We had an old manual that my brother taught himself to type on by covering the keys with black electrical tape. I was unable to get into typing in high school -- still not sure why, other than "my counselor disliked me" -- so I followed suit. Man, you really did have to bang those keys to get them to go all the way up, and if you got going too fast they'd jam together, either coming up or falling back. I didn't spend as much time on numbers as I did letters, and to this day I still double-check visually that my finger is on the right number when I type. But I was pretty much the first of my straight-As crowd to learn to "touch type," as it was called, who all ended up doing so in college. I was thrilled when I used my first electric, which let me go as fast as I wanted to.
I am reminded of another memory. One year in college, I went to Sears specifically yo buy an electric typewriter for my term paper, and left the store, not with a typewriter but with a stereo system.
I also learned on a manual typewriter. My teacher was Mrs Underwood, who was the wife of our principal. My mom bought me a manual during my senior year in high school as I had more papers to write, and my teachers complained about my handwriting. Years later, when I was working in a bank and had gone back to school to complete my degree, I used an electric for a couple of papers and swore I'd never use the manual again. Not long after, I used WordPerfect on a PC for the first time and swore I'd never use a typewriter again.
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We had an old manual that my brother taught himself to type on by covering the keys with black electrical tape. I was unable to get into typing in high school -- still not sure why, other than "my counselor disliked me" -- so I followed suit. Man, you really did have to bang those keys to get them to go all the way up, and if you got going too fast they'd jam together, either coming up or falling back. I didn't spend as much time on numbers as I did letters, and to this day I still double-check visually that my finger is on the right number when I type. But I was pretty much the first of my straight-As crowd to learn to "touch type," as it was called, who all ended up doing so in college. I was thrilled when I used my first electric, which let me go as fast as I wanted to.
And you tell that to kids today ...
You had black electrical tape? Bloody luxury!
My dad used electrical tape on everything. Maybe duct tape wasn't invented yet.
In high school, the only thing my counselor did for me was to make sure I registered for the draft,
I am reminded of another memory. One year in college, I went to Sears specifically yo buy an electric typewriter for my term paper, and left the store, not with a typewriter but with a stereo system.
I also learned on a manual typewriter. My teacher was Mrs Underwood, who was the wife of our principal. My mom bought me a manual during my senior year in high school as I had more papers to write, and my teachers complained about my handwriting. Years later, when I was working in a bank and had gone back to school to complete my degree, I used an electric for a couple of papers and swore I'd never use the manual again. Not long after, I used WordPerfect on a PC for the first time and swore I'd never use a typewriter again.
Here's one for Armed Forces Day (today).
Thank you, sir.
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