From time to time Once upon a time there were friendly places near and far... Boy, that's an understatement in today's society! Today's society depends on fighting for you and you alone. Don't worry about what the other person wants, needs, or deserves. Fifteen years ago a small community, like the one Jen's grandmother lives in today, was very friendly. Small communities have come together in times of need. If your neighbor ran out of sugar, she didn't mind knocking on your door with a measuring spoon, instead of walking all the way to the store to get more, simply because you were her friend. In today's society, if you run out of sugar, you get in your car and drive 25 minutes to get 5 pounds of sugar so you can drive 25 minutes home. You don't know your neighbors and your neighbors don't know you. There is no hope in wanting to know them and vice versa. Our society has changed dramatically over the last twenty years. We have become an information society. Relying on our televisions, radios and computers for information that you once got by going to the local nail salon or stopping for a cup of coffee and chatting with your town's judge manager. Cell phones have also become an important source of information. Instead of going outside and sitting peacefully on the porch on the afternoon of a warm day, people prefer to sit in front of the television and watch Oprah, Judge Judy and The John Walsh Show. Could the reason we don't leave the house as much as we used to be due to all the violence that today's society has brought with it? Local television news has publicized about five murders in the past week. All these murders occurred in the state. Is television shaping society's view of the world, causing citizens to become couch potatoes? Television is one of the greatest society shaping effects there is in the world today. There are various cable companies and numerous channels within each company. The outlook you have on life all depends on which channel you watch on television. If you watch the presidential debate on one channel, that channel might make Mr. Snuggles, whose platform is great and who is an unconditional good guy, look like the cruel, evil villain from a bad comic strip, while another channel shows his true identity.