The Mute-Generation

 In the very early generation delivery of remote controls and TVs....mute wasn't an option.  Around 1956, an Austrian-born guy (electrical engineer) came up with the idea with the Zenith company.  

I suspect throughout the 1960s and 1970s....it was probably the least-used button on the remote control.  Lets admit it as well....folks in this era didn't go and pay the extra for the remote capability.  So in the 1980s....this became more popular.  

Today?  I probably hit the mute-button at least ten times a day.  I might flip over to a CNN news period for half-an-hour, and hit mute at least three or four times.  If I were sitting around for twelve hours and monitoring the various cable networks?  I'd hit the mute button over sixty times.  

The thing is....it's not just for commercial breaks anymore. I hit mute when certain topics come up....like BREXIT.  Or I'll hit it when some PhD guy comes on and wants to talk about polar bears eating too many penguins.  Last week, I was watching some business interview, and journalist was trying hard to get some CEO to just admit failure on some product, and I reached a mute-point with this conversation.

There are certain politicians now that I can stand about sixty seconds of commentary before I hit mute (Pelosi, Romney, and Jeb Bush).  With Dan Rather (of CBS fame)....just seeing him on the screen and about to talk....is enough for me to hit mute.  

Last year, I was watching a basketball discussion (retired players turned journalists and current players), and suddenly it turned into some discussion over social justice.....BAM, I hit the mute-button.  

The thing is....I don't think I'm alone.  I suspect across the US...there are a million of us mute-people.  Some of us have patience and some open-mind.  Some of us have 30 seconds of open-mind before we hit the mute.  I suspect the number increases each single year.  

At some point over the next decade....some Austrian-born engineer will probably come to design a mute-meter and start to report results back to 'MUTE.COM' and tell the world that one out of three people now mute Dan Rather.  Or they will have a 'will-mute' rating on Nancy Pelosi of 60 seconds....before a majority of people hit mute.  Then some discussion group will start up.....hyping that this mute-generation is now controlling a thought-process (actually the opposite....we don't want to hear them chatter).

All of this will start to worry folks because so much money is spent on CNN or Fox, or NPR....and if one out of three people regularly mute their chatter....well, that money is just going into an empty pit.

Yeah, whether it's positive or negative....we mute-people are now a threat to society and the future of America.  Frankly, we've had enough, and mute is our only weapon left.