Reading (only) on BART
One of Santa's helpers escaped from the North Pole and got on BART in Berkeley. Clad in green fleece and a Seussical Christmas tree hat, the elf pulled out red-framed, polka-dot readers to peruse Per Petterson's Out Stealing Horses.
Does texting count as reading? Two "emo" goth hippie girls (okay, picture black flowing skirts like Stevie Nicks wore in the 70s, worn by eerily pale young women with heavy black eye make up whose hair came close to dread locks) got on in West Oakland and proceeded to text each other for the rest of the trip. I am way behind on what the cultural relevance of that is, but . . .
Dare I admit I was reading Barack the Barbarian, a serial comic produced by Devil's Due Publishing? The loin-cloth wearing Barack battles his scantily clad nemesis, Red Sarah, who resembles Raquel Welch in One Million Years BC except for the sword and schoolmarm glasses. Did Raquel kill anything in that movie?
Where do you catch people reading?
Does texting count as reading? Two "emo" goth hippie girls (okay, picture black flowing skirts like Stevie Nicks wore in the 70s, worn by eerily pale young women with heavy black eye make up whose hair came close to dread locks) got on in West Oakland and proceeded to text each other for the rest of the trip. I am way behind on what the cultural relevance of that is, but . . .
Dare I admit I was reading Barack the Barbarian, a serial comic produced by Devil's Due Publishing? The loin-cloth wearing Barack battles his scantily clad nemesis, Red Sarah, who resembles Raquel Welch in One Million Years BC except for the sword and schoolmarm glasses. Did Raquel kill anything in that movie?
Where do you catch people reading?
I catch people reading everywhere. But, the only other place I see people reading as much as they would in a Barnes and Nobles, or in a library is BART. I sometimes find myself riding on the most busiest times, usually the mornings where everyone is on their way to work in the city. I look up to see everyone pulling out different books, and I've actually written down a couple titles to later find out what people were reading about. People watching is fun on bart. Just watching the way people react to eachother is funny. Sometimes its so akwardly quiet, I just want to break the ice among all these strangers. But I don't.
ReplyDeleteSince I take bart on a daily basis to and from San Francisco, I find a lot of people reading on bart. I actually am one myself. Since there is about an hour of time to spare each way commuting to and from San Francisco, I do not want to waste my time therefore I read. I also find many people reading at book stores, usually they are younger children and or teenagers reading while either waiting for someone to pick them up or waiting for friends. I am actually glad to see many people reading nowadays, I find reading to be very relaxing.
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ReplyDeleteHonestly I don't see alot of people reading now a days. If I do see someone reading I am shocked and surprised because of how I have been accustomed to see people not reading at all. Some places I see reading is of course the library, starbucks, and in places where it is quiet like the dentist office. But now that I think of it all these places I just mentioned are all the places I avoid and spend little time in, so maybe that's why I don't see anybody reading now a days.
ReplyDelete- Sami Wadood
I catch people reading in the library, at bookstores, and in coffee shops. However, I see less and less people doing it nowadays. They either don't have the time or would rather do other things than to read a book. Honestly, I rarely read myself because I'd rather be doing something active outside with my friends or family. It's hard for me to focus when I'm forced to read a boring book for school. If I pick a book that I actually enjoy, though, I wouldn't mind taking the time to read it.
ReplyDeleteThere are "designated" places where people read. For example, book stores, coffee shops and the library. But there are other places where people read that I find bizarre. One time while taking a stroll in Downtown Los Angeles, I saw a crowd of people gathered on some stairs. Naturally being my curious self, I went to check it out. And there, right in the middle of Los Angeles, people were having a "book reading". I'm not sure what book it was or who was reading, and frankly I didn't really care. My main thought at that point was to get out of there as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteIt is very rare that you see people reading nowadays unless it is a textbook that they are forced to read. But the people that do read normally go to cafes, library, book stores etc. you would probably see the majority of people reading at an airport as they are trying to kill time.
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