A personal story about the ignorance of the average American

[bif]

Many years ago when my family was on vacation, we stopped in a smaller town in Pennsylvania. We went out to dinner at a decent Italian restaurant and I noticed an older couple sitting next to us. The man was reading the menu to his wife and at first I thought it was real sweet. Then it dawned on me that she was illiterate and couldn't read the menu herself. I was pretty shocked at this.

Now when I hear the statistics I'm not surprised in the least.

[tritsofme]

1. Given that description, still a bit of an assumption. Lots of old folks have trouble reading the tiny print on menus

in dimly lit restaurants!

[bif]

3. They were both wearing glasses

[Ms. Toad]

6. My mother wears glasses, and often carries a magnifying glass

But is legally blind. She can barely read even the large print on a menu, even with a lighted magnifying glass.

I just went out to eat with my parents on Saturday, and my father read the menu to her. (She didn't have her magnifying glass with her, so had you seen them you would have assumed my college-educated mother - or my college educated grandmother before her, from whom she inherited mascular degeneration - were illiterate).

Sometimes it is best not to make assumptions.

You are

[flvegan]

2. Was this at an Olive Garden?

Sorry, natural DU reflex.

[Hotler]

5. Trouble maker.

[Upthevibe]

7. flvegan.......

[MIButterfly]

4. My first boyfriend's father was illiterate and I was shocked

that in the 1970s, there were still people who couldn't read or write. I was quite naive back then.