I live in the West End and the proliferation of TVs in restaurants is officially out of hand. What started out as a sports bar thing years ago and ostensibly a choice, is now an in-your-face fixture that is growing increasingly difficult to avoid. In cafes, diners, takeout joints, and even your finer dining establishments, there it blazes, the unblinking idiot-box eye—an intrusion and distraction that I never asked for. Did anybody? Was there some kind of soft revolution that I missed out on whereupon the masses demanded television with their restaurant fare? And the larger and more plentiful the screens, the better?
Among the grim assaults to the senses, I've been submitted to ultimate fighting with Indian, suicide bomber aftermath with a burger, American Idol with Italian, and of course hockey with everything, as if there can be no possibility of the existence in this town of anyone who doesn't give a shit about Our Most Glorious Sport.
What if I don't want to watch TV? Even if you are not technically watching, it's still intrusive; trying not to watch becomes as irritating as watching. Requests to shut the box off have taught me that the best I can hope for is a channel change or a dip in the volume, with a change of seats sometimes reluctantly granted if the screen is looming over your head like an interrogation lamp.
Out of the five places in the West End that I would call regular haunts, the saturation is now complete, some with the TV presence now so obnoxious that they've lost my business. And that's the only choice left: put up with it or forget the once not unreasonable expectation of the relaxed, pleasant experience of going out to eat. Do we have to shrug and mutter, "Well, I guess you can't do anything about it—it's here to stay" about everything?
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Comments
I'm guessing a lot of these places put them up because of the Olympics. I bet we'll start seeing them come down now, though probably at a much slower rate if we don't vote with our feet (and money).
The point is that there are TVs everywhere because the demand is there. Case in point: The Alibi Room in Gastown. They were dead set against TVs, so much so that the owner said several times that you would NEVER see a TV in his bar. That is, of course, until the opening weekend of the Olympics when all of a sudden his very popular establishment was virtually deserted. By Tuesday he had TVs.
Sorry, Rod, but you're in the minority here, and unfortunately the minority doesn't pay the bills. It's a very competitive industry and the reality is that TVs = $$$. For every one of you that won't go into a place with TVs there are 5 or 6 people that WON'T go into an establishment unless they're showing the Canucks.
It is a sign of the times. The human need for constant stimulation. No point in quietly waiting in line with one's own thoughts. Pop a pill, have a drink, play some slots, and watch TV. No need for conversation.
The reality is that demand drives the marketplace. Period. Restaurants and bars are installing TVs because that's what the majority dictates! Like I said, go talk to the owner of Alibi to get a concrete example of this principle in action.
I know people don't like being told that their views and opinions are in the minority, and I'm not trying to be a jerk about this, but take a look around and think about it critically for a sec. TVs cost money. Restaurants don't have a lot of money to throw around as their margins are quite small. If they are taking money and investing in TVs it's because they are SURE that is what a majority of their customer base wants and they believe they will make more money with the TVs than without. If you are so completely convinced that they are wrong, then my original comment of "open your own restaurant" stands. Prove them all wrong.
Please note that in neither post did I state whether I'm pro- or anti-TV.
It's a plague brought on by the convenience of flatscreen technology and conformity. Maybe they think a bunch of TVs make the place seem lively. I don't mind being in the minority at all, if indeed I am, because the kind of zombie who likes watching a screen every waking moment belongs to a club I'm fine with forgoing a membership in.
Because if you're right, somehow that's even worse.