No Socializing

There was a time…,

not so long ago…,

when television wasn’t just background noise or a solo binge. It was a ritual. A communal pulse. A rhythm that united households, neighborhoods, even entire generations.

Whether it was The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Seinfeld or Cheers, the screen would glow and the world would hush. You didn’t watch alone. You watched with friends. With family. With everyone you knew, at the same time, embraced, gasping, laughing, yelling at the screen.

Now, television is scattered across streaming services, dropped all at once, designed for consumption, not connection. Everyone’s watching different shows at different times, on different devices, two devices at once and nobody’s talking about it the same way.

Even networks know it’s over. They’re canceling shows left and right, bleeding money trying to find their footing in a world that no longer gathers around the glow of a TV at 8 p.m.

Because the truth is,

We are all in our own worlds and the social aspect of the little things we share together are disappearing.

And that’s what’s been lost. Not just the shows, but the shared experience.

The anticipation. The arguments. The laughter in the room.

The sense that, for one hour, we were all experiencing the bond together.

Maybe progress means convenience.

But nostalgia reminds us that convenience rarely brings connection.

c 2025 Chu The Cud

All Rights Reserved.