Why should we read more, pt. I
Recently I've been alarmed by my ex- colleague that I didn't post anything in a while!
Let me make it clear here, how much this has surprised me- someone was actually waiting for me to write something new!
Since I got myself a very cute orange notebook and I use it at any occasion to hunt my thoughts down, my blog died a bit. But the good thing about th
There is, oh boy there is!
But first, let me start with a small update.
Last Saturday we were celebrating a ''We love bloggers'' day at The American Book Centre in Amsterdam. I wasn't really sure what to expect, so I expected nothing. I arrived as the first and because not much was going on at the time. I've decided to take a walk around other book stores and come back when I catch up with Mattia. We went there completely unaware of what will happen next.
As a guest of the event, the ABC welcomed Jellybeans project (vestriopti.com). The moment we came in, I was given my name tag (as I have registered already 2 weeks before) and was asked to write down my name and e-mail address on a piece of paper as we were going to have a draw in a while.
at notebook is, that I can open it, take a look and see if there is anything worth publishing online.
As we weren't in possession of a bowl to mix up the pieces of papers with our names on them- we asked Mattia to lend us his hat.
You could win a month of free blog posts editing with Jellybeans or a voucher to print your book at ABC. I didn't hope for anything as I just have no luck in these kind of things. And well, it seemed that my lack of luck was going to be proven as someone else have won, but that person didn't really need help with her blog as she was a native speaker. So we did a second round of draw.
There I am, sitting on a pillow on the ground, ready to consume a baby carrot, just about to put it in my mouth and there it is- Alicja!- my name thrown in the air.
For a second I hesitated as if I was trying to see wether another Alicja was around, but no, that was me.
So, people are clapping, Mattia winked at me with a smile and I turn red.
I won! And if that wouldn't be enough, we all got goodie- bags, stuffed with way to many cute gifts.
Mattia officially brings luck (he states it was the hat but don't believe him!) and I have learned a very important thing. But about that another time.
Now, let's get to the main topic of today's post.
Reading. We all know how hard it is for you to sit down and read. Read anything for that matter. We can scroll our smartphones for hours, catching the headlines of some articles but we don't really go deeper than that. And I think it's a big mistake. I was thinking how to present this problem in a fresh light. Then.. it hit me.
Holidays! Where are you spending yours this summer? Or are you maybe working during summer to have a nice winter- holiday? Your answer doesn't really matter.
What does matter, is that you will probably have to face booking a hotel/ticket/holidays online.
You will look for those last- minute offers and as soon as you will come across an offer that suits your expectations and budget- you'll make it yours!
Hoooooold your horses.
Probably you have already skipped reading ''the terms of use'' and accepted them at the very beginning. That can't bring too much harm, right? At this point you are still calm. You post it everywhere, and tell everyone about great deal you just got.
Then the first bell rings- the full amount for your holiday had just been charged from your credit card. But.. wasn't it only for the guarantee? How come? You go back to the website of the travel agency and you see that indeed, you have booked a non- refundable rate. Yes, it's cheaper than other rates but it also means that in case of modification/cancellation you will not get anything back. Niente, nada, zero. Also you hesitate whether there is a slight difference in the total amount that should have been charged.. Hm.. oh, right. The city tax comes on the top of it all.
Well, uhm, OK. You don't plan any changes to occur if it's about your holiday so it might be as well pre- paid.
You go back to the 'happy' holiday attitude. You wait.. and wait.. and wait a bit more and finally the day comes! You're off to the airport!
Your flight is not bad, although you missed the information about the weight limitations and had to pay a bit extra, but now, nothing can surprise you anymore. Ha! WRONG.
The hotel! The hotel.. The hotel? It seemed to look a bit different than on the pictures but you didn't bother yourself with going through the reviews, haven't you?
So, you hand your document over to the receptionist and after a short formal procedure she explains you a bit about the hotel and gives you the key along with directions to the room. Did you hear it good? Was the breakfast not included? Naaaah, you booked an all- inclusive package! Right..? Did you..?!
Whatever, you will check it on you confirmation when you unpack in your room.
You arrive at the door, slide the key through the reader and there it is! The room..! THE.. room..
Uhm, wait wait wait.. Where is the mini- bar? Why are there two single beds pushed together instead of a double bed? Is that even a queen size? It's a standard room for the love of God!
Now you are a tiny bit concerned. You read through your confirmation and it says ''When you arrive we will do our best to meet your bed type preference. This is subject to availability and cannot be guaranteed''.. Aaahh... It all starts to make sense. Well, after all of that stress you really need to have a cigarette. Just make sure you can. It was stated on registration form you've just signed down at the reception, but actually.. who knows what was written on it?!
Well, I still think that it's great when you are able to put it together yourself, but let's be honest- there is a receptionist at the front desk who has absolutely nothing else to do during her shift but to take in all of your accusations of the hotel/travel agent being unreliable! She would also love to hear you frustrations and most of all she loves being called 'incompetent' and be demanded a refund for your lack of reading skills or a complementary drink at the bar, because you had a long flight. Gee, how did that happen, did you book the holiday on your own, or did somebody force you into traveling this far?
Please, start using your eyes with a little help of your friendly brain, and pay attention to those letters that are put into words, which a sentence consists of.
I'm not saying I am always 100% aware of what I'm getting into.
Remember last trip from Italy back to The Cheese- head Kingdom? Both of us didn't even bother to look at the flight ticket and we arrived in Milan just at the time our plane was departing from the airport, and we still had to go through a 40- minute trip to the airport and check in the luggage. Neither of us checked the ticket, and yet we were the one to book it, print it out and carry around throughout the whole duration of our stay. But, on the other hand, I will never forget Mattia's face when I showed him the ticket, after I realized it all. Priceless!
In the end it's important not to explode in front of the customer service desk- Italian lady wouldn't give a single damn probably, but we accepted the fact we made a mistake and blamed no one for it.
After all- it ended up very good and we laugh about it now.
Well, that's it folks. I will continue my research on great reasons to practice your reading skills for all sorts of useful life matters. See you next time! Same place- definitely not the same time!
xxx
Let me make it clear here, how much this has surprised me- someone was actually waiting for me to write something new!
Since I got myself a very cute orange notebook and I use it at any occasion to hunt my thoughts down, my blog died a bit. But the good thing about th
There is, oh boy there is!
But first, let me start with a small update.
Last Saturday we were celebrating a ''We love bloggers'' day at The American Book Centre in Amsterdam. I wasn't really sure what to expect, so I expected nothing. I arrived as the first and because not much was going on at the time. I've decided to take a walk around other book stores and come back when I catch up with Mattia. We went there completely unaware of what will happen next.
As a guest of the event, the ABC welcomed Jellybeans project (vestriopti.com). The moment we came in, I was given my name tag (as I have registered already 2 weeks before) and was asked to write down my name and e-mail address on a piece of paper as we were going to have a draw in a while.
at notebook is, that I can open it, take a look and see if there is anything worth publishing online.
As we weren't in possession of a bowl to mix up the pieces of papers with our names on them- we asked Mattia to lend us his hat.
You could win a month of free blog posts editing with Jellybeans or a voucher to print your book at ABC. I didn't hope for anything as I just have no luck in these kind of things. And well, it seemed that my lack of luck was going to be proven as someone else have won, but that person didn't really need help with her blog as she was a native speaker. So we did a second round of draw.
There I am, sitting on a pillow on the ground, ready to consume a baby carrot, just about to put it in my mouth and there it is- Alicja!- my name thrown in the air.
For a second I hesitated as if I was trying to see wether another Alicja was around, but no, that was me.
So, people are clapping, Mattia winked at me with a smile and I turn red.
I won! And if that wouldn't be enough, we all got goodie- bags, stuffed with way to many cute gifts.
Mattia officially brings luck (he states it was the hat but don't believe him!) and I have learned a very important thing. But about that another time.
Now, let's get to the main topic of today's post.
Reading. We all know how hard it is for you to sit down and read. Read anything for that matter. We can scroll our smartphones for hours, catching the headlines of some articles but we don't really go deeper than that. And I think it's a big mistake. I was thinking how to present this problem in a fresh light. Then.. it hit me.
Holidays! Where are you spending yours this summer? Or are you maybe working during summer to have a nice winter- holiday? Your answer doesn't really matter.
What does matter, is that you will probably have to face booking a hotel/ticket/holidays online.
You will look for those last- minute offers and as soon as you will come across an offer that suits your expectations and budget- you'll make it yours!
Hoooooold your horses.
Probably you have already skipped reading ''the terms of use'' and accepted them at the very beginning. That can't bring too much harm, right? At this point you are still calm. You post it everywhere, and tell everyone about great deal you just got.
Then the first bell rings- the full amount for your holiday had just been charged from your credit card. But.. wasn't it only for the guarantee? How come? You go back to the website of the travel agency and you see that indeed, you have booked a non- refundable rate. Yes, it's cheaper than other rates but it also means that in case of modification/cancellation you will not get anything back. Niente, nada, zero. Also you hesitate whether there is a slight difference in the total amount that should have been charged.. Hm.. oh, right. The city tax comes on the top of it all.
Well, uhm, OK. You don't plan any changes to occur if it's about your holiday so it might be as well pre- paid.
You go back to the 'happy' holiday attitude. You wait.. and wait.. and wait a bit more and finally the day comes! You're off to the airport!
Your flight is not bad, although you missed the information about the weight limitations and had to pay a bit extra, but now, nothing can surprise you anymore. Ha! WRONG.
The hotel! The hotel.. The hotel? It seemed to look a bit different than on the pictures but you didn't bother yourself with going through the reviews, haven't you?
So, you hand your document over to the receptionist and after a short formal procedure she explains you a bit about the hotel and gives you the key along with directions to the room. Did you hear it good? Was the breakfast not included? Naaaah, you booked an all- inclusive package! Right..? Did you..?!
Whatever, you will check it on you confirmation when you unpack in your room.
You arrive at the door, slide the key through the reader and there it is! The room..! THE.. room..
Uhm, wait wait wait.. Where is the mini- bar? Why are there two single beds pushed together instead of a double bed? Is that even a queen size? It's a standard room for the love of God!
 |
| when you actually READ through your confirmation |
Now you are a tiny bit concerned. You read through your confirmation and it says ''When you arrive we will do our best to meet your bed type preference. This is subject to availability and cannot be guaranteed''.. Aaahh... It all starts to make sense. Well, after all of that stress you really need to have a cigarette. Just make sure you can. It was stated on registration form you've just signed down at the reception, but actually.. who knows what was written on it?!
Well, I still think that it's great when you are able to put it together yourself, but let's be honest- there is a receptionist at the front desk who has absolutely nothing else to do during her shift but to take in all of your accusations of the hotel/travel agent being unreliable! She would also love to hear you frustrations and most of all she loves being called 'incompetent' and be demanded a refund for your lack of reading skills or a complementary drink at the bar, because you had a long flight. Gee, how did that happen, did you book the holiday on your own, or did somebody force you into traveling this far?
Please, start using your eyes with a little help of your friendly brain, and pay attention to those letters that are put into words, which a sentence consists of.
I'm not saying I am always 100% aware of what I'm getting into.
Remember last trip from Italy back to The Cheese- head Kingdom? Both of us didn't even bother to look at the flight ticket and we arrived in Milan just at the time our plane was departing from the airport, and we still had to go through a 40- minute trip to the airport and check in the luggage. Neither of us checked the ticket, and yet we were the one to book it, print it out and carry around throughout the whole duration of our stay. But, on the other hand, I will never forget Mattia's face when I showed him the ticket, after I realized it all. Priceless!
In the end it's important not to explode in front of the customer service desk- Italian lady wouldn't give a single damn probably, but we accepted the fact we made a mistake and blamed no one for it.
After all- it ended up very good and we laugh about it now.
Well, that's it folks. I will continue my research on great reasons to practice your reading skills for all sorts of useful life matters. See you next time! Same place- definitely not the same time!
xxx
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