I have been a Guardian reader for just over two years. This is not my fault. I have always leaned to the left in my thinking but I have what I can only describe as a phobia which means I can’t touch newspapers. Or paper napkins or paper tissues for that matter. (Does this have a name in the same way that koumpounophobia is the fear of buttons)? Happily I do not have a problem with other sorts of paper so if the Guardian had been printed on fine vellum I probably would have been buying it for the last 40 years or so. Things changed when I realised I could have the newspaper delivered to my e-reader at the great price of £9.99 per month. I believe I only get a selection of the articles – but what you don’t know the heart doesn’t grieve over – although I am sad to miss the pictures (which may be in colour for all I know), especially those that accompany the articles on fashion and home makeovers.
But the e-reader version is extremely user-friendly and appears wherever I might be in the world with an internet connection. Having the Guardian on my e-reader also allows me to read it while I am on the running machine for my daily 20-minute workout. (But this is only possible when the machine is set at no more than a fast walk. And even then I grip onto the handles so tightly for fear of falling off that turning a page – even when it is simply swiping the screen – is a bit of a challenge.)
What I like best about the Guardian is the style and quality of the writing and the intelligence of the articles, especially the political coverage. Articles that uncover injustice and hypocrisy fill me with such rage that I can barely finish reading them – Jay Rayner’s recent article on Lord Janner being a case in point. (Or was that the Observer? – which is included in my payment package.) I am also continually impressed by the wit and intelligence of the letter-writers. I like the book and film reviews, although I rarely get to see the films now that I have left London.
Being a relatively new Guardian reader I suspect that I’m like a teenager with a new boyfriend who wants to introduce his name into the conversation since I am constantly finding phrases that impress me and which I want to share or whole articles that I insist my friends and family read (and I stand over them and make sure they do).
I don’t work now but I was a minor civil servant for more than 30 years. What a pity I didn’t read the Guardian then. I am sure that if I had, I would have been hugely more impressive at interviews or even in conversations with colleagues.
I fill my time with some gentle volunteering – helping adults to read being one example. I fear, however, that I get much more out of the volunteering than those I try to help and I would be greatly surprised if I had managed to teach anyone anything at all!
