Bathroom reading
-or- like father, like son
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Growing up my father had, what I thought, was a very odd habit. I never really understood it, and together with my mother, I would tease him ceaselessly about it. He always took the teasing well. It just never seemed to bother him that much.
And now, years later as I find myself adopting the same habit, I understand why.
You see, my father (and I) read in the bathroom.
As life has become more complicated, with children, school/work, my sweet wife, church responsibilities and friends all asking for some of my time I have suddenly found a haven. It is while I am on the can.
The door locks, talking to someone while using the bathroom can be a bit awkward so you tend not to do it, and there I can find just a bit of time alone. So I read. I have read entire books all in the bathroom. My father's triumph was reading the unabridged version of Les Miserables in the bathroom (over the course of years), and while I haven't come close to that, I have read some pretty dense material while on the john.
But that doesn't necessarily make the best bathroom reading. My current project (The Silmarillion) is going slowly, because it doesn't really fall into the realm of what I consider good bathroom reading.
The best bathroom reading is entertaining, well written, and accessible. I have Uncle John's Long Lost Bathroom Reader (a compilation of their bathroom readers #s 7,8 and 9). It is a brilliant book. Some entries are barely a page, a few random quotes from famous or not so famous people. Others are a couple of pages detailing the origins of some modern phrases.
There are other articles that would please even the most hard core conspiracy theorists. Ranging from one to a dozen pages, there is something to fit any, um, occasion. And many are sure to keep you grinning, while also enhancing your useless trivia database. I only lament I don't have more.
So the circle is now complete. What I once teased my father for has now become a staple of daily life for me. Shh, I'm trying to read.
And now, years later as I find myself adopting the same habit, I understand why.
You see, my father (and I) read in the bathroom.
As life has become more complicated, with children, school/work, my sweet wife, church responsibilities and friends all asking for some of my time I have suddenly found a haven. It is while I am on the can.
The door locks, talking to someone while using the bathroom can be a bit awkward so you tend not to do it, and there I can find just a bit of time alone. So I read. I have read entire books all in the bathroom. My father's triumph was reading the unabridged version of Les Miserables in the bathroom (over the course of years), and while I haven't come close to that, I have read some pretty dense material while on the john.
But that doesn't necessarily make the best bathroom reading. My current project (The Silmarillion) is going slowly, because it doesn't really fall into the realm of what I consider good bathroom reading.
The best bathroom reading is entertaining, well written, and accessible. I have Uncle John's Long Lost Bathroom Reader (a compilation of their bathroom readers #s 7,8 and 9). It is a brilliant book. Some entries are barely a page, a few random quotes from famous or not so famous people. Others are a couple of pages detailing the origins of some modern phrases.
There are other articles that would please even the most hard core conspiracy theorists. Ranging from one to a dozen pages, there is something to fit any, um, occasion. And many are sure to keep you grinning, while also enhancing your useless trivia database. I only lament I don't have more.
So the circle is now complete. What I once teased my father for has now become a staple of daily life for me. Shh, I'm trying to read.
