Reading Judgement

What book are you reading?

A perfectly reasonable question one friend or acquaintance may ask another.

It is also a question that may be asked by one traveller to another in an airport, bus depot or train station, particularly if experiencing a delay.

I wonder if it is asked as often as it used to be as we move in to the age of the digital reader and the world of ebooks.

We really have no idea what someone is looking at if peering at a tablet device or similar as we cannot assume it is a book they are reading.

Is this another way technology may be destroying verbal communication?

The "book question" may even be asked at a first date, particularly if one party is a keen reader and values such an interest in the other. Is she reading romance or science? Is he reading a sporting autobiography or a mystery?

Like the first date scenario, what we read may also be used to judge us, or to judge others.

As with many judgements we make, the basis is our own paradigm. We all too often jump to judgement followed quickly by conclusion.

As with those who judge us, we scorn at their lack of understanding of “us” when passing judgement.

Is this fair?

An article came across my desk this week addressing “the question” well known “business celebrities” always ask candidates interviewing for positions in their enterprise. The article interested me because of a question I had been asked some 25 years earlier when applying for a role.

It is also a question that I have longed to ask candidates in the many dozen interviews I have conducted over the year however have refrained from doing so.

I question I was asked is:

What book are you reading at the moment?

Fortunately, I was about 75% through a book at the time and was able to easily answer the question. However, I have often wondered just what the interviewer was seeking to learn by asking it.

Was he judging my reading preferences or simply seeing how well I could articulate an answer?

Was he seeking to put me off guard, or was it the opposite; he was seeking to put me at ease?

We judge people by the books they read, TV shows they watch, films they attend and music they enjoy.

In doing so, we almost certainly do not take in to account the reasons for such preferences. 

One person may indulge in reality TV as a retreat from a demanding work day whereas another may seek refuse in a science program as a stimulation away from a boring job.

I do wonder if the world would be a better place if our judgements were less shallow and better informed, based on a full story. Or maybe we should simply be more accepting of each others individualities, family, colleagues, business associates, clients and friends alike.

By the way, I was not successful in the referred to Job Interview and the book I was reading was an autobiography by Bob Ansett of Budget Rent a Car fame.