Tomorrow morning Scott is going to have surgery on his knee. He is going to have a piece of cartridge removed orthoscopically. We have talked very little about it. His way of preparing is by not thinking about it.

I think it is going to just be a simple procedure. He should be back in gear in a week. The only thing that I am concerned about is the steep flight of stairs that he is going to have to climb outside of our house.

Scott's mom is here, which is a big help. He will have company when I am at work. I'm taking tomorrow off to be Scott's chauffer, cook, encourager and ice pack-getter.

Yesterday was an historical day for the Hafner family. We joined the mainstream culture and got cable for our TV. We used to only have two channels; now we have ninety-nine. Whether or not to get cable has been an on-going debate for years in our house. I have always forbidden it because of the addictiveness of it. So often after I have watched TV, even if it is something that I enjoy, I feel that the time has been wasted. Conversation hasn't taken place, I haven't created anything, I haven't learned anything, and I rarely even remember what I watched.

Yesterday I proved everyone right. I flipped through all of the ninety-nine channels and there was nothing on.

Scott always has wanted cable because he loves to watch TV. We haven't had it for all these years because I was adamantly opposed to it. I didn’t want my kids to grow up with commercial TV. Cartoons seem like a waste of time, and the commercials are so good at convincing kids to want the things they are trying to sell. I prefer that we as a family talk at the dinner table. I prefer that we play games or read. I preferred the kids did not know about the latest toys, the popular bands, and the serial shows. I felt all this cluttered the brain, created unnecessary consumerism and stifled communication.

Now that the kids are grown, I feel like I have had my chance to not have cable. Now it is time to let Scott have his way. We have said that we are getting cable on a trial basis. I am not sure how this trial will be judged. What will determine if it has improved our life or made it worse? And what if Scott feels like it has improved his life because he will be able to watch more sports, more shows, more news? But by him watching more, we may talk less. That means for him, it is an improvement, but for me it will have an adverse affect on home life.

I am trying to be open about it. I have never watched a show on The History Channel or Discovery. I have rarely seen CNN. Since Scott is going to be home recovering from his knee surgery, it is probably good that he has lots of choices of shows to watch.

Stay tuned for the next episode of “Cable Invades the Hafner Household” or “The Hafners Join the Rest of the Modern World”.