Lickin' Wikis

Yesterday at the Mill, a friend of mine--a man who teaches yoga and pilates--sidles up to my coffee-laden table.  There's a newspaper on one of the nearby chairs with a completed crossword on it.  On the newspaper that's on the chair.  Anyway, he asks if I'd done the crossword.  I said no, but this led to a discussion of my officemate--now only two feet away--and his prediliction for the puzzles.  And, I added, he uses Google and Wikipedia to help him with clues. 

My friend looked at me oddly and said, "What's Wikipedia?" 

I chuckled freely for a moment before switching to the more correct "slightly embarrassed" chuckle.  "Seriously?  You don't know what Wikipedia is?"

"Never heard of it."

Because my wife is a literacy scholar, we roared into a conversation about cultural literacy.  But still, wow.  I feel like I've done a good deed, though, by bringing one more American into the 21st Century.  Eventually, I'd like us all to be here before it ends.  Or before I do.  Or something like that.  I'll work on the disambiguation. 

Comments

[Mathias Svalina]

What's literacy?

[Dusty]

Now I look like a cheater. For the record, I never use online help before Friday.