Uncommon Pleasures: Voyeuristic TV

The temporary apartment I’m renting is sparsely appointed.  A recent renovation left us with brand new electronics still in the boxes.  After the Brazilian contractor ran a cable line for us, we unpacked the TV and ran the auto scan.  The TV tuner picked up 70 analog channels and, surprisingly, 19 digital.

After clicking through randomly unavailable digital signals we started to realize what was going on, we’re watching the neighbors cable.  The digital signals are the content requested by our fellow renter.  Occasionally the on demand movie menu will come up, and we’ll privately cheer him into picking the movie we want to see.  Other times, we’ll watch him fast forward through Sex and the City guessing at what it is that he’s scanning for.

Who knew voyeuristic TV could be such a pleasure?