious group of television sports addicts known as “television addicts.” As a result, most self-respecting potatoes, too embarrassed to be seen in public, stay at the bottom of their burlap bags.
Couch potatoes are an easy target for cartoonists and comedians. We seem to have a perverse need to make jokes about people involved in situations that are more tragic than funny. the ancient Greeks understood this trend. During their plays, the actors wore masks that portrayed both comedy and tragedy. Today Leno and Letterman make millions ridiculing each other’s misfortunes. On the contrary, Oprah has become one of the richest women in the world by seeing the painful side of these same situations.
Most of us smile or chuckle when we envision a television addict. But for the wife and kids, watching him take root on the couch as he prepares for a weekend of televised sports can be unsettling. A married man who sends his weekends and evenings watching an endless procession of sports programming does so at the expense of his family.
Like all children, the children of a television addict need love and attention. Instead, they can observe the relationship between a man and his appliance. Young children are baffled by this behavior. Over time, they learn to imitate his behavior or develop a feeling of contempt for Dad.
It is important for wives to act as soon as they recognize the problem. Raise the issue in a reasonable and unemotional manner. If you and your husband can communicate honestly and openly, you may be able to overcome the power of the tube. At the very least, some kind of compromise should be reached.
If you spend years rationalizing and ignoring the situation, the roots will grow and the behavior will take hold. Later conversations will likely lead to defensiveness and anger on the part of the potato. He knows that answering honestly – I enjoy watching televised sports more than spending time with you and the kids – will only make things worse. Since neither the husband nor the wife are usually willing to face this reality, they often refuse. Rather than facing their communication problem head-on, they seek alternative answers that are less painful (and less true).
Sometimes wives try a different approach. It’s the old “if you can’t beat them join them” technique. This may work initially, but rarely for long. Either way, the wife is likely to carry a grudge. She knows where her position is.
Seeking professional help is one option, but the type of man who watches soccer all weekend is often the last to move from the television couch to the counselor’s couch.
If the husband refuses to make changes, the wife may decide that she has tried everything and won nothing. Having given up, she ignores him. Then she feels sorry for him. Finally, she divorces him.
A TV addict at the top of his game may not even know that his wife is gone until two in the morning, right after the conclusion of the Canadian National Junior Single Leg Championship.
