Wired for Abuse

I didn’t want to talk about this, but I can’t stay silent any longer. I’ve been trapped in an abusive relationship for more years than I care to admit, easily over half my life. And though we’ve been careful to avoid physical marks and bruises, my lover takes from me FAR MORE than he gives back.

I can’t even tell you why I stay. He refuses to better his self in any way, yet he demands more from me. I find myself spending all my cash on him. In fact, if I don’t give him what he wants, he stalks me by phone. I feel like he owns me in a weird way, like I’m his bitch.

Obviously I’m talking about that heartless bastard, my cable television provider. I hooked up with him when I moved into my first apartment. Yes I was young, but my provider was much different back then. He cared about my love for information and entertainment almost as much as my money. He never bullied me with sales calls. Even his commercials were shorter, sweeter.

But as his parent company purchased more of his friends and associates, he changed. His prices went up. He started parsing his channels until he’d built a wall of tiered service plans between us. He forced me into the digital era with promises that things would be better and brighter for us. That’s when he got pixilated and started blacking out.

Now, I’m paying an outrageous monthly fee for my cable provider to go through the motions with me, offering fewer and poorer quality services. Does he invest that cash to improve his equipment or customer support? If so, I haven’t noticed. The least he could do is spend some of that on me. But no, my decades of loyalty mean nothing to him. I’m placed in the same twenty minutes long telephone queue as everyone else.

So why do I stay? Am I a glutton for punishment? No, I think it has more to do with familiarity. I love cable television, even though sometimes I ignore him while he’s on. He’s comforting to me. I’ve invested memories and emotional responses in him. More importantly, without him, I would be forced to stay informed on my own. I’d have to exert effort just to watch new episodes of my favorite shows. I’d be alone in a vast media market.

I see a way out, though. I know a few people who have broken up with their cable providers, choosing to spend time with their Internet instead. Maybe it’s time… The Web and I have been good friends for years. Maybe the connection I’ve been looking for has been in front of me all along.