The other day someone I know on Facebook posted that...

The other day someone I know on Facebook posted that she could not sleep and found the cable for her television out of whack, and in the doldrums of 3 AM was left with no resort but to watch a movie on the DVD player. I was tempted (but did not) comment: "There are these amazing things called 'books,' and for some, while they are extremely interesting, informative, and entertaining, they also work as sleep aids." Admittedly, this Facebook friend (I should probably say "friend" with the quotation marks, because, while I went to elementary school with this person, we have not seen each other face-to-face in at least seventeen years, and we are not "friends" in the truest sense of the word) doesn't run with the literary crowd I associate with, is not a writer and--demonstrably not a reader--which, of course is fine (in fact I champion such freedom of choice), but still: why not just read something, anything? I don't think that in this person's case there was an aversion to reading, or a distaste for it; I don't think reading even popped into this person's mind as an option. That, right there, folks is where we're at. I say all this and I saw this person's Facebook status update on no other place but Facebook, when I was "reading" the newsfeed, and instead should've been reading a book. So, yes, it would be hypocritical of me to be judgmental. But let me say that I'm not trying to pass judgment, but am simply pointing out the possibility that the idea of reading (and I mean really reading, like reading a book) is for the majority not a part of the contemporary American's cultural DNA. Let me add that, while the freedom of choice to be a reader or not is one that I hold dear, for a democracy to function it's important to have voting individuals capable of understanding the basics of rhetoric. So again, I'll just say: that's where we're at. Preposition ending that sentence, and four sentences prior to that sentence. And that last sentence wasn't a sentence. It was a fragment. But that last sentence, the one before this sentence (which is truly the last sentence), the one about a sentence fragment, was a complete independent clause.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving.