Read the newspaper!

My dad always tried his best to tell me the importance of reading the newspaper even before I stepped into the teenage years. He wanted me to possess a better vocabulary and a writing style. More than the elegant prose and presentation, he wanted me to stay in touch with what was happening in the world.

Parents are always driving a point relentlessly into your head and also making life more difficult in your teens. As I entered into my teens, I had plenty of evidence to back up the above adage. So, the natural tendency was to ignore my dad’s advice! But, during those days, I went through a flip flopping emotions of love and annoyance where love mostly won hands down. In order to please dad and to give boost to my ego, I found a middle path. I decided to read the newspaper.

Every morning, I picked up the newspaper and read the local listing of the movies. I also garnered the knowledge of upcoming movies too. As for what is happening in the world, remember, I said “middle path”! I have religiously followed this ritual till date although the frequency has reduced from 7 days to 1 day namely Friday.

As with all bitter lessons in my life, lack of respect for my dad’s advice caught up with me last Friday! After a hard day’s work, we – me and a group of friends – gathered at a local watering hole. On that night, we were surprised to find that the watering hole was not serving water – in our case, alcohol! Agitated, we asked why. They couldn’t serve alcohol because of the local corporation elections. We retired for the day with a tired soul and an aching body!

If I had listened to my dad’s golden words, I would not have landed in this situation. I would have found this piece of information by reading the newspaper! Like the ants stocking up food, I would have stocked my house with alcohol for the dry period that lasted three grueling days.

Tags: Musings,Dad,Parents,Newspaper