Father's Day News
My father bought newspapers everyday, preferably, The Philippine Star, and told us tirelessly to read, read and read it for most of our lives. I'm buying it for you to read, was his sermon. I didn't like how the pages make me sneeze and how it darken my fingertips. Seeing it lying there on the center table and all over the couch with my father, I'm left with no choice but to browse those papers, and maybe because my conscience knew that I'll be grateful for it in the future (like right now😁). And so, I made a list of benefits of growing up with a morning paper at home:
1. Broadened vocabulary. I learned my subject-verb agreement and the poem "All Things Bright and beautiful" in school, but I'm not sure how I would've understood what "ASG bandits at large" meant if not for the periodical! What else could be the best source of news and feature writing jargon? It inevitably made me pick up the dictionary as well. Two birds with one stone, huh!
2. Entertainment. This really gets my father whenever he caught me reading this section and the horoscope! Come on, cut the little me some slack. It can't be all headlines and editorial. Besides, there are also sports, lifestyle and fashion. They're just as informative and relevant as the corrupt and conniving tyrants, right?
His encouragement to read strengthened my mind and guarded my wisdom
3. Awareness. Reading does not only teaches you words and information, it also helps you form a good judgement. It makes you aware of the current events - his favorite words (karrent events, as he pronounces it😊). You learn to question, weigh sides, probe more, read more then arrive at a conclusion, or a strong argument at least.
3.1 Open-mindedness. There was a time when almost all the press media were against my and my father's opinion but, he still kept on reading the papers. There's his occasional rants, as if the paper will respond to him, but he kept on checking the editorials and headlines, nonetheless. Reading habitually, one learns to recognize who's the pro-this, who's anti-that and where is the writer leading you to. Which leads to another sub benefit:
3.2 Tolerance. This is something I'm still trying my best to build on. There are many varying opinions out there and I have to learn to understand where other people are coming from. Mine might be from reading (at least most of it), but it can be a lot different for others, and for my own good, I have to respect that, regardless if they reciprocate that respect or not.
3.1 Open-mindedness. There was a time when almost all the press media were against my and my father's opinion but, he still kept on reading the papers. There's his occasional rants, as if the paper will respond to him, but he kept on checking the editorials and headlines, nonetheless. Reading habitually, one learns to recognize who's the pro-this, who's anti-that and where is the writer leading you to. Which leads to another sub benefit:
3.2 Tolerance. This is something I'm still trying my best to build on. There are many varying opinions out there and I have to learn to understand where other people are coming from. Mine might be from reading (at least most of it), but it can be a lot different for others, and for my own good, I have to respect that, regardless if they reciprocate that respect or not.
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| The Thinking Chair |
His encouragement to read strengthened my mind and guarded my wisdom. I learned to discern facts from hoaxes and don't fall so easily to the theatrics of demagogues.
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