Story Weekend: Oh Those Remote Controls!
Sitting here in my living room, wondering what topic to pick for Story Weekend, when my eye landed on the five remote controls on the coffee table. I only understand one of them, and not completely. I bet a few of you have a good remote control story to tell, don’t you?
If you’re new to Story Weekend, here’s how it works: I pick a theme and you share something from your life that relates to that theme, however you interpret it. Thanks to all of you who’ve contributed. As always, there are a few “rules”:
▪ The story must be true
▪ Try to keep it under 100 words. Embrace the challenge! That’s about six or seven lines in the comment form. I want others to read your story, and most people tend to skip if it’s too long. I know how tough it is to “write tight” but I hope you’ll accept this as a challenge. Happy writing!
I have an uncle who loves practical jokes, and a father who doesnt like to be the subject of the jokes.. i came across this gadget that you can hide in someones home pointed at the tv, that will randomly turn it off, or on, and cause the remote to do the oposite of what you’re trying to do. So to avoid my dad having this done to him (cause he would flip!) i gave my uncle this new toy while my dad was there, so he’d be in on it. This was a few years ago, and i never did hear of him pranking anyone with it… but he did get a gleam in his eyes and mention planting it at his daughter’s and sister’shomes on future visits. This man is the king of snake in a can, beeping key chains hidden in vehicles, and and once arranged the news crew to an airport to witness a 10 year reunion with my grandparents when in reality they had been apart about a week.Sorry, getting off topic!! I wish i had thought to prank.him with the remote gadget first, lol.
It’s that last one that really cracks me up, Katie (the reunion). He sounds like quite the little devil!
Surprisingly I have…..
My 6 month old son loved to play with the remotes as babies do. One day he picked up the tv remote and was randomly pressing buttons while I was talking to my dad. We both jumped when the stereo suddenly turned on and clearly sat on top of the stereo was it’s remote! The equipment wasn’t even the same brand so not compatiable. To this day I have no idea how he turned on the stereo from the other side of the room with the tv remote!
Very weird!
I remember the first remote control we had. We had to order it special. It was just a square thing with two big buttons. When you clicked one button you turned the T.V. on & off. The other button changed the channels. Each time you hit one of the buttons it would make a clicking noise, therefore we called it the clicker. This was in the 1960s when all we had to watch was 3 channels, and if the wind was blowing just right we could also get the PBS channel. And believe it or not, I was never without something to watch. Now we have 200 channels, and I have trouble finding anything I enjoy watching. Therefore, I read….
As Springsteen says, 57 Channels and Nothin’ On.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAlDbP4tdqc&feature=kp
Diane, you are two remotes ahead of me. We have three. The “universal” one for the cable/satellite, the one that came with the TV itself, and one that controls the DVD player. And to play a DVD it takes all three. As the saying goes, “it takes a village.” I suppose we are not as technically savvy as some because I am sure there is something out there that would replace all three of ours. Watching me getting a movie to play would be comedic for
some. Oh, I just remembered, we still have a VHS player hooked to the TV. Who knows where that remote is!
I know, Martha. If anything happens to John, I’m doomed to a TV-less future.
The grand-daughter, not yet five, wanted to watch a DVD. She chose it I put it in, pressed the buttons…nothing. Picked up another remote, pressed the buttons, still nothing. Took the DVD out, put it back in, switched the TV on and off. By this time I was breathing heavily, pressed the buttons again. It worked! On came the picture, I relaxed.
“OK now?”
“I didn’t want this one.” she announced and walked away.
!!!
Lol! You’re a great storyteller.
Among the many remotes in our house there are two that are identical – for the TVs in two rooms. Well, they are ALMOST identical, except that the one my husband uses has the writing worn off the keys and a groove worn into the plastic. These must be the Pause and Play and the FF key to skip commercials, but who knows? He is the only one who can work that remote.
We know how your husband spends his time. 🙂
My son-in-law walked into his mother’s room at the nursing home. She was angrily jabbing her remote at the tv and complaining that the darn thing didn’t work. He said, “Mom, that’s your cell phone!:
Oh dear. I fear this is my future.
Losing the remote is a big deal in our house. Couches are dismantled and tempers flare. It is with deep reluctance that we actually manually turn the tv on and off, change volume or channels. As a child we never lost the remote. My brother would sit in a chair and change channels with ease. Until older, wiser and lippier I would leap up from my seat on the floor, and change the channels at his command whenever any surfing was required, never questioning my role as chief channel changer. Great remote – just without a lifetime guarentee!