Back last year, around winter, I took Middle School basketball.
Just warning you: I was terrible at it. Awful. I stunk. Bad.
I still did basketball, though. And that meant that I rode on the school bus.
Oftentimes, I sat alone on the bus, because I wasn't all that popular. And I have no idea why. I sat at the bus alone. But that didn't mean someone didn't sit in the seat across from me.
On this occasion, we were traveling about forty minutes out. I didn't have an Ipod. I had a book (which, in my opinion, is way better). I was bored of people ignoring me, so I took my copy of the Kane Chronicles out of my backpack and started reading.
About two minutes later, the girl who was sitting in the seat across from me said, "Is that a book? Whydo you have a book?"
She said it like I was committing a crime.
My insides curled up, and I gently closed the book (I was re-reading the book, by the way). "Yeah, I do have a book." I said gently, if not slightly embarrassed.
The girl scrolled down her Ipod Touch and selected a different song.
"No one reads outside of school." she said matter-of-factly.
I do. I thought. I remember being really upset. Upset because, hey, I just distanced myself even farther from the popularity line. And because no one reads outside of school.
I put the Kane Chronicles back inside my backpack and tried to forget about what the girl said. But I can't forget it, no matter how much I try to.
It's not because I was told off for reading a book, it's because I pity the people who think that reading is just for homework. Just something teachers make you do in school. Not something you want to do for pleasure.
Maybe it's because these days, kids have come to think of books as something related to school. And they are, but so many books aren't. They don't have any idea.
And after that, I never took a book on a bus again. Or, if I did, I'd make sure no one was sitting in the seat across from me.
I had a few friends who were pretty understanding of my hobby, though. I think I got Daisie hooked, at least.
Well, good. Huzzah! One saved!
2 comments:
"No one reads outside of school."
That one sentence encapsulates pretty much everything that is wrong with many of the teens in this town. How SAD and BORING and COLORLESS life would be without books to enrich it.
That is sad, but is how most kids (and alot of adults) feel. Too bad for them.
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