Debate or football or neither

He stretched out on the couch, remote control in hand and turned on Monday night football.
“You aren’t going to watch the debate?” I asked this guy who will discuss politics at the drop of a hat (and football, too for that matter).
“No. I know what they are going to say.”
I looked at my phone. A Facebook posting asked, “So who else is waiting breathlessly for the debate to start?”
Not us. The game between the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints in the Super Dome held more promise. The announcer said this game came on the 10th anniversary of the team’s return to the stadium after the restoration from the destruction during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
A long overdue restoration of the craft room called my name.
During the first commercial break he called, “Did you want to watch the debate?”
Maybe. I wandered back to the big screen.
He changed channels. I glanced at Facebook and read, “I know some of you won’t be watching the debate, but this is so important to our country, so, here I sit.”
Within minutes the two contestants were talking over each other, refusing to stop to let the other finish a thought.
“Where’s the remote? You can watch the football game.” I picked it up and flicked the recall button before reading another Facebook comment, “I really tried…. I made it 12 minutes before I could not take either of them. Can I write-in a candidate?’
A touchdown and the station went to a commercial break. I punched recall and switched back to the debate. Good manners had returned. We actually heard a plan for recovering the economy which followed the party lines of the last decade. We listened to a more restrained exchange of ideas and wondered, “why does he call her Secretary Clinton and she calls him Donald.”
I hit the recall button. The football announcer again rehashed the momentous 10th anniversary of the Saints return to stadium. No one mentioned that on this momentous anniversary, the Saints had fallen behind. Facebook fans cheered touchdowns and yardage … and said nothing about the political debate.
For the next half hour we switched to the debate during football commercials and heard nothing new. We switched back to watching the Falcons score rise to the level of ‘no way they can beat us.’
I worked on my laptop computer. The game watcher restlessly stood up and checked out the fridge.
Facebook postings alternated between those celebrating touchdowns with Monday night football and those moaning about the debate.
In the third quarter, with its lopsided score, the couch potato stood up, “No way the Saints can win.” He left the room.
The debate reached an equally tepid level of interest. The television went silent.
During the bedtime snack, the TV snapped onto the re-run channel with Hogan’s Heroes. Once again Hogan concocted some devious undercover plan to fool Schultz and Klink. The pretty lady spy played the double cross game. Hogan, as always, had a plan that ultimately would succeed right under the noses of the Germans. Hogan may as well have called Klink “Donald.” No need to watch the whole show. The television went black again.
Monday night football failed to excite. The debate failed to enlighten. The rerun failed to entertain. And, Facebook encapsulated friends’ thoughts on the evening’s electronic offerings.
The evening was not a total loss however. I did clear some clutter from the craft room, completed some computer work and realized anew why I prefer to read for entertainment and information.