Brother (or mother, father, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, neighbor, business partner) can you spare a dime? Actually, it's $1.31 per year.

Have you seen this article from Parade Magazine asking for a vote regarding funding for PBS programming? Unlike the elections, there are only two possible candidates, "Yes" or "No." I've already voted. My vote is "Yes!" If there was an "Oh hell yes!" button, I would have clicked it.

I for one do not want public television or radio to go under and I am very willing to pay $1.31 cents per year to make sure PBS stays afloat. Not only am I willing to fork over that money because I enjoy PBS and have done work for them, I am willing to pay up because I am standing up against the ridiculous argument PBS programming can be replaced by cable television programming. Pardon me while I rant for a moment about assumptions that bother me.

Newsflash: Death and taxes are a certainty in life, cable television service isn't. Hello? There are actually people who cannot afford to have cable television. And you know what else? There are people who do not want cable television. Yes, they walk among us! I have even been in their homes on more than one occasion, and you know what? Not all of them could be described as dope head democratic, republican, libertarian vegan crack dealers addicted to Wii who neglect their kids and are anti-establishment fundamental Christian Marxists who unschool their children. Not that anything is wrong with that. If any of those folks support PBS programming, I want their vote. But the ones I am speaking about mainly, are in fact run of the mill families who may not have the cash to shell out, may not believe having hundreds of channels meets their need or just, big shock, enjoy PBS programs.

PUBLIC, PUBLIC, PUBLIC Television. IT IS FOR... THE PUBLIC. YOU.ME. EVERYBODY!
Do I sound like a lunatic? I know I do and it's because the very idea that cable television programming could replace an American Icon makes me lose my shit.

Now is the time when I modify a quote from Sprockets in order to express myself: This disturbs me to the point of insanity. There. I am insane now.Obviously I have cable. I believe cable is a priveledge, not a right. PBS, to me, is a right. I want us to fight for our right to have it.

But I didn't get this passionate about PBS overnight. This has been years in the making. My parents were/are PBS Junkies. In fact my mother's ringtone when she calls me is the theme from MasterPiece Theatre because if you haven't figured it out, my mama has a penchant for drama. When I was in pre-school and needed to be in the land of make believe Mister Rogers had my back. There were other times in my life when Mister Rogers was there for me. You too? I knew I heard an "AMEN!" Maybe a true story from my own childhood will bring up some memories for you as well and in turn and make you think about what we will lose if PBS goes under.

The scene is 1976. A living room in Apt. 7B, Brooklyn Heights, NY.

Twas the days before television remote controls, the days when getting up off the sofa was required for changing a channel and I was doing just that. As I started to turn the knob on our Zenith to another station my mother instructed "Leave it be please, PBS has a show on we need to watch together." I shrugged my shoulders as if to say "Okay fine." and then asked "What show?" My mother answers, "The Underground Movement." I consult the TV Schedule and tell my mother, "NOVA is coming on next so it's probably some kind of show about moles." My mother gets fired up and proceeds to lecture me about how I am incorrect. That this show is about the Underground Resistance Movement. She insists it is my obligation "to learn about the struggle of the Jewish people" and informs me "You must watch this show as we are Jews! It is our history!" To which I reply "Are we descendants of Jewish moles? Because I'm pretty sure that if NOVA is having a show about 'The Underground' it's gonna be about animals living under the earth!" To which my mother snaps, "NO! It is about the Jewish underground resistance movement and you are going to sit right here with me and watch it so you will understand how much our ancestors had to struggle against oppression! This is my history, your history and the history you will one day share with your own children!" So throw myself down onto the sofa. I am in a full-body sulk. I am glaring. This is what 9 year olds do when they know they are right and their parent is undeniably wrong.

The voice-over for NOVA begins and goes something like "Tonight on NOVA we explore life underground, from foxes and badgers, moles..." I triumphantly turn to my mother and demand "Tell me, which one of those mammals is our ancestor who fought oppression? Maybe we have a cousin who fought an opossum. Oh wait, you did say oppression, right?"

Silence. Had my mother been capable of shooting lasers from her eyes, I believe she would have done it. It also would have cleared things up fast had the New York Times television guide published this description of the show:

Underground Movement (The)
NOVA explores life underground, from foxes and badgers through moles and worms down to the myriad of micro-organisms that make soil the most complex substrate for life on earth. Included in the film is extraordinary footage of a mole burrowing and of roots growing.
Original broadcast date: 04/18/76
Topic: animal biology/behavior

What's your PBS story? Is it from your own childhood or that of your own children?

Whatever your story may be,I bet it's worth at least $1.31 a year.