The television and film writers have gone on strike ó and we say, ìHurray!î

As a result of this work stoppage, televisions across our nation will be filled with re-runs, at least eventually, and Americans will likely choose to find some other way to spend their leisure time.

Reports vary, but there appears to be some agreement that the ìaverage Americanî views about four hours of television daily and spends another 100 minutes per day on the Internet.

Certainly, this choice of a ìvirtual lifeî triggers memories of T.S. Eliotís 1922 poetry classic, ìThe Waste Land.î (Thatís right, poetry. How many members of our society, so chock-full of techno-geeks, have ever bothered to read that literary masterpiece ó or any other, for that matter?)

Rather than stare into a TV or computer, the welcome break caused by this strike provides an opportunity to read a good book, stroll in nature and savor the brilliant autumn scenery or actually converse with another human being.

Hope springs eternal that itís not too late to reverse the dumbing-down of our society resulting from the tranquilizing effect of TVs and computers.