I should relate the story of the woman who came knocking on my door a few years ago trying to interest me into purchasing cable tv.

Now at this time, I was copying a record on to cassette tape for a friend, so my record player was going and hooked up to my cassette player. My computer was on in the other corner. Then "All Things Considered" came on NPR, but since my record player and cassette machine were occupying my usual speakers, I put on a Walkman radio with earphones. Then I needed to find out about airflights to T*******, so I called an airline on the telephone, but was placed on endless hold for more than half an hour.

Then comes the knock on my door. I am wearing radio headphones and have a phone to my other ear, but explain that it's all right--I'm on hold on the telephone (and the radio story of the moment wasn't particularly interesting). She sees the computer and the record player and the cassette machine and launches off into her spiel about cable television. I patiently let her finish, and then explained that I didn't own a television set, and had no plans to get one. She was incredulous, and found me eccentric, or perhaps just passing strange.

I inquired about cable radio, which they didn't offer. (Web Radio hadn't been invented yet!) But I took off my radio headphones, hung up the phone, and as she realized that she had nothing to sell me, we were able to spend a few minutes in a delightful conversation about media, life without television, and travel to T*****.

--Charlie Baum