Fox News was on the tube when I went in for a Dr.'s appointment.

[gulliver]

I was already in a bad mood. This was a new doctor's office for me, and I didn't know what to expect. I was the only one in the office as this was early morning. Right away, I saw that their big plasma screen in the state-of-the-art waiting room was tuned to Fox "News." Low-brow propaganda was flooding the room.

Usually when I see Fox News somewhere, it isn't only me in the room. But this time I was by myself, and there were no dimwits around to soak up the "dumb rays." I was taking a full dose.

So I introduced myself as a new patient and asked the receptionist if she could please switch the TV to a "news channel." She laughed a little nervously and handed me a couple of forms to read. I scanned her for telltale signs of in-breeding. Normal, I thought, although I hadn't seen her fingernails.

I sat down to read the forms, but the Fox News "content" continued. When I returned the forms I said, "Seriously, can we change the channel? I find this channel deeply insulting to my intelligence."

She seemed surprised, but to my disappointment, un-offended. She said (roughly), "OK, I understand. But if you could just have a seat, you'll be in to see the doctor in about a minute anyway."

I wavered and started to head back to my seat, but had to stop. "You know," I said, "Let's just cancel the appointment." But as I said it, I noticed that she had already grabbed the remote and started to change the channel--which she did.

I thanked her and went in for the appointment. I was conscious the whole time, so I'm pretty sure they didn't do anything to me. Fox News was still off when I left.

[Evergreen Emerald]

1. good for you!

I did that once when I was waiting for my car to be fixed. They changed it.

[Tarheel_Dem]

14. happened to me as well when I was waiting for an oil

change & inspection. I loitered outside as much as I could, but it was a very hot day. It also happened to be a live broadcast of the last Republican debate. When my car was near completion, one guy piped up and said that he had never voted a Democrat in his life, but if Joe Liebermann was the Dem nominee, he'd vote for him. I will never take my car there again.

[seemslikeadream]

2. Are you absolutely sure?

[Bitwit1234]

3. If Fox is on in the waiting area someone ALWAYS

gets up and changes it...they never leave it on.

[snappyturtle]

4. Kudos! I would have sat there and hummed and then the guys with

the little white jacket would have shown up! Maybe I can remember this the next time I am offended! K&R

[MNDemNY]

5. Did you shower?

[YOY]

6. My dentist has it on sometimes

Too bad that I like his service...though to find decent ones. I demand that he changes it with exactly the same tone...

[Bobbieo]

8. My orthopedic man runs Fox in his office but he is a Mormon - BUT

he is a damn good surgeon!!!!

[Hekate]

11. It's not a deal-breaker for me if the person is good at their job and refrains from talking politics

But really, the waiting room should be neutral territory too unless someone is trying to restrict their clientele.

Hekate

[C_U_L8R]

7. Aren't they installing Fox implants these days

if you start hearing Hannity in the middle of the night,
it might not be a nightmare.
Well... it would be a nightmare... but real.
Yikes. What an awful thought.

[cboy4]

9. I got up in front of six people and changed the

channel to CNN inside a waiting area while I was waiting to have four new tires put on my car.

I was like, hell no. It's painful enough forking out $500 for new tires, without having to sit through the shit that was on Fox.

And the volume was very LOUD.

Good for you saying something.

[Hekate]

10. Local Macy's has a tv-enhanced waiting area by the dressing rooms.They started showing Fox...

...After several trips to the store I asked a nearby sales clerk if it could be changed or if this was a new requirement. She didn't understand my problem and said no one else had complained.

As politely as I could I said that Fox was propaganda, not news, and that it really bothers me--but if this is some kind of corporate statement from the management of Macy's, I understand that she is not at liberty to change the channel. On the other hand, I said, it used to be tuned to CNN, so could it please be changed back. It's one of those sets that hangs close to the ceiling or I would have tried changing the channel myself.

We left on good terms, I think, and on subsequent shopping trips I noticed that we have CNN back. I was, however, prepared to phone the store manager and ask if showing Fox was now an actual policy for Macy's.

Hekate

[BuyingThyme]

12. I hope everything went well.

It's not likely they were able to get a chimp implanted in you without putting you under, but just because you think you maintained consciousness doesn't mean much because you could have been programmed to believe that.

The first step is to look in the mirror.

[annabanana]

22. I don't think I'd need a mirror to tell if a CHIMP had been installed!

(funniest typo of the month award!)

[BuyingThyme]

31. I noticed that in time to correct it,

but I liked it better that way.

[Not Me]

13. I quit my gym about a year ago over this...

They had a bank of about 16 tv's in the treadmill/bike area tuned to four different channels:
Fox News, ESPN, MTV and local cable news/weather.

I asked if they would at least put one of the tv's on CNN or MSNBC. The counter person said he couldn't do it.
I asked if I could reach up and change the channel. He replied, "Oh, We have the remote control at the desk here, but we have been instructed no to change the channels." As I said, (and for a couple other reasons related to the cleanliness of the place) I cancelled my memberhship.

[HughMoran]

17. Wow, similar story here

I also quit my workout club in large part due to Fox news being broadcast in front of the bikes/treadmills. I used to deliberately choose a bike out of viewing range of the hate, but it still bugged me just knowing that morons had chosen to subject me to hate.

[grace0418]

19. My gym is really good and so convenient for me, so I just kept complaining every

time I saw Billow Reilly's ugly face or some other Faux News bullshit. Eventually they got sick of hearing me complain and they don't have any news channels playing, which is fine with me.

[Beelzebud]

15. My dad did something amazing at the christmas dinner at my grandmas yesterday.

He was sitting there, enduring the Fox news (a few relatives are knuckle-draggers), and suddenly he got up, grabbed the remote control, and said: "I've had about enough propaganda for one day.", and flipped it over to a station that was running christmas movies.

I had his back. When he said it, I simply said "Agreed".

[HughMoran]

16. I used to turn off the Fox "News" TV in the workout club

I eventually quit going to that club partially because 3 of the TV's were on Fox content.

It's nice to hear that other people are highly irritated by the Fox propaganda. I get very loud and start insulting Fox and right-wingers wherever I have to be subjected to their (Fox's) mindless right-wing propaganda.

Kudos!

[Mira]

18. Good on you - here is how it went down for me

I complained after polling the waiting room to see if anyone was watching it. I said I personally did not want to hear it since it was discounting my intelligence and fed me inaccurate news biased toward the Bush administration.

They said they were not watching.

I told that to the receptionist who claimed she was not able to change the channel of turn it off.
I asked to be put in a different room to wait. I said I was thanking her in advance, smiled sweetly, and stood in front of her til they put me in an unattended side room.

[barbtries]

20. the more people speak up,

the less they'll have any need to. good on you. i'm quite sure i would have done the same thing.

[gratuitous]

29. Agreed

There are some folks who will say, "What's the big deal?" or try to say that it's nothing to get all worked up about. I agree, that there's no reason to get worked up, but it's certainly within a customer's purview to ask for a non-hostile environment. Unless the doctor has a fat contract for dispensing hypertension medication, there's no reason to raise the blood pressure of his smarter patients.

A polite request to change the channel is perfectly acceptable. And if satisfaction isn't forthcoming, consider giving your commerce to another provider. No need to be snide or nasty about it, after all, stupid people need medical care or tires, too. You just don't have to support a business that caters to them.

[tritsofme]

21. If I know I will be waiting anywhere for any amount of time I bring a book.

Which is a million times better than whatever crap they have on TV these days.

[Morrisons Ghost]

23. You

Actually pay attention to what is on the TV in a doctors office? I usually have my mp3 player and a book for these occasions. Why would you think that the receptionist was inbred? Because Fox news is on? Sorry if I missed snark its early yet

[Fierce]

24. Forget it being Fox...

...I can't believe the amount of TVs in waiting areas. Everywhere. If I wanted to watch TV, I'd stay at home and watch TV!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

25. I'll be honest, your reaction is similar to people I use to get in my bookstore....

.....if I didn't have the latest from Coulter or Hannity on full display the second they walked in. Snark, changing to outright hostility. Don't sink to neo-con levels of asshole-ishness. It's not endearing when they do it either. I'm sure the receptionist has better things to do than worry what's on the TV.

[IsItJustMe]

26. I have walked out of resteruants where they insisted on playing Faux. Keep on keeping on.

[Echo In Light]

27. The majority of Americans remain dreadfully ignorant about our media

The next biggest pool is comprised of those who perceive it {as they're instructed to} as "spectator" democracy, so it's like a sports match, and if you make it known, say, you don't like FOX, they smirk, playing along as they're accustomed to, figuring you must support the rival team instead ... not realizing that FOX likewise serves as a red herring of sorts, coaxing people to foolishly believe that they'll get the "truth" from one of the other Name Brands. Not.

[ProfessorGAC]

28. I've Done It Too

One time at the mexican restaurant near our house. They have an outdoor patio (screened in thing) with TV's hanging from the ceiling. When we went out there, Faux was on.

So, i just picked up the remote and changed it to MSNBC. (The channel line-up is the same there as at my house, so i knew which channel.) Nobody said a word.

About 2 minutes later, the manager comes out and HANDS ME THE REMOTE! He says "Put on whatever you want." I said i already did. I told him i will not watch Faux, because it's not "real news". He laughed and said "Yeah, i don't watch it either. I get my news on Telemundo."

I've also done it several times in the breakfast area at hotels. Once, someone said "What are you doing? I was watching that." I told him this was his chance to see the real news.
The Professor

On Edit: By the way; GOOD ON YOU!

[Kajsa]

30. Good for you!

I did the same thing at my bank.

CNN may have its faults but it sure beats listening
to Faux News, especially when you're "captive".
waiting in line.

A number of customers smiled at me, when i requested
the chance.

Not bad for Orange County, CA.