Who's in charge here, please?<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Mike Royko, a Chicago Tribune columnist, once
\nsuggested in the Pacific Stars and Stripes that before a couple
\nsay \"I do\" they should sign a prenuptial agreement on who would
\ncontrol the TV remote. Otherwise, the family would later be at
\neach other's throats for control of the TV, he reasoned.<\/p>\n
This suggestion would have sounded ridiculous in Indonesia six
\nyears ago. Who gives a damn about a remote control when there is
\nonly one TV station? TVRI was it, you had to watch whatever it
\naired. Viewers didn't bother with letters to the editor about the
\nTV programs, not even our neighbor Mr. Said, who spent most of
\nhis leisure time writing to newspapers.<\/p>\n
Now that there are six local TV stations and a number foreign
\nbroadcasts, what Royko suggested makes more sense. There are so
\nmany choices to make. Most of the broadcasters compete to give
\ntheir viewers what they believe is the best. Imagine what could
\nhappen to a single-TV-family at five in the afternoon.<\/p>\n
The wife, as the ibu rumahtangga (mother of the household),
\nthinks she has every right to watch her favorite Mexican
\ntelenovela. After all, the house is her responsibility.<\/p>\n
\"I spend the whole day nurturing the family. I do the cooking,
\nthe washing, the cleaning, you name it. Now I need to straighten
\nmy legs,\" she reasons.<\/p>\n
Her pleasure doesn't last long. The husband, as the bread
\nwinner, haughtily switches channels before his teenage daughter,
\nwho has been waiting for Beverly Hills 90210 since three o'clock,
\ngets a chance.<\/p>\n
\"I have been working hard to put food on the table. Surely I
\ndeserve some kind of priority around here?\" he naively asks.<\/p>\n
The daughter then stomps around, hissing the famous teenage
\nbattle cry: \"Parents don't understand!\"<\/p>\n
That leaves the son to complain that he never gets to watch
\nhis favorite sports events.<\/p>\n
\"How can people in this house be so selfish?\" he wonders.<\/p>\n
The war is bad enough in a family of four. God knows what
\nwould happen if there were six children, grandma and grandpa,
\nplus several relatives battling it out for the box.<\/p>\n
Getting each family member their own TV set is no good because
\nwatching television alone is no fun. You're not supposed to sit
\nalone, laughing at Bob Saget or sobbing over a sad story, without
\nthe opportunity to share your feelings.<\/p>\n
So who should be in charge of the remote? It's too late for a
\nprenuptial agreement.<\/p>\n
Maybe Jack Jaunt can organize an open debate on TV or a
\nseminar to find out who should be in charge of the remote
\ncontrol. He could ask one of the State Ministers to become a key-
\nnote speaker at the \"International Seminar on the Solution to
\nFamily Feud Over Television Remote Control\".<\/p>\n
-- Carl Chairul<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/whos-in-charge-here-please-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }