JUNE 2023

Fun
WORDLE
Words STAY
SAFE
FROM
SCAMS
How We
Fail Our
Truckers
An RD ORIGINAL

LOST AT SEA
FOR 16 HOURS
A DRAMA IN REAL LIFE

Tales of GOOD LUCK

By RD READERS

Music as Medicine
By ANICKA QUIN

“Let’s Go Fishing”
From THE WASHINGTON POST
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 A Trusted Friend in a Complicated World
86
Features 50
national interest

38
cover story
How We Fail
Our Truckers*
Big-rig drivers are
STAY SAFE feeling mistreated,
FROM SCAMS* which is bad news
for the rest of us.
70
Smart ways to foil drama in real life
by derek burnett The Mariner
fraudsters looking
COVER: C.J. BURTON. THIS PAGE: ALEXEI VELLA (GUMBALL MACHINE). LYNN SCURFIELD (INSTRUMENTS)

to steal your money, vs. the Sea*

your identity and your 60 The sailor was trapped
inside the flooding
sense of security. inspiration
by marc saltzman Lessons from cabin of his overturned
My Daughters boat. As the hours
Thanks to my all- slipped by, so did his
grown-up girls, I’ve chances.
learned a whole new by lisa fitterman
way to roll.
by peter carter 80
inspiration
66 Wait for It ...
your true stories To enjoy life more,
Some People embrace anticipation.
Have All the Luck* by holly burns
from the new york times
Readers share their
greatest strokes of
good fortune. 86
by reader’ s digest health
readers When Music
Is Medicine*
As it turns out, tunes

80 can soothe us all.

by anicka quin

rd.com | june 2023 1

reader ’ s digest Contents

Departments 18
3 Dear Reader
world of good
5 Have Chair,
Will Travel
everyday heroes
6 What a Fish Tale!* the rd list The Healthy
by cathy free 93 About My Father, 27 Drink Up!
from the
washington post Schwarzenegger, by anna-kaisa walker
Saturday Night at 33 Seeing Blue
glad to hear it the Lakeside Supper by diane peters
9 Hair Apparent, Club and More 34 News from the
Cut to the Chase World of Medicine
and More quotable quotes
96 Jane Goodall, Jim
best pet pals
10 Nicky the Turtle
Parsons, Bernie Brain Games
Williams and More 98 Pathfinder, Petal
food passport trusted friend Problem, Fauna
15 The Scoop 104 Lost and Found Farce and More
on Gelato by Deshi Deng 101 Word Power*
by renée s. suen
13 things
18 Keeping Track
of Train Travel Humor
by samantha rideout Life in These United States ..................................... 12
where, oh where? Humor in Uniform .................................................... 21
22 Green All in a Day’s Work .................................................... 24
Mountain Laughter, the Best Medicine .................................. 36
Waterfalls

Send letters to [email protected] or LETTERS, READERS’s DIGEST, PO BOX 6100, HARLAN IA 51593-1600. Include your full name,
address, email and daytime phone number. We may edit letters and use them in all print and electronic media. Contribute your
True Stories at rd.com/stories. If we publish one in a print edition of Reader’s Digest, we’ll pay you $100. To submit humor items, visit
rd.com/submit, or write to us at JOKES, 1610 N. 2ND ST STE 102, MILWAUKEE WI 53212-3906. We’ll pay you $25 for any joke or gag
SERGE BLOCH

and $100 for any true funny story published in a print edition of Reader’s Digest unless we specify otherwise in writing. Please include
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to reprint any material from Reader’s Digest should be sent to [email protected]. Get help with questions on subscriptions, renew-
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or READER’S DIGEST, PO BOX 6095, HARLAN IA 51593-1595.

2 june 2023 * Story referenced on cover

 DEAR READER

Flipping for
Community
M
y pancake-making skills Added bonus of working the pancake
breakfast: smelling like bacon all day
have never been much to
brag about. I rely heavily on
a delicious recipe from our sister the local food bank provide a meal to
publication Taste of Home. (The dash someone else in the community.
of salt makes all the difference!) My We want to hear how your commu-
pancake-flipping skills are where nity comes together. This year, we’ve
things fall apart, literally. As a result partnered with Dollar General for
of poor spatula skills, I volunteer to our annual Nicest Places in America
eat the burnt and broken pancakes search. We’re working together from
my kids won’t touch. The number of coast to coast to find stories about the
those is more than I want to admit. towns where people join forces and
My poor pancake skills didn’t stop prove what community is all about.
me from volunteering for kitchen Submit your story by opening the cam-
duty at a recent charity event at our era on your cellphone and pointing it
local elementary school. At Pancake at the black “scan me” box below or by
FROM TOP: MELISSA GORSKI. TMB STUDIO/MARK DERSE

Breakfast: Spreading Kindness, folks visiting us at rd.com/nicest.

from the community donate a And feel free to email me your
canned good and parents from pancake-cooking tips. My kids will
the school serve up breakfast. thank you.
I jumped into any task that
didn’t include a spatula. By the
end of the day, I had met
new neighbors, parents SCAN ME
and teachers. More im-
Jason Buhrmester,
portantly, the event of-
chief content officer
fered a chance for the
neighborhood to have a Write to me at
meal together and help [email protected].

rd.com 3
 reader ’ s digest

World of

GOOD
Reasons to Smile

Have Chair, Will Travel

F
or travel blogger Cory Lee (below), it was easier to explore Antarctica
than some of the nearby parks and beaches in his home state of Georgia,
where being a wheelchair user meant that rugged hiking trails were
off-limits. Not anymore. With the fundraising support of foundations working
with the disabled, all-terrain power wheelchairs are now available at some state
parks in Georgia as well as in Colorado and Michigan, with more states likely
to join. The treads on each Action Trackchair allow those with mobility issues
to traverse rocky trails, sandy beaches and steep hills. As Lee told CNN, “It’ll
open up a whole new world for me and for other wheelchair users.”
COURTESY OF CURB FREE WITH CORY LEE

rd.com | june 2023 5

reader ’ s digest

EVERYDAY HEROES

What a
Fish Tale!
These kids’ fathers aren’t around. So
this dad takes them fishing every weekend.

by Cathy Free
from the washington post

I
t was hard not to notice the has three children of his own, got per-
8-year-old boy across the street mission from the boy’s mother to take
who stormed in and out of his own him fishing.
house. He did it often enough that a One Saturday afternoon on the water
neighbor, William Dunn, wondered led to another, and soon he was teach-
what was going on in his life. So Dunn ing other kids in their Lakeland, Flor-
asked him. ida, neighborhood how to rig a line,
“He told me that he didn’t have a hold a pole, and reel in a big catch. That
father,” says Dunn, now 58, “and I re- was 16 years ago.
alized there might be something I Since then, Dunn has taken groups
could do for him.” of kids out almost every weekend to
That something was fishing, a pas- fish. Most didn’t have father figures in
sion Dunn’s father had shared with their lives and had never fished before.
him. “Fishing always brought me peace Some were foster kids who had shuffled
and it taught me how to be patient. from one home to the next.
When you’re on the water, you can for- “They’d been through a lot, and
get about your problems and just they’d seen a lot, and their lives were
appreciate the moment.” Dunn, who difficult,” Dunn says. “But when they

6 june 2023 photograph by Bob Croslin

 World of Good
Fishing is
about “making
memories,” says
William Dunn,
with two new
anglers.

rd.com 7
reader ’ s digest

were fishing, all of that faded away. Out caught a shark with Dunn’s help.
on the boat, they’d be laughing and “I hope he knows I mean it when
smiling and making new friends. I I say thank you,” he says.
knew I was on to something.” Just as important as the fishing are
In the beginning, Dunn—“Big Will” the relationships Dunn forms with
to the kids—spent a good chunk of his the kids.
paycheck from his job selling tires to “When Jayden was going through a
rent charter boats for the kids. Then, in rough patch ... I let Will know that his
2018, he started the nonprofit Take a grades were suffering and he had a little
Kid Fishing Inc. He and a small group talk with him,” Terra says. Jayden came
of volunteers have introduced more home and told her that Big Will had
than 2,500 kids—most without fathers given him a sense of purpose. And, she
adds, Jayden’s grades have improved.
“I’M ABLE TO FORGET Another regular angler, Bella Smith,
ABOUT THE PAST AND says that Dunn emphasizes self-respect
and mental toughness.
CONCENTRATE ON “I’m able to forget about the past
SOMETHING FUN.” when I’m fishing and concentrate on
something fun and positive,” says
Smith, 21, who is in a foster program for
around—to the calming peace found young adults while she takes automo-
on the water and the exhilaration of tive classes at a technical college. “Fish-
nabbing a fish. One of those kids was ing is learning for life. I’ve learned that
Jayden Pryor, who struggled emotion- I deserve a better life than what I had.
ally when his father died in a car acci- Whenever I feel down about some-
dent in January 2020. thing, I know it’s time to go fishing.”
“He was really close to his dad,” says Dunn’s own father passed away this
Jayden’s mother, Terra Pryor. And with past December. As a result, the fishing
two younger siblings, he “felt he trips have taken on new meaning for
needed to take over the man of the him. “I have even more passion for it
house role. He was trying to be strong because now I’m fatherless too.” That’s
for everyone and didn’t show his emo- why he’s always eager to watch the kids
tion. I was wondering what to do to on the boat.
help him, and then I learned about “There’s nothing like feeling that first
Take a Kid Fishing.” tug on the line and seeing a kid light up
Jayden, now 13, has become a with a smile,” Dunn says. “I feel lucky
devoted fisherman and credits Dunn to witness that every weekend.” RD
with helping him mature, while also
THE WASHINGTON POST ( JUNE 17, 2022), COPYRIGHT ©
being sure to mention that he once 2022 BY THE WASHINGTON POST.

8 june 2023
 World of Good

Cut to the Chase

GLAD TO Derek Gotchie was outside a friend’s
home, shutting the trunk of his GMC
HEAR IT Yukon, when a stranger jumped into
the driver’s seat and sped off into the
3 Stories to
Minneapolis night … with Gotchie’s
Make Your Day
four children in the back, all under
5 years old. Luckily, the suspect had
abandoned a stolen van nearby with
the engine running. Derek jumped in
and took chase. “I didn’t know what
to do,” he told KSTP News in Minne-
apolis. “I’m going after my kids.” He
caught up with the Yukon a few blocks
later and slammed the back of it with
the van, pushing it into an alleyway
and pinning it against a fence. The
Hair Apparent suspect fled, leaving the kids un-
After two failed surgeries to remove harmed. Told by police what her hus-
a benign brain tumor of the pituitary band did, Deanah Gotchie nodded.
gland, Melanie Shaha of Gilbert, “Yup, that sounds like my husband.”
Arizona, started radiation treat-
ment. A side effect was that she lost The Fun Food Truck
her hair permanently. “I don’t mind When they learned that children in
being sick,” she told Today Parents. their hometown of Frazeysburg, Ohio,
“But I mind looking sick.” Her son were going hungry, Jason Watson, a
Matt Shaha, 27, soon offered to grow phys ed teacher, and his wife, Anne,
out his hair to make a wig for her. a school librarian, decided to bring
Melanie nixed the idea, but Matt in- food to the kids in the most fun way
sisted. Pointing to his golden locks, possible: a mint-colored ice cream
he joked: “Coming soon to a head truck. For the past two summers, the
near you!” After Matt’s hair grew couple have served about 70 meals
12 inches, he had it chopped off and a week, delivering home-cooked
JOHN1179/GETTY IMAGES

sent it to Compassionate Creations, lunches and ice cream to those in

which creates customized wigs for need. Helping people is easy, Anne
patients suffering from hair loss. It told talk show host Jennifer Hudson:
was a hit. “The color is spectacular,” “Find your passion, find what the
says Melanie. As for her son’s gift: “It need is in your community, and hit
sure fills your emotional cup.” the ground running.” RD

rd.com 9
reader ’ s digest World of Good

Got a pet th
wants to comeat
ou
Nicky in her favorite of its shell? t
See terms an
spot—under the porch
submit your stord
y
with the worms rd.com/petpals.at
BEST PET PALS

Nicky the Turtle shell to get a good look at her fans.

Nicky loves munching on the toma-
lancaster county, pa toes and pretzels the neighbor kids

W
hen I first got Nicky, I was feed her, and she’s even gutsy enough
10 years old, and she was about to steal a mouthful of dog food from
the size of a quarter. We’ve time to time.
grown together (I’m now 80 and she On her 50th birthday (these turtles
weighs 5 pounds), and she’s been my typically live 50 years or more), we
best friend through it all. threw her a blowout party, complete
Nicky lives in our backyard pond in with a gift any turtle would die for: her
the summer, and has her own room own in-ground pond.
and filtered kiddie pool in the winter. She is a good pet and a better friend.
She’s a yellow-bellied slider, but she’s She keeps all my secrets. Nicky was in
far from cowardly. She’s actually quite my lap the day after my wedding and
GEORGENE A.

social and curious. As the star of show as we moved from home to home, and
and tell for four kids and eight grand- she’ll be there till the very end. RD
kids, she cranes her neck out of her —Nominated by Georgene A.

10 june 2023 | rd.com

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reader ’ s digest World of Good

LIFE
in these
United States

I was working out in the

gym when I noticed a
man in street clothes,
who stood watching
me and the others for
about 20 minutes be-
fore leaving. He came
a second day, staying
for a half hour. On the “Today’s top story: Nobody did anything about anything
third day, I asked him that you wanted them to do something about.”
what he was doing.
He smiled and said, I asked if it was spayed much so, that she just
“My doctor said I have or neutered. had to ask, “Does your
to go to the gym.” “Neither,” he replied. tongue come out too?”
—Tom Swartz “She’s a shepherd mix.” —Virginia Cullen
Leesburg, FL —Suzie Lenzini Fort Collins, CO
Torrance, CA
I ran into a neighbor At a dude ranch in
walking his dog. It was My 5-year-old grand- Texas, the cowboy pre-
his first pet, so I made daughter was fascinated paring the horses asked
sure to lavish praise as she watched her my wife if she wanted
on the cute pup. Not great-grandmother a Western or English
knowing the gender, remove her dentures. So saddle. “What’s the
difference?” she asked.
“One has a horn and
My husband was so excited to finally one doesn’t,” he said.
have a kid who shared his love for baseball, “The one without the
horn is fine. I don’t ex-
until the bottom of the eighth when she
pect we’ll run into too
loudly asked, “Is this baseball or football?” much traffic.”
— @ihidefrommykids —gcfl.net

12 june 2023 | rd.com cartoon by David Sipress/CartoonStock.com

 Purina trademarks are owned by Société des Produits Nestlé S.A.

Cat adored.
Chef inspired.
LOVE IS IN THE DETAILS
®

FancyFeast.com
reader ’ s digest World of Good

My son-in-law was home. One day, I took the doctor said with
washing his truck when time out from sorting a shrug, “You know,
he turned the hose on coupons to write the Mr. Whitney, at your
his 5-year-old. She ran family a letter thanking age you have to expect
around, laughing and them for taking care of things like this.”
giggling. Unable to him. Soon after, my son Uncle Charlie wasn’t
control her happiness, called saying the family buying it. “Doc,” he
she shrieked, “This wanted to thank me for said, “my other leg is
is so much fun, Dad! my kind letter, not to the same age, and it
How did you come up mention the 25-cent don’t hurt.”
with it?” coupon for Ragu —Linda Perkins
—Dinah Rodgers spaghetti sauce. Wells, ME
Kailua Kona, HI —Barbara Porter
South Glens Falls, NY
your funny story
When our son went
about friends or family
away to college, a My uncle was in his 90s
could be worth $$$. For
friend of his often when he saw a doctor
details, go to page 2 or
invited him to dinner about his bum leg. rd.com/submit.
at his family’s lavish After examining him,

HOW NOT TO GET ARRESTED

Check your ego arrested on charges of officers milling about as
at the door violating probation. part of their annual Shop
Police in Rockdale with a Cop event.
County, Georgia, listed Be aware of your
their 10 Most Wanted surroundings Plot out a foolproof
criminals on social media, A thief walked into a escape route
and in doing so insulted Walmart in St. Cloud, A woman in Lakewood,
a man who wondered Florida, and, being a Washington, stole her
why he’d been left off thief, pocketed a few mother’s Mini Cooper and
the list. “What about items. He might have got- drove it till she could go
me?” he asked in the ten away with it had he no farther. That’s because
THUMB/GETTY IMAGES

comments section. Offi- only turned around to see the route she took hap-
cers replied, “You are the 40 uniformed police pened to be where road
correct. You have crews were laying con-
two warrants. crete. The car got stuck
We are on the and she had to hoof it out,
way.” He was only to be arrested later.

14 june 2023
 reader ’s digest

Art of

LIVING
Food, facts & fun

The Scoop on Gelato

This Italian export has won fans all over the world

BY Renée S. Suen

W
e all scream for ice cream, but for gelato, we swoon. Sculpted into
smooth waves that beckon from behind glass counters, gelato is denser
than ice cream, with flavors more pronounced. Because gelato is made
with more milk and less cream, it’s also lower in calories. In fact, its lower butterfat
TMB STUDIO

helps its natural flavors shine through.

Though home freezers weren’t available until the 1940s, frozen treats are far
from modern marvels: Egyptian pharaohs served their guests ice sweetened with

photographs by K. Synold rd.com 15

reader ’s digest Art of Living

fruit juice, and Romans mixed crushed Despite being a hit among royalty,
ice from Mount Vesuvius with honey. gelato didn’t become a treat for the
Many believe that the origin of gelato is masses until a Parisian cafe called
actually a Chinese recipe that Marco Le Procope, which is still in exis-
Polo brought back to Italy around the tence today, started serving it in 1686.
end of the 13th century. It called for Its owner, Francesco Procopio dei Col-
milk and spices to be mixed with over- telli, a Sicilian, also created the first
cooked rice and snow. ice cream–making machine, which
Gelato’s Italian breakthrough came allowed for the large-scale production
more than 200 years later, after astrol- of the frozen dessert.
oger Cosimo Ruggieri won a culinary Gelato then came to America in 1770
contest sponsored by the influential with Italian native Giovanni Basiolo,
house of Medici with his fior di latte but it didn’t start to catch on until the
late 1900s, when consumers began to
explore frozen yogurt and other non-
YOU CAN EVEN FIND ice-cream frozen desserts.
SAVORY VARIETIES But it’s far more than just dessert:
SUCH AS RED WINE, Gelato can be enjoyed atop a breakfast
pastry (brioche con gelato) or drowned
OLIVE OIL OR TOMATO. in a shot of espresso (affogato). You can
even find savory varieties such as red
wine, olive oil or tomato with basil. But
gelato, which omitted the rice. A smit- those are far less surprising than this
ten Catherine de’ Medici later had Rug- creative canape on Toronto’s Michelin-
gieri make his delicacy for her wedding starred Don Alfonso 1890’s tasting
to the future King Henry II of France. menu: eel-infused gelato served with
However, rather than Ruggieri, it is wild rose tagliatelle, herbs and caviar.
Bernardo Buontalenti who is deemed True devotees can even attend
the father of gelato. (You’ve likely seen Gelato University in Bologna, Italy (yes,
his namesake, the gelato brand Talenti.) really!), where you’ll learn the details of
In 1565, the already famous Florentine true gelato, how to create your own
artist and architect created a dessert variations, and how to open and run a
based on creamy zabaglione, a type of gelato shop, if that’s your dream.
whipped custard. He blended milk, egg But most of us will be satisfied just
yolks and honey, then flavored the mix- enjoying the sweet stuff on a warm day.
ture with sweet wine, bergamot, lemon Dressed up with pieces of fruit, nuts or
TMB STUDIO

and orange for the court of Catherine sprinkles, or served straight, gelato is
de’ Medici, then queen of France, to one of the hottest commodities on the
serve to the visiting king of Spain. frozen treat market.

16 june 2023 illustration by Ed Fotheringham

rd.com 17
reader ’ s digest

13 THINGS

Keeping Track of
Train Travel
BY Samantha Rideout

1
you might consider nearly 140,000 miles of or horses providing
taking the train for track, with lines that go the power. The first
your summer get- to many national parks steam engine operated
away. After all, you’ll or even cross-country. in Wales in 1804.
see only clouds at Perhaps this is why the

2
35,000 feet—if you’re Europeans built Brits are loco for loco-
lucky. The United the earliest rails motives: In the U.K., at
States has the world’s in mines in the least 20 magazines are
largest rail network at 16th century, with men published about them.

18 june 2023 illustration by Serge Bloch

 Art of Living

3
Today’s fastest to 260 pounds for the Vladivostok in Russia,
trains travel close same trip by plane. passing through eight
to 200 mph. Some- time zones along the

5
times called bullet The Orient way. Once a week,
trains (most famous Express—the a single rail car from
among them Japan’s setting of the North Korea connects
Shinkansen lines), best-selling Agatha to Vladivostok, making
many run on electricity. Christie mystery—is a Pyongyang to Moscow
But the fastest of them real route, and among the longest rail trip
all, the Shanghai Mag- the most luxurious, you can take without
lev in China, uses the featuring marble bath- switching trains.
attraction and repul- rooms and a live pianist

8
sion forces of magnets in the bar car. But it’ll “Slow TV,” or
to shoot forward, racing cost you: The five-night relaxing video that
as fast as 285 mph. The Paris-to-Istanbul trip plays out over the
fastest American train, starts at $23,000. same amount of time
the Acela, hits 150 mph as the event it portrays,

6
in Connecticut and But there are is full of footage of train
Rhode Island. cheaper famous trips using cameras
railroads. Take the fixed to the front cars.

4
Traveling by Pennsylvania, which, The genre’s first foray,
high-speed rail along with Reading, a 2009 ride from Oslo to
can actually be B&O and Short Line, Bergen in Norway, has
quicker than taking a will each cost $200 in spun several spin-offs
plane—if you account Monopoly money. In you can watch on
for time spent at the the more recent Ticket Prime Video, Pluto TV
airport. Train stations to Ride, players link and YouTube. Stream
tend to be centrally cities by rail and earn the view from one
located, while airports points based on the of Chicago’s elevated
often lie outside of city length of their routes. trains or feast your eyes
centers. Another plus: on the fjords along

7
Rail travel is typically One of the longest Norway’s Nordland line
greener than going real-life routes is without leaving home.
by air. The train ride the Trans-Siberian

9
from London to Railway. Even express Ghost trains give
Madrid, for example, trains take nearly a a spookier rail
emits 95 pounds of week to wind through experience. One
carbon dioxide per more than 5,700 miles of the world’s many
passenger, compared between Moscow and purported phantom

rd.com 19
reader ’ s digest

locomotives follows the crew of bandits struck five days of intensive

same route as the train a Union Pacific train, studying. They’d then
that carried the body of using dynamite to blow get homework to do
Abraham Lincoln from open its safe before during the six weeks
Washington, D.C., back escaping on horseback. that would pass before
to his home in Spring- the train’s return.

11
field, Illinois, in 1865. Many nations Other trains that came
An article from 1879 in involved in through these areas
New York’s Rockland World War I had fully equipped
County Journal reads, relied on railways to dentist cars.
“The shriek of its move troops, supplies

13
whistle and clang of and other essentials. American rail,
its bell strike terror to France, for example, while lagging by
the hearts of those that transported around European and
hear them.” The term 1 million men and Asian standards, is re-
“ghost train” also 400,000 horses to the ceiving a $102 billion
describes British trains front by rail during the investment from the
that run infrequently first two weeks alone. government, the largest
at odd hours, and often Some of Great Britain’s since Amtrak’s debut
without passengers trains functioned in 1971. Modernizing
aboard. It’s easier for as ambulances with and expanding na-
their operators to run cars converted into tional high-speed rail is
them at a minimum operating rooms where among the Department
than to cut the lines. surgeons performed of Transportation’s top
procedures in transit— priorities. Meanwhile,

10
a staple of despite the bumping private companies
old Western and swaying! are dabbling with the
movies, railway hyperloop, a train

12
holdups were common Between the that travels through a
in the 1870s and 1920s and ’60s, tube where there’s no
peaked in the 1890s. Canada used air resistance to slow
Sometimes they even trains as mobile school- it down. The concept
inspired the cinematic houses that traveled works on paper but
versions. The Great between remote com- has proved difficult
Train Robbery, released munities in northern to make comfortable
in 1903, echoed an Ontario. Children and cost-effective. Still,
actual event from four would walk, snowshoe, U.S. rail passengers
years earlier, when ski or canoe to the train have much to look
Butch Cassidy and his stop, then settle in for forward to. RD

20 june 2023
 Art of Living

Humor in

UNIFORM

At a staff briefing in Should you join the “they have the coolest
Korea, a pilot told us Navy fighter pilot song.” He then went on
about a flight he made training school known to sing his version of it:
through a mountain as Top Gun, do not “From the halls of
pass during a storm. It quote from the epony- bazoo-ooka
was so bad that he was mous movie. Former To the shores of
forced to turn back. Top Gun instructor naval sea.
“Gentlemen,” he said, Guy “Bus” Snodgrass We’re proud to
still shaken, “it’s better told Business Insider claim the title
to be down here on the that those ignoring this Of United States
ground wishing you warning will be fined Maureen.”
were up there than to $5 by instructors. —T. Wood,
be up there wishing via United Through
you were down here.” We’re an Army family, Reading
The chaplain dis- so it was a surprise
agreed: “Maybe in your when our 8-year-old YOUR FUNNY MILITARY
line of work, Captain, declared that he story could be worth
but not mine.” wanted to join the $$$. For details, go to
—Bernard Jones Marines when he Rd.com/submit.
Columbus, GA grew up because

cartoon by Roy Delgado/CartoonStock.com rd.com 21

reader ’ s digest

WHERE, OH WHERE?

W
elcome to one of the wettest
places on Earth. It rains more
than an inch a day here, which
gives the area its green coat. But that
cloak also hides a historic scar: A
bloody battle back in 1790 ended with
warriors attempting to make a stand
atop the leftmost peak, among the most
sacred destinations in the state. Where
is it? (Answer on page 103.)
A Paradise, Michigan
B Iao Valley State Monument, Hawaii
C Snoqualmie Falls, Washington
D Tongass National Forest, Alaska

SHUTTERJACK/GETTY IMAGES

22 june 2023
Art of Living

rd.com 23
reader ’ s digest

All
in a Day’s

WORK
My wife was teaching
our 4-year-old the
importance of earning
money by paying him
to perform chores
around the house. The
first week, when he was “Toilet or Tap?”
finished, she gave him
a crisp $1 bill. The My then-BF took me “Uh … How am I sup-
following week, she along with him once, posed to answer that?”
presented him with and I was surprised Actual interview ques-
another dollar bill, that the apartment was tions meant to stump:
but he pushed it away. super nice but also rel- ✦ Why is it OK to eat
“No, thanks,” he said. atively normal. Then chicken, but not cat?
“I already have one we found out it was the ✦ Have you ever seen
of those.” dog’s apartment. a ghost?
—Phillip Brown —@melissapetro ✦ Do you think I’m
Toano, VA ugly?
“I like work. It fasci- ✦ If you were starving
For no reason, I just nates me. I can sit and to death on a desert
thought of the time a look at it for hours.” island, would you eat
guy I was dating got —Jerome K. Jerome, a human being?
hired to dog-sit for a author, from Three ✦ How would you hide
VAUGHAN TOMLINSON

well-known filmmaker. Men in a Boat a dead body?

—coburgbanks.co.uk

My 86-year-old father
“Sculpture is something you bump into
was trudging up the
when you back up to look at a painting.” stairs carrying rolls of
—adolph “ad ” Reinhardt, painter toilet paper to each of

24 june 2023
 Art of Living

the three bathrooms in an appointment now! After retiring from UPS

his house. As I passed Me: I can’t find you on as a delivery driver, my
him, I heard him mut- the system. friend took a part-time
ter, “My first job was Customer: I booked an job driving a school bus.
delivering papers too.” appointment a long When I asked how the
—Teresa Hall time ago. Give me an new job was going, he
Santa Rosa, CA appointment now! replied enthusiastically,
Me: Maybe I can fit you “Great! The packages
Scene: Customer walks in between two other unload themselves.”
into our hair salon clients. What were you —George Denofre
insisting she has an going to have done? Chassell, MI
appointment … Customer: I was going
Me: Sorry, but I can’t to get my eyes checked
your funny work
find your appointment and get new glasses.
story could be worth
here. Are you sure it Me: Ma’am, the optician
$$$. For details,
was today? is next door.
go to page 2 or
Customer: Of course! Customer: Oh …
rd.com/submit.
I demand you give me —notalwaysright.com

DEDICATED TO THE ONE I LOVE

For many writers, plot and dialogue are a cinch compared to writing the
dedication and acknowledgments pages. Nevertheless, here are a few gems:

“To my wife Marganit “My first stepfather used “To Charles Manson
and my children Ella to say that what I didn’t (not that one)”
Rose and Daniel Adam, know would fill a book. —Norm Macdonald,
without whom this book Well, here it is.” Based on a True Story:
TEWAN YANGMEE/EYEEM/GETTY IMAGES

would have been com- —Tobias Wolff, Not a Memoir

pleted two years earlier.” This Boy’s Life
—Joseph J. Rotman, “This book is dedicated
An Introduction to “What can I say about to my father, Joseph Hill
Algebraic Topology a man who knows how Evans, with love. Actually,
I think and still sleeps Dad doesn’t read fiction,
next to me with the so if someone doesn’t
lights off?” tell him about this, he’ll
—Gillian Flynn, never know.”
Dark Places —Tad Williams,
Otherland, Vol I

rd.com 25
 BEYOND
ORDINARY

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 reader ’ s digest

The

HEALTHY
Wellness from Thehealthy.com

Drink Up!
Hydrating beverages
that aren’t water

BY Anna-Kaisa Walker
illustrations by Kate Traynor

W
ater keeps our basic bodily
functions running: blood cir-
culation, temperature regu-
lation through sweating, digestion and
so much more.
Our bodies are about 60% water and
if we don’t get enough to drink, dehy-
dration—defined as a body-water loss
of at least 1% to 2% of your weight—can
cause dizziness, fatigue and headaches.
An easy way to gauge your hydration
levels is by the color of your urine and
how often you pee (ideally more than
four times per day).
“It doesn’t need to be clear all the
time, but it should be light like lemon-
ade, not dark like apple juice,” says

rd.com | june 2023 27

reader ’ s digest The Healthy

Isabel Maples, a Washington, D.C.– that drank 3½ cups of coffee a day and
based registered dietitian and spokes- the other an equal amount of water.
person for the Academy of Nutrition After controlling for food intake and
and Dietetics. “Keep in mind that some exercise, researchers found no signifi-
medications and supplements can also cant difference in hydration levels.
affect urine color.” “There is no reason that caffeinated
So how much water do we need beverages can’t count toward your
to drink each day? The eight-glasses daily fluid totals,” says Maples. Try
guideline is decades old, but experts to limit yourself to 3 or 4 cups max,
say current research isn’t so rigid but though, to stay within healthy limits.
instead supports paying attention to tea Both black and green tea have
your individual needs—which can vary about the same hydration benefits as
from day to day, according to Maples. coffee, with the added boost of heart-
Generally, the average sedentary protecting antioxidants. Soothing brews
adult male requires about 13 cups of like chamomile or mint are caffeine-
fluids a day, while the average female and calorie-free, and their taste may
needs just over 8 cups. On some days, encourage you to drink more.
though—when it’s hot or you’re working “Hibiscus tea, in particular, is packed
out or taking certain medications such with antioxidants and flavonoids,”
as antihistamines—you may need more. says Hemler, because of the anti-
If those recommendations sound inflammatory pigment molecules that
like way too much water for your taste, give hibiscus its bright red color.
don’t worry. You don’t have to drink milk In a 2015 study published in the
that much, and it doesn’t have to be all American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
water. Actually, we eat an estimated British researchers found that cows’
20% of our fluids (foods such as fresh milk, both full-fat and skim, is more
fruits and vegetables have a high water hydrating than plain water. That’s
content). For the rest, you can supple- because it takes longer to digest than
ment plain water with these drinks: water, allowing the body to absorb
coffee That’s right, coffee. Caffein- more fluids. In the study, people who
ated drinks do have mild diuretic prop- drank milk produced less urine over
erties, but there’s no evidence that they four hours than those who drank an
lead to dehydration. Sure, they’ll make equal amount of other fluids, and
you urinate more, “but the fluid intake showed higher hydration levels in their
offsets that loss,” says Drew Hemler, a blood. Milk also supplies three nutri-
Toronto-based registered dietitian. ents that most of us need more of:
A 2014 U.K. study published in the potassium, vitamin D and calcium.
journal PLOS One measured the body plant milks The nutritional profiles
water of subjects in two groups: one of nondairy milk options (soy, almond,

28 june 2023 | rd.com

 PROTEIN SMART

DESIGNED TO HELP MANAGE BLOOD SUGAR* AND

SUPPORT MUSCLES FOR STRENGTH AND MOBILITY†

Scientifically designed for

people with diabetes

30g 1
†

GLUCOSE VS GLUCERNA
#
HIGH-QUALITY Made with CARBSTEADY®, DOCTOR-RECOMMENDED
PROTEIN to help manage blood sugar* BRAND

Use as part of a diabetes management plan.

* Designed to help minimize blood sugar spikes.
©2023 Abbott 20219650/March 2023 LITHO IN USA
reader ’ s digest The Healthy

oat and coconut beverages are top sell- faster, putting them roughly on par with
ers) vary. But most are low-calorie, low- water for hydration.
cholesterol and more environmentally sports drinks Available in fun colors
sustainable alternatives to dairy. and fruity flavors, sports drinks are
“Some plant milks are fortified with advertised as being more hydrating
calcium and vitamins A, D and B12, as than water. But that’s because people
well as other nutrients commonly tend to drink more of something that
added to cows’ milk,” says Hemler. tastes good, says Hemler.
“However, they fall short on protein.” “If you’re trying to lose weight, be
Only soy milk comes close, at 6 grams aware that these drinks can also
per cup, compared to 8 grams for cows’ increase your total carbohydrates and
milk. calories,” he says. A 20-ounce bottle
Plant milks are high in water— contains up to 35 grams, or 8 tea-
almond milk is 97% water, while cows’ spoons, of sugar, but there are low- or
milk is 87% to 90%—but because they no-sugar options.
lack dairy’s protein and carbohydrates, Sports drinks do supply electro-
they pass through the digestive system lytes—minerals that support hydration

30 june 2023 | rd.com

This experience could be cut short
by respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

RSV could interrupt the things you want to do most.

RSV is a contagious virus that usually causes

mild symptoms but can severely affect the
lungs and respiratory airways in older adults

Adults at highest risk for severe RSV infections

that may lead to hospitalizations include older
adults, especially those aged 60 and older

Adults with certain underlying conditions

like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD), and congestive heart failure
(CHF) are among those adults at highest risk
of severe infection from RSV

Learn more by talking with

your doctor and visiting
RSVandMe.com
reader ’ s digest

and muscle function—and can help are watching your calories and carbs,
your body recover from intense exer- coconut water is a healthier option
cise lasting more than an hour. An than some sports drinks, at 45 to 60 cal-
electrolyte-enriched drink can also ories and 6 grams of sugar per cup.
help rehydrate you after an episode of aloe vera The gel of the aloe plant is
severe diarrhea or vomiting. well known as a skin salve for its mois-
juice Fruit and vegetable juices with turizing and burn-soothing properties,
no added sugar are an excellent source but it can also be mixed with water to
of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, make a refreshing, hydrating drink.
which can reduce inflammation and Aloe is rich in polyphenols, a type of
help prevent age-related diseases. Nat- antioxidant, and research from a 2016
ural sugars, such as fructose and lac- study published in the journal Nutri-
tose, digest more slowly than processed ents suggests it may even help control
blood sugar, which is important for
people with diabetes. You could make
COCONUT WATER your own, but it’s best to buy bottled
CONTAINS MORE aloe juice; the sticky latex inside the
aloe leaf can cause stomach upset if not
POTASSIUM carefully removed.
THAN A BANANA. bone broth Made by simmering
chicken or beef bones and cartilage
with vegetables for a minimum of
sugar, helping to stabilize your metab- 12 hours, bone broth has become
olism. Orange juice is slightly more trendy as a comforting drink with anti-
hydrating than water, according to a inflammatory properties, thanks to the
2015 British study. amino acids derived from collagen.
coconut water Technically a fruit With its added salt, it can also replenish
juice, this clear, slightly sweet liquid is electrolytes, as sodium helps the body
another source of electrolytes, namely retain fluids. Too much sodium, how-
sodium, magnesium and potassium. In ever, can put extra pressure on your
fact, 1 cup contains more potassium blood vessels, making your heart work
than a banana. Coconut water is mar- harder.
keted as a natural exercise-recovery “Your recommended limit for
drink, but a 2012 study published in the sodium intake is 2,300 milligrams a
Journal of the International Society of day, and 2 cups of bone broth can con-
Sports Nutrition found no significant tain a quarter of that,” says Hemler. If
hydration difference among coconut you buy bone broth, low-sodium ver-
water, sports drinks and water. If you sions are best, or you can make your
like something sweeter than water but own and reduce or skip the salt. RD

32 june 2023
 The Healthy

bad. “The sun emits a much higher

intensity of blue light than human-made
devices, of course, and it’s actually ben-
eficial,” says Dr. Esparaz. It helps our
mood, alertness and sleep-wake cycle.
The problem is blue light at night: It
suppresses the release of melatonin.
“Melatonin helps regulate our circa-
dian rhythms and makes us sleepy,”
says Dr. Esparaz.
So, in theory, wearing blue-light-
blocking glasses should help people
who watch movies in bed or read from
a tablet at night avoid sleeplessness. A
Seeing Blue 2021 review study from the University of
Oklahoma that looked at 24 previous
studies found that people affected by
BY Diane Peters
sleep disorders, jet lag and shift work fell

T
he sales pitches tempt: Blue- asleep faster after using these glasses.
light-blocking glasses are sup- As for eye strain, a 2021 Australian
posed to protect eyes from the study showed that those wearing the
effects of short-wavelength light emit- glasses did not experience less eye
ting from our smartphones, computer strain than those using clear glasses.
screens and LED lights. Given how And a 2018 review study, also by Aus-
much time we spend on our devices, tralian researchers, found insufficient
this sounds like a smart investment, evidence that they prevent macular
right? After all, eye strain is a real is- degeneration.
sue and can lead to poor sleep and “These glasses aren’t going to be
even cataracts and macular degener- harmful,” says Dr. Esparaz. But, she
ation. The glasses can cost $15 all the adds, a lack of standardization in the
way up to several hundred dollars. But industry means there’s no way to know
do they work? if one pair is better than another.
Elizabeth Esparaz, an ophthalmolo- A more reliable solution: Turn on the
gist based in Cleveland, Ohio, says the blue-light-filtering function on your
science that manufacturers share as devices and limit screen time before
they promote these glasses can be con- bed. To help with eye strain, Dr. Esparaz
fusing. For starters, blue light is not just suggests taking breaks and using lubri-
about tech devices, and it’s not always cating eye drops. RD

rd.com 33
reader ’s digest

When Breast-
News From the Cancer Surgery
WORLD OF Is Not Needed

MEDICINE
Samantha Rideout
BY
Patients with breast
cancer who respond
well to chemotherapy
may now be able to
skip surgery altogether.
Improvements made to
REVERSING chemo drugs have ren-
SLEEP APNEA dered them so effective
that they can some-
Roughly 1 billion of the world’s adults live times eradicate the
cancer all on their
with obstructive sleep apnea. This com- own. For instance,
mon disorder contributes to problems in a Texas-based trial,
ranging from daytime fatigue and irritabil- 31 out of 50 women
ity to heart disease. The go-to treatment, with early-stage
HER2-positive or triple-
a continuous positive airway pressure negative tumors had
(CPAP) machine, controls sleep apnea by no signs of cancer
delivering pressurized air through a mask after being treated
while the person sleeps. However, the with chemotherapy. So
instead of an operating
machine doesn’t address the underlying room, these patients
causes, which are often lifestyle related. proceeded to radio-
Researchers in Spain recruited sleep therapy—and after two
apnea patients and helped half of them years, none of them
saw their cancers
adopt healthier habits: to eat and sleep return. Larger trials
PHOTOGRAPH BY THE VOORHES

better, exercise more, and smoke and will be needed to con-

drink less. Six months later, that group’s firm this course of
sleep apnea improved more, on average, action, but this small
study suggests that
compared to the people who made no life- skipping surgery is fea-
style changes. More than 60% of patients sible more often than
no longer needed a CPAP machine. previously thought.

34 june 2023 | rd.com

 The Healthy

Are You Allergic To Stave Off

to Your Phone? Hunger, Eat
More Protein
When investigators
in Massachusetts If you’re feeling hungry
and Iowa took a close even though you just
look at the phones ate, a lack of protein
of study volunteers, might be the reason.
they uncovered some This source of energy
eye-watering evidence should make up 15% to
of possible allergens. 25% of the calories we
Researchers found take in, but popular
dog and cat dander, as well as mold, and endo- processed foods and
toxins, which are powerful inflammatory agents. convenience fare don’t
Their analysis was published in Annals of Allergy, tend to contain much.
Asthma and Immunology. To prevent your phone It’s especially import-
from triggering reactions such as wheezing or ant to make protein
TEERAMET THANOMKIAT/EYEEM/GETTY IMAGES (WOMAN). JIM WIELAND/TMB STUDIO (FOOD)

sneezing, clean it frequently, especially if you part of your breakfast.

have allergies or asthma. Follow manufacturers’ In a recent study from
MAGNETCREATIVE/GETTY IMAGES (TISSUE BOX), FOTOGRAZIA/GETTY IMAGES (PHONE),

instructions and gently wipe the exterior with a the University of Syd-
household disinfecting wipe or one containing ney in Australia, partic-
70% isopropyl alcohol. ipants who got less
than the recommended
proportion of their
A Blood Test for confirms that a newer energy from protein
Alzheimer’s method, measuring the in their morning meal
amount of beta-amyloid went on to eat more
When someone has in the blood, is almost food throughout the
cognitive issues, a as accurate. It’s also day.
doctor might order a faster, less expensive
PET scan or spinal tap and radiation-free. This
to look for a buildup test is now available in
of a protein called the U.S. and Europe, but
beta-amyloid in the it isn’t yet covered by
brain, which is one sign most health plans. That
of Alzheimer’s disease. might change, so ask
However, a recent inter- your doctor about it if
national study pub- you or a loved one are
lished in Neurology discussing options.

35
reader ’ s digest

LAUGHTER
The best Medicine

A banker and his friend

are fishing when their
boat hits a rock and
sinks. The banker
panics, screaming,
“I can’t swim!”
His friend wraps an
arm around him and
tows him toward shore.
But after 20 minutes,
he becomes weary and
asks, “Do you think you
could float alone?” same thief, the police With sales down at KFC,
The banker shouts, asked the owner if he Colonel Sanders calls
“This is no time to ask could give a description the pope to ask for a
that!” of the robber. favor. “Holy Father, I
—Submitted by “Yes,” said the owner. need you to change the
jeff Ackles “He was dressed a little daily prayer from ‘Give
Edmonds, WA better each time he us this day our daily
robbed the store.” bread’ to ‘Give us this
After his jewelry store —Submitted by day our daily chicken.’
was robbed five times Davis Singletary If you do that, I will
in two weeks by the Knoxville, TN donate $10 million to
the Vatican.”
The pope replies,
Hello. All of the actors from Friends “That is the Lord’s
are now older than the youngest Prayer. I can’t change it.”
“How about $50 mil-
Golden Girl was in the show’s
JIM BENTON

lion?”
first season. Have a nice day. “No.”
— @elimccann “$100 million?”

36 june 2023
 The Healthy

“I’ll get back to you.” When asked by the other and says, “It’s
The next day, the New York Times Book really dark in here.
pope calls together his Review which writer I’m scared.”
bishops. “I have good he’d invite to a dinner “You’re scared?”
news and bad news,” party, John Cleese an- says the other mobster.
he says. “The good news swered, “Mark Twain “I have to walk out of
is that KFC is donating ... because he said, here alone.”
$100 million to the ‘Wagner’s music is —Submitted by
Vatican. The bad news much better than it Robert Love
is, we have to give up sounds,’ which I think Blowing Rock, NC
the Wonder Bread is the greatest joke
account.” ever made.” Got a funny joke?
—planet proctor newsletter It could be worth $$$.
Two mafia hit men are For details, go to
The Merriam-Webster walking in the woods at rd.com/submit.
dictionary produces a night. One turns to the
word of the day, and
the folks at Fark help-
fully show us how to SARTORIAL SPLENDOR
use it in a sentence: If it’s true that clothes make the man, then artist
✦ M-W word of the day: Helga Stentzel proves they also make the animal.
gainsay
Helpful Fark: “I’m going
to eat way too much
over the holidays and
gainsay 5 to 10 pounds.”
✦ M-W word: abandon
Helpful Fark: “Paul
McCartney and Wings’
biggest hit was
abandon the run.”
COURTESY HELGASTENTZEL.COM

✦ M-W word:
countenance
Helpful Fark: “We were
curious how many
insects were in the
colony, so we spent
the whole day
countenance.” —@HELGA.STENtZEL

rd.com 37
 COVER STORY

38
 reader ’ s digest

FROM

Smart ways to foil fraudsters looking

to steal your money, your identity
and your sense of security

BY Marc Saltzman
photographs by C.J. Burton

rd.com | june 2023 39

reader ’ s digest

the sender and went about my day.

I had been scammed—or rather,
someone had attempted to scam me.
This is a common con, engineered to

I’M AN
trick people into providing their credit
card or debit card number, bank

AVID MOVIE
account details and Netflix password.

STREAMER,
through email, text messages and
social media requests (often with
questionable grammar and spelling)
so it’s not unusual for me to receive and old-fashioned phone calls, cyber-
emails from Netflix about new things criminals are doing everything in their
to watch. So a new message about power to deceive and defraud. All
updating my account info didn’t seem around the world, people are falling
out of place, especially since the email victim to data breaches, viruses and
contained the familiar red Netflix logo. ransomware—when you’re locked out
Here’s what the email said: of your computer unless you pay to
regain access to your files.
We were unable to validate your bill- Cybercrime attacks often originate in
ing information for the next billing China, Russia, India and parts of Africa
cycle of your subscription therefore we’ll (Nigerian prince, anyone?). That’s
suspend your membership if we do because it can be difficult to find and
not receive a response from you within charge perpetrators in those places. But
48hours. the attacks can come from anywhere.
Obviously we’d love to have you back, Cybersecurity experts at Symantec, a
simply click restart your membership to security technology firm, say the
update your details and continue to United States experiences the most
enjoy all the best TV shows & movies cybercrime of any country in the world.
without interruption. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint
We’re here to help if you need it. Visit Center (IC3) tracked $27.6 billion in
the Help Center for more info. losses between 2018 and 2022.
—The Netflix Team Older adults are particularly at risk.
In 2021 alone, these scams cheated
But on closer inspection, the tone Americans older than 50 out of nearly
seemed a bit off (why so urgent?) and $3 billion. This is a 62% increase from
I noticed a typo (“48hours”), so I the prior year and almost half the total
promptly deleted the message without losses reported in 2021, according to
clicking any of the links, then blocked the IC3’s Elder Fraud Report. In fact,

40 june 2023
 Cover Story

the true number of victims could be losses in perspective: If cybercrime were

much higher, in part because many are measured as a country, it would be the
seniors who may not know how to world’s third-largest economy, after the
report cyberfraud, or may not be aware United States and China and ahead of
that they have been scammed at all. Japan, Germany, the U.K., India, France,
Although seniors are often the vic- Italy and Canada.
tims, more members of Generation Z Many cybersecurity experts cite the
(born after 1996) are falling for phone pandemic as a catalyst for the increase
and online scams. The number of in cybercrime. When much of the
online scam victims ages 20 and world was forced to work from home,
younger in the United States increased often without the same security proto-
156% between 2017 and 2020, accord- cols they had at the office, it became
ing to IC3 data. more likely that computer viruses
“While the elderly are a known target would be let in, says Vishnu Varadaraj,
group, we’re also seeing fraudsters a senior director at McAfee, a software
focus on the younger generation—chil- security company.
dren ages 14 through 18 who have just The number of ways that cyber-
opened bank accounts and are tricked criminals can take advantage of us has
into giving out banking credentials on increased too, Varadaraj says, as more
platforms like Snapchat,” says Natalie and more we’re using devices to access
apps and online accounts for things
GLOBAL CYBERCRIME IS such as banking, shopping and social
media.
EXPECTED TO BALLOON TO
$10.5 TRILLION BY 2025. THE LATEST THREATS
Here’s the scoop on the most wide-
spread cybercrimes that could directly
Kelly, a chief risk officer at Visa. affect you and your loved ones.
According to figures from the U.S. Fed-
eral Trade Commission, 44% of people PHISHING AND SMISHING
in their 20s have reported losing money Authentic-looking emails like the one
to fraud. that I received from “Netflix” are often
According to Cybercrime magazine, referred to as phishing—attempting to
global cybercrime is expected to balloon lure you to a phony website to input
to $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, more your information. When these warn-
than three times the $3 trillion stolen by ings come via text message, experts
scammers in 2015. Here’s another way refer to it as smishing (short for SMS
to put the magnitude of these monetary phishing).

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reader ’ s digest Cover Story

An email could have a logo that Remember this: No reputable com-

resembles that of your bank or your pany or government agency will ever
credit card company, with a message email you to urgently confirm your
saying that someone is trying to access identity by filling out forms. To protect
your account and that you need to log yourself from phishing and smishing
in immediately and change your pass- attacks, never click on links or attach-
word. But if you click the link, it will ments asking you to confirm your per-
take you to a fake website, and your sonal or payment information. When
password and private financial infor- in doubt, contact the company or orga-
mation will go to the fraudsters. Now nization—always by using the phone
number or website located on your
credit card or bank statement, or one
FRAUDSTERS MAY CLAIM that you look up yourself.

THEY’RE WITH THE IRS, USING VISHING

Some fraudsters use those same tac-
FAKE BADGE NUMBERS. tics but over the phone. Don’t trust
anyone who phones to tell you they’re
from a bank, your internet service pro-
they have access to your money and vider or a “tech support” department—
can withdraw funds from your account even if you recognize the number.
or rack up charges on your credit Phone numbers can be easily spoofed,
card—and you might even be locked using computer programs that let
out because the criminals can now scammers choose the number they
change your password. want to pop up on your phone.
Cryptocurrency and other electronic Fraudsters may even claim they’re
forms of payment, including gift-card with the Internal Revenue Service,
codes and money orders, are popular using fake names and badge numbers,
among cybercriminals because they and may demand you pay fake tax bills
require no in-person interaction, are or face arrest or other legal action.
difficult to trace and can be accessed “This voice phishing, or vishing,
around the world. In 2022, one cyber- scam can be very convincing and
crime victim (who prefers to remain threatening,” says Theresa Payton, a
nameless) was swindled by a fraudster cybersecurity expert who served as
who sent an email that appeared to be White House chief information officer
from PayPal. The victim was duped into from 2006 to 2008.
sharing financial details, which were A popular phone scam goes some-
then used to purchase more than thing like this: “Hello, I’m calling from
$36,000 in bitcoin. Microsoft. We’ve had a report from

42 june 2023
rd.com 43
44 june 2023
 Cover Story reader ’ s digest

your internet service provider of virus might receive a message saying “You’re
problems from your computer. Can I eligible for a refund.”
help?” Other timely appeals might refer
The caller will tell you that the prob- to war and natural disaster collec-
lem is serious and that you could be tions, such as phony charities seeking
without internet access if the issue isn’t donations over social media to help
resolved. If you agree, the caller will people in Ukraine. Instead of help-
instruct you to allow remote access to ing the promised victims, these funds
your computer, enabling the fraudster
to collect your data, either right then
and there or by installing hidden soft- CRIMINALS SAID THAT IF HE
ware that can relay information later.
Phone-related scams cost Ameri-
DIDN’T SEND $2,900, THEY’D
cans $39.5 billion between March 2021 ATTACK HIS ACCOUNTS.
and March 2022, according to the lat-
est report from Truecaller, an app
that identifies and blocks spam calls go straight into the thieves’ pockets.
and texts. This is the highest amount Cybercriminals take advantage of
recorded since the annual report was people in times of economic uncer-
first issued in 2014, in partnership with tainty too. Last year, Facebook users
The Harris Poll. According to the study, may have seen posts from a group
one in three Americans report having called Southwest Air Fans claiming to
fallen victim to a phone scam, and one give away a pair of airline tickets if they
in five were swindled on more than one clicked on a link to enter a sweepstakes.
occasion. The perpetrators stole the personal
“There are certain things your bank information of people who entered,
or the government will never do, and which led to identity theft.
that’s call, email or text you and say “We’re seeing a lot more fraudsters
you’re going to be fined or arrested if focusing on ‘cost of living’ scams such
you don’t do this or that,” says Payton. as fake giveaways, discounts and
energy tax rebates,” says Kelly.
SPECIAL OCCASION SCAMS
While fraud happens year-round, RANSOM EMAILS
scammers often tie their appeals to Bob Lotich, a Franklin, Tennessee, edu-
something timely. In the beginning of cator and personal-finance expert, got
the year, watch out for Valentine’s Day an email saying his passwords would
scams, with such enticements as “Click be held for ransom if he didn’t pay up.
here to join the best dating site for sin- “The password that I had used on
gles over 50.” Around tax season, you hundreds of sites was sitting there right

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reader ’ s digest

in the subject line,” Lotich wrote on his media as a source, or they’ll explain
blog, SeedTime. “The email explained why their voice is a little different
that they not only had my password (they’re upset, or have a bad connec-
but had hacked into my webcam.” tion). Advanced fraudsters may even
The criminals said that if he didn’t employ convincing “deep fake” tech-
send $2,900 in bitcoin in the next nology to make their voice sound just
24 hours, they would attack his like a relative’s.
accounts. The password was an old The “grandchild” may plead with the
one, so Lotich checked all his current grandparent to not tell anyone because
accounts to ensure that they had two- they’re embarrassed or scared. Wanting
factor authentication and different to help, the victims send money via wire
passwords. They did, so he didn’t transfer to the scammer.
respond to the email or pay up, and the In March 2022, an 81-year-old man in
threat turned out to be an empty one. Ontario fell for a grandparent scam. The
“grandchild” said he had been pulled
GRANDPARENT SCAMS over by police and needed money for
Scammers love to target older people the fine. The grandfather paid. Then
because they pay so well. Disturbing came a second call, supposedly from a
data published by cybersecurity com- Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer,
pany Comparitech shows that while the who validated the “grandson’s” story
average loss per incident from those in and said more money was needed. The
their 20s was $324, that figure jumped grandfather made four payments over
to $426 for victims in their 60s, $635 for three months, and lost more than
those in their 70s and $1,300 for those $70,000.
in their 80s. If you get a message like this from a
Many seniors are hit by fraudsters loved one, call your relative directly to
who send a text message or direct mes- ask if they really are in trouble. And
sage over social media while posing as warn any seniors you know.
a grandchild asking for money to help
with a medical emergency or a travel ROMANCE AND CATFISHING SCAMS
problem, or to buy textbooks. The Catfishing is when someone pretends
scammers glean personal details from to be someone they’re not. Fraudsters
Facebook or Instagram photos, allow- may use a phony name and photo to
ing them to craft a believable message. court someone online, usually over
The caller’s phone number looks famil- social media or a dating app, with the
iar, so people are more likely to answer. goal of making the victim fall in love
In fact, sometimes scammers will try with them so they can ask for money.
to sound like the person they’re imper- Rebecca D’Antonio of Orlando, Flor-
sonating, using videos from social ida, says she was cheated out of more

46 june 2023
 Cover Story

than $100,000 by a man she met on a REDUCING YOUR RISK

dating site. “Matthew” said he was a All this might make you want to unplug
widower and a single dad. The pair and go back to the pre-digital age. For-
emailed and texted for months. tunately, credit card issuers and other
D’Antonio thought they were getting to companies, as well as government
know each other. She was sympathetic agencies, are on the case.
when “Matthew” said his credit cards Worldwide, Visa has invested
stopped working during a trip abroad, $9 billion in fraud prevention and
and when he said he needed help cybersecurity over the past five years,
paying some medical bills. She sent including $500 million for artificial
him money via wire transfers over the intelligence, machine learning and
course of a year, until, on the verge of data infrastructure. This helps Visa
bankruptcy, she finally confronted him monitor for suspicious activity on your
and he disappeared. account in real time, utilizing more

rd.com 47
reader ’ s digest

than 500 “risk attributes” (clues) that letters in a phrase you will likely
may indicate fraud. In doing so, its remember; for example, “myc@tCis#1!”
experts can identify patterns of fraud (“my cat Charlie is No. 1”).
and cybercrime and work with law Never use the same password for all
enforcement to find these bad actors your online activity, because if a site or
and bring them to justice. app is breached, then the crooks will
Visa regularly works alongside the use that same password to try to hack
U.S. Department of Justice, FBI, Secret into your other accounts. Password
Service and Europol to help identify manager apps such as 1Password and
and apprehend fraudsters and other Dashlane are a good way to store your
criminals around the world. During the various passwords.
first half of 2021, Visa and these agen-
cies brought down the notorious FIN7 KEEP YOUR SOCIAL CIRCLE SMALL
cybercrime gang, perpetrators of an Set your social media profiles to private.
international ATM cash-out enterprise If someone asks to connect with you,
(when people’s bank cards are cloned accept the request only if you know the
and their money is taken out of ATMs) person. Ideally, even if the request
and recovered millions of dollars laun- comes with a name and photo of some-
dered by an organized crime ring. one you know, confirm it’s really that
Mastercard has invested more than person by reaching out to them in
$1 billion in cybersecurity since 2018. In another way. If it’s fake, block the user
the past three years, the company has and report the fraudulent message.
prevented $30 billion in potential losses.
In 2020, Mastercard established the DOUBLE YOUR EFFORTS
Global Mastercard Intelligence & Cyber For online banking and shopping apps,
Centre of Excellence at its tech hub in opt for two-factor authentication, which
Vancouver, British Columbia, to accel- requires not only your password to log
erate innovation in the security field. in but also a one-time code sent to your
At the same time, you can take these mobile device to prove it’s really you.
steps to protect yourself:
HIDE YOURSELF
USE STRONG PASSWORDS Whenever you go online, use your
Passwords should be at least seven browser’s private or incognito mode so
characters long and a combination of your history and cookies are deleted
letters (upper and lowercase), numbers after your session. Better yet, consider
and symbols. Don’t use your birth year using virtual private network (VPN)
or anything obvious, such as the names software to remain anonymous when
of your kids or pets. A “passphrase” is a you’re online. The experts at CNET
good idea, using symbols to replace chose ExpressVPN as their top pick.

48 june 2023
 Cover Story

RETHINK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNTS look for a security seal of approval such
If you use an email account to log in to as DigiCert, Better Business Bureau or
social media, ideally use an account you Verisign. Many security experts say it’s
created just for that purpose, not one safer to shop using a store’s app than
tied to your bank accounts, health infor- on a website. And when shopping on
mation or personal communications. sites such as eBay or Facebook Market-
“This is because these publicly acces- place, always check the seller’s reputa-
sible email accounts can be easily tion and read comments before buying
harvested,” says Payton. Instead, she anything.
suggests using an encrypted email plat-
form such as Proton Mail. PROTECT YOUR TECH
To prevent viruses or other malware,
SHOP SAFELY install anti-malware software on your
Don’t shop (or bank) online using a devices. It’s like placing a deadbolt on
public Wi-Fi hot spot—such as in a your front door and activating an
cafe, airport or hotel lobby—as they’re alarm system. Formerly referred to as
not as secure as your home Wi-Fi or a antivirus software, anti-malware protec-
cellular connection. Instead, make tion from Avast, Norton and others can
your phone a personal hot spot. Better identify, quarantine, delete and report
yet, use a secure internet connection suspicious activity. The best products
such as your home Wi-Fi. include a firewall, encryption options
Reputable websites use technologies and webcam detection to protect you
that encrypt data during transmission. should someone try to remotely access
To confirm this level of security, look your camera.
for a padlock icon and “https” in front
of the URL. Shop only on sites that take finally, trust your instincts. The same
secure payment methods such as credit “Spidey sense” that helps you stay safe
cards, PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay. in the real world can help you steer
When shopping at an unfamiliar site, clear of scams in the cyberworld too.

Bone Appétit
In any household, the true master of hope is the family dog. Dogs regard
any delicious smell emanating from the kitchen as a meal they can reasonably
expect to share. An elderly dog may have been fed only kibble in all the years
of his long life, but he will nevertheless haul his arthritic self into the kitchen,
confident that this time the lasagna sitting on the counter will be his.
MARGARET RENKL IN THE NEW YORK TIMES

rd.com 49
reader ’ s digest

50 june 2023
 NATIONAL INTEREST

HOW WE
FAIL OUR
TRUCKERS
BIG-RIG DRIVERS ARE FEELING MISTREATED,
WHICH IS BAD NEWS FOR THE REST OF US
BY Derek Burnett

illustrations by David Vogin

rd.com 51
 Sometimes when he’s rolling through open country in
his company’s 18-wheeler, Mike Murphy, 52, looks
out across a scenic landscape and thinks about how
lucky he is to be a truck driver. Those are the good days.
But a bad day can be a nightmare.
Start driving at 6 a.m. to get a load means it’s time to start looking for a
to a client’s dock by 11 a.m., as agreed. parking spot. The miles and minutes
Roll in right on time, only to find two roll by with no success. He might pull
trucks ahead of you, and the dock man into as many as three truck stops—all
saying it’ll be a few hours before you full, and him exhausted and just want-
can unload. Murphy gets paid by the ing to be home. Often enough, the
mile, so such idle time costs him search for a parking place goes on until
money. But 25 years in the industry he’s right up against his 14 hours and
have taught him to bite his tongue. the road is beginning to look blurry.
“Well, can I use your bathroom?” Such times, he’ll call his wife, Alicia,
“Nope. Drivers use the port-a-potty.” back home in Waddington, New York.
And good luck finding a port-a-potty “Hey,” he’ll say. “Talk to me for an
that’s not an abomination. So much for hour. I’m looking for a parking space.”
the morning. Pick up another load, get She’ll stay on the phone with him
moving again. until at last he finds a truck stop with an
Evening comes, and he’s required by empty spot. He’ll hang up and make his
law to limit his shift to 14 hours, which way into the facility, eager for the

52 june 2023
 National Interest reader ’ s digest

shower he might not have gotten yes- of ATA’s research arm, the American
terday, and if the trucking gods are dis- Transportation Research Institute
pleased with him, only three of the (ATRI), says an insufficient number of
showers will be working and a line of drivers on the road creates not just an
15 other drivers will be waiting ahead economic problem but also a safety
of him. He’s got to be back on the road issue.
in 10 hours. He needs the sleep. He’ll “Drivers are under more pressure by
buy something to eat, clean himself employers and customers to move
with baby wipes and stretch out in the goods faster, more frequently,” he says.
sleeping compartment of his rig. Pushed to get their freight delivered on
Tomorrow will be another day. time and to pick up the next load, many
Trucking has never been an easy way are exceeding the number of hours
to make a living. But it’s a lifeline for they’re legally allowed to drive.
Murphy and 2 million or so other A shortfall of drivers can also mean
Americans who haul almost 11 billion that the product you’re looking for isn’t
tons of goods—72% of the country’s on the store shelf when you want it.
freight—over our highways and byways “If you’re relying on a just-in-time
each year. For many, the job provides a delivery system that prioritizes the syn-
stable income, often with health care chronization of precise schedules and
and retirement benefits. Now more you can’t count on drivers to get the
than ever, especially with the boom in goods there, you’re going to have dis-
e-commerce, we need those workers ruptions in the supply chain,” says
plying our vast network of interstates, Robert Puentes, president of the Eno
warehouses and stores. Center for Transportation, a think tank.
But, just when we need drivers most, As alarming as this sounds, there’s
trucking companies find themselves disagreement among industry experts
struggling to maintain a steady work- about how big the trucker shortage is—
force to haul all that freight. Not enough and even whether the problem the
drivers means that trucking companies industry faces can rightly be called a
charge more for hauling goods—a cost shortage.
that gets passed on to consumers, rais- “ATA’s numbers are just not realistic,”
ing the price of almost everything. says Jason Miller, PhD, interim chair of
According to the American Trucking the Department of Supply Chain Man-
Associations (ATA, the leading industry agement at the Broad College of Busi-
group), the U.S. currently faces a short- ness at Michigan State University. He
age of 80,000 truckers, an astonishing concedes that there are occasional,
figure that the organization expects to temporary “shortfalls” of truck drivers,
double by 2030. but says the labor market promptly fills
Daniel Murray, senior vice president them. For more than a decade, ATA has

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reader ’ s digest

been sounding the alarm about a the turnover figures have been misun-
chronic, severe shortage—but, Miller derstood and mostly represent “churn,”
says, the statistics just don’t support it. or job-hopping between trucking car-
Lewie Pugh, executive vice president riers, which could be a sign of driver
of the Owner-Operator Independent empowerment in a tight labor market.
Driver Association (OOIDA), agrees. The OOIDA publication Land Line sees
“There’s never been a shortage,” he it differently, calling churn a sign of
says. “That’s just something that big driver desperation and unhappiness.
carriers say to cover up business prac- Either way, the Department of Trans-
tices that aren’t fair to drivers, trucking portation found that 300,000 truckers
leave the industry annually.
This resonates with Mike Murphy,
“A LOT OF GUYS who, along with his truck-driving
WOULD GO THROUGH duties, has trained more than 150 new
drivers, many of whom balked at the
TRAINING AND SAY, harsh realities of the job.
‘THIS ISN’T FOR ME.’ ” “The students would come into my
truck and I would show them the ropes
over six weeks,” Murphy says. “A lot of
or safety.” After all, Pugh points out, guys would go through six weeks’ train-
400,000 people earn their commercial ing and then say, ‘Hey, this isn’t for me.’
driver licenses (CDL) every year. You And they were done.”
wouldn’t see that if there were indeed Despite their differences about
a lack of labor. whether there’s a shortage, there’s sur-
Then why does the industry buzz prising consensus among experts,
with talk of a shortage? The most likely industry groups and truck drivers about
answer is that there is indeed a labor the retention issue—and about the rea-
problem in trucking—but, with a turn- sons so many drivers bail on the indus-
over rate of 70% for smaller carriers and try. Unfortunately, while companies
90% for larger ones, what the industry know why their drivers are quitting, too
has is a retention issue, not a lack of often their response is to try to attract
people willing to enter the field in the new employees rather than to address
first place. That may seem a subtle dis- the complaints of the ones leaving.
tinction, but it has real repercussions
for solving the crisis. It turns the ques- SHOW ME THE MONEY!
tion from “Where do we find more driv- In nearly every survey, truckers list
ers?” to “How can we keep the drivers their compensation as a top issue.
we already have?” “Trucker salaries have not kept up with
ATA published a post last year saying inflation since the 1970s,” says Pugh.

54 june 2023
 National Interest

hours. But, Pugh says, “Drivers are

giving away 20 to 30 hours a week
just sitting at loading docks wait-
ing to either load or unload.”
Less-scrupulous outfits engage
in misleading practices to lure
young drivers. “They offer you an
$8,000 signing bonus,” says
Andrew Emde, a 55-year industry
veteran. “What they don’t tell you
is that if you quit before a certain
amount of time, you won’t get it.
And the other thing they don’t tell
you is they spread it out over five
years.”
Federal law allows trucking
companies to pay their drivers by
the mile. When the wheels aren’t
turning, no money is being made.
If your truck breaks down, if
there’s a line at the dock, if there’s
standstill traffic, you’re off the
clock. More trucks in circulation
While some fleets such as UPS and means all these problems are getting
Walmart offer generous packages, with worse, not better. And there’s no fudg-
salaries sometimes in the six figures, ing the books, because the company
most truckers can expect to pull in constantly monitors your activity via
around $50,000 per year. GPS and electronic logging systems.
“An average workweek for a trucker is
70 hours,” Pugh says, “because that’s GIVE ME A BREAK
what they’re allowed to drive. And a lot It might seem trivial, but the lack of
of them work a lot more than 70 hours. parking, rest areas and bathroom facil-
When you take that $50,000 and you ities at truckers’ disposal is so demor-
divide that into a 70-hour week and alizing that it’s viewed as a major factor
50 weeks a year, that’s like $14.28 an in drivers’ decisions to quit the indus-
hour.” Under the Fair Labor Standards try. Mike Murphy’s bleary search for a
Act, truckers are exempt from being paid place to lay his head for the night is a
overtime, to discourage drivers from familiar tale to other drivers, who also
compromising safety by racking up tell of interstate offramps littered with

rd.com 55
reader ’ s digest

human feces because truckers have stops soon—but it’s an uphill battle.
nowhere to relieve themselves. The lack of conveniences is an
It’s even worse for female drivers, annoyance, but, Rankin says, of greater
who make up 6% to 8% of all truck driv- concern to women is the lack of secu-
ers but only 2.7% of long-haul truckers. rity on the roads. She describes the
One of them, Clarissa Rankin, has spo- truckers-only side of the truck stop as
ken unabashedly about the good and “a whole ’nother world. Prostitution.
bad parts of the industry on social Sex trafficking. Robberies.” When a lot
media and talk shows. of trucks are parked end-to-end or
“It’s horrible,” she says. “Women side-by-side for the night, she says,
have nothing in the truck stops. Noth- “You don’t know who you’re sleeping
ing. You name it, we don’t have it. Tam- next to. You could be sleeping with
pons, panty liners, hair bows, like pull- a coldblooded rapist and murderer
back scrunchies? Nothing. The most right next to you.” In a survey by
you’ll get is a pink hat that says Truck CDLLife, an online community of truck
Driver.” This year, Rankin opened her drivers, 21% of drivers said they’ve
own line of cosmetics and travel essen- been the victims of crime—and 42%
tials for women in trucking, called of those crimes were violent. Little
Owtspoken. She hopes to have her wonder so few women are attracted
products in wide distribution at truck to the job.

56
 National Interest

So why aren’t private companies hard. Her phone rang immediately. It

responding to these obvious needs by was the company.
building more, bigger, better, safer, “They said, ‘What was that hard
well-lit truck stops with plenty of park- brake about? We’re going to have to
ing? “It’s the NIMBY effect—not in my have you take a class now.’ I said, ‘I’m
backyard,” says ATRI’s Daniel Murray. not taking no doggone class.’ You
“Nobody wants a truck parking lot any- know? I’m not doing all that. If you
where near their homes.” At the same don’t do it, you can lose your job. But I
time, he says, e-commerce and just-in- didn’t care. Every five seconds, it was
time delivery have created a need for something,” she says. “No grown-up
truck parking much closer to the cus- wants to be babysat.”
tomers they serve. Emde agrees. “The freedom of the
The lack of infrastructure isn’t just road and all the romantic stuff goes out
unpleasant for drivers. It affects their the window as soon as somebody puts
bottom line. “On average,” Murray says, a camera in your face,” he says.
“truck drivers now are leaving their rev- Drug testing, especially for mari-
enue routes 56 minutes early, which juana, is another regulation that causes
equates to almost $5,000 a year in lost drivers to exit the industry in droves.
wages,” just to find a place to sleep for Despite legalization initiatives in vari-
the night. ous states, interstate trucking prohibits
drivers from having any trace of THC in
BIG BOSS IS WATCHING their systems. Obviously, driving while
One of the things that’s always been high must remain illegal—just as with
appealing about truck driving is the alcohol—but huge numbers of safe
lure of the open road, the freedom to be truckers are losing their jobs because
on your own, making your own deci- trace amounts of the substance, from
sions. But today’s drivers are subject to legal consumption on their own time,
ever-increasing scrutiny, with compa- are still circulating in their blood.
nies placing cameras not only facing The Federal Motor Carrier Safety
the road, but in some cases pointing at Administration maintains a clearing-
the driver in the cab. Every movement house database of drivers whose rou-
of the vehicle is monitored via technol- tine drug tests have come up positive.
ogy in a bid to fend off lawsuits and According to ATRI’s Murray, “More
reduce insurance costs. than 90,000 truckers who tested posi-
Clarissa Rankin now has her own tive have not started the administrative
truck and operates independently, but process to remove themselves from the
when she first started out and was driv- clearinghouse and get back into long-
ing for a major carrier, someone pulled haul trucking. Which tells us they’re
out in front of her, forcing her to brake fine continuing to smoke pot and drive

rd.com | june 2023 57

reader ’ s digest

locally in jobs where the CDL is

not a requirement.”
No one wants truck drivers
working while under the influ-
ence, but allowing them the same
access to recreational substances
that others enjoy during their
nonworking hours could be a way
of retaining workers who may
otherwise quit the industry.

A WORLD OF PAIN
Sitting behind the wheel of a
truck for 70 hours a week for
decades is a recipe for poor
health. Veteran drivers recite
their litanies of bad backs, obe-
sity, heart problems. It’s certainly
on Mike Murphy’s mind.
“One of the reasons I’m looking
forward to getting out of driving
is that I need to get active,” he says. “I’ve requiring prolonged vigilance and con-
had my legs start to swell up and stuff centration. And the type of trucking
like that. There’s not really time to exer- where the labor crisis is most strongly
cise, to do the things that you should be felt—long-haul—can be lonely, espe-
doing for your body.” cially for people with families.
He tries to eat well, but it’s not easy. “You miss everything,” Murphy says.
His options are limited to fast food or “Trucking becomes your life. After
whatever is available in truck stop din- 25 years, you realize, Wow, I’ve got
ers, which is notoriously unhealthy nieces and nephews graduating from
fare—just try finding fresh fruits and college, and I didn’t get to watch them
vegetables. A few facilities have exper- grow up.”
imented with healthier foods, but it Through the years, Andrew Emde has
remains next to impossible to get con- seen a lot of young people enter the
sistently nutritious meals while out on industry believing that the time con-
the road. straints and separation from their fam-
But drivers’ concerns about health ilies wouldn’t be that bad. “After a
and well-being aren’t limited to diet while, reality sets in,” he says, and peo-
and exercise. Driving is stressful work, ple look for work closer to home.

58 june 2023
 National Interest

mike murphy figures he has another “It’s allowed me to buy a house and a
10 years of driving ahead of him before car and to live in a rural community,”
he can retire. He got into the industry perks he might otherwise not have
back in the ’90s when he realized his enjoyed. He estimates he’d have had to
small town simply wasn’t a big enough take a 50% pay cut if he had taken work
market to support the dog-grooming around Waddington. “But you give up a
business he’d opened. In the end, he lot,” he says. “I’m kind of looking for-
says, trucking has been a good job. ward to not having to do it anymore.” RD

THE ROAD AHEAD

One oft-proposed solution to the trucker labor crisis is autonomous vehicles.
But true autonomy is at least a decade off. In the meantime, semi-autonomous
trucks are more expensive and still require a driver behind the wheel to take
over if there’s a system failure. “If I have an expensive truck and my driver is
still in there, that now costs me more,” says ATRI’s Murray. But ATA, OOIDA,
academics and drivers themselves say there’s plenty that government (federal,
state and local) and the private sector can do.
Government: Reconsider marijuana regulations
Provide congressional funding while improving sobriety testing.
for trucker parking and infra- Streamline the visa process to
structure, and remove anti- make it easier to offer driving
commercialization restrictions jobs to qualified immigrants.
so that restaurants and shops
can open at interstate rest areas. Private sector:
Some funding has come from Adopt straight-salary rather
the Department of Transportation, than by-the-mile pay structures,
but much more is needed. and pay drivers a competitive
Relax zoning restrictions to provide hourly rate for downtime while
more truck parking closer to waiting at loading docks.
pick-up and drop-off points such as Make driver-monitoring systems,
towns and cities where it’s needed. like cameras, opt-in rather than
Remove the exemptions that ban mandatory.
paying drivers overtime and that Improve truck stop facilities,
allow paying them by the mile, providing expanded parking,
while differentiating between exercise rooms, healthier meal
driving and nondriving hours to choices, women-friendly products
maintain safety standards. and security measures.

rd.com 59
 INSPIRATION

LESSONS
FROM MY

THANKS TO MY
ALL-GROWN-UP GIRLS,
I’VE LEARNED A WHOLE
NEW WAY TO ROLL

BY Peter Carter

60 june 2023
 reader ’ s digest

O
ne sunny Saturday afternoon One afternoon in August 2016, Ria, at
in 2014, I was southbound the time a funeral director and now a
on Highway 427 in Toronto psychotherapy student, arrived at our
aboard my purple 1993 house and told my wife, Helena Szybal-
Harley-Davidson Sportster. ski, and me that she was taking me to
This stretch of road, some 12 miles long, Burning Man, a festival in the Black
is one of the most heavily trafficked Rock Desert in Nevada. Our daughters
in North America. At certain points, had attended a few years earlier, frolick-
there are 14 lanes of traffic, much of it ing in the heat with 70,000 hippies. And
moving at 70-plus mph. I was in one they’d decided, without consulting me,
of the center lanes—keeping a close that this was my year to go. Not only had
eye on an 18-wheeler about 100 yards Ria obtained a pair of hard-to-get tick-
ahead. ets, she’d also paid our plane fare. If I
I wasn’t worried for myself. I’d been didn’t go, she’d be out $2,000.
biking for decades. My eyes were riv- So I said OK. It would be worth find-
eted on my 23-year-old daughter, a ing out what my kids knew about their
novice rider who was balanced on her dad that I didn’t.
recently purchased BMW F 650 GS. She Burning Man is for adventure-seeking
was right beside that semi, in its dark West Coast types, computer whizzes
shadow, looking as vulnerable as a from Silicon Valley, UCLA artists and
snowflake. other outside-the-lines colorers. Why
Thoughts swirled. One wrong move, did Ria think I should go? The only
and our world ends. I am powerless drugs I take are Tylenol and hay fever
to help her. I let this happen. Am I the
worst father ever?
My daughter Ewa Carter, a student at
the time, made it home safely and
hasn’t stopped riding since. She has put
thousands of miles on that BMW, riding
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF PETER CARTER

from our Toronto home east to Halifax,

south to Tennessee and west to Van-
couver in all types of weather and road
conditions. The best part is that for
exactly 5,100 of those miles, I’ve been
riding with her.
I’ve had some stunning adventures
with Ewa’s identical twin sister, Ria Car- Above: Peter Carter at the Burning
ter, too. In fact, both my girls have taken Man festival. Left: Peter with daughter
me places I never imagined I’d go. Ewa at Duffey Lake, British Columbia.

rd.com 61
reader ’ s digest

reassured me. I did, a few hours later.

Burning Man takes place in a tempo-
rary city where attendees (called burn-
ers) shed normal life and throw a nine-
day party that culminates in the burning
of a giant wooden statue. Everybody
travels around the site on sparklingly
decorated bicycles, and the music stops
only for a few hours around dawn,
when most of the crowd sleeps off the
night before. Money rarely changes
hands; the only things you can buy are
ice and coffee. Otherwise, people share
their food, booze and whatever else
they have with complete strangers.
You never know what marvel you’ll
find around the next corner. One
Dad and daughter Ria at Burning Man mobile art installation was the fuselage
of a full-size decommissioned 747.
medication. I had been chair of the PTA Imagine a Mad Max setting with
at my kids’ grade school and a family pop-up concerts and Cirque du Soleil-
columnist at a women’s magazine. A caliber gymnastic displays, and a
female friend in college once pegged 33-foot-tall wooden pirate ship—peo-
me as a churchgoing, 2.5-kids-with-a- pled by a few dozen champagne-
minivan-and-picket-fence type of guy. swigging burners—moving through the
She was absolutely right. central plaza like a Trojan Horse.
But the most important part? Burn-
when we arrived in nevada, it was late ing Man was a parenting milestone. Ria
and dark; Ria and I soon got separated. tried to give me the experience of a life-
The next morning, as I searched for her, time and succeeded. To this day I can’t
one of the first campers to greet me was stop telling people about it.
a slender 30-something woman with
long brown hair wearing absolutely when it comes to high–proof fathering
nothing. (For the record, I was fully lessons, though, few adventures com-
clothed.) She asked what I was looking pare to the motorcycle trips I’ve shared
for and I said, “My daughter.” with Ewa.
“What you need is a hug,” she said, Our first trip, in August 2017, was a
and proceeded to administer one. winding trip around the Catskills and
“You’ll find your daughter,” she Finger Lakes areas of New York. We

62 june 2023
 Inspiration

avoided interstates and spent the week checking into whatever family-run road-
on twisty scenic back roads. At one side inn we’d picked, I’d be exhausted
point, I found myself riding alongside but feeling mentally clearer than ever.
a Catskills meadow not far from Wood- After a roadhouse meal and a Bud-
stock, keeping pace with a fawn and weiser or two, sleep was never elusive.
yelling “Go Bambi, go!”
On the second day, we stopped in a one summer, we toured northern Mich-
small town for ice cream. I asked the igan. That odyssey included a stop to
woman at the picnic table next to us: ask directions at the Big Ugly Fish Tav-
“What’s the name of this town?” ern, whose claim to fame is being the
“Interlaken,” she answered. “Where dive-iest bar in Saginaw. It also involved
are you trying to get to?” riding more than a mile with no hel-
Me: “We don’t know.” met, which is legal for adults in Michi-
It occurred to me then that I’d always gan, albeit with insurance conditions.
wanted to attempt this no-schedule While not advisable, it felt as if we were
kind of trip, when you ride just for the secretly skinny-dipping in a neighbor’s
sake of riding. pool. We also biked to a town called
Ask any middle-aged motorcyclist: Bad Axe simply because it was a town
They’ve all fantasized about doing the called Bad Axe.
Easy Rider thing, tossing their wrist- There were a few exceptions to the
watches into the ditch and heading into no-destination rule. On our 2019 trip,
the horizon without a plan. Now, travel- after riding for two days, Ewa and I
ing with no destination became a trade-

A SIGN ON THE ROUTE

mark of my rides with my daughter.
Since we almost never knew where
we were going, we were almost never
disappointed when we arrived. Pulling
READS “MOTORCYCLES:
off the highway at the end of each day HIGH CRASH AREA
BUBAONE/GETTY IMAGES (MOTORCYCLE ICONS)

carried with it exhilaration. The reason

to celebrate? We hadn’t crashed! NEXT 11 MILES.”
Because the truth is, life on a motor-
bike is one close call after another. En
route, riders must stay focused 100 per-
cent of the time. A tiny patch of loose arrived in a town called Deal’s Gap,
gravel can be fatal. I used to say I found North Carolina. That’s the starting point
it nerve-racking, but Ewa had a different of the infamous Tail of the Dragon, a
take: “To me, motorcycling is like med- must-ride for any motorcyclist. It’s
itation.” And I came to realize she was 11 miles on two narrow lanes with
right. At the end of a day of riding, after more than 300 curves. Much of one side

rd.com 63
reader ’ s digest

is a wall of mountain, the other is a north shore of Lake Superior. Ewa had
sheer drop—with no guardrails. A sign been going through a rough time emo-
at the beginning of the route reads tionally and wanted to cover the
“Motorcycles: High crash area next remaining 1,864 miles solo. So right
11 miles.” there at the top of the world’s largest
As if to prove the sign right, about freshwater lake, we hugged, and she
15 minutes into the route my front headed west while I turned east.
wheel hit the dirt beside the pavement. A few hours later I hit a tricky part of
I lost control and drove clumsily down the highway, steep and coiling, and one
into the shallow grassy ditch, juddering section actually had me riding west
to a stop. Since 55 yards farther there once again, staring straight into the
was no ditch—only a cliff—my “inci- blinding sunset. I realized through
dent” could have been a lot worse. The teary eyes that the twists and turns on
only thing hurt was my ego. this stretch pretty much summed up
Had I known how challenging the Tail my emotions as I saw my daughter ride
of the Dragon was going to be, I would off that day.
not have ridden it. I am a boringly cau-
tious motorcyclist. The Dragon was the next year, 2021, our weeklong bike
Ewa’s suggestion, and I am from-the- trip in southern British Columbia coin-
cided with some of the worst forest fires

YOU’D THINK THAT

the area had ever seen. I met Ewa in
Vancouver, and we headed north on the
AFTER ALL THESE YEARS Sea-to-Sky Highway, past Whistler, past
Pemberton, and on to Cache Creek,
I’D KNOW BETTER THAN where we found ourselves between

TO RUN OUT OF GAS. mountains on fire. We had had no idea

what we were heading into; the fires
had happened so fast. The valleys
seemed consumed by flames.
The next day, as we made our way
bottom-of-my-heart grateful that she northwest along Highway 16, we saw
led me down that path. The route was striking reminders of whose backyard
an absolute thrill ride and my minor we were biking through: First, a huge
wipeout only added to the excitement. brown bear crossed right in front of us,
In August 2020, Ewa moved from and then, a few miles later, a sleek tan-
Toronto to Vancouver to work as an colored cougar.
American Sign Language interpreter. Three days later we reached Prince
She rode her bike west and I accompa- Rupert, almost to the top of the province’s
nied her for the first 810 miles along the coast, and boarded the posh Northern

64 june 2023
 Inspiration

Adventure ferry for a scenic

Easy riders Ewa and
16-hour cruise to Port Peter, on a bike trip
Hardy on Vancouver Island.
What made this trip so
special was not just that it
was the first where we
actually had a plan—it was
that Ewa took it upon her-
self to be the planner. We
didn’t even have a conver-
sation about it; she just
took care of it all. Ewa had
not only arranged to bor-
row from a friend the bike
I was riding, she organized
the itinerary and even pur-
chased the ferry tickets.
She wouldn’t let me pay.
A baton had been passed from one she was riding alone. When she finally
generation to the next. Wordlessly. I did realized I was no longer in her rearview
not see that coming. mirror, she turned back. As a father, it’s
humbling to be in that position.
my old harley has no gas gauge. When Throughout my adult life, in raising
the main gas tank is empty, the bike my kids I’ve followed my own parents’
slows, and you reach down with your lead: I stood aside and offered support
left hand and switch to the much while Ewa, Ria and their younger
smaller auxiliary tank. At that point brother, Michel, found their own way
you have only a few miles’ worth of gas in life. I seldom said no.
left. But when Ewa said she wanted to
You’d think that after all these years wait with the out-of-gas bike on the
I’d know better than to run out. But side of the country road while I went
there I was, on the first day of one of my for gas, I said no way. I would not leave
annual trips with Ewa, on a lonely her vulnerable on the side of a country
stretch of highway leading toward the road for goodness knows how long.
U.S. border, and my bike sputtered to a She insisted, but I was firm, and Ewa
stop. There were no homes or busi- finally gave in and went off in search
nesses in sight. of gas.
Ewa was getting smaller as she Because no matter how old your kids
headed into the distance, not realizing get, you never stop being a dad. RD

rd.com 65
reader ’ s digest
 YOUR TRUE STORIES

E O P L E H AV E
S O M E PALL THE

LUCK Readers share their greatest

strokes of good fortune

BY Reader’s Digest Readers

Knowing When to Cash In working on the roof. I was confused

My mother’s luck was legendary. as to why I hadn’t been notified until
ANDY ROBERTS/GETTY IMAGES (CLAW), BAAC3NES/GETTY IMAGES (CLOVER PATCH),

She once won a brand-new Ford my neighbor strolled up and said, “My
in a church raffle. Forty years later, roof sure looks nice on your house.”
she won a Mercedes from the same Turned out, my neighbor’s shingles
church. My favorite was when she had been mistakenly delivered to our
ROBIN SMITH/GETTY IMAGES (CLOVER). NOUN PROJECT (SPARKLES)

visited Las Vegas. My sister gave our house and the crew just started work-
mother $25 for fun. Mother spent it ing. The roofing company admitted its
all on one chip, dropped the chip into mistake, so we wound up with a free
a giant slot machine, won $125, and roof. The freakiest part? We got a final
said, “That’s probably enough.” claim rejection letter in the mail that
—angela murphy-walters evening. We would’ve had to pay out of
Elizabethton, TN pocket. It remains the weirdest stroke
of good luck we ever had.
A Goof-Proof Roof —jennifer schoonover
Three months after buying our home, Trimble, MO
we learned we’d need a new roof be-
cause of damage incurred right before A Real Diamond in the Rough
closing. It was a drawn-out process My wife cherishes her diamond en-
involving real estate agents and in- gagement ring. Six years into our
surance. For months we got nowhere. marriage, it disappeared. We searched
Then I arrived home one day to a crew everywhere—all over the house, her

rd.com | june 2023 67

reader ’ s digest

classroom, the yard—but no luck. We home, I found the Indian head penny,
replaced it with a cubic zirconia copy. but there was a hole drilled right
One afternoon 14 years later, while through the center. It was worthless
digging in the garden, I saw some- to a coin collector—a copper washer
thing: my wife’s diamond engagement at best! And there were no wheat pen-
ring, still shiny after all these years. nies at all. The man had lied to me. I
—lawrence lefke did find a rare Canadian coin worth
North Myrtle Beach, SC $200, though, which he must’ve over-
looked. He thought he’d sold me a jar
An Electrifying Find of duds, but karma bit him hard that
I was a repairman fixing an outlet at day, and it kissed me on the cheek. I
the apartment of a woman who had still have that rare coin.
just moved in. I removed the outlet —joseph duckworth
cover and noticed a piece of paper Davisville, WV
folded so tightly between the outlet
box and wall stud that I had to use Tact for Tack
needle-nose pliers to pull it out. Much I’d flown to England with my church
to my surprise, I unfolded a $100 bill! group for an educational trip. One
It had nothing to do with why the out- gentleman said he’d lost a gold tie
let wasn’t working. The new tenant tack earlier in the day. That evening,
said it wasn’t hers, and the previous a friend and I went for a walk. When
tenant didn’t respond to a message we were a considerable distance from
about it. My boss eventually told me the hotel, I suddenly stopped. “I think
to just keep the money. To a father I just stepped on a thumbtack,” I said.
of two in 1979, that $100 was a lot of It was, unbelievably, the man’s tie tack
money and a stroke of great luck. that pricked my foot. I was happy to
—paul diggs Oklahoma City, OK return his treasured retirement gift.
—betty shoemaker
A Heads-Up Buy Hilton Head Island, SC
A man holding a yard sale noticed me
looking at a jar of old coins. He told Luck Strikes Twice
me it contained some rare coins, in- Feb. 4, 1951, was a lucky day for me
cluding several wheat pennies and “a indeed. Pillsbury was hosting a big
real old Indian head penny from way Bake-Off event, and I’d submitted a jin-
back in the 1800s.” As a coin collector, gle to its jingle-writing contest. I woke
I knew that one coin could be worth up the morning of the event, business
hundreds of dollars. He wouldn’t let as usual, when my labor pains began.
me examine the coins, so I bought the My husband and I rushed to the hos-
jar for $3. When I examined my find at pital, where I had a healthy delivery.

68 june 2023
 Your True Stories

Three days later, a man knocked on and there it was—my knife packed be-
our door. I was supposed to have been tween the only two bales that needed
at the Bake-Off for the jingle winner’s checking. What are the chances?
announcement, and apparently they’d —ken macrae Ellensburg, WA
stood on stage announcing “Louise
Miller! Louise Miller has won!” but I Lucky No. 92
was in labor and obviously forgot all In 1984, my wife’s favorite radio
about it. I was in bed holding my son station was giving away a Mustang
when the gentleman presented my convertible. Lyn was one of 103 (the
winning prize, a sterling silverware set Florida radio station’s call sign) callers
and mahogany chest. He smiled and to win a key. Only one would start the
said, “Talk about being born with a ’Stang. Lyn had key 92. Her confidence
silver spoon in one’s mouth! This baby rose as those before her tried their
has a complete set.” Yes, it was my keys and failed. After key 91 cranked
lucky day—twice! and busted, Lyn strode up to the Mus-
—louise miller Glen Burnie, MD tang, confidently waved the DJs away
from the hood, and announced, “I’m
Not Quite a Needle, but Close taking this baby home tonight!” The
I was mowing on my ranch and thick crowd hooted as she opened the door,
hay kept getting wrapped around the boldly buckled the seat belt (which no
rotor. Every time I had to dismount one else had dared to do), settled into
the tractor to cut the hay. By the the driver’s seat, turned her key—and
fourth time, I realized that my best fired up the engine! The radio station
knife was missing. Assuming it was played her scream of joy over and over
lost to the hayfield, I got another and for weeks.
kept mowing. Later, while hauling the —christopher springhorn
baled hay into the barn, I noticed that Houston, TX RD
two of the bales were mistakenly tied
together. I stopped to pull them apart,

THE BEST GIFT I EVER GOT

A good present doesn’t have to be expensive, just valuable.
Have you ever received a gift that moved you to tears? They
LILIBOAS/GETTY IMAGES

could be tears of joy when someone surprised you with something

you desperately wanted but believed unattainable, or tears of laughter
from a great gag gift. Holiday, birthday, anniversary or milestone, whether
you were the gifter or the getter, see terms and share your best gift at
rd.com/bestgiftever. It might appear in a future issue of Reader’s Digest.

rd.com 69
reader ’s digest

70 june 2023
 DRAMA IN REAL LIFE

S TR A P PED INSIDE THE

THE SAILOR WA
FLOODING CABIN OF HIS OVERTU
RNED BOAT.

AS THE HOURS SLIPPED BY,

SO DID HIS CHAN
CE S.

THE MARINER
VS. THE SEA

BY Lisa Fitterman
illustrations by Nicole Rifkin

rd.com 71
reader ’s digest

“end of the world,” but 6-to-10-foot

waves have turned his surroundings
into a uniform dark gray.
Tall and lanky, the 62-year-old has
been sailing since his 20s and is eager to
tackle the Route du Rhum, which he
IT’S JUST considers “the Everest of sailing.” A styl-
ist for a Portugal-based fashion footwear
PAST 8 P.M. company, Camprubi lives with his part-
ner, Virginie Philip, and

ON AUGUST 1.
their two children in Mar-
seilles, where he has been
training for months. The
Laurent Camprubi is about 15 miles off race would be a test of
the coast of northwestern Spain, hoist- strength and persever-
ing the mainsail on the deck of the ance, and Camprubi, a
39-foot sailboat Jeanne. Ever since he lifelong cyclist and run-
left Lisbon, Portugal, the day before, he ner, has also been doing
has been fighting the elements. But he weight training to build
is in his element too. his core muscles so that
Camprubi is aiming to qualify for he will be better able
the Route du Rhum, a 4,077-mile race to keep his balance in
held every four years from Saint-Malo rough seas. And tonight,
in France to Guadeloupe, a group of it is indeed rough.
islands in the Caribbean. On a night As Camprubi lies in
that’s anything but calm, the solo ath- the cockpit, resting, a
lete is tacking, adjusting, to ensure that wave crashes into the
the vessel gets to its destination of Cher- boat, which suddenly
bourg, France, about 1,050 miles to the slows down. Opening his
northeast. After more than 12 hours eyes, Camprubi sees the
of sailing, Camprubi decides to take a boat beginning to list to
much-needed break. While a beacon one side and he knows
automatically broadcasts his position what has happened: He
to Route du Rhum organizers every has lost the keel—the
15 minutes, the waves batter the Jeanne weighted fin that runs
in a language all their own: screams, along the bottom of the
whistles, crashes, roars. boat to keep it upright.
He knows that in the distance is the The Jeanne is capsizing.
craggy peninsula Cape Finisterre, or You have 15 seconds to

72 june 2023
 Drama in Real Life

get below deck before the boat flips what is now his floor. His prescription
over, he tells himself. Your life depends eyeglasses are smashed, as are the com-
on it. Move! puter and other electronics, and the
Once below, he attempts to close the pieces are floating in seawater.
door, but water keeps rushing in, mak- He ventures farther into the boat to
ing the task impossible. The Jeanne vio- retrieve his survival kit, then returns to
lently flips upside down, bobbing in the what he judges to be the safest spot, by
waves. Camprubi has been thrown to the door. Almost 20 minutes after cap-
the ceiling and is crouched there, on sizing, he sets off his SOS signal and

rd.com 73
reader ’s digest

grabs his bright red survival suit. Made at 8:23 p.m., moments after Camprubi
of waterproof neoprene, it’s a bulky, activated his emergency beacon—
stiff onesie, complete with hood and which contained both a radio transmit-
attached booties. He knows that adren- ter and global positioning system
aline is still keeping him warm, but ( GPS )—the Spanish coast guard
once it wears off, the suit is his best detected it. Immediately, an elaborate,
defense while waiting for whatever tightly choreographed effort was put
help might come. He’s in an air bubble; into action, complete with two rescue
the water, about 68 degrees, is now up ships, three helicopters and five divers.
to his chest. So on goes the suit, one It was black outside, and dangerous.
cramping, chilled leg at a time. The question on everyone’s mind: How

74 june 2023
 Drama in Real Life

could the vessel’s lone occupant sur- to the rescuers’ surprise and relief,
vive in such weather, no matter how they heard the sailor shouting back. But
experienced? for everyone’s safety, they put off any
At 9:26 p.m., one of the helicopter rescue attempt until the next morning
pilots spotted something white in the when calmer seas and daylight would
swirling, angry sea: the bottom of a prevail. The question was, would Cam-
sailboat that appeared to be missing its prubi still be alive when they came
keel. One option—to secure the vessel back? Time was not their ally. He could
with slings and hoist it onto one of the die from exposure, or he could drown.
ships with a crane—was dismissed But they had no choice.
as foolhardy because of the wind and
the danger it posed to Camprubi.
Besides, no one knew what was THE PHONE RANG:
happening inside. “THE CHANCE OF
A diver was lowered by a cable
onto the hull of the boat, tasked FINDING HIM ALIVE IS
with checking for signs of life. He PRACTICALLY ZERO.”
banged on the hull, shouting that
help had arrived. But his words
blew away with the wind. That evening, a representative from
France’s Ministry of Defense in Mar-
camprubi is finishing putting on seilles phoned Virginie Philip, but she
the top part of his survival suit assumed it was a telemarketer and
when he hears someone banging didn’t answer. When she checked her
on the hull. Thump. Thump. voicemail 15 minutes later, she heard
Thump. He tries to hammer back, a message telling her that Camprubi’s
but his arms get entangled in the emergency beacon had been set off.
sleeves. Her world fell apart.
“I’m here!” he shouts. “I’m “Is Laurent OK?” she asked when
here!” she called back.
Then, nothing. Was he heard? “We don’t know,” came the reply.
He curls up into a corner to wait, And so, the waiting began.
water sloshing and rising ever The couple’s daughter, 12-year-old
higher. His air bubble can’t last Jeanne, stayed beside her mom while
forever. their son, 3-month-old Paul, slept.
Help will come, he silently recites. Philip called Richard Sautieux, Cam-
Help will come. Help will come. prubi’s friend and sailing team man-
Still, a darker thought intrudes: ager, to see if he could find out what
Maybe I’ve been abandoned. was happening. At midnight, she

rd.com 75
reader ’s digest

received an update from the organizer Just past 8 a.m., her phone rang again.
of the Route du Rhum: All he could tell It was the Ministry of Defense with bad
her was that the boat had capsized, and news: The chance of finding him alive
the Spanish coast guard was involved. is practically zero.
Trying to tamp down her panic, It was time to tell Camprubi’s family.
Philip focused on being calm in front of Philip started by calling Camprubi’s
her daughter, who eventually fell brother, who assured her that Cam-
asleep. Unable to sleep herself, Philip prubi was too stubborn to give up.
watched the hands of the clock slowly “He will fight to the end,” he told
crawl past 1, then 2, then 3, then 4 a.m. Philip. “Trust me, if anyone is going to

76 june 2023
 Drama in Real Life

survive something like his chest. With a grunt, he reaches out

this, it’s him.” to grasp safety handles attached to the
On one level, Philip sides of the hull. He knows he needs to
agreed. Certainly, the keep as much of himself out of the water
man she had been with as he can if he’s to avoid hypothermia.
for 14 years lived large From time to time, Camprubi tries to
and took risks, but he’d concentrate on listening for a sound—
never been one to panic anything that signals the coast guard has
when bad things hap- not given up on him. But as the light gets
pened. And right now, stronger, there is only quiet and calm.
she had no choice but Images of his life crowd his mind. Not
to have faith. his life flashing before his eyes, but
the things he will miss about his life.
in the cabin of the Things like conversations with his three
Jeanne, Camprubi is dis- adult children from his first marriage.
heartened, and so tired. And also what he won’t get to be there
Water, still seeping, for: Paul saying “Papa” for the first time
sloshing and spraying,
has filled more space, IMAGES OF HIS LIFE
shrinking his air bubble.
The water is also mixed CROWD HIS MIND—
with gas from an engine THINGS HE WILL MISS.
he had on board for
emergency use, which he
never got a chance to and taking his first steps. Jeanne grad-
use. Not only is the smell uating from middle school.
overwhelming, the gas By now, Camprubi has been gripping
stings his skin and he has the handles for hours, and he’s
to keep his eyes shut exhausted. He lets go of them. He’s
tight to protect them. floating on his back, arms and legs
Time means nothing now, minutes splayed. But when the water laps over
and hours flowing into each other in a his face, he sputters and is alert again.
jumble. Maybe it’s 2 a.m.? He can’t And then he hears knocking.
remember when he last ate or slept.
Don’t think about that. Focus. Don’t just before 9 a.m., some 13 hours after
fall asleep. Camprubi’s boat flipped, two divers
He knows that the air bubble that’s made their way to the Jeanne. The seas
keeping him alive continues to shrink, had calmed, and their job was to secure
and the water level has crept higher on the boat with three giant yellow buoys.

rd.com 77
reader ’s digest

Left: the battered Jeanne. Right:

Camprubi, safe on land, with his family,
Paul, Jeanne and Virginie Philip.

The idea was to keep the boat afloat slow, dangerous work with objects that
while the team conducted either a res- could slice or snag them. Bit by bit, one
cue or a salvage operation. When it was hour flowing into a second hour, then
secured, the divers knocked on the hull. a third, they collected and disposed,
They didn’t expect to get a response, rising to the surface when a bag was
but they heard shouting. Against all full, then diving back down again.
odds, against the mercurial sea and You have to stay alive, Camprubi told
wind that had toppled him over, Lau- himself. But he knew that now was not
COURTESY OF LAURENT CAMPRUBI (2)

rent Camprubi was alive. Diving below the time to start doubting his rescuers.
the surface to peek in the cabin win- As one of the helicopters positioned
dow, they saw his red booties moving. itself above the Sar Gavia, a bright
But wires and jagged pieces of bro- orange, 130-foot tugboat, a diver knelt
ken wood and metal floated under- on top of the hull of the sailboat,
neath the hull, blocking the divers’ explaining in shouts to Camprubi what
access to the cabin door. So they began they needed him to do.
the painstaking job of diving under, Camprubi learned there would be no
again and again, to clear a path. It was helicopter to lift the Jeanne up because

78 june 2023
 Drama in Real Life

the vessel was already in pieces. That through to the surface, gasping for air.
no divers would smash through the A diver—the same one who had
window to pluck him out because it knocked on the hull the night before—
wasn’t big enough; besides, water was waiting to attach a harness so the
would rush in and pull him under. The helicopter could hoist him aboard.
only way out was through that door. The men embraced. “I was so afraid
Tired and chilled from so many you wouldn’t survive the night,” the
hours of exposure, his muscles cramp- diver admitted. Camprubi answered:
ing, Camprubi understood that sur- “I was so afraid you wouldn’t come
viving this was still up to him. Because back for me.”
as soon as a diver opened the door,
he would have to swim out fast, with when camprubi boarded the helicop-
everything he had, to avoid the torrent ter that would take him to a hospital
of seawater waiting on the other side in the nearby Spanish coastal city
to pin him down and drown him. He’d of A Coruña, his legs buckled as he
have one chance. bent over to catch his breath. It was
The rescue began just after noon. 12:35 p.m.—more than 16 hours since
Holding his breath, Camprubi waited the Jeanne had capsized.
by the door, treading water, poised to Soon he’d be treated for exposure
break through when it opened. He and hypothermia, and doctors would
forced himself to breathe slowly, calmly flush the gasoline out of his eyes. He
as he waited—and suddenly, the door would learn that he’d lost 15 pounds
opened. Acting on instinct, he was during those 16 hours, all of it muscle.
through it like a shot, swimming, using But on the helicopter, none of
adrenaline and his arms and bicycle- that mattered. All he wanted was to
hardened legs to power against the talk to Philip. When someone on board
rush of the water. He swam under the finally handed him a phone, neither
hull and then made a right turn to go of them could speak—they were both
up, up 6 feet to the surface. He broke crying too hard.

Dollars to Star-Bucks
A tall latte from Starbucks costs $3.45 in the chain’s native state of
Washington, but it’s as high as $3.92 in Hawaii—and only $2.89 in Mississippi.
That same cup of joe is just $1.31 in Turkey and $1.96 in Brazil, but
it’ll set you back as much as $5.36 in France, $6.55 in Denmark
and a whopping $7.17 in Switzerland.
DIGG.COM

rd.com 79
reader ’ s digest INSPIRATION

To enjoy life more, embrace anticipation

BY Holly Burns
from the new york times

ALLE PIERCE KNOWS how to plan a vacation.

A few months out, she “goes on a crazy Google
spree,” constructing a spreadsheet of all the
things she wants to do and see. She scrutinizes
the menus of restaurants she is planning to
visit. She uses a picture of the destination as
her phone’s lock screen image and downloads
a countdown app.

80 june 2023 illustrations by Alexei Vella

rd.com 81
reader ’ s digest Inspiration

“What’s so exciting about a trip is Center and Albert Einstein College of

the anticipation before it,” says Pierce, Medicine in Bronx, New York. “It can
founder of a luxury travel company increase motivation, optimism and
called Gals Abroad Getaways, which patience and decrease irritability.”
plans group trips for women. Experts Of course we can’t just book a flight
say she is probably right. Numerous every time we need a little cheering
studies suggest that having something up. But there are ways to harness and
to look forward to boosts your mood incorporate the power of anticipation
and lowers your stress. into your everyday life.
“Imagining good things ahead of
us makes us feel better in the current GET EXCITED ABOUT A LOT
moment,” says Simon A. Rego, chief OF LITTLE THINGS.
psychologist at Montefiore Medical Anticipating a smattering of small,
delightful experiences
can be as enjoyable as
looking forward to one
big event, says Carrie
L. Wyland, a social psy-
chologist at Tulane Uni-
versity in New Orleans.
“At the end of every
day, write down one
thing you’re excited for
tomorrow,” she says.
“Maybe it’s a new book
or getting doughnuts
or a package you’re
expecting.”
The accumulation of
these mini thrills means
you will still reap the
benefits of looking for-
ward to something, even
if it’s not a big-ticket re-
ward, says Christian E.
Waugh, a psychology
professor who studies
anticipation at Wake
Forest University in
Winston-Salem, North
Carolina.
“Plus, with the nearer
stuff, there’s more of a
sense it’s going to hap-
pen for sure,” he says.
“You’ve got more con-
trol over a small gather-
ing this evening than a
vacation in six months.”

CONNECT WITH YOUR

FUTURE SELF.
Research has shown that
feeling as if you are on a
path to your future self
can have a positive ef-
fect on your well-being
by snapping you out
of short-term thinking.
Thinking ahead may
help you prioritize your
health and maybe even
act more ethically.
While it’s fun to day-
dream about your future
self, the steps you need to take to get doing the things that get you closer to
there can be intimidating, so start with your future self.
clarifying the things in life you value
the most, Rego says. Then set goals CONSIDER A GENTLE BRIBE.
around them. If your priority is staying Anyone who has taken a child to get a
fit and healthy as you age, maybe your flu shot and then ice cream afterward
goal is to run a 5K. But don’t wait to knows the power of building antici-
feel motivated before you take that first pation for a thing you don’t want
step. Instead, when you do something to do by pairing it with a thing you
toward your goal, “focus on how mo- do. In a study on “temptation bun-
tivated you feel afterward, not before,” dling,” participants who were given
he says. As you start seeing progress, it an iPod loaded with audiobooks that
will get easier: You will look forward to they could listen to only at the gym

rd.com | june 2023 83

 works just as well for
t h i n g s y o u a re n o t
jazzed about.
“Let’s say you’ve got
a work presentation
you’re nervous about,”
she says. “If you’ve
also got a new outfit
you can’t wait to wear,
you’re going to look
forward to it more.”

FOCUS ON EXPERIENCES.
Several studies have
also suggested that we
get more happiness
from anticipating expe-
riential purchases than
material goods. Ramp-
ing up anticipation is
an important trick of the
trade for Lydia Fenet, a
charity auctioneer. If it’s
dinner with a celebrity,
for example, she will
paint a picture of all
worked out 51% more than those the ways that dinner could turn out.
who weren’t. It was so incentivizing Maybe you and the celebrity become
that, when the study ended, 61% of buddies. Maybe they become a god-
subjects said they would pay to have parent to your kid.
gym-only access to the audiobooks. “And right as I’m about to ham-
To build anticipation for the group mer down the gavel and sell the lot,
vacations she leads, Pierce sends cli- I’ll turn to the audience and say, ‘So
ents detailed packing lists a month they’ll be dining with their new best
in advance. “I get equally as excited friend, George Clooney, at Gramercy
about the clothes I’m going to wear on Tavern, and you’ll be sitting at home
the trip as I do about the trip itself,” eating pizza,’” Fenet says.
she says. Dinner with Clooney aside, you can
But the promise of a new shirt still maximize anticipation before an

84 june 2023
 Inspiration reader ’ s digest

experience, such as a date. Choose actually makes you feel better about
an activity that is meaningful to you them,” Waugh says.
or a place you want to show the other
person, says Erika Kaplan, vice pres- MAKE SOMETHING UP.
ident of membership for the match- If parties are something you look for-
making service Three Day Rule. “Then ward to, don’t wait for a holiday to
you’re looking forward to two things: celebrate—just invent an occasion.
the date itself but also introducing the Throw a birthday party for the dog,
other person to your world and seeing or host a pancake breakfast for all the
how they react,” she explains. kids on your street. Need some inspi-
ration? Bow Tie Day, Lasagna Day and
REMEMBER THAT ANXIETY AND Spoil Your Dog Day are all coming up
ANTICIPATION CAN COEXIST. this summer.
The flip side of positive anticipation Whether it is a party or a bribe or
is anticipatory anxiety—and the fasci- a nightly list, anticipation can be a
nating thing, Waugh says, is that they powerful tool in manipulating our
often happen together. emotions. When TV writer Anna Beth
“Anxiety and excitement are sister Chao tries to look forward to some-
emotions,” he says. “Think about when thing she is dreading, such as the
you’re getting married or you’re having four-day drive she just made from Los
your first kid. It’s a jumble of both.” Angeles to her home in New Orleans,
But it is detrimental only “when she uses this trick:
you only focus on the anxiety part “I basically tell myself a little story
and neglect the excitement part,” he about what might happen,” she says.
adds. The key is acknowledging the “If you frame it within ‘Well, what if
happy, positive aspect of what you are it’s an adventure?,’ it’s easier to get ex-
doing along with the nervous feelings. cited about it.” RD
Research suggests that “when you re-
THE NEW YORK TIMES ( JUNE 7, 2022), COPYRIGHT © 2022
appraise anxious things as exciting, it BY THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY.

Kidz Bop
My 4-year-old is singing a song she made up. The only words are
“Everything’s a mess and I don’t care.” It’s the song of our time.
@ XPLODINGUNICORN

My 5-year-old is singing a song she made up called “I love it when

you cry after my heart.” So good luck to all her future suitors.
@ MICHIMAMA75

rd.com 85
reader ’ s digest HEALTH

When

Music Is
Medicine As it turns out, tunes can soothe us all

BY Anicka Quin

HERE’S ONE PATIENT that might encounter someone, like the

T SarahRose Black still thinks

about. Back in 2019, the nurs-
ing team in the palliative care unit at
man in the palliative care unit, who
doesn’t yet know he needs her.
So, on a wintry Wednesday after-
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in noon, Black approached the patient’s
Toronto asked if she could reach out to room and introduced herself. She
a patient who had been there for about asked if she could sit, and offered to
a week. The man seemed to be strug- play some music. “If you don’t like it,
gling and was unwilling to engage with you can tell me to leave,” she said.
staff or be part of any activities. “They After some gentle urging, the
told me, ‘He’s short and grumpy with us, 70-something man, who had lung can-
and we wonder if you might have an in.’” cer, told her a few classical composers
Black isn’t a doctor or a nurse. She’s he liked and then turned away. But as
the on-staff music therapist. On any she started to play one of his favorites,
given day, she might see one person Bach, on her portable keyboard, the
who’s anxious about an upcoming pro- man’s arms unfolded, and he turned
cedure, another who’s undergoing toward her and started to cry.
chemo and in need of soothing. Or she Black stopped the music. “Do you

86 june 2023 illustrations by Lynn Scurfield

rd.com 87
reader ’ s digest

One 2007 study from a team of Span-

ish researchers found that listening to
music before surgery had the same
effect in reducing preoperative anxiety
as taking Valium. Anxiety before a
major surgery can affect postoperative
pain and recovery time. Another study,
conducted in 2018 in the palliative care
unit of Barcelona’s Hospital del Mar,
found that patients participating in a
music-therapy program experienced
significant decreases in tiredness, anx-
iety and breathing difficulties, as well
as an increase in feelings of well-being.
want me to continue?” she asked. In 2019, the National Institutes of Health
“Absolutely,” he said through tears. allocated $20 million for research in
“It was as if the music went places music therapy and neuroscience.
that nothing else could,” recalls Black. A session can be as unique as an
“He shared with me afterward that he individual’s needs on a given day. If a
had been holding in so much and had patient loves classical music, that’s
been unable to talk about anything, but what Black will play. Maybe it’s folk or
the music showed up at a moment jazz. “One woman spoke no English,
when it felt like a hug.” but she taught me a Farsi folk song,” she
Anyone who has felt that spark of joy says. “She’d sing a line, I’d sing it back,
when a favorite song comes on the and then we were singing this beautiful
radio at just the right moment or wept song together.”
along with a singer expressing heart- She’s gentle in her approach. “I make
ache will understand the emotional it very clear that preexisting musical
resonance of music. Now, a growing experience or training isn’t required,”
body of scientific evidence demon- she says. “If I were to ask ‘What kind of
strates that music can be medicine too. music do you like?’, that might be a dif-
In a review of 400 research papers ficult question to answer. Instead I ask
looking into the neurochemistry of what they want to feel.”
music, Daniel Levitin, a psychologist If the goal is pain management, Black
and neuroscientist at McGill University might match the pace of her playing
in Montreal, found that playing and lis- with the patient’s breathing, and then
tening to music had mental and physical gradually slow the music down. This
health benefits, including improving our process, called entrainment, can help
immune systems and reducing stress. slow the breath and has a calming effect.

88 june 2023
 Health

Or a session might be about helping specializes in movement disorders

a patient process the emotions stem- such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s.
ming from what they are going through. The center applies treatment to move-
It might even be about connecting with ment disorders that was mainly the
loved ones. domain of cancer therapies.
“Sometimes the patient says, ‘I’m “There’s a revolution in oncology and
having such a profound experience. I cancer research—more people are
have no words,’” she says. “We know being cured, and much of it can be
from so many wonderful brain studies attributed to a very targeted precision
that music can trigger memories and treatment that really is individualized
touch parts of the brain that other for the patients,” he explains. “Just lis-
mediums cannot.” tening to music activates many regions
of the brain simultaneously.”
ONCE A WEEK, Carol Cameron hops on A study from the Center for Music
Zoom from her home in Madison, Wis- and Medicine, based in Baltimore, fol-
consin. She’ll be joined by a dozen or lowed a choir composed of Parkinson’s
so other participants, all following patients (called the Parkinsonics) to
along as music therapist Jason Arm- learn how singing might impact their
strong Baker leads them through drum- speaking voices. After 12 weeks, the
ming exercises—sometimes clapping, singers’ speaking volumes—which
sometimes tapping on their bodies. often fade as Parkinson’s progresses—
Like everyone taking part in the ses- had grown demonstrably stronger.
sion, Cameron, 71, has Parkinson’s dis- The Rx 4 Rhythm drumming circle
ease, and this drumming circle—known program came out of a 2015 study that
as Rx 4 Rhythm—is designed to help showed that Parkinson’s patients had
strengthen her coordination. improved their ability to walk after six
“My tremor is on my left side, so weeks of drumming practice.
learning things with my left hand is dif- The center plans to fund these musi-
ficult,” she says. “But it’s really good to cally oriented groups even after the
get this regular rhythm going—it gives studies have wrapped up. “Patients in
you a feeling of overcoming a problem.” the Parkinsonics told us that they didn’t
Rx 4 Rhythm is just one of the pro- want to stop singing when the study
grams offered at the Johns Hopkins was over,’ ” says Dr. Pantelyat.
Center for Music and Medicine in Bal- While sessions have therapeutic
timore. The research institution is the goals—working on coordination, say,
brainchild of Alexander Pantelyat, a or breathing techniques for managing
violin player and former member of the anxiety—there’s a community-building
Penn Symphony Orchestra in Phila- element too. Kerry Devlin, the center’s
delphia. Today, he is a neurologist who senior music therapist, runs an online

rd.com 89
reader ’ s digest

support group for people with a broad

range of neurological disorders, along
with their loved ones.
“There can be folks who are experi-
encing really intensive symptoms, like
a decline in their ability to verbally
communicate,” says Devlin. Music can
help them find ways to respond again.
“I’ve had the honor of making music
with people, and all of a sudden they’re
coming up with new words,” she says.
“It turns into this beautiful improvisa-
tional moment, and a care partner is
saying, ‘I’ve never seen this happen.’ ”
Music can have a profound effect on
helping sick children too. Ruth Hun- The parents also become part of the
ston is a music therapist in the “play therapeutic process. “What’s really
department” at the Great Ormond lovely is when you go in and you start
Street Hospital in London, England. As to make music, and the children invite
the U.K.’s oldest children’s hospital, it their parents to join,” she says. “There’s
sees more than 69,000 patients a year. this beautiful interaction between
“When children are in the hospital, everyone, and sometimes I get to step
their worlds get much smaller,” says back and just watch them play—to
Hunston, who explains that her pro- really laugh and have fun.”
gram, introduced in 2019, helps give
patients back some sense of control. AT THE DR. BOB KEMP HOSPICE in
“They’re having so many things done to Hamilton, Ontario, music therapy has
them and around them, but this allows become an integral part of patient care
them to create something themselves.” in residential end-of-life settings. “The
Extended time in pediatric care can palliative journey isn’t really about
affect a child’s development, says Hun- someone dying,” says Doug Mattina,
ston. In light of that, much of her pro- director of the hospice’s pediatric unit.
gram is designed to help them pro- “It’s about bringing the most joy. It’s
gress. “I’ve had lots of infants who have providing the wrap-around care not
sat up for the first time at the drums, only for the individual but for those
because they’re just so motivated to impacted by it.”
play,” she says. “Or they start making Mattina experienced the music ther-
sounds because I’m singing to them, apy program when his father spent his
and they want more.” last days at the hospice.

90 june 2023 | rd.com

 Health

“I remember the time the music Finding those meaningful moments

therapist said to him, ‘Bill, what kind of is the therapist’s role, but as music ther-
mood are we in today?’ And he said, apist SarahRose Black notes, people
‘Today is time to dance,’” says Mattina. have been connecting with music for
“Even though my father was feeling like their whole lives—she is just helping
crap, and we knew that we had days or them access it again at a time when
hours left, me, my sister, my brother they need it most.
and my mom would dance around his “We have a heartbeat, so we have
bed.” Mattina was so moved that he left a drum inside us; we are wired to be
a career in the foreign service to work musical people,” she says.
full time for the hospice. She smiles as she reflects back
Sara Klinck directs the hospice’s on one patient, a man in his late 30s
music therapy program, where, at a with late-stage brain cancer. “He said,
patient’s bedside, she might improvise ‘SarahRose, I have a lot of friends, and
a call-and-response song to help them they’re great; they show up and they’re
open up about how they’re feeling that helpful, but they don’t really under-
day, or help a resident write a song. stand what’s going on here,’ ” she says.
“For some people, sometimes what’s “He told me, ‘The music is like my
hard to say is easier to sing,” she says. friend who gets it.’ ”

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 reader ’ s digest
The RD

LIST
read, watch, listen

FILM

About My Father
DAN ANDERSON/LIONSGATE (5). NOUN PROJECT (FILM ICON)

Starring Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro

let’s get ready to culture clash! In this summer estate for the Fourth of July
corner: A newly widowed hairdresser weekend. “He’s worried his immigrant
named Silvio (Robert De Niro) who father is going to make him look like
is significantly prouder of his Italian some kinda goombah,” grumbles Sil-
roots than his son, Sebastian (Sebas- vio. Broad laughs aside, the comedy
tian Maniscalco). In the other: An is autobiographical: Maniscalco co-
eccentric ultra wealthy all-American wrote the script as a love letter to his
family (led by Kim Cattrall and An- dad. Maniscalco and De Niro even got
ders Holm). Everyone comes together linked up because De Niro is a fan of
when Sebastian, encouraged by his Maniscalco’s stand-up—and by the
fiancee (Leslie Bibb), reluctantly in- end of the film, you will be too. (In
vites his father to his future in-laws’ theaters May 26) —Mara Reinstein

illustration by Tim Marrs rd.com | june 2023 93

reader ’ s digest

TV

FUBAR
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger is back, baby! The Governator returns
to the small screen as Luke Brunner, a CIA operative on the verge
of retirement (classic!) and patriarch whose espionage career has

AMANDA MATLOVICH/NETFLIX © 2023. NOUN PROJECT (TV ICON)

cost him familial relationships. On one of his final missions, he
discovers that the “mark” he’s meant to be extracting is none other
than his picture-perfect, type-A daughter Emma (Monica Barbaro),
much to their mutual surprise—and she’s also an undercover CIA
operative. Luke had no idea Emma joined the family business;
Emma didn’t know there was a family business. Both must find a
way to work together in the field while mending their relationship
and maintaining their covers with loved ones. Milan Carter plays
Luke’s “guy-in-the-van” techie sidekick, with comedian Fortune
Feimster—the true sleeper cell of the show—as a fellow agent.
Each episode ends on a cliffhanger and is as bingeable as the last.
(Streaming on Netflix May 25) —Caroline Fanning

94 june 2023
 The RD List

BOOKS
The Cat’s Meow
By Jonathan B. Losos
A former Harvard scien-
tist finally trains his atten-
tion where we need it: the
COURTESY OF PAMELA DORMAN BOOKS (SUPPER CLUB). VIKING BOOKS (CAT’S MEOW). COURTESY OF ANNE BEREST (POSTCARD COVER PHOTO:

confusing, confounding,
beckoning—then sud-
denly not beckoning—
world of cats. Losos asks
what others won’t, like,
“Is it really poor pet own-
Saturday Night ership to let your cat out- The Postcard
at the Lakeside side?” and “Is a pet ocelot By Anne Berest,
NOÉMIE RABINOVITCH, 1941), GINEVRA RAPISARDI (POSTCARD COVER DESIGN). (NOUN PROJECT (BOOK ICON)

Supper Club a bad idea?” (If bad, why translated by Tina Kover
By J. Ryan Stradal so cute? Explain!) And A beloved French novel
explain Losos does, in a gets an English transla-
Mariel Prager is next in
way that’s comprehensive tion. The Postcard, fiction
line to run her family’s
and astute, but still fun inspired by an event in
Lakeside Supper Club but
and digestible for a non- Anne Berest’s life, is set in
struggles to keep the Min-
Harvard audience. The France but takes readers
nesota landmark afloat.
most interesting chapter on a journey through
Her husband, Ned, is also
is Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, history. Prompted by an
a restaurant heir—to a
Where Have You Been?, anonymous postcard
chain of home-style diners
in which Losos uses GPS mailed to her home, Ber-
that puts places like the
technology to track where est’s heroine pieces to-
Lakeside under. Mariel
a feline might roam by the gether the story of her
has a few other things to
time he loudly announces ancestors who were mur-
manage, along with her
his return to the sliding dered in Auschwitz. With
restaurant and marriage,
door. —CF the help of her mother,
including her relationship
with her recently re- friends, family and a pri-
emerged mother, who vate detective, she follows
hasn’t spoken to Mariel in the ghostly trails of family
years and never liked the members she never met,
Lakeside. Kirkus Reviews reexamining her relation-
calls the novel “a loving ship with her family, self
ode to supper clubs, the and home country of
Midwest, and the people France. The moving family
there who try their best saga will stay with you
to make life worth living.” long after the last page.
—CF —Jessica MacLeish

rd.com 95
reader ’s digest

QUOTABLE QUOTES

JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE/SHAWN SWEENEY (GOODALL). KIMBERLY WHITE/GETTY IMAGES (PARSONS). COURTESY OF MANJIT MINHA
Just give yourself
credit for even the
I went to Africa smallest steps.
as a scientist. —Tig Notaro,
I left the jungle comedian,
in THE ATL ANTIC
as an activist.
—Jane Goodall,
primatologist,
in her master class You’re never too
young to start an
empire and never
too old to chase
a new dream.
Swing hard in case you hit it.
—Manjit Minhas,
—Bernie Williams, former professional entrepreneur, in
baseball player, on thehealthy.com CANADIAN BUSINESS

Creativity lies in the

everyday. The great
ideas come when
you are washing
the dishes.
—Jim Parsons, actor,
on the podcast
THE GREAT CREATORS
WITH GUY R AZ

96 june 2023 | rd.com

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reader ’s digest

Brain

GAMES
Sharpen Your Mind

Fact or Fiction?
medium Determine whether each statement is fact or fiction. To reveal the solution
to the bonus question at the bottom, write the letters indicated by your responses
in the corresponding numbered blanks. Turn the page upside down for the answers.
1. Hugging 2. Motorola created 3. Betsy Ross
reduces the first cellphone made the first
stress. in 1973. American flag
on June 14, 1777.

fact: M fiction: J fact: A fiction: O fact: H fiction: R

4. Bonnie and 5. The sun could fit 6. The original title

EMILY GOODMAN AND ROSIE LONG DECTER (FACT OR FICTION). NOUN PROJECT (4)
Clyde never more than 1 million of Jane Eyre was
robbed a bank. Earths inside it. First Impressions.

fact: N fiction:C fact: O fiction: C fact: A fiction: P

7. June bugs are blind. 8. “Buttload” is 9. After France,

a real unit of Italy has the most
measurement. restaurants
with Michelin
stars.
fact: B fiction: O fact: L fiction: O fact: T fiction: O

bonus question Which explorer is credited with bringing back the original recipe
for gelato from his travels? (Need help? Turn to ”The Scoop on Gelato” on page 15.)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
126 gallons and is usually used for measuring wine. 9. Fiction; Japan does. (Italy is third.) Bonus question: Marco Polo.
Impressions was the original title of Pride & Prejudice. 7. Fiction; they’re just clumsy fliers. 8. Fact; it’s equivalent to
the design. 4. Fiction; they more commonly robbed small stores, but they did also rob banks. 5. Fact. 6. Fiction; First
Answers: 1. Fact; it also boosts our immune systems, so hug it out! 2. Fact. 3. Fiction; it’s the day Congress approved

98 june 2023
 Brain Games

Pathfinder
easy Trace a
path through
the labyrinth,
entering and
exiting by the
arrows shown.



LOUIS-LUC BEAUDOIN (LABYRINTH). EMILY GOODMAN (PETAL PROBLEM)

1. 2. 3.
Petal Problem
difficult The flower shown
here grows petals one at a
time in a specific pattern.
Once it has its first petal
(as shown in 1), it adds its
next three petals following A. B. C.
the exact same process.
From these pictures of its
progression, determine
which of the three options
(A, B or C) depicts what the
flower will look like next.

rd.com 99
reader ’s digest

First In
difficult Place the letters A, B, C and
D into this grid so that each letter
appears exactly once in each row and
column, with one cell in each row and
column left blank. Each letter outside Fauna Farce
the grid indicates the letter that must medium All flounders are flatfish.
appear first in its respective row or Some flatfish are freshwater fish.
column (reading in from the edge Flamingos make friends only with
of the grid closest to the letter, and freshwater fish. If a fish is a frog’s
skipping any blank cells). Can you foe, then it is a flamingo’s friend.
complete the grid? Flounders have either four fins
or five. Five-finned flounders fear
frogs. Four-finned flounders are
C B B not freshwater fish.

One of these “facts” does

not follow. Find the falsehood:

FRASER SIMPSON (FIRST IN). DARREN RIGBY (FAUNA FARCE). EMILY GOODMAN (DO THE MATH)
) Some fish that fear frogs
C are flatfish.
) Flamingos will not make
D friends with all flounders.
) If a freshwater fish is a
D flounder, it has five fins.
) Some frogs have four-finned
B flounders as foes.

Do The Math
medium Use five mathematical symbols (+, −, ×, ÷ and √) to complete the equation.
Use each symbol only once, and ignore the standard order of operations.

? 36 ? 4 ? 9 ? 3 ? 2 = 7
For more Brain Games, go to rd.com/braingames.

For answers, turn to page 103 .

100 june 2023

 Brain Games

9. biome n.
WORD POWER ('by-ohm)
a biogeographic unit
b group of stars
c couples yoga
You don’t have to play Wordle to do well
on this quiz, which features past answers to 10. whelp n.
the popular online game that gives players (welp)
a scar
six guesses to identify a five-letter word. b puppy
Will you share your success on social media c slap
or erase your stats? When you’re done, turn
11. abase v.
the page to find the answers. Ready? Begin! (uh-'bais)
a defend
By Rob Lutes b remove
c humiliate

1. aphid n. 5. tapir n. 12. epoxy n.

('ay-fuhd) ('tay-pr) (i-'pahk-see)
a sap-sucking insect a Velcro-like fastener a class of adhesive
b algae-eating fish b nocturnal mammal b type of viral disease
c flowering shrub c ceramic cookware c period of history

2. egret n. 6. duchy n. 13. grimy adj.

('ee-greht) ('duh-chee) ('gry-mee)
a bad decision a land of duke or duchess a uninviting
b small cove b savory puff pastry b covered with dirt
c white heron c motorized bicycle c pained

3. smite v. 7. tilde n. 14. agate n.

(smyt) ('tihl-duh) ('a-guht)
a strike sharply a whirlpool a arched doorway
b secure with rope b accent mark in Spanish b sour berry
c ascend c tiered fountain c ornamental stone

4. leery adj. 8. axiom n. 15. rebus n.

('lihr-ree) ('ak-see-uhm) ('ree-buhs)
a intoxicated a bridge support beam a riddle made of pictures
b wary b subatomic particle b twin
c poorly made c established truism c male crow

rd.com 101
reader ’s digest

Your Daily Fix with All the Fixings

You’ve done the Wordle of the day. Now what? Thankfully, there are
spinoffs that can tide you over—or become your new favorite. For
more words, try Quordle, which has you guess four five-letter words
simultaneously. Art buffs might like Artle, in which you name an art-
ist after seeing up to four of their works. Music lovers, try Heardle
to quickly name that tune after hearing as little of it as possible.

Word Power The Duchy of Cornwall himself, so he quit the de-

ANSWERS is worth more than meaning job after one day.
$1 billion.
1. aphid 12. epoxy
(a) sap-sucking insect 7. tilde (a) class of adhesive
Drought led to an aphid (b) accent mark in Spanish Epoxy adheres to wood
infestation that threat- Ava lost a point on her better than glue does.
ened the potato crop. exam for missing a tilde
on the word señor. 13. grimy
2. egret (c) white heron (b) covered with dirt
From the shore, Luis 8. axiom (c) Zoe struggled to hide her

ISSARAWAT TATTONG/GETTY IMAGES (MOBILE PHONE), COURTESY NATIONAL GALLERY

watched the egret catch established truism dismay at her boyfriend’s
fish in the shallows. The axiom that a large grimy apartment.
fire can come from a tiny
3. smite (a) strike sharply spark proved true when 14. agate

OF ART, WASHINGTON (FLOWERS IN A ROCOCO VASE BY PAUL CÉZANNE)

The knight drew his Max’s cigarette caused (c) ornamental stone
sword to smite the beast. an inferno. The statuette carved from
multicolored agate sat
4. leery (b) wary 9. biome proudly on the mantel.
I’m leery of my room- (a) biogeographic unit
mate’s cat, which always The tundra biome is 15. rebus
seems ready to pounce. home to woodland (a) riddle made of pictures
animals such as caribou. Sandro made the scaven-
5. tapir ger hunt trickier by using
(b) nocturnal mammal 10. whelp (b) puppy rebuses for the clues.
On an evening hike in At the sound of the train,
Colombia, Freya spotted the whelp retreated be-
the tracks of a rare tapir. hind its mother in fear. Vocabulary Ratings
9 & below: Phew!
6. duchy 11. abase (c) humiliate 10-12: Splendid
(a) land of duke or duchess Stephan refused to abase 13-15: Magnificent

102 june 2023

 Brain Games

ANSWERS
WHERE, OH WHERE? First In
(page 22)
C B A D
B. Iao Valley State Park,
Hawaii A D B C
C D B A
BRAIN GAMES
(pages 99-100) D A C B
Labyrinth B A C D

SPECIAL OFFER Petal Problem

B. Each of the flower’s
Nothing but


petals rotates clockwise
the Best by 120 degrees, then
When you’ve been a new petal is added at
around for a century,


the bottom.
even your highlights
reel runs long. We’ve Do The Math
squeezed as much of √36 × 4 − 9 ÷ 3 + 2 = 7
it as we could into The
Fauna Farce
Best of Reader’s Digest The last statement
Timeless Favorites, a (“Some frogs have
collection of stories four-finned flounders
of heroism and heart as foes”) is false.
that still endure and
entertain us all these
years later. As you
reminisce, you’ll also
Reader’s Digest (ISSN 0034-0375) (USPS 865-820), (CPM Agreement# 40031457), Vol. 201, No.
get to enjoy brand- 1189, June 2023. © 2023. Published monthly, except bimonthly in March/April, July/August,
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 a trusted friend in a complicated world
Lost and Found by Deshi Deng, exclusively for Reader’s Digest
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