WHAT DO YOU DO?
Rather than say he's retired, my brother claims to be an encyclopedia salesman. He says he'd have no business. He says he doesn't know anyone who has bought a set of them for years.
Not since Al Gore invented the internet. Well, he didn't say that. But he's right. With a simple Google or WekiPedia hit, the encyclopedia has become a dinosaur.
I suppose World Book still exists along with Britannica and all the others, but one would probably have to go on-line to find them. And to purchase the yearly updates. I think 1980 was probably our last one purchased so I have some catching up to do.
I always remember the encyclopedia salesman who came to our house in about 1958. He knew his business. He asked me if I knew Neal. Of course, I knew him. He revealed that he had been retained and wouldn't be in my class at school anymore. So his parents bought a set, presumably so he wouldn't fall further behind. At my young age I thought his parents great. I also thought I would miss him because he made me laugh. And just maybe we needed to buy these to insure I didn't join him.
But he also added that Mike, another classmate of mine, had read the encyclopedia all the way through from beginning to end since his parents bought a set. Mike was the smartest guy in our class, known more for athletics than brains. Wow! My fourth grade mind was racing now. We just had to have a set.
Either because of him or my past history, my parents didn't buy the World Book set that year. I guess they knew I was somewhere between Neal and Mike and they would wait awhile to see which way I was leaning.
So my learning, like the fence pictured, had a few gaps. Had I just read through the whole encyclopedia, maybe I would have become a doctor like Mike. Naugh, even had my folks purchased the most expensive set, they would have been used a lot early and then been shelved. Much like the mid-July copies of My Weekly Reader.
Rather than say he's retired, my brother claims to be an encyclopedia salesman. He says he'd have no business. He says he doesn't know anyone who has bought a set of them for years.
Not since Al Gore invented the internet. Well, he didn't say that. But he's right. With a simple Google or WekiPedia hit, the encyclopedia has become a dinosaur.
I suppose World Book still exists along with Britannica and all the others, but one would probably have to go on-line to find them. And to purchase the yearly updates. I think 1980 was probably our last one purchased so I have some catching up to do.
I always remember the encyclopedia salesman who came to our house in about 1958. He knew his business. He asked me if I knew Neal. Of course, I knew him. He revealed that he had been retained and wouldn't be in my class at school anymore. So his parents bought a set, presumably so he wouldn't fall further behind. At my young age I thought his parents great. I also thought I would miss him because he made me laugh. And just maybe we needed to buy these to insure I didn't join him.
But he also added that Mike, another classmate of mine, had read the encyclopedia all the way through from beginning to end since his parents bought a set. Mike was the smartest guy in our class, known more for athletics than brains. Wow! My fourth grade mind was racing now. We just had to have a set.
Either because of him or my past history, my parents didn't buy the World Book set that year. I guess they knew I was somewhere between Neal and Mike and they would wait awhile to see which way I was leaning.
So my learning, like the fence pictured, had a few gaps. Had I just read through the whole encyclopedia, maybe I would have become a doctor like Mike. Naugh, even had my folks purchased the most expensive set, they would have been used a lot early and then been shelved. Much like the mid-July copies of My Weekly Reader.
posted by TQ @ 6:13 AM
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