I am a longtime subscriber to the New York Times, not for its politics, which are not my own, but for its many features. I’m especially fond of its real estate reporting and for such standing features as Metropolitan Diary and Sunday Routine.

But I do wish the New York Times would stop telling me how to live a richer, fuller life while stuck at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m thankful for the many listings of excellent movies I can stream on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and the like. But my wife and I prefer to watch our movies on the silver screen. Not even the largest of TV screens can come close to a movie in a theater with surround sound. Not to mention popcorn with copious amounts of butter.

The New York Times tells me too how I can enjoy live music and live theater from the comfort of my couch. But speaking from experience, watching Bruce Springsteen perform on a 13-inch laptop with marginal speakers isn’t the same as watching the Boss in a 20,000-seat arena. I could say the same of a Broadway show or a Neuse Little Theatre production.

To its credit, the NYT hasn’t told me how watching live sports from home is almost as good as watching a game in person. Truth is, I knew that already. Most people who enjoy live sports do so in front of a TV, which has the advantage of instant replay.

Still, the Bolejacks are fond of Minor League baseball especially, frequenting the ballparks in Zebulon, Kinston and Fayetteville. My wife cares nothing for baseball on TV, but she enjoys the ballpark experience, including the ice cream on a hot summer night.

Just as important, when our daughter was a youngster I enjoyed carrying her to Chapel Hill so she could watch women’s sports — soccer, basketball, softball, volleyball, field hockey, gymnastics, and track and field. I wanted our daughter to see positive female role models. That’s not always easy on TV, which is long on professional men’s sports and college football and basketball. I’m not blaming TV, which broadcasts what it can sell, but I feel sorry for those dads who want to take their daughters to a game or match but cannot.

I appreciate the New York Times’ effort to try to convince me that life amid the pandemic shutdown can be almost as good as life before. But I’m not interested in almost as good. I want to get back out there — back to the ballpark, the theater, the concert hall. That’s where a fuller, richer life is, not on my laptop or TV.

Scott Bolejack is editor of the Johnstonian News. Reach him at sbolejack@johnstoniannews.com.