Bane of reading

Sometimes I wish I hadn't read up on certain things.

Like news pieces on war. Children being bullied. Husbands or wives who lost their spouse in a tragic way. A new kind of disease that has yet its cure. Politicians who get away with murder. Young folks being stupid (doing things like petty thievery to making unnecessary unpleasant posts on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube).

I just cringe at headlines that make these issues the very thing that made people pick up their publication. That, despite being attached to a newspaper myself. I wish everyone has my kind of news to share: great new technologies to enjoy. The only thing we weep about is the money we'd have to fork out to get the device. At the very most, we shed some tears when Steve Jobs died.

And that's why right now I'm reading Koontz' Odd Thomas. I'm going to let Odd take me into his weird life. Then I'm going to exhale in relief at the end of the novel because everything is not true.

God, I love fiction.

Reading contest ends up in controversy, a showcase of human behaviour

As I pour all my attention to this compilation book called Zombies vs Unicorns (tis a young adult literature material that I happen to enjoy a lot), I came across this story on Yahoo!.

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/closing-a-chapter--beloved-librarian-fired-following-reading-contest-controversy--185514741.html

Sigh. At a place as peaceful as a library. A boy as hardworking as a guy with two jobs. A senior citizen who clearly fits her job as a librarian. A reading contest as harmless as a pillow fight.

I think even Agatha Christie would find it hard to tie up all these elements and make it into a mystery. Yet typical human behaviour can find ways to make things hard for everybody. The thing is people love to complain about just about anything.

The library board director complained the same kid keeps winning the reading contest. Why not just introduce more categories within the same reading contest? For example reward the kid who reads the most categories of books. Or award the youngest participants. Or reward the kid who reads classics.

Then many kids will go happy, right?

Is it that hard? Yes, I guess it is.