Weather or Not

In high school, while I was studying, and didn't want to be too distracted, I would turn the Home Shopping Network on in my room, on our old black and white 13" TV. The voices were somehow soothing and quiet. I could look up for a second, see what garbage they were hawking and continue on with my studying without too much hoopla. There was no storyline to follow, no new characters, and no plot twists. Just pure, unadulterated background noise. And I never actually bought anything from them.

While, occasionally, I still tune in to HSN for the amusement it provides me, mostly I'm a Weather Channel gal now. Like HSN, the Weather Channel is broadcast 24 hours a day. Every ten minutes they tell you the weather, the air quality, and the status of the barometer in your area. Every ten minutes! It's amazing.

The Gadlus of the Weather Channel was only made known to me in those shaky weeks following September 11, 2001. It was the only channel I could find that respected my "need to know basis" policy on the news. All the other channels, including the music stations, had news portions or "breaking news" updates. Only the Weather Channel provided comfort to me. I knew that if there were chemicals in the air somewhere, the Weather Channel would tell me. It was a very straightforward Network in a time of uncertainty.

Do I care enough about the weather to listen to the forecast on the radio or watch it on our local stations? No, I'm not that obsessed. To me, the only worthwhile weather is on the Weather Channel, anyway.