DIGESTING A READER'S NOSTALGIA

BY DAN MILLER
March 28, 2006

I never know what might stir up a whirlwind of nostalgia.

Strangely, it happened the other night in the grocery checkout line, when I spotted the latest edition of Reader's Digest.

It had nothing to do with any particular article mentioned on the cover.... I didn't even notice the story headlines.... it was just the sight of that little magazine.
Standing there in line, I felt a kind of comfort -- a warmth -- a bit of homesickness -- just knowing Reader's Digest is still around, and looks pretty much the same as it always did.

My first exposure to "grown-up" reading probably came from Reader's Digest.
There were always new and old issues scattered around our home when I was growing up.

I have equally fond memories of Saturday Evening Post and National Geographic, but the condensed articles and features in Reader's Digest were something special.

I always found enjoyable little stories in Life In These United States....
And something to laugh at in Laughter, The Best Medicine.
And I gained a life-long love of quotations by reading Quotable Quotes.

I even submitted an anecdote to Humor In Uniform once, around 1965 or 66....
I remember the gist of the submission.... it went something like this:

Following basic training, I was attending supply school at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
Early one morning, with the company assembled for roll call, the First Sergeant was letting us know loudly and clearly that a recruit had gone AWOL the night before.
He pleaded with us, "Don't ever leave without permission!"
He said, "If you feel you MUST go AWOL, I beg you to call me first.... I don't care if it's 3 o'clock in the morning.... call me if you feel the urge to go AWOL".
Then he added, "But be advised, if you DO call me at 3 o'clock in the morning, you damn well BETTER BE AWOL when I arrive here that morning!"

Well, my little story submission wasn't accepted by Reader's Digest.... and I didn't get the $200 (or whatever they paid back then) for a published story.

Today, Reader's Digest has 44 million monthly readers....
That's roughly 44 million more than read my little essays here....
But at least my Army story has now been published.... it's out there.... and Reader's Digest can deal with it's loss.

One more thing.
Since my absolute favorite feature in Reader's Digest was Points To Ponder..... I'll leave you with one of those..... a point to ponder.......

A BUS STATION IS WHERE A BUS STOPS.
A TRAIN STATION IS WHERE A TRAIN STOPS.
ON MY DESK, I HAVE A WORK STATION.

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