Thread

1. tombert · 1789921845 · focus · HN ↗

   I read a lot, and I own a lot of physical books, but I almost never actually read physical books anymore. I'm one of the happy few that used my Kindle for more than a week after getting it as a gift.

   I find that reading on an ereader is many times easier for me, primarily because I can make the text gigantic and I don't lose track of my place on the page nearly as often. I'm not dyslexic (I've been tested), but I do think that there's some issue with my brain where if the text is small I really can't follow it. On all my computers the text is gigantic and even then I will click and highlight text as I'm reading so don't lose place. I would love to be paid to read but I don't think I'd love to be paid to read physical books.

   I remember my grandmother was wholly unconvinced that my Kindle was a different thing than an iPad or a Game Boy, and that it was not "real" reading, for whatever reason.

   1. lofaszvanitt · 1789925181 · focus · HN ↗

      An you bought one for her.

      1. tombert · 1789938033 · focus · HN ↗

         Ha, no, I actually don't talk to that grandmother anymore and probably never will again since she's extremely racist and doesn't like my (Hispanic) wife. I wouldn't buy her gifts at the best of times.

         1. hackernud3s · 1789958304 · focus · HN ↗

            Grandmothers are going to be racist, that's just a default setting. I wish I spent more time with mine when they were around.

            1. tombert · 1790006478 · focus · HN ↗

               I have two grandmothers.

               One is racist in a way that is somewhat understandable (e.g. using outdated words like “oriental” to refer to Asian people). For her, I am more or less fine just rolling my eyes and continue talking to her, because I think she is ultimately a decent human who is just a victim of her time.

               My other grandmother is not like that. She is actively very racist in a way that I don’t find forgivable. I don’t talk to her after Trump won in 2016.

               It’s not that voting for Trump is in itself enough of a reason for me to cut someone off, but in her case the moment he won she just dropped all pretense and started being racist in ways that I have no interest in engaging with.

               It’s a little sad, it’s not like all my memories with her are bad or anything, but it’s life doesn’t always work out like we want it to.

               1. hackernud3s · 1790130429 · focus · HN ↗

                  My grandmother grew up fleeing eastern Europe from a Nazi invasion so I can forgive her for feeling certain ways that I don't agree with.

                  I grew up watching cartoons in a suburb. It's not my job to pass judgment on her.

                  Also FTR: Oriental means "Eastern" in Spanish.

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