WHY?

We ask ourselves “why?”   Why didn’t we watch the Olympics or the political Conventions this year?

We’ve always done so in years past.  Why not this year?

There was no good reason for not following the Olympics.  Maybe they were on too late.  Maybe there were too many commercials.  Maybe we just weren’t in the mood for competition.

The conventions are another matter.   We understand why we didn’t tune in and, ironically, it had absolutely nothing to do with politics.

“Back in the day” the conventions were about choosing and electing a Presidential nominee.

Delegates from each state would stand and proudly announce that their “Great State” was submitting x-number of votes for their candidate of choice.

We always had our own favorites at home and we hung onto those votes.  We cheered when they went our way and frowned when they didn’t.  We kept our own tallies.

Put simply, we were involved. Viscerally.  Emotionally.

But now, it seems, the conventions are all about balloons, crowds, placards, and speeches. How many, how loud, how pumped?  It’s all so scripted.  So planned.  So predictable.

And, in a word, at least for us, so tedious.  Maybe that’s why we didn’t watch.

It also might have been a tad past our bedtime.