About Town
How Cable Nearly Destroyed Thanksgiving Weekend
One Evanston woman's struggle with "free" channels.
My friend Mary just informed me Comcast Cable nearly destroyed her Thanksgiving weekend. I assumed her service had been interrupted -- until she explained that the company added nearly every possible channel from its arsenal over the holiday weekend. In Mary's mind, that was a bad thing: The family was glued to the television. All weekend. My gut instinct was to swallow my envy. "Free?" I asked, wondering if we'd been graced with the same treatment. "Oh, yes, free. All of it. Every channel. Every show. EVERY show," she said. "I couldn't drag them away." "Ooooh," I said, imagining her kids lined up with popcorn on the floor, channel surfing shows with silly names that make me blush. "Shows like 'Animal House' ... which frankly, …
