It's true.
Forget tyranny of consumption, it's all about the tyranny of the taunt. Unfilled consumer desire either because you can't afford it, or because it's just not there. Consumptive mirages.
What am I talking about, you might ask? Cable freaking television is what I am talking about, that's what! Went to T online to take them up on their heavily advertised offer of cable tv through their mobile network. You get a big dish to hang out your flat window that looks like a satellite dish (cos nothing screams "foreigner" more than a satellite-looking dish in Europe!) and about 25 channels that include CNN and BBC, which is why I want it in the first place. And all for a low, low price of $15 per month, $10 if you have a landline (cheap!). The package also includes channels like Animal Plant and Discovery, where sometimes you get "Untamed and Uncut" with a Hungarian voice over, and other times you get "From Underdog to Wonderdog" in it's pure form...but I digress. My point is that it doesn't matter what they offer, because you can't actually get it.
Like everything in Hungary, you sign a lot of papers, that subsequently get stamped, and complete a lot of forms. Except in this case, four days later you get the call that opps! there aren't any dishes left in the country but you are in a queue - we'll be back with you in about three weeks, which in Eastern Europe time means 3 months. Now, the reason I am engaged in such a whiny, snobbish, ex pat rant is because my prime motivation for said dish is Obama! I want to catch the fever LIVE! as it happens next Tuesday. I want to watch everyone shiver outside in the freezing DC cold as we wait for the speech of a lifetime, I want to watch and get all misty eyed as Obama takes the oath of office, I want to watch scary OC preacher man and pretend I'm not horrified by his presence on that stage. I even want to see The Boss! And the commentary. Oh the commentary! What will Anderson Cooper have to say? What sage and thoughtful analysis will the BBC offer? What clips with the Germans and Hungarians show? What will Michelle Obama wear? (I know, shoot me for asking that, but it's true! I want to see!) All this and more! Bring it on!
But I can't bask in the glory of news overload in the comfort of my own home. Instead, I will set up shop at a friend's flat, preparing to offer unending commentary to anyone who will listen. Which is to say anyone who comes over with booze!
(will add photo tomorrow - looks like I am ignorant about how to get a picture off my camera. more techno teasing!)
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1 comment:
Case and point: Marci goes to buy a DVD recorder for his mom that is advertised all over the place but opps, it is out of stock. The truck with the goods has not yet come this year. Like the communists used to say: wait until Christmas for the pineapples!
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