Oh, how American culture looks even more stupid when compared with foreign countries such as Japan.

Take, for example, the cell phone craze that has swept not only this country but many others, including the technology-enhanced country of Japan. Not only have cell phones become an integral facet of the communication, but they have also become fashion statements and toys.

Where the focus for cell phones in America seems to have gone toward the fashion and entertainment needs of children of all ages, there are other purposes that should make Americans feel a little less proud of how they use their cell phones.

Instead of playing the newest version of a golf game or downloading a new rap song to place as their ring tones, numerous Japanese cell phone users have begun using their hand held do-it-all devices to read novels.

In their free time, instead of picking up a book at the local library or Borders, if they have those stores over there, cell phone users are hanging up on their friends and beginning to read the latest classic novels they have gained interest in.

Further explaining America’s depleting interest in all levels of reading, the lead for a story about this that came from the Associated Press, complained about how those who read novels on a cell phone screen must have some pain involved with their eyeballs because they would have to squint to read the writing.

Heaven forbid that we have to squint when we read. Actually, heaven forbid we have to read at all when we can download a new song or have a new game to play.

So while the Japanese get further ahead on the latest classic novels and spend their free time catching up on reading, we here in America complain that the small writing might cause a little eye pain.

But please, who really has time to read a novel on the cell phone anyway?

This is not a realistic idea considering the amount of time we spend talking on that same phone.

But seriously, we also have more important things to take care of than reading. We have to … ah, I don’t know, I lost my train of thought. I mean, to read a novel takes a lot of time and focus, and all I’m trying to say is that I don’t have the time or the energy.

But congratulations to those ferocious readers in Japan who now can take their novels with them into the tiniest of spaces. They can read and get smarter all the time now, as long as their cell phones do not leave their sides, and that is a fantastic thing.

But if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to the bottom of the ninth inning in MVP Baseball 2005. After winning two in a row, if I finish this inning off right, I’ll have started a winning streak. Talk about a storybook ending.

I had some homework to do, but it really is a shame that I couldn’t read the textbook on my cell phone.

Maybe then I could get a little more work done. I wouldn’t even have to open up a book, and with a push of a button I can flip the page. Boy, it doesn’t get much easier than that.

But the whole idea still seems a little lazy to me. Anyway, I really do have to get back to the seriousness of this baseball game.