I give thanks that you reading this. Nobody cyaan draw card say you don't know 'A' from bull foot. You are a reader. One popular cliché says 'good readers make good leaders'. Although if we penetrate that little saying long enough and think 'bout some of the people who seek to lead us, it could take us to a whole different place, but let's not go there today!

Just give thanks that we can read and write yah! Even if we buck-shuffle when we read, and redesign some of the words when we write, we have to appreciate the fact that we have this ability to explore ideas and share information by using words in this form. Yes, we respect and value the oral traditions that are a part of our legacy but we can't deny the fact that reading and writing are important in this modern society. The scary thing is that plenty nowadays youth look like dem allergic to those two activities.

Is true! Whether in Jamaican, English or 'jamglish' some of these young people 'round the place appear like smitten bird, when they're forced to face the written word. Call some of those young boys with dem bad man attitude and dem dapper swagger, or gather a few of those girls with the hot hair styles and painted talons, then put a book or a newspaper or any other written text in front of them and ask them to read and see what happen. Most of them go into instant mental paralysis. Reading is a complex matrix to them. That is a sad state of affairs.

disgrace

People, it's also a downright disgrace and a tragedy that as a country we keeping pickney in primary school for six years then sending them off to high school illiterate. From what I'm picking up in the media, many 'untraditional' high schools will be getting many of those students in September. Yeah man, based on some of the GSAT results, many of our primary school leavers fall in that category of people who the only use they could make of a good book is to take it slap somebody silly, or maybe use it to kotch a door.

empowering

Reading is such an empowering, enlightening, and enriching experience, nuh true? Trust me, I personally have a nice love affair going on with the written word. I read everything with the same intensity and concentration, whether it's Bible, THE STAR, a major academic text or the label on my toilet paper. I learn even one small thing, from everything I read.

One book I recently read taught me many small and big things. The book provided barrels of fun and trailer loads of learning. It's a delightful little book called Why Do Men Fall Asleep after Sex? by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg MD. Yes, it answers that vexing question with solid medical facts, so when my lady wants to bask and talk in the afterglow and I start snoring, I feel less guilty now. I have a medical explanation. It's is not my fault. After reading that book I can also answer the following totally trivial but rather interesting questions: Why do women pee more than men? Can you breastfeed with fake boobs? How does aspirin find the pain? Why do older people fart more than younger people? Do women have wet dreams?

I won't give you the answers though, sorry mi friend. Instead, I'll just extend the opening question and put it to you again. When was the last time you read off a whole book, you one, from beginning to end?

box-mi-back@hotmail.com.