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This is my first thought with writing a short story: I am sure this will change over time.

Called “The Off Channel” .. will try to put future updates in later blog posts.

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Insomnia. Everyone has it.

I’ve heard people used to sleep. That there wasn’t always something on. Something demanding we buy. Something letting us know how great things are.

Free cable. Free televisions. Free personal televisions. The deal sounded good. Too good. We even got these cool glasses with a TV inside. Sounded great, signed the paperwork, got free everything. Available all the time. On all the time.

All. The. Time. Having the TV on was free. Advertisers wanted our eyes, wanted our brains, wanted to sell, sell, sell.

Too many people were doing their own thing. Turning off cable, turning off the satellite, cancelling magazines, cancelling newspapers, installing ad blocks. People weren’t buying enough. It was hurting the economy, they said, hurting jobs.

So we bought it. Passed the amendement, made TV, some kind of advertising compulsory. It was on all the time. Free. Free. Free. Free sounds like such a good thing. Free is great, free is awesome.

But, it’s always on. Always, always on. Always saying buy, buy, buy. And guess what Big Brother is watching. The TVs can look both ways.

They do let us have the Off Channel though. It’s Pay Per View, and can be purchased by the minute, the hour, the day, the month or unlimited over the year. The rich choose the first one, say it’s only $1,000/year. The rest of us can’t stop spending. We are constantly told to buy. Constantly told to produce. And none of us can sleep.

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Let me know what you think.

edmund