My Splurge

I grew up in a newspaper reading family. In the midwestern city where I grew up, there were two daily newspapers. My parents subscribed to both of them. My father was strict about the newspaper. If we read it before he did, we had to put it back together just the way it was when it arrived. Now, I get grouchy with my husband because he doesn't understand that rule. After he reads the paper I have to go hunt for sections of it, as they tend to be scattered all around the house. It might be on the breakfast table, downstairs in his "man cave" or in the bathroom. Also, he leaves the sections turned inside out so I can't tell which section is which, or where the front page is. (Just one of those small things you never know about a person until you live with them.)

My husband, in turn, is bothered by my insistence on receiving the Sunday edition of The New York Times. He says it's too expensive to have it mailed here, but it's the one splurge I'm not willing to give up. I began reading it when we lived in Philadelphia. It was easy to find there. When we moved to Kentucky, though, it wasn't so easy to find. I can find it at Border's but that's not very close to us, and farther than I want to drive on Sunday morning. I found out we could have the Sunday edition mailed to us here in Kentucky. So, every Monday we receive the Sunday Times in the mail. It's fairly expensive, but worth every penny to me.

I read the Week in Review first. I especially like Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich, and Tom Friedman. (When we lived in Chicago, I got the Tribune and enjoyed Mike Royko). Then, I take the rest of the week, reading one section at a time. I carry the magazine around with me all week, reading and working on the crossword puzzle. I enjoy the Book Review, the Travel section, the Arts and Entertainment section, and the Sunday Styles section. Our local paper has none of these things. My husband reads the Sports section, the Travel section, and the Book Review.

I can't imagine my life without The New York Times. There is so much information in there. So much more than on television. Television news is full of fluff and bluster. There are so many things I know from reading the Times that I would never otherwise know. These days, I understand that you can read it all online. But it's just not the same. There is something tangible about having the pages in your hand, and seeing the sections lying around just waiting to be read.