"What we have here . . . "

In the 1967 flick Cool Hand Luke the Captain utters the now infamous line to Paul Newman's character (Luke).  Captain tells Luke and the other prisoners that "What we've got here is a failure to communicate.  Some men you just can't reach, so you get what we had here last week which is the way he wants it.  Well, he gets it.  And I don't like it any more than you men."  Yea, this quote is about life in a rural prison camp, but in the forty plus years after the movie's premiere these words have been applied to a plethora of situations and conditions.  And you guessed it, the "what we have here is a failure to communicate" applies to literacy.

Most of us take reading, and even constructing simple sentences as second nature.  We do not think about the complexity of these acts, and we do not agonize about having to read a simple electric bill.  Yet, for people who can not read or have weak reading skills seemingly simple tasks of paying bills, reading prescription labels, and reading directions become almost insurmountable obstacles.  These moments become the epitome of failing to communicate. 

Reading is a form of communication, just like speaking.  Reading is also essential to everyday life.  Reading . . . reading is the cliche we've all heard about opening up new worlds, and reading is a direct line of communication to the world we live in. 

As always, if you know someone who can not read, is weak with reading, or if you would like to volunteer for the Emporia-Greensville Literacy Council please contact us.