"gtr" > wrote in message news:2013020807360671161-xxx@yyyzzz...
> On 2013-02-08 10:29:10 +0000, Ophelia said:
>
>> No, they weren't watching it. It was just on and the sound very low.
>> The
>> were chatting to us all the time and never once watching the tv. Had
>> they
>> been watching it, I would have made an excuse and we would have left.
>> Other
>> than the tv being on, it was a most enjoyable visit.
>
> I'm sorry, I don't follow the logic that has turning to TV off become a
> violation of some kind of social norm. But then maybe you're talking
> about attending something with co-workers or the bereaved, I don't know.
>
> I don't know from hanging out with "not exactly friends" and a TV. As I
> ponder this further it occurs to me that none of my friends have the TV
> on, regardless of the sound level, when friends are over, unless we are
> watching a DVD or a movie as a group, which is quite the rarity.
>
> We entertain a lot and our friends do too. But then they are friends, not
> something else. So for my unique situation, asking someone to turn off
> the TV never happens because it's not on. Like just as impossible for
> others but not a problem at all is the music which a number of people have
> playing on a stereo. If it's too loud, someone asks it be turned down, or
> be changed if it's too "peppy" or turgid or something.
>
> On a number of occasions in discussion groups (my movie group), people
> have asked it be turned off. It is, and amazingly without a great deal of
> angst, hand-wringing, negotiation--none of that!
>
> But then most of my friends don't really watch a lot of TV though we do a
> lot of reading. I suppose that's now officially "elistist", reading
> books.

I don't think i am getting through here A neighbour invited us in for an
evening! Just me and my husband. Nice people. I just made a comment that
they obviously keep their tv on as a matter of course. They are not
particularly friends, just nice neighbours. The sound was not intrusive, it
just seemed odd. We enjoyed our time with them.

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