Laugh Here/Applaud Now

     I confess I'm watching far more television than I should here of late. Easy to justify that morning weather report then leave it running while you doing chores...But I have to say I AM mindful of what it's doing to my brain...(as if, is it any better for knowing you're rotting it...I know. I am aware. But that's no big credit. I admit.)
     Case in point, I left the tube on while running in and out today and became keenly aware of the noise differential between outdoors and in....Yes, outdoor sounds have their noise factors: there's barking, there are goats grunting for space at the trough...there are even things like the occasional plane flying overhead. These are outdoor sounds.
     In stark contrast, I noted these in contrast to inside sounds. I will grant you, if I'm near a remote, I must hit "mute" when commercials come on (OK Ad agencies. We are all aware you crank up the volume hoping we'll notice, and we do! Enough to mute through your obnoxious messages. Please stop! I swear, whoever told that furniture guy in that green cartoon ad to yell at me ought to be fired. If I EVER grace his store, it will be to give the dude a piece of my mind.  I don't know the company's name; I only know it's when "mute" moves front and center in my brain.)
     But the other noises brought about an awareness as well. No matter what the show, there is artificial noise happening throughout. Where once there was "canned" laughter, we now have the "performed before a "live" studio audience" announcement ( as if prompting live audiences with sound guys holding poster boards over their heads that blare "Applaud Now" or "Laugh Here"  now makes it more real to us...Just saying...)
     Then it hit me...Even in something so basic as a mid day talk show, EVERYONE laughs at the perfect time...Audiences are always alert and loving the guest is (regardless if you knew who it would be that day you secured tickets) ...Meanwhile, next Thanksgiving table when that perfectly funny pun is cracked...who gets this? And why aren't they all applauding at all the right moments.
     Bottom line: No one lives this way. No one receives a depreciating joke and walks away unhurt. No one waits for applause before uttering the next line. Silently, subliminally, the noise is killing us (or at least killing our spirits) ...for we are primed and properly poised for hosts yelling into commercial breaks: ISN'T THIS GREAT? WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK!
     And given we spend more time with these strangers than we do our own families, it's no wonder we've grown addicted to them. (At least we know what is expected of us.)