My Life as an Illiterate

Once upon a time, I could read.  Honest.

Now I am learning to be an illiterate.  Shopping takes extra time because I have to study the pictures on packaging to make sure I am buying what I am trying to buy.  Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much.  I bought flour with a picture of grain on it hoping it might be whole wheat but it was just organic.

At the checkout stand I usually impress the cashiers because I have my money ready.  What they don't realize is that I have counted it out in the store before getting in line because otherwise I would end up with a ridiculous amount of change.  Because not only am I now illiterate but I also am challenged when it comes to recognizing coins.

Paying bills is quite a bit easier.  They all come with a distinctive form for sending them in.  This alerts me to the fact that I need to pay someone.  I don't always know why I am paying but I know I need to pay.  So far, I think I have caught them all

Other mail is trickier.  I can pick out some of the words but often it is not enough to capture the full meaning of the letter.  The tax forms were the scariest.  Pages upon pages of unrecognizable words.

It is nice to know I am not alone.  Twice a week I gather with my fellow illiterates and we work on learning to read and write.  Our teacher is also willing to help us with things we can't figure out for ourselves.  Today she helped one of my fellow illiterates decipher an insurance form.  This support will end soon and I will be on my own for 2 months until school begins again.

I am getting better but I still would hesitate to call myself a fully functioning illiterate.  Fortunately for me, my illiteracy stems from the fact that I recently moved to a country where I don't speak the language.  It has definitely increased my respect for teachers of reading and my empathy for illiterates everywhere.