Reading at meals.

General chit-chat

Moderators: AMod, iMod

duszek
Posts: 2356
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2009 5:27 pm
Location: Thin Air

Reading at meals.

Post by duszek »

Many people read a newspaper at breakfast.
Some use it as a strategy to avoid talking to the spouse.
Some get started for the day that way.

If the news make you angry or disgusted or simply excited is it good or detrimental ?

I have taken to reading a book by Coelho "The fifth mountain", in the French version.
I found it by chance, the sentences are very short and simple, so I read them or parts of them and memorize they slowly, contemplate them, munch them, ruminating food and pieces of French language at the same time.
That way I keep my mind busy and avoid worry attacks.

Any thoughts ?
Impenitent
Posts: 4329
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2010 2:04 pm

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by Impenitent »

in America, people text at meals (quite often to each other at the table)

but that isn't really "reading" is it?

-Imp
Skip
Posts: 2820
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:34 pm

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by Skip »

Newspapers are less popular morning reading than they used to be.
I think it was a sort of 20th century common wisdom that a man going out to work had to be prepared to discuss news events with his colleagues to be considered aware, alert, promotion-worthy. For that purpose, radio in the kitchen, or in the car, would suffice. He only needed the newspaper for the stock market scores and business gossip -- and the funnies, of course.
I say "man", because in the same milieu, the wife would be up and down, cooking and serving breakfast, preparing lunches and organizing the children for school. So he didn't need to avoid talking to her; she was too busy for conversation. Two career people wouldn't even be sitting down for breakfast; they'd both be getting the kids ready, as they took gulps of coffee and snatched bites of toast, while exchanging brief information about where each would be at what time of day and reminders of things that need to be picked up, ordered or dropped off.
Nowadays, they buy breakfast at a coffee shop to eat at their desks or on the train, and might bring a newspaper along.

It's always been, and still is, bad manners to read at a meal you're sharing with another person.
Many people eat alone, and then reading a book, magazine, or newspaper is perfectly appropriate. (Especially, I imagine, for a young woman in a cafeteria or restaurant, who does not desire the attention of strange men.)
Since my SO and i have different schedules, I usually eat breakfast and lunch alone, at home. I keep a non-fiction book beside my chair for that express purpose - and take it out on the deck on warm dry days (If only there were more!!) Fiction is for bedtime pleasure reading. In between, I have sometimes to read for work, and that requires undivided attention.
Walker
Posts: 14280
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:00 am

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by Walker »

duszek wrote: Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:56 am Any thoughts ?
There was probably a time when someone would read out loud during meals to entertain, since most everything has been done. How did that work out? Any youngster with a parent or teacher who reads out loud, in class or at bedtime or in between, knows the pleasure that awakens the reading voices within. This would work well in remedial schools, since love of reading is the skeleton of academia. Tame the worst of middle-schoolers with armed guards if necessary so that the tyranny of the mob doesn't begin early for the kids who want to learn. Quiet things down and have all listen to a human voice, speakers permitted, reading something that will capture interest in rhythm and content beyond the news of the day, and thus inculcate the need for an educated perspective by which to process the news. Save the socializing for outside the school.
User avatar
Sir-Sister-of-Suck
Posts: 940
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:09 am

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by Sir-Sister-of-Suck »

duszek wrote: Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:56 am If the news make you angry or disgusted or simply excited is it good or detrimental ?
More recently, I've noticed that the news has been angering or disgusting me more than it should. I don't know if it's because I'm more interested in politics now than I had been, but I wish I could just go back to not caring who my local governor, house member, or even laws were. It feels as though all that stuff has a much greater impact on my own private life. I'm pretty financially safe and everything, so before I looked at being proactive in your own community as mostly just about improving greater society. Now it seems I'm obligated to know more about local laws, insurance policies, ordinances etc to stay out of trouble.

I don't know that anything has really changed, though I've heard from many that a particular president being in office used to not really matter for their private lives. Now they feel it does. I'm more fine with talking about politics than most people are, but listening to the news in the morning is something I just can't do. I've heard that almost all mental pathologies are worse when you're tired, so hearing about all the shit in the world in the morning gets me too flustered I guess.
User avatar
Sir-Sister-of-Suck
Posts: 940
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:09 am

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by Sir-Sister-of-Suck »

As for reading a book, I only read at night, and never fiction. My mind races too much.
thedoc
Posts: 6473
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2012 4:18 pm

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by thedoc »

When I reads, I falls to sleep.
thedoc
Posts: 6473
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2012 4:18 pm

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by thedoc »

Reading aloud could be one way for a literate person to educate an illiterate person.

I used to listen to a PBS program "Reading Aloud", and it introduced me to many books that I would not otherwise have looked into.
Walker
Posts: 14280
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:00 am

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by Walker »

Aloud is so elegant.
duszek
Posts: 2356
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2009 5:27 pm
Location: Thin Air

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by duszek »

Voice expresses the soul of a person.
If someone reads to you you can contemplate the soul of this person.
For instance, they cannot help making statements whether they like what they read or not.
duszek
Posts: 2356
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2009 5:27 pm
Location: Thin Air

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by duszek »

Walker wrote: Mon Aug 28, 2017 7:18 am
duszek wrote: Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:56 am Any thoughts ?
There was probably a time when someone would read out loud during meals to entertain, since most everything has been done. How did that work out? Any youngster with a parent or teacher who reads out loud, in class or at bedtime or in between, knows the pleasure that awakens the reading voices within. This would work well in remedial schools, since love of reading is the skeleton of academia. Tame the worst of middle-schoolers with armed guards if necessary so that the tyranny of the mob doesn't begin early for the kids who want to learn. Quiet things down and have all listen to a human voice, speakers permitted, reading something that will capture interest in rhythm and content beyond the news of the day, and thus inculcate the need for an educated perspective by which to process the news. Save the socializing for outside the school.
Vocal performance in a social environment is good.
I remember an Italian class with a teacher from Italy who made us repeat sentences in a choir, chanting. We had fun. We were young adults back then but we felt like a bunch of kids on vacation.
duszek
Posts: 2356
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2009 5:27 pm
Location: Thin Air

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by duszek »

Skip

Reading at meals is bad manners ?
But if both read and now and then interrupt and share an interesting piece of news then this is good and friendly.
Talking with a full mouth is difficult anyway. And swallowing like a snake before replying is difficult too.
duszek
Posts: 2356
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2009 5:27 pm
Location: Thin Air

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by duszek »

News, especially bad news, could dwarf the problems of the couple.

You complain that I forget to close the tooth paste ?
In other parts of the world people lose their homes because of hurricanes.
Walker
Posts: 14280
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:00 am

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by Walker »

duszek wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2017 7:19 pm News, especially bad news, could dwarf the problems of the couple.

You complain that I forget to close the tooth paste ?
In other parts of the world people lose their homes because of hurricanes.
No government bailouts in those other countries, I suspect. The question is, who would build a home of sticks on a barrier island? John D. MacDonald wrote a novel about that, with dramatic details of what happens during a hurricane, such as rain penetrating through brick walls. He was an econonomist who wrote the great Travis McGee series, which is sort of like the Hardy Boys for adults. Highly recommended for whiling away a summer on the beach, a bit dated but very good. The fictional McGee, who was the inspiration for Lee Child’s less artful Jack Reacher, lived by the motto of taking his retirement in bits and pieces throughout the course of life. Quite an interesting view, don’t you think?

*

The news is Harvey.

“The cost of the damage, which includes 500,000 ruined cars, is likely to total $160 billion. The Texas Department of Safety revealed on Wednesday that 48,700 homes had been impacted by the floods.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... uston.html

There’s a lot of wealth in that part of Texas.

Moreso than many countries that also suffer hurricanes and typhoons.
Last edited by Walker on Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Walker
Posts: 14280
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:00 am

Re: Reading at meals.

Post by Walker »

How many books would you say that you have read?
Post Reply