The Saga of the Big Bad TV

Last Sunday, I drove my son back to his college in Jacksonville. He told me that his dormitory roommate had just purchased a wide, flat screen television set and was trying to unload his old model. Will was only too happy to take it, and he asked me to transport it back with me to Gainesville and put it in his room. The only problem was that this television was one of those old enormous, massive models, very heavy and very space-consuming. It took both Will and his roommate all of their efforts to lug what they affectionately (and derisively) dubbed the "Big Bad TV" down to my relatively small Pontiac Grand Am. We then kept turning the TV around to try and figure out how we were going to fit it into the small car. Finally, we were able to get it into the back seat and I wondered how in the world I was ever going to get it out of the car, much less into my house and into Will's room.

Monday went by, and then Tuesday, with the unwelcome antiquated occupant still in the back seat. I didn't want Melissa or Rebecca to strain themselves trying to help me get it out. And although I could have asked a neighbor to lend a hand, I instead began to see extricating the TV from my car as a type of mental challenge for me to solve. I thought up various scenarios involving slipping things under the TV set to lift it within the car to the level where it would be easy to pull it out. I thought of parking the car right alongside the front door so that I could take it out, already practically inside the house. I thought of using my dolly and then discarded that idea, seeing how voluminous the TV was. Or maybe I could get some blankets and drag the TV once it was somehow out of the car.

Wednesday morning came and the Big Bad TV was still in the car. I drove up into my driveway after giving some more thought to how I would remove this monstrosity. As I got out of the car, though, I suddenly and impulsively whipped around, opened the back door, and pulled out the TV set with one easy motion. I then got a good, balanced grip on it and carried it across the yard to the front porch. Then I opened the front door and carried it all of the way back to my son's room.

So what was the problem? After seeing others struggling so much with the television set, I internalized their difficulties and created a problem which really didn't exist. But it did seem heavy on Sunday and was hard to fit through the car door. On Wednesday, I stopped thinking about it and just did what I had to do.

Which is, I suppose, the lesson here: sometimes you just have to stop thinking and DO IT!

Next saga: the big bad misplaced library book!