Telly addicts

Jamie never knew there was a book written about him...

Having a TV in your room while travelling is often a mixed blessing. The dreaded box can be a welcome relief on evenings when you’re not inclined to drink any more chemically-tasting Chang beer but not yet bored enough to engage in a round of Travel Boggle.

But it has its pitfalls, especially for those with no willpower, and you run the risk of becoming at least as square-eyed as you are at home. If you find yourself changing your temple-visiting schedule to fit in the midday programming of reruns of Knight Rider then you definitely have a problem.

Most people have a line that they draw between acceptable distraction and meritless drivel. I draw the line somewhere around enjoyably naff news reports on Russia Today (being asked to ‘Chech’ out the fashion shows in Chechnya), and Thai soap operas, which are so predictable that language isn’t a barrier – we amuse ourselves by making up what people are saying anyway.

Jamie is unusual in that he doesn’t have a line. He will watch ANYTHING. Just this week he has tuned in for an action film in Punjabi, Dutch quiz shows, Spy Kids 3 in Thai and Indian music TV where kids from Tamal Nadu dress up as Busta Rhymes or Snoop Dog. He’ll stare transfixed at the screen, regardless if it’s showing a Cambodian advert for denture cream or a documentary in Urdu. I’m pretty sure he’d stare at the test card if I didn’t make him turn it off.

It has got so bad that I have now put my foot down and we will only staying in the roughest hovels from now on, where there is no chance of him coming into contact with any cathode rays and I can have some peace.

Or so I thought.

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to find him hunched over the computer, fingers tapping away. Yes, that’s right – he was downloading episodes of TV shows. Houston, I think we have a problem. Or should that be Dallas?

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