Wall Street Journal

Every morning my husband and I look forward to going out to get our Wall Street Journal. As we put our sack lunches together we eye the headlines and bend over for closer looks at the pictures as we pass the table. We hardly have room for both of us at the tiny table, let alone an entire unfolded newspaper, so we have to choose the section we are interested in and put our plates on the rest of it while eating breakfast.

I've noticed that we hardly ever read an entire article--we just glean it for the general ideas because we are too excited about the rest of the paper--and once we've skimmed the whole thing it all goes in the recycling bin. Seems like a lot of work to publish a paper just to be picked over and thrown away. We have a plethura of news apps to choose from, but we still just really look forward to pulling the WSJ out of the plastic bag and plopping it down to munch on with our cereal. What is it about the daily newspaper that so attracts us? Here are some things I can think of:

• It is real--something you can touch and hold up and flip through and spill milk on. Sometimes I feel lost when I come away from looking at so many screens all the time. When I come away from my newspaper I feel like I have both feet more firmly (and knowledgeably) planted in our current world.
• It gives a sense of awareness of what is happening around us--even if the events don't really affect us at all, we somehow feel better knowing. 
• It also makes us feel like we belong with the rest of the world--it is like evidence of our membership.
• It makes us feel intelligent when we try to strike up a conversation at work.
• It has become a ritual for us; something we look forward to dissecting together.
• Newspapers are icons of the America that I love! Along with Thanksgiving, the mailman, and Norman Rockwell. Take a gander:

Plus, do you know who sells Newspapers?

So when we got the letter that our WSJ subscription was up, I didn't mind renewing it. Even though it goes against all my overly-frugal tendencies. Even though we don't scour every last penny out of it. I am happy to pay for this daily tradition with my husband and my ticket to participating in this world of ours.