You know what it's like. You just watched your favorite show the previous night and yo walk into work the following morning looking to talk about the exciting thing you saw on the show and you look for the other guy you know also watches the show. You walk up to the cubicle or whatever and lean against the doorway.

"Hey did you see ----, last night?" You ask.

Immediately your friend throws up his hands, covers his ears, gets a look of utter panic on his face and yells, "I TiVOed it! Don't talk about it! Shut - up! Don't say anything!"

There is nothing more crushing that not being able to talk about something you just watched on television. Of course, the TiVO people think YOU are the nut for not also having something saved on your TiVO for a week and not watching it. Of course, what were they doing when the show was on? Lots of times what they were doing was absolutely nothing. They just don't watch the show just so TiVO could record the thing. What's even worse is when they then spend the entire week not watching the show, so you go back day after day after day.

"Did you watch ----, yet?" You ask hopefully.

"No!" He yells back. "I haven't had a chance yet. Don't say anything!"

The worst is when it comes to shows on cable television such as "The Sopranos" or "Entourage." These are shows on commercial-free cable. Therefore, watching them on TiVO almost makes no sense because there are no commercials to fast-forward through. Those people who deliberately choose not watch television shows just so they can watch on TiVO just make no sense to me.

Of course, I have never been the type of person who frets over knowing how things end. For me, the journey is part of the fun. I knew what the surprise was before I saw "The Crying Game" and still managed to enjoy the fun. I actually figured out what was going on in "The Sixth Sense" several minutes before it was actually revealed to the audience. I have even been known, and for this they might take away my writer's license, to flip ahead in a book I am reading to see how things turn out. Yes, you may now shake your head and cluck your tongues.

I just don't get hung up on things like that. The newspapers these days like to give recaps of major television shows the day after the shows are run. For example, as I write this, I have not seen the last two episodes of "The Sopranos." I do, however, know that two weeks ago the character of Christopher offed his writer friend and that, last night, Tony actually offed Christopher. If you haven't watched "The Sopranos" from last night, too bad, perhaps you should have. It doesn't bother me knowing this. Now I want to know how it leads up to that point.

The most surreal aspect of TiVO is watching live sports and then trying to call someone on the phone or via e-mail or something like that and talk about a game that is being played right then and there. I do this during football season with a friend of mine who lives in St. Louis. There is nothing worse than messaging him and asking him if he just saw that great play and he has to tell me that he is TiVO-ing the game and the game is about fifteen minutes behind.

What? Why? Just so you can fast-forward through the commercials? That's what "flipping" is for. Have men lost the art of flipping between commercials? My father and I have raised flipping during commercials to high art. We can flip around, see multiple shows at once, and get back to the primary show we want to watch once the commercial break ends. It's classic.

Of course this is just leading to commercial people putting ads in the middle of television shows. This was done all the time back when television was brand new. If you ever watch old shows that were often shown live, in the middle of the show they start talking about Carnation Evaporated Milk. It may take you a moment to realize that they are doing a commercial. Of course, I have always wondered what "evaporated" milk was anyway, but that's beside the point.

People get so bent out of shape about their shows. Will their lives really change if they don't know how Christopher got bumped off? Can't they still watch the show and enjoy the acting and the writing? Does this mean people have lost the ability to watch things multiple times? I have seen some movies maybe a hundred times and still love watching them. The surprise is still there. Heck, good comedies, like "Airplane!" I still manage to find jokes that make me laugh. As I get older, the things that make me laugh change. When I first saw that movie all of the obvious, in-your-face jokes made me laugh. These days, my favorite like is two words. See if you remember this scene, with Robert Stack, and fill in the conversation that happens before it. The line is: "No, feet."

That line cracks me up. If you have seen the movie, know the seen, and seen that movie as many times as I have, I hope those two words cracked you up like they just did me. Still, I know when the joke is coming and I still laugh. I know the punchline and I still find it funny.

As I have said, for me it is the journey. Huh, I say to myself, so Christopher gets offed by Tony. I wonder how that comes about, I say, and then enjoy it. To me, it adds anticipation. I know it's coming, but I may not know exactly how. So, I wait and watch and enjoy how the plot comes together. If you're too taken by surprise then you might have to go back and watch the movie over again to catch all of the hints. For me, if I already know, I can look for the warning signs and see how it all plays out.

For me, I enjoy the writing and the filmmaking. When I know the ending to a book I still can enjoy how the book is put together. I can still enjoy the writing. I can still marvel at how the author takes me from one place to another and end up where I know it is going to end up.

I guess I am just wired differently. For me, what else am I going to be doing during the times when my favorite shows are on. I don't exactly go out and party in the middle of the week. If I have work to do I can do it while watching the show. I can do multiple things at once. Mostly I like to get my work done ahead of time and then use the time when I want to watch my shows as just time to watch my shows. If I miss the show, well, more than likely, the show is on On Demand or online. See, even those of us without TiVO can still be TiVO people without buying subscriptions or equipment.

So, don't be so wound up about your shows. Don't cover your ears and scream when someone wants to talk about your show. Just relax. The show will still be good and well-directed and well-written even if you know the ending. By the way, Tony killed Christopher on last night's "Sopranos."

Bryan W. Alaspa's novel Dust is available in print and eBook format at his website www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.