Work Text:
There was a television in almost every room. Signs of the lives that people led before everything fell apart, and completely useless even with the power available in Alexandria. Carol hadn’t missed television, after the first month or so of being without it just didn’t even cross her mind any more. She couldn’t even imagine sitting down in front of one now, letting the emptiness of her evening be filled with the meaningless drivel that had taken up most of the channels.
Ed always had to have some television service so he could watch the different sports games he was fond of following, and she would often sit with him as he watched. Of course, she would be there mostly to fetch the things he wants from the kitchen or to work on her sewing and knitting for Sophia. When she was home alone, and Ed was working and Sophia was at school, the television would be off. Ed didn’t want it to distract her from her housework, and she didn’t care for the overly dramatic daytime shows anyway.
After they left home there were no sports to watch, no drama to follow except the drama they created within their little group, and the entire scale of their time had changed. They still had free time, or down time, when there were no pressing tasks to be planned or carried out, but they used that time differently. They improved upon it and themselves so that sitting idle wasn’t something that even seemed desirable. This was no longer a world for spectators.
She took the television off the wall in her room, and shoved it into the closet, covering it with old jackets and bedding that had been left behind. Maybe she would find something else to put up on the wall in its place someday.