Reading is Fun

Reading is fun. I remember looking out of the car window when I was a kid and thinking that it is really wonderful that I can read all of the shop signs and street signs. It must be hard for the illiterate - how does one get by without being able to read? I mean, we read all the time. Sometimes we read the same things over and over again for no apparent reason. Here are some examples and suggestions to spice up the monotony a bit.

Cereal boxes. You can be sitting there at the breakfast table, munching away on your corn flakes when you find yourself reading the cereal box. But you read the same cereal box yesterday, and the day before. It can't be that interesting. But wait. If I was to ask you how much riboflavin there is in 100g of cornflakes, would you know? Go on. Give it your best shot.

Sitting on a bus. You read and then re-read the advertisements, just to keep busy. For entertainment, you find yourself reading the "Throwing rubbish from the bus is prohibited" sign numerous times. Next time you are on a bus, you can play a game. See how many different ways you can read each advertisement so that it has a different connotation every time. Example: "ACME acne cream. Off your face!"

Waiting rooms. Did you know that in 1972 you could buy an entire car for just $412 plus on-road costs? You should. It says so in the magazines that you read last time you were waiting to see the doctor. Have some fun. Open the magazine to whatever page and then exclaim excitedly to the stranger sitting next to you that there is a sale on in a particular shop. Stop suddenly and then say, "Oh. It says here the sale ends on 14 June 1962". It is even funnier if you name a famous department store that everyone knows went bust at least 20 years ago.

Leave comments to this blog of more examples, please, of things we read and re-read for no apparent reason and ways to make it more interesting.