Hyper for hypertext and cukoo for Coco puffs.

                           I just read some information recently concerning reading with hypertext , and how this digital text format of reading actually mimics the act of reading itself; as well as how one would help someone to read, or even perform many of the skills involved in literacy. That's the part I get.... and I certainly support  hypertext reading as a powerful tool for literacy instruction and learning. However, it's the visual distraction that I have a problem with. I inherit a lifetime legacy as a linear reader, and frankly it even bothers me to watch news television with ticker tape to read on the bottom! Enough choice already..... why are there so many cereals in the cereal section of the supermarket?  It seems every cereal must have a fruity, nutty, and chocolaty version of itself. I think the peanut version of every cereal  started with cocopuffs, and then they all had to follow suit!  It's really a little out of control. That's one of the things I liked about Maine in the first place. I could finally go to a grocery store where I could find rockstar parking right out front, and there was such a lovely lack of choice in this supermarket. Ahhh, I could finally breathe, the way life is supposed to be.
                 Whenever I think about how "too much choice" for anything can be a cause for stress, I always remember the summer that I worked at an international camp for children. There was a large group of kids from Russia at this camp These children were coming from a country that was still remembered the  food shortages of the cold war in the eighties, and early nineties. The kids enjoyed most of the activities, but they were visibly frightened by the excessive cereal choices afforded to them at breakfast. The overload of cereal choices put some of the children on the verge of tears. They were clearly overwhelmed. Too much choice can be highly stressful; whether it's with our cereal, or with the visual space for our reading. If the child grows up in the literal world where hypertext is commonplace, their literacy will surely develop accordingly. In the meantime their teachers will have to find the means to cope with the visual assault and distraction that can sometimes be part and parcel of hypertextuality?