Comcast

     I don't have cable television. That's right. No cable. I find it amusing sometimes, especially because it seems like EVERYBODY has cable nowadays. Now I could explain why I don't have cable in one of two ways. General public opinion will say that I can't have cable because I owe the cable company a little over a $100 and I don't want to pay it. It's not that I don't want to pay it, it's just that I want to decide when paying the balance is worth it. If I had paid the bill when it was due and continued to enjoy cable, I would have spent about $600 since getting my cable disconnected. I have a very good reason for severing my ties with Comcast Television. Actually I have a few reasons.

     I have made excuses. That's right folks! I've made excuses and I am now announcing them. In the course of starting my own business and shedding myself of the boss to employee relationship, I came across hard times. Last winter I dug a pretty good hole and it was very hard to climb out of when my "vacation" for the year was visiting Albuquerque to witness my sister's wedding. That was money that I could have spent getting myself out of the hole, but I wouldn't miss my sister's wedding for anything. After all, It just might be my only chance to see a sibling's wedding. I haven't had a true vacation since 2003. At the same time, some might claim that my life is mostly a vacation. That is because I refuse to fall into the "rat-race trap" that most people believe is reality. So I have no business complaining about not getting a vacation when I choose whether or not I need to work on a daily basis.

     Back to my point. Last winter when I was struggling I stayed in contact with the cable company. Eventually they decided they needed to disconnect my service. I pleaded with them that I was just short on money, but that I had no intention of screwing them over. I begged them to leave my cable on so I could entertain myself through the slowest season of my trade. I thought I gave them every reason to trust my intentions. After all, what are they really losing if they don't shut off my cable? What they are really doing is trying to use scare tactics to make me conform. The only advantage they have is to take away my cable to get their money. Yet they failed to realize that they just lost $600 by trying to play the role of the bully. $600 may not make or break them, but suppose there are  100 people like me. That makes the number $60,000.

     For some reason they believe that we are somehow slaves to their system. And accordingly, we must have given them that power. Now Monday Night Football will be shown on ESPN. According to the pundits, everybody has cable anyway, so what's the difference? The Red Sox have pulled their "Friday Night Baseball" on UPN to put all the games on NESN (New England Sports Network). So now I can't watch my usual Friday night game.

     I am actually considering paying my outstanding balance to get my cable up and running. Or maybe it is really time to ignore all the distractions. I enjoy my sports, but that is because I like the "reality" element that sports holds. With the current steroids and gambling controversies surrounding two of the four major sports, I'm starting to wonder if I should even bother anymore. What is real? I only want cable for a couple of channels. All the sports channels, Comedy Central, The Cartoon Network, The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and occasionally one of the "premium" channels such as HBO, Cinemax, or Showtime.

     As great as these entertainment entities are, and all the distractions they provide us, they will always underestimate the human element. The human element can never be ignored. Once freedom is taken away from any animal (humans included) there will be a natural reaction. A reaction to regain the freedom that was once enjoyed. Right now we believe that being able to watch all those channels is freedom.  Freedom from stress and all the worries of today's society.  When cable is no longer about freedom, it will die.