I Can't Get My TV to Turn On.

I don't know if it's age, commitment issues, or just plain bad luck, but lately I can't seem to get my TV to turn on.

Trust me, I've tried everything.

I've dimmed the lights. I've changed the scenery. I've even bought a brand-new remote, convinced the old one had simply lost its spark.

Still...

Nothing.

Naturally, I asked around.

One Williamsburg resident said "Mine turns on the second I walk through the door."

Another shrugged and said, "Sometimes you just have to keep pressing the button."

A third insisted, "Have you tried putting fresh batteries in the remote? You'd be surprised how often that's the problem."

Everyone suddenly became an expert.

One guy swore by Samsung.

Another said I'd never be satisfied unless I upgraded to an OLED.

Someone else suggested I stop trying so hard and "just let it happen naturally."

Helpful.

The strange thing is, I know my TV works.

I've seen it at its best. Bright. Responsive. Full of life.

So why, every time I want it to turn on...

Does it suddenly act like we've never met?

Maybe I just need to stop sitting on the remote.

Either way, after forty-five minutes of pressing every button imaginable, replacing the batteries twice, unplugging it, plugging it back in, and questioning every decision I've ever made... Maybe that's the problem with modern technology. We've become so dependent on instant gratification that the second something doesn't respond exactly when we want it to, we assume it's broken.

So we troubleshoot.

We restart.

We buy a new remote.

We convince ourselves the newer model would probably make us happier anyway. The more I thought about it, the less I became concerned with whether my TV would eventually turn on and the more I started wondering why I cared so much in the first place. Was it the television? The apartment? The stress? Had I simply outgrown it? Or was I expecting something to perform when I hadn't exactly been giving it much attention lately?

Perhaps this isn't about electronics at all.

Perhaps everything requires a little maintenance.

A little patience.

A little less panic.

I still don't have an answer. The TV eventually turned on, but somehow that didn't feel like the victory I thought it would.

If anything, it only left me with more questions.

Maybe next weekend I'll call someone.

Or maybe I'll just buy another remote.