Result of a Talk

Joe: Where do you want to eat tonight?
R: Well, I don't really want fast food or Chinese, but pretty much anything else will be OK. I'd like someplace kind of quiet and cozy, so we can eat in peace.

The conversation proceeded to a discussion of which restaurants there are that are quiet and cozy. They all seem to be loud. Very loud. So loud, you can't hear yourself think, much less your date talk.
And they all have TVs. Really. Where can you eat where they don't have at least 1 TV going? Even our favorite Chinese place, and the REALLY NICE steakhouse where we had our first date recently added TVs.
Why can you not eat a meal without watching TV? Am I so far out from our culture that I don't realize how prevalent TV really is? I know when I go to someone's house and they have the TV on, they often don't turn it off, and it doesn't seem to faze them. It fazes me. I think it is very rude.
Do people really watch TV all the time? Like, all their life? Are Americans seriously watching their entire lives slip by on the screen? Is that why all restaurants have to have TV? Do they have to do it to stay in business because people are so used to watching TV while they eat that they won't eat at a restaurant where there is no TV?
Surely not. But that is what our experience seems to indicate is exactly the case. How incredibly sad! What an incredible waste of life! How boring!

R: I'm so glad we made the decision not to have a TV. Life is so much more exciting without one.

But I'd really like to watch the Olympics.