Topic: Christmas presents

Every night after work, I come home, make dinner (or pick it up on the way), and open my laptop. Will I catch up on work emails while I eat my Pad Thai? No. Skype chat with far-away family members while tossing back my taco? Nope. I’m going to have dinner with two of my closest friends: Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy.

I didn’t grow up eating dinner in front of a blaring boob tube. My family broke out the TV trays only when something of paramount importance coincided with dinnertime. Presidential debates, for instance, or new episodes of The Simpsons. But even as a child, watching TV during meals was a social experience. We’d never eat silently, ignoring each other while devoting all our attention to Homer. Yes, we’d whisper respectfully during the program, but every commercial break was a free-for-all. Even as I got older, TV shows became the foundation of future conversations. We’d spend dinners at the table debating the mysteries of The Sopranos, so watching TV together was basically group research. More »