interesting observation

[funeralcrasher]

From a forum I frequent...

I just think it is funny that a nation of couch potatoes have built a culture around WATCHING rather than doing.

On one hand we have athletes as icons.
And on the other, we are less active than ever.

Its not just the sports..  Many would as soon watch TV all day than experience life first hand. 

Sad commentary on our decaying society, n'est pas? 

Comments

[duskofhallows98.livejournal.com]

In my graduate class, someone posted an article this week on the rise of "aliteracy" in our society. This is people who can read, but choose not to. The article says "To Jim Trelease, author of 'The Read-Aloud Handbook,' this trend away from the written word is more than worrisome. It's wicked. It's tearing apart our culture. People who have stopped reading, he says, 'base their future decisions on what they used to know. "If you don't read much, you really don't know much," he says. 'You're dangerous'." The article also notes that "When people look up information on the Internet today...they are "basically scanning. There's very little actual comprehension that's going on." As a librarian, I see evidence of this every day. Well educated, affluent people, who can't be bothered to read simple signs like "Exit", "Staff Only", etc. They are incapable of understanding the concept of alphabetical order. I've had people argue over what letter comes next! Same with the internet. Adults will howl, "I've been looking on the internet for AN HOUR, and there's nothing!" I'll do a simple word search, and the first ten sites have just what they need. I feel like saying "Just where the FUCK were you looking, Ma'am?"
This diverges from your post....but the "couch potato" bit it right on! I've seen people wait 15 minutes to get a parking space 20 feet closer to a store. At work, people grimace when they're told they need to go walk ten feet to find something. No wonder we're an unhealthy society. When I was in London, I was waiting at a bus stop in front of what looked like a girl's middle school. School was just getting out, and I suddenly realized that not one of the girls was obese. Some were heavier than others, but it was nothing like a comparable group of American kids. I think this is because the average person in London gets more exercise. In my apartment complex, I've seen people DRIVE to the dumpster. Oh, come on! Everywhere you go, Americans have food in their hands. They can't stop stuffing their faces. In the library, people get nasty when they are told they can't bring their Big MAc into the library to eat. I think American society can be summed up as "Stupid, Unhealthy, and Lazy".