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My Aunt Louise made a surprise inspection of our apartment when Don and I were newlyweds in 1972. She was shocked.

We didn’t have a TV. This was un-American – at least that’s what Aunt Louise thought.

How could we have a normal marriage if we didn’t stay home and watch TV?

Aunt Louise took me aside and said, “Listen, honey, your uncle and I can loan you some money for a TV.”

I thanked her and said no. I said there wasn’t room for a TV in our tiny apartment. We had two rooms over a garage.

The truth was we prided ourselves on being intellectuals. “All in the Family” was the hit show then. We didn’t need to watch Archie Bunker argue with his relatives. We had our own family to yell at us. Besides, I knew watching television turned people into lumps who sat on the couch.

Don and I have been married 37 years. We still don’t have a TV. We do have a monitor and a CD player. If we want to watch a hot TV series, we wait a few months and get it on CD. We can check out other shows on the computer.

If I really want to watch TV, I go to my condo gym and turn on the TV while I’m on the treadmill. I don’t need TV. But I do need exercise. Lots of prime-time exercise.

(The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of St. Louis Public Radio.)

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