# I get it; you enjoy reading. Would you prefer a medal or a trophy? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 13, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331 "2006-07-13T15:14:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/181 "2006-07-17T02:40:53Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I guess I don’t consider reading an accomplishment, and while I feel bad for people who have a hard time learning how to do it, they are in the minority and so I don’t really see it as some big skill, either. I think that this is some indication that we at the Dope tend to breathe a rarified air. I rather suspect that people who have a hard time learning to read are closer to the majority than the minority, and that a sizable–frightening–percentage of people never do learn. But they’re not posting on internet messageboards. ---
**Author:** ![Taran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Taran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taran)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/182 "2006-07-17T04:05:38Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I wish that someone somewhere would do CAT or PET scans of people reading and people watching TV-and see the difference. I have no way of knowing, one way or another, but my WAG is that the two stimulate different sections of the brain. This has been done with fMRI; reading uses some different brain areas than does watching moving pictures but beyond that it’s hard to draw useful conclusions. I wish I had a cite to offer, but it’s something my Brain Imaging professor mentioned in passing during a discussion of experimental methodology. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/183 "2006-07-17T11:19:31Z")
> [@Surly Chick](#): > > What - has no one claimed the \ home version game yet??? It’s mine, mine, all miiiiiinnnnnnnneeee!! Oh…? > [@BMalion in post #142](#): > > …now that I’ve bragged about my reading I’ll take a copy of the home game… BWAHAHAhahahahahaha! ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/184 "2006-07-17T12:44:08Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Oh…? > > BWAHAHAhahahahahaha! Yeh, but you got the Atari version. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/185 "2006-07-17T23:31:08Z")
If I don’t have a book, I play chess in my head. 🆒 What? ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/186 "2006-07-18T00:15:08Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > I didn’t get a medal, so I stole one from a little boy at the picnic. Then I pushed him into the lake. I think I’ll go play piano while a man burns alive right outside the window. Has anybody seen my shoes? ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/187 "2006-07-18T00:17:43Z")
I’ve read all this thread, what do I get? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/188 "2006-07-18T00:19:44Z")
> [@rayh](#): > > I’ve read all this thread, what do I get? a loss of an hour or so and about 300 brain cells. ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/189 "2006-07-18T00:29:11Z")
> [@wring](#): > > a loss of an hour or so and about 300 brain cells. Shit, I didn’t think I had that many left. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/190 "2006-07-18T00:54:22Z")
> [@rayh](#): > > I’ve read all this thread, what do I get? Jeez **rayh** , read through one little and thread and you have to brag about it :rolleyes: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/191 "2006-07-18T08:19:58Z")
Holy shit! A thread I started gets Pitted and I don’t realize it until it’s 5 pages long?? I didn’t even realize the original thread had continued on. I saw it gone from Cafe Society and figured it fell down a couple pages. I wasn’t going to go looking for it. I didn’t know it had been moved to MPSIMS! > [@OneCentStamp](#): > > Looking at the OP you linked to, it seems the poster was taking issue, not with people who don’t read, but people who don’t bring along a book (ar anything else) to occupy themselves when they know they’re going to be sitting a long time, then complain that they’re bored. > > That’s a much less Pit-worthy notion than the one you seemed to be venting about; namely, people who feel superior to all non-readers. > [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > I read this entire thread before following your link, and the first thing I noticed in the other thread’s OP was this: “…bring something to occupy your mind. A book, a magazine, a game, knitting, something, _anything_.” I think that one sentence explains the entire other thread. Thank you OneCentStamp and InvisibleWombat. Good reading comprehension. A+ > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I think what got me going most about that thread is the title, “How can you NOT bring something to read?” Not “Why don’t people bring something to occupy themselves when they know they’ll be waiting?” And no, I’m not the thread title police, I’m just saying the wording caught my eye because of this phenomenon I’ve already noticed in other threads. Admittedly my Subject Line could have been better. I was influenced by my jury duty summoms, which said “Please bring something with you to read” but as InvisibleWombat discovered by reading my OP, I meant that bringing anything to occupy your mind would be a good idea if you know you’re going to have to wait for a long long time. And I did say that I felt very sorry for people who were in pain or didn’t realize the wait would be so long. > [@Carnick](#): > > This is what really rubbed me the wrong way in the cited thread – the thought that people who choose to spend their long waits not “doing” something are seen as vacant and Puddy-like. Check with OneCentStamp, willya? If you want to sit in a waiting room/stand in a long line for hours and quietly contemplate, compose poetry, play chess in your head, think about the background stories you’re going to give the characters in the Great American Novel you’re writing, figure out the dinner menu for the next two weeks, catch up on ZZZs, or whatever, you’re not bothering me or anyone around you. Good for anyone who can be inside their own head and like it there. That’s not meant to be sarcastic. Thinkers/dreamers are as interesting to me as readers. However, if you’re bored and loudly proclaiming to the poor frazzled nurses and everyone in the room/everyone around you about WHY IS IT TAKING SO GODDAMN LONG WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT HAS EVERYONE GOT THEIR THUMBS UP THEIR ASSES BACK THERE MOTHERFUCKERS BETTER HURRY UP you ARE bothering me and everyone else, and that’s really what my OP was about. It almost always seems as if it’s someone who’s been there before too, which is what perplexes me. They knew it was going to be like that and they still came unprepared to wait. What the hell is “Puddy-like?” > [@Carnick](#): > > As if it’s somehow unfathomable that you could go 5 minutes without playing/reading/listening to something. Because reading a trashy novel is somehow more intellectual than _thinking_ to yourself? :dubious: Good thing I didn’t say that huh? > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > You don’t get why people feel the need to complain? About this or in general? Let’s call it commenting as opposed to complaining. It baffles me more than it bugs me, and as I said, I’m not exactly sure why it bugs me May I use that if I need to re-post my OP anywhere? > [@Zoe](#): > > I didn’t get a medal, so I stole one from a little boy at the picnic. Then I pushed him into the lake. I got it… **The Bad Seed**! Give me back those shoes! ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/192 "2006-07-18T13:12:22Z")
> [@](#): > > **Equipoise:** > Originally Posted by WOOKINPANUB > You don’t get why people feel the need to complain? About this or in general? Let’s call it commenting as opposed to complaining. It baffles me more than it bugs me, and as I said, I’m not exactly sure why it bugs me > > May I use that if I need to re-post my OP anywhere? But of course! It’s hardly my best work, though 😉 Kidding aside, I believe this was in response to **Anaamika** saying she didn’t see why people were complaining and I was trying to get clarification as to what she didn’t understand. (In the interest of closure, after all these many pages I _do_ understand now, and I shall now take **Zoe’s** ill-gotten shoes) ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/193 "2006-07-18T17:03:32Z")
> [@bup](#): > > People with lower linguistic skills at higher risk for Alzheimer’s: > [http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,68409-0.html](http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,68409-0.html) I don’t think you read your own cite. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/194 "2006-07-18T17:33:35Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > What the hell is “Puddy-like?” From Seinfeld: Elaine had a boyfriend named David Puddy and in one episode they’re flying back from Europe and he sits and stares at the seat in front of him. Elaine is freaked out and tries to give him a magazine but he says “no, I’m good.” They eventually have a fight that leads to (one of many) breakups. See, this is what happens when you read too much and don’t watch enough television! ---
**Author:** ![Carnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carnick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnick)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/195 "2006-07-18T21:53:43Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Good thing I didn’t say that huh? No, you didn’t. I didn’t say you did either. Maybe you should pay attention to the threads you start. I said: “This is what really rubbed me the wrong way in the cited thread – the thought that people who choose to spend their long waits not “doing” something are seen as vacant and Puddy-like.” How is that specifically referring to you? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/196 "2006-07-19T02:58:13Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Especially (as has been mentioned in recent threads), those who come up to you WHILE YOU ARE READING, interrupt you and proceed to regale you with “I don’t know HOW you can do that”. Although personally I’m just as annoyed by those who don’t get the hint that if I’m holding a book open in front of me, I WANT TO READ IT. I had an hour to kill the other day, and I went into the local bar, ordered a burger and a beer, and opened my book. The waitress put in my order and then came back over… “You’re reading _Plato’s Dialogs_? I’ve never read anything by Plato. Greek, right? Is it any good? I’ve always wanted to read one of those old philosophers. Would it be pretty easy for me to follow? Should I read something else Greek first? Who’s that guy that wrote _The Odyssey_?..” _sigh_ Maybe I shouldn’t be so darned polite. ---
**Author:** ![Carnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carnick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnick)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/197 "2006-07-19T05:14:53Z")
More clarification: these are the posts in **Equipose** ’s thread that I’m speaking of. > [@](#): > > **madmonk28** > > I know exactly what you mean, I see these people staring off into space in a waiting room like Puddy from Seinfeld and I wonder what is going on in their heads. > [@](#): > > **Voyager** > > But what really gets me are those who start cross country air travel with nothing to read and nothing to do. They just stare into space. Makes me wonder how many functional brain cells they got. Me, I bring enough books so that if we get hijacked to Cuba for a week, I’m covered. > [@](#): > > **Shirley Ujest** > What I don’t understand are people who get on long flights with nothing to do and don’t seem to sleep either. How.Can.They.Do.That? ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/198 "2006-07-19T05:17:07Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Although personally I’m just as annoyed by those who don’t get the hint that if I’m holding a book open in front of me, I WANT TO READ IT. I had an hour to kill the other day, and I went into the local bar, ordered a burger and a beer, and opened my book. The waitress put in my order and then came back over… > > “You’re reading _Plato’s Dialogs_? I’ve never read anything by Plato. Greek, right? Is it any good? I’ve always wanted to read one of those old philosophers. Would it be pretty easy for me to follow? Should I read something else Greek first? Who’s that guy that wrote _The Odyssey_?..” > > _sigh_ > > Maybe I shouldn’t be so darned polite. Sounds like she was just trying to make conversation with you, cut her a break. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/199 "2006-07-19T13:57:12Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > Sounds like she was just trying to make conversation with you, cut her a break. Indy, that’s exactly the point! My husband does this to me too - if I’m reading a book, he has NO PROBLEM starting conversation after conversation, interrupting me and not letting me read. Now if I was doing that to him while he was watching TV, it would be considered TERRIBLY rude. If someone was sitting at the bar engrossed in a baseball game on TV, would the waitress think it was acceptable to do the same thing to that patron? Absolutely not. See what I mean? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331/200 "2006-07-19T14:22:37Z")
By the way… [Sophie Tucker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Tucker) . I prefer to do my Ethel Merman. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-get-it-you-enjoy-reading-would-you-prefer-a-medal-or-a-trophy/364331.md?page=11)