THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601110035
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KERRY DOUGHERTY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
WEEK ONE without television was going along smoothly.
Until the blizzard.
``I listened to news about the snow on the radio,'' sighed Maggie Robertson, a Virginia Beach widow who lives alone and has pledged to give up television for one month. ``But I wanted to see the pictures so bad.''
The storm also had the Ferguson family of South Mills, N.C., wondering whether they could remain TV-free.
``I really had to stop myself,'' confessed Susan Ferguson. ``I used television mainly for information; news and weather. Not being able to see the snowstorm was rough.''
The Robertson and Ferguson households were among four chosen by the newspaper to pull the plugs on their TV sets at midnight New Year's Eve and leave them off until February.
No one said it would be easy.
``It's been tough,'' admitted Robertson, who has five television sets. ``The long weekends get to me. About 3 or 4 o'clock, after I've cleaned the house, done everything I needed to do, then I really want to sit down and relax.
``That's when I'd normally watch TV to help pass the time.''
She said her friends have pointed out that no one would know if she cheated a bit.
``I tell them I'd know,'' she said. ``I want to do this to prove something to myself.'
On the plus side, Robertson said she's been reading more, doing jigsaw puzzles, cleaning the closets. She's even made a Christmas tree skirt for next year.
``Another benefit is that since I'm not sitting down watching TV, I'm not eating in front of the set,'' Robertson said. ``I'm really not snacking anymore, and that's real good.''
On the other hand, the O'Malley family of Chesapeake didn't even miss the TV during the recent winter storm.
``Let's see, the girls were out of school (Monday) and they helped their mother cook dinner and they cleaned their rooms,'' said Patrick O'Malley. ``They have very clean rooms.''
O'Malley said the hardest part for him so far was missing the big Notre Dame football game against Florida State.
To pass the hours they normally spend watching TV, The O'Malleys played board games: Scrabble, Life, and Carmen San Diego.
``I'm surprised how little we miss it,'' Patrick O'Malley added. ``We're planning to keep it off in February, too.''
The Fergusons said it's been fun - especially since their friends and family know they've taken the pledge and are helping them remain television-free.
``When the kids visit a friend's house, the kids automatically turn off the TV and remind them they aren't allowed to watch,'' Ken Ferguson said. ``I went to my brother's house on New Year's Day and the Rose Bowl was on TV.
``I excused myself.''
They're listening to a lot of radio.
But even with a steady diet of public radio, Ken and Susan Ferguson said they believe they're missing some of the immediacy of television news.
And Ken Ferguson joked that they'd gone from watching Geraldo to listening to Howard Stern.
Yet the Fergusons reckon they've spent much more time doing family things like board games and reading than they did when the television was on. Ken Ferguson had finished five novels in the first eight days of the month and his wife had read one.
They'd also taught their 9-year-old son, Dylan, to play mah jong.
Susan Ferguson, a second-grade teacher's assistant, said her class at school knows about the television project and reminds her to find something else to do when the classroom teacher turns on ``Reading Rainbow.''
``The kids are going to give up television Monday through Friday during the last week of January,'' Susan Ferguson said. ``We were going to include the weekend, too, but one of the children pointed out that that was Super Bowl Sunday.''
Our fourth family, Jermaine Miller and son Kyle, was unavailable for comment. Miller's job with TWA was keeping her busy during the blizzard of '96. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
THE FERGUSONS
THE MILLERS
THE O'MALLEYS
MAGGIE ROBERTSON
VICKI CRONIS/photo illustration, The Virginian-Pilot
by CNB