pet peeve: I read out of preference, not desperation, thank you very much.

[meganbmoore]

So, I'm one of those people who ALWAYS has a book on them, and pulls it out to read every chance they get.  Now, you'd think the fact that a person carries a book around in their bag and pulls it out to read for a five minute wait would be a good clue that they like to read, but apparently not.  I don't know how many times, at work(either on the phones or in my current job) or at the dentist or doctor's office or anywhere else, I've been sitting there reading a book and had something along the lines of this happen:

random person:  what are you doing?
me:  reading
RP: oh, is it good?
me:  yup(short exposition on book if asked)
RP: so, do you like to read?  
inner me: *well, I carry a book around with me at all times and I haven't closed the book to talk to you, just stuck my finger in it while I look up...*
outer me:  yes, I love to read
RP:  Oh.  *few moments silence, nose is reburied in book* So anyway blah blah blah blah...
IM: *nnnnnnoooooooooooooo*
RP: blah *nothing to do with me* blah blah *can't open book cuz it'd be rude even though this is so irrelevant to me that I can't even feign interest and they knew I had no interest when I started* blah blah...  *short silence*
IM: *thankyouthankyouthan-*
RP:  And you know blah blah...
IM:  *sob*

It's not that I DISLIKE talking to people(most people) It's just that I don't get the point of talking just to have noise, and I consider reading to most definately be "doing something" as opposed to the "not doing anything" people see when they see someone reading.  I get that not everyone looks at reading as something fun, much less as a preferred passtime, it's just that it's almost always something completely random, and usually something about their personal life(when I barely or don't even know them...that part is another thing altogether when I DO know them) or something that I can't even remotely imagine where the topic came from, and it almost always ends up being one sided because the "two way" part of the consersation only means "yes" and "no" type replies on my part...

(not caused by anything today, or even really recently or anything, just popped into my head today...I always sit by mostly the same people at work now, where it used to be the worst, so they know me and reading)

Comments

[grey-fuzzy.livejournal.com]

Ah, I know this problem all too well!! I volunteer at the hospital, and when I wait for the bus to go home, some members of the janitorial staff (who don't really seem to grasp the concept of reading for pleasure) always strike up conversation:

Them: Ahh, summer reading, eh? I know how you feel, I used to hate that stuff!
Me: Er. Actually I'm reading it on my own.
Them: Ohhh, reallly. I see... so. Um. What's it about?
Me: It's about Cicero. He had a pretty fascinating life :D!
Them: Who? So it's a history book??

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I mean, I get people who don't care for reading, it's just that I hate it when they decide it has to be a last ditch effort to avoid boredom and that they have to "save" me by blabbing my ear off.

[forgottenpolish.livejournal.com]

I so know your pain.

[kingcrankycat.livejournal.com]

I've gotten in the habit of wearing headphones when I read in public. Not necessarily attached to anything, just with the end shoved into a pocket so it looks like I'm listening to something. I'll get a few queer looks of "why are you reading AND listening to music?" but 95% of the time people leave me alone if I have headphones on, regardless of whatever else I'm doing at the time.

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

It seems it is a sign of the times. If you read you must be either desperate for conversation or just plain boring show-off because no one reads for pleasure anymore. :(
My best friends new boy-friend happened to visit us the other night and while I prepared some foodsies he came up to me (not offering help mind you) but the following conversation occured:
Best friend's boy friend: So you and your husband went to university ...
Me: Errrr ... yeah?
BFBF: I can tell ...
Me: Huh?!
BFBF: All these books you had to buy for your studies! *points to bookselves*

It took a minute before I registered what he meant. He thought all our books were either for show or really books from university. So yeah there are a couple of reference books, but these are not prominent. What is really prominent are all the crime novels, the Nora Roberts romance novels, the classics like Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf and my Sewing/Craft books. There are two long rows of Fantasy and SciFi as well as Celtic Lore books. Additonally, there are old books from the great-gandparents bound in leather but well worn and rows upon rows of manga as well. And somewhere tucked away in the corner are His Hubbiness' ™ Physics books.
If nowadays the sole indicator for someone having attended or attending university is their ability to read and/or love for reading we had no waiting lists at university, I assure you. Ppl just don't read anymore (and I don't mean books). If he had read one or two of the titles of the books, we would have never had this idiotic conversation to start with, but then BFBF is not the brightest bulb and reading is not for everyone (literally).

I get why so many ppl don't read anymore as it takes time, effort, a bit of imagination and dedication to read a book but I at least expect them to accept my little pet peeve (reading) and not use it as an excuse to show off their own ignorance. I actually got the impression he was making fun of me for reading as he commented not five minutes later that married ppl seemed to read on their own rather than do anything else with each other (what a knee slapper *rolls eyes*).

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

aye. most people who see me reading seem to just think that i must be desperately bored, whereas really, it's my preferred passtime over anything else(even though i do tend to post more about the things i watch)

fortunately, my coworkers, at least, pretty much get that i prefer to read, and a few are readers to much lesser degrees, so even though they kinda think i'm weird for reading so much, they at least respect it(unlike before this dept, when i would sit by different people most days)

i do still get the "is that for school?" comment, though

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Isn't that really weird? I mean there are so many wonderful countries and worlds to discover when you read and so many ppl are so adamant to stay ignorant of it all.
I couldn't exist without books, I have always one or two or three around me that I read ... and if I had a choice if I had to lose one sense due to illness/age I rather lose my hearing or ability to speak than my eye sight.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

people are now trained to think that the best entertainment engaged the senses, not the brain(translation: the most expensive entertainment who'se platform becomes obsolete and must be completely overhauled every few years is the superior form of entertainment)

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

Yep. That is what I call popcorn entertainment - short pleasure, short attention span, easily forgotten.

[bzoppa.livejournal.com]

I'm very much the same. Once, I asked my friend what I'm known for at work, and she responded, "Reading in the elevator."

Usually when someone asks me what I'm reading I just prop up the book and show them the title. And since what I'm usually reading is scifi/action/something-along-those-lines I just shrug it off and say a crappy scifi book.

People always ask/warn me that I'll walk into something if I continue to read while walking. Why wouldn't I? I know where I'm going, and people can very well get out of my way. My peripheral vision's pretty good too.

The other day I had a conversation with someone that s/he had never seen so many people read while walking until s/he moved to D.C. It was recent, too, and I have no memory of who it was. Damn.

Of course, the other day I stepped into a kind of pothole in the sidewalk and twisted my ankle. Pissed me off.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

at school, i was known for always reading during every break, and getting books from the library 2-3 times a week(before I had the money to buy my own)