Remote Fight? Not Even Close.

For most people, telling them about the amazing set up in my media room spawns jealous thoughts. I can see faces turn green anytime I mention it on air. You can imagine how proud I am when I look at the 61" HDTV with surround sound system, DVD player, AM/FM stereo, and two gaming consoles.

Any woman who has been or is married could understand when I talk about the remote fight. It's a silent battle you engage in with your significant other. Eventually, one of you gains control of the channels for the evening. This is not a fight I go thru.

Unfortunately, my fight is much worse. I do have an adult male living with me, he is my brother. When you live with a roommate or a husband/wife things are different. When it's a sibling, that innate need to share with your sibling is so ingrained in your head that you both try to be nice to each other. This is a side lesson, what your parents teach you and your siblings will stick with you for the rest of your life. Of course, when you fight with your siblings it's just as bad as when you were kids. The only difference is, there's no hair pulling and telling Mom this time. It's a quiet, sneaky adult way of sibling rivalry...on a much smaller scale.

One thing my brother does that I can not stand is watch the news. He is glued to CNBC, MSNBC, and Fox News. If something is on a news channel he won't like, another news channel comes on.What makes it worse is, he takes the stories and starts a discussion on the state of the country or worse, a political debate. He and I rarely agree on political opinions and, having a debate with my brother is always fruitless. Both of us are so stubborn, we never win.

Still, I am very kind to him over the addiction to the news channels. I will let him watch the news while I work or do other things. However, when it's evening I would like to take over for a little bit. This is where the trouble comes. Taking over in my mind means using that gorgeous set up to watch a DVD or play the Wii. The speakers beg to have loud sound effects and soundtracks echo thru the house. The news will never give you that satisfaction.

Unfortunately, my brother disagrees with this. So, when the media room is occupied we'll come in and out multiple times, hoping we'll find the room vacant so we can take over. Sometimes, we pray that the other will be nice and walk in the room pointing to the remote and ask "Are you watching anything?".

Once in awhile, we get lucky and the remote is handed over. Eventually someone does give up the remotes (there's three to control everything) and go do something else. If he gives up, he retreats to his room to watch anime or play a PC game. If I give up, I'm off listening to various music, working out or playing a PC game.

There are those wonderful days where he is in a geeky mood and, the two of us can agree on the set up. It normally consists of him playing a game on the Wii that I bought months ago. He finally gets curious and plays it. I'll sit there, coaching him thru the game until we both can't figure out an area. Then, I grab my laptop and read the walk-thru I found on the internet.

My brother is what I like to call a "closet geek". He doesn't readily admit he likes games but, when no one else is around he'll indulge. I figure that one day soon, he'll be completely converted over and will proudly admit his inner gamer exists.

I suppose it isn't a remote fight at all, it's my own personal issue with my brother. If an issue is for a good cause, there's nothing wrong in forcing it...right? With that logic, I'll continue to silently battle my brother for the television. Even if the only satisfaction I will get out of it is to never hear Bill O'Reilly on those beautiful speakers again. A commentator does those speakers no justice. A video game, though? It's music to my ears.