The incredible remote control – what would mom think?

My mother was the best mom. I know others make that same claim and since I don't know your mother, I will not dispute your opinion. My memories of mom are all so positive. Well, except one. She made a request of me as I was growing up that still brings back the only so called "bad" memory I have of her. It went like this."Alan, you're younger than I am, will you change the channel on the TV?"Perhaps some context is needed. I grew up in the 1950's and 60's. My family had just one TV, the pictures were in black and white and you changed channels via a knob located on the front of the unit.When mom made her request the chore did not take long as we had all of three channels to choose from. The problem I had with the request was the wording. I was always going to be younger than her, thus I would forever be changing the channel!I thought of my mother last Sunday around 3 p.m. because that is the time I headed to the office to put my remote control through its paces. There were several sporting events that I wanted to watch and the remote was going to get a workout.Before I continue, I would like to ask a question. Does your family have a "pet" name for the remote control? We do. It's called the zapper and it came from when our kids were little. We would point the gadget at one of the kids and say "zap" and they would laugh. Thus our remote control became the zapper and has been ever since.I remember asking my bowling teammates one night if they had a pet name for their remote control. Most did and the one I remember most vividly is the flipper. My buddy explained that they used it to flip through the channels, ergo the flipper. One of my teammates was very quiet through our discussion. Finally I looked at him and asked what he called his remote control.He looked at me sheepishly and said "uh, remote control?"We laughed at him, but who is to say which of us is the more sane person. To name or not to name your remote control, that is the question.Another thought just occurred to me. Is there a specific person in your household that tends to hog the remote? If you ask my wife she would say it is me. If you asked me, I would say she's absolutely correct! I have to have it in my hand to seek out other channels during commercials. You "guys" understand, yes?So what sporting events were going to get my attention last Sunday afternoon? Well, at the top of the list was the Nascar race at Gateway near St. Louis. Since I run a Nascar Fantasy League, the race is my first priority on Sundays. I also wanted to catch some of the racing action in Indy Car as they were going to run on the streets of Detroit for the very first time.Those drivers were complaining about the narrowness of the course and the lack of passing areas. They predicted a wreck fest and who wouldn't want to tune into that. My interest in the Women's College World Series has been peaked by the winning streak of Oklahoma. On this afternoon Stanford was taking on Washington. I thought it would be a good game. I was right as Stanford prevailed 1-0.Another program I wanted to watch was the PGA Tour event at Muirfield Village. Some big names were at the top of the leader board and Jack Nicklaus would be on hand for insight into the course and the game. Victor Hovland won in a playoff and it was fun to watch. No, I did not have an idea that this would be the last tournament before the big merger. Then again, who did? Another topic for another day.The office was my destination so I could have access to my computer. As a Cleveland Guardians fan I follow their fortunes. I can not get their games on TV, hence the computer!So I started with Nascar racing and five laps into the event they red flagged the race. A nearly two hour lightning delay followed. They did me a favor though. It meant one less channel to choose from, well at least temporarily.There was a lot of button pushing, but it was still enjoyable. The Indy cars did not have a clean race, but it was not a wreck fest either. Alex Palou won the race and increased his points lead.As the day wore on and the sporting events came to a conclusion my hand was a little sore from all the channel changing. I was not too concerned about being able to eat supper though. After all eating is the one activity where I am indeed ambidextrous!As I enjoyed my sports watching, I couldn't help but think of my mom. What would she have thought of the emergence of the remote control? My guess is that she would have wished it would have been available when I was a kid. That would have meant that she would have had to experience fewer eye rolls from her youngest child!Uh oh. Sorry parents, I have broached another topic for another day.