Sunday, July 08, 2007

Sometimes I forget how to read


I've only lived in this country a short time (my whole life, but I'm really not that old) and every now and then I still have trouble with the words you people use to express yourselves. For example, this picture shows a sign that's right outside the main gate of my apartment complex, a sign that had me confused for the better part of the past week. Specifically, the web site address, which is www.raisingliving.com. Obviously, I didn't read the whole sign, or maybe I was just hungry at the time but I could not figure out for the life of me what a property management company's web site would have to do with raisins. Maybe they're diversified? Maybe they just like 'em? But what's "gliving"? Is it something you do to raisins, some sort of food preservation or flavor enhancement process? I didn't know. I just knew I didn't understand. It didn't hit me until days later that it was "Raising Living" and not "Raisin Gliving". Duh.
I remember something similar happening to me in grade school, when I came across the word "understand" on a list of spelling words. I read it and in my mind it came out as understand, instead of understand and I thought it was a piece of furniture, maybe a small table that fits under a dresser or something. I didn't know. I was pretty sure we didn't have one at home so I asked the teacher, in front of the whole class, to explain what it was to me, which is like asking someone to explain what an explanation is. So this isn't new territory for me.
Not that that "Raising Living" isn't a pretty stupid slogan anyway. Not as stupid as "Raisin Gliving" maybe, but still, pretty dumb. I'm not sure I even know what it's supposed to mean. I mean, they've painted and cleaned up around here and it's nice but it's not like they introduced the concepts of waste disposal and refrigerated food to savages in Borneo.
But I'm still an idiot. Again.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know we've talked about this before and why I would have, perhaps, seen the same thing at first but I still feel the need to let you know - I get it! I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with intelligence level.

Anonymous said...

I was driving down the road today and the sedan ahead of me had a tag cover emblazoned with "Lokeyau Toscom".

It was about two blocks later that I figured out it was "Lokey Autos (dot) com"

and I thought of you :-)

-Cherie