Television Warning

Do you remember all the sayings that our parents gave to us when we were little, warning us of the hazards of life? Don’t sit to close to the television or you’ll go blind, if you keep sucking your thumb its going to grow to be 3 feet long, if you eat the watermelon seeds they’ll grow in your stomach. We’re all familiar with them. But are they true? It might scare kids into believing it, but when they grow older and look back upon it, such things like those sayings make them laugh and get a good joke out of it.

You would say that most famous is the television warning. And you probably don’t think its true. Well, I’m going to bring you a story of a boy who thought so too.

Henry sat at the desk in living room, working frantically at his homework, trying to get it finished. In the corner sat their new television. It was back in the days when the T.V was first introduced to the society. So it wasn’t that big, and only had about 3 channels. But that didn’t stop Henry from writing down wrong answers and shoving the work in his backpack.

He immediately rushed to the wood covered box and clicked the dial. Sitting only inches from its 10-inch screen, Henry watched black and white cartoons. His mother walked in from the kitchen, wearing her cooking apron, and looked toward her son.

“Henry, dear.” She said, calmly. “You shouldn’t sit so close.” But the boy pretended to not hear her. He was so engulfed into the tiny figures; it was like his soul was in the set.

So, Henry’s father arrived home late from work but just in time for the family dinner. He hung up his coat and hat, set his briefcase down beside the coat rack, and kissed his wife good afternoon.

“Where is Henry?” he asked.

“In the living room sitting in front of that darned T.V” she replied. The father walked to the den and saw his boy sitting up to the screen. He sighed and came up behind him.

“Now what have I told you about sitting so close to the television, son? If you get any closer, you’ll get sucked into it.” Then the mother came from the kitchen and declared dinner ready. The father headed for the kitchen but stopped when he heard a strange sucking noise. He turned back to the den and saw half of his boy being sucked into the television set. The father ran to his son and pulled on Henry’s legs, trying to get him out and calling for his wife in the process.

Its sad to say that little Henry didn’t get saved from the pull of the 10-inch screen. The parents were devastated. The whole town had given sympathy. Nothing would make them feel any better about their lose. But they never really lost their son, Henry. In the boy’s room, untouched for years, the television sits in the corner. If you happen to turn it on, and flip through the channels, you will find little Henry, still young and youthful, living in channel three.