11:00 p.m. - 2002-10-03
Education
Reading is a major pastime when traveling on transit. Regulars fall into three categories.
Fisrt there are the technical readers. Whether for work or for classes the range of subjects studied seems endless. One sees highlighters or pens poised, notes taken or homework completed. There is a sense of fierce concentration and often of hurry/worry. Some cities actually offer credit courses via headphones on transit because the commute takes such a long time. Seems like a valuable service that would help use time efficiently. Other cities offer lessons in calisthenics during the ride. Tough to visualize when the train is packed so tight that the person halfway down the aisle will know if you cough, but an hour's workout would certainly make a lot of us more fit. Maybe there could be designated "sweat cars" where you can't get off until you complete your personally tailored workout routine. Personally I find trying to stay on my feet while clinging to the overhead bar workout enough most days.
The second group of readers are the recreational or interest based bibliophiles. The most popular type of book seems to be some form of mystery, spy, or police novel. Rapt attention is the characteristic that most typifies these readers. There are the "Best Seller" or "movie from the novel" of the week aficionados. The Oprah seal of approval is obvious. Finally, there are the eclectics whose choices range by their mood and length of commute. Reading over their shoulders - who me - yields the best chance of finding something interesting but out of the ordinary to read.
The final group of readers are the newspaper, magazine, or religious text perusers. If you ask carefully, when you see them come up for air, they can be a great source of information on topical issues. Some pretty entertaining debates have been known to begin this way.
The reason for this essay today is that it is national "Raise a Reader" week, sponsored by the major Candian media. It might be more helpful if their day to day news stories actually helped instead of undercut education and teachers. Their articles that constantly whine about the cost of schooling as opposed to examining the cost of ignorance demonstrate just a bit of hypocrisy. Enlightened self interest might be a good excuse to support the efforts made in the classroom or, even better, praise them.
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