Here’s the deal.

When television broadcast the attacks repeatedly it was news.

When a person controls where and when and how often to view those images, that person is insensitive and disturbed. And not at all artsy.

When television tells us that our pits stink, our house smells bad, our car is not sleek, we listen.

When my husband tells me that I reek, the cat box smells or my car sucks, I go about my business while thinking “shut up.”

When television tells us that underage gang members were shot uptown, it’s sad.

When television tells us that Osama Bin Laden was shot in the eye, it’s good.

Why are we opposed to causing upset but okay with causing insecurity?

Why do we invite manipulation and distress into our homes? And pay for it?

Why does the TV make bad shit palatable?

I am old enough to remember when television stations (three of them) shut off for the night.

Even “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Gilligan” went to bed- life in a bottle or on an island could begin again in the morning.

Why can’t TV just leave us alone and let us pick up where, and if, we left off tomorrow?

“Pick Up Tomorrow”- I like that.

I will title this essay “Pick Up Tomorrow” and hope that enough of us will decide the images and content of our lives for ourselves and someday, perhaps tomorrow even, we can just pick up and head there.

Renee Nied