Back to the fundamentals of reading

I finally joined a book club.

It's been a while since I opened a good book and finished it. I would say it would be 2-3 years ago that I was reading consistently.

Even though we are avid book buyers, we hardly finish some of the many book from beginning to end. It's always the impulse buy where we were drawn to the cleverly crafted titles and we thought we could easily finish it. But it just didn't turn out that way.

Another reason I stopped reading for a while is that when I was finished with all that particular author's collections, who would I read next?

Sure, there are the classics that I need to tackle. But ...... no good excuses.

So, I figured like exercise (which is something else I need to tackle), I would join a club that makes me accountable and also introduce me to other authors I wouldn't otherwise read.

The next meeting is on Nov 4, Tuesday. We are reading John Grisham's take on a nonfiction, The Innocent Man. I've seen his movies, they are good, but never felt compelled to read his book. This should be interesting.

Always wary ... that's my game

I've always been untrusting of people.

A girl friend of mine, C, can tell you that. We first met a job fair. I was waiting for the prep talk to begin when C came up and sat right next to me, in spite of all the empty chairs around. I was right to assume that she chose me because I'm Asian like her, and we share that common bond.

We got to talking, and she was giving me pointers on who to see. We also found out we went to the same college in Michigan. Of course, at that moment, I was highly skeptical, but she pronounced the city perfectly (not easy for someone who's not familiar with it at all), and I knew she was legit. Later, we went for lunch. And from there on, it's the start of a beautiful friendship.

Yesterday, another incident brought to mind my untrusting, always careful, approach to strangers.

Maybe some of you have encountered walk-in ATMs where you need to swipe your card to enter the lobby. That step is generally required when the bank is closed during business hours.
It was my 3rd time doing that, and for the first time, when I was doing my transaction (which involved checks and withdrawal) that someone came up and stood outside.

At first thought, I thought he's not a bank customer, which is why he was standing outside, and not come into this big lobby. He looked suspicious to me, too -- big RayBan-esque shades, wild and crazy hair, and not too kempt. I thought he was hoping that I would let him in. But I didn't. I positioned myself to hide the ATM when my cash was spitting out. By then, there were 2 more people waiting, both women. Only then, I felt I was safe. If the guys tried to do anything, like wrangle my purse from me, I have witnesses.

It turns out he is a customer of the bank. As he saw me walking towards the door to leave, he proceeded to swipe his card and get in.

I learned later that the protocol in such situation is that regardless of how big the lobby is, if someone is performing a transaction inside, everybody should wait their turn outside.

Can you imagine if the situation were reversed? I would be the asshole who intruded on his space.

Boy, do I feel like a moron, and worse yet, an ass.