I like to read. A lot. Always have. When I was a kid I used to to the MS Readathon every year. At my high reading point, I was reading around 60-70 books a year. I can spell just about any word and tell you its meaning even if I don't pronounce it correctly cuz, well, I'm a reader. I have never thrown away a book, including textbooks, and my dream room is a sound proof library - 3 walls of books and 1 wall of CDs, a kick ass sound system and a comfy reading chair. I lost my storage a few years ago, so the books are gone, but the dream will always live on.
I like to read. :D
Well...
I read everywhere. I'll read in my front yard, in waiting rooms, at work when I have a little downtime, the beach, hotel lobbies, etc... I even used to go to the local dive bar, get a booth, and read there.
Why in the name of all that is holy, do people see me with a book and think that's an invitation to strike up a conversation? Can they not see that I am ensconced in a book? Surely most people know that when they are doing something they are concentrating on, they don't like to be interrupted. Surely. But books are not looked upon as qualifying?
The worst offenders I guess are just so clueless that not only do they strike up conversation, but they keep going on and on with all kinds of stories. Oh, and sometimes they even sit down fer cryin' out f-n loud! Just cuz I'm a female and sitting alone does NOT MEAN that I want company! Geebus, fishsticks and lollipops!
It's especially fun when I'm in a critical or suspenseful part of whatever book I'm reading; that seems to be the time when folks get most long winded. And, being the polite woman I am, I just sit there on my thumbs, nodding occasionally and murmuring "uh huh" and cursing the bloody hell out of the interloper in my brain. Nothing kills enjoying a great moment in a book more than having it shattered by endlus speakus interruptus. Sigh...
So you there - the one who is bored or lonely and wants to make friends - that's all fine and dandy - I'm all for socializing - but if I have a book in my hand, please, don't pull up a chair and sit down. I don't want to talk to anyone. Can't you see I'm trying to read dammit!?!
So What Is Your Problem?