“I Don’t Have Time to Read” What Are You Doing Instead?
My July and August Reading
Last weekend at the Civil War Relic Show in Brandon, Mississippi, I talked to hundreds of people about books and reading. I can’t tell you how many…a lot...said, “I don’t have time to read.” Others said, “I like to read, I just don’t; I have too much to do.” Some said, “I don’t have time to read anymore.” That indicates a change; what replaced reading?
I puzzled over that. These people were teens, college students, young parents, middle aged working folks, older parents and grandparents. One woman smiled and said, “Since I turned 90 and I’m the only one to work my garden now, I don’t have time to read anymore. Anyways my eyes is bad.” Okay, maybe I can understand that one. But everyone else? Why do you not have time?
I guess I don’t buy into that excuse because my mother didn’t. Whenever my excuse for anything was “I didn’t have time” her response was, “What were you doing that was more important?” My mother didn’t believe anyone had “spare” time. Only time we chose how to use, and wasting anything, especially time, wasn’t allowed at our house.
Mom wasn’t one to sit around. She was always doing something. She gardened, cleaned the house, did all the maintenance, cooking, took care of three kids, one with serious special needs. She crocheted, made jam, mended (as in patches on jeans and buttons), sewed, ironed, and even took in ironings. She visited sick neighbors, and was always in the kitchen when I needed her. She didn’t drive so she walked to the grocery store and brought the groceries home in the wagon. She looked after my grandma. Yet, she always found time to sit in her rocker next to the window and read. She believed we always had time. If you didn’t have time to do something, it’s because you chose to do something else instead. Time is something everyone has in equal measure.
So when someone of any age tells me they like to read but don’t have time, I wonder what it is they are doing instead? Because mom taught me to do what needs doing when it needs it, and use my time wisely, I never didn’t have time to read. She didn’t read in her spare time. She read in her reading time. I’ve always had a reading time. It’s not the same time every day, it’s not scheduled. Who could do that? It’s just time I use for that purpose. Every day. My life is a lot different than my mother’s life, but one thing that is the same for us is we do what needs doing when it needs doing, and we always make time for reading.
I puzzled over that. These people were teens, college students, young parents, middle aged working folks, older parents and grandparents. One woman smiled and said, “Since I turned 90 and I’m the only one to work my garden now, I don’t have time to read anymore. Anyways my eyes is bad.” Okay, maybe I can understand that one. But everyone else? Why do you not have time?
I guess I don’t buy into that excuse because my mother didn’t. Whenever my excuse for anything was “I didn’t have time” her response was, “What were you doing that was more important?” My mother didn’t believe anyone had “spare” time. Only time we chose how to use, and wasting anything, especially time, wasn’t allowed at our house.
Mom wasn’t one to sit around. She was always doing something. She gardened, cleaned the house, did all the maintenance, cooking, took care of three kids, one with serious special needs. She crocheted, made jam, mended (as in patches on jeans and buttons), sewed, ironed, and even took in ironings. She visited sick neighbors, and was always in the kitchen when I needed her. She didn’t drive so she walked to the grocery store and brought the groceries home in the wagon. She looked after my grandma. Yet, she always found time to sit in her rocker next to the window and read. She believed we always had time. If you didn’t have time to do something, it’s because you chose to do something else instead. Time is something everyone has in equal measure.
So when someone of any age tells me they like to read but don’t have time, I wonder what it is they are doing instead? Because mom taught me to do what needs doing when it needs it, and use my time wisely, I never didn’t have time to read. She didn’t read in her spare time. She read in her reading time. I’ve always had a reading time. It’s not the same time every day, it’s not scheduled. Who could do that? It’s just time I use for that purpose. Every day. My life is a lot different than my mother’s life, but one thing that is the same for us is we do what needs doing when it needs doing, and we always make time for reading.
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