The man ran over to the television and got close so he could hear what was being said. I was watching the scene unfold in a restaurant where a television is permanently set to show cable news.
“He just makes me so mad,” the man muttered with intensity. I wasn’t sure whether he was talking to me or to himself, but he was clearly referring to the media personality talking on the screen. He was upset, but the flickering image commanded his attention and his eyes were glued to the TV.
I watched him for a minute and finally asked the obvious question.
“If he makes you so angry, why do you listen so closely to him?” I asked. “Why not just ignore him?”
The man first looked puzzled, as though I had asked him a trick question. Then he finally responded with the tone one might use when explaining something obvious to a child.
“Well, he’s on television,” the man said. “He doesn’t like [my political group] and he’s always saying negative things about us. He’s on the news. I have to know what he says — because he makes me furious!”
A sincere apology can bring color back when the world looks gray
Facebook leads to marriage for couple whose love never died
Why not join the LP? You can’t fight the state by becoming the state
We’re neither friends nor enemies, just strangers who share the past
‘This path leads to somewhere I think I can finally say, I’m home’
When love finally dies, it’s like a fever breaks and the pain is gone
Demographic trends setting U.S. up for race wars in coming decades?
Time is the most unrelenting enemy that any of us will face
Unexpected phone call can turn world from happy to miserable