Clickety Clack

 

I apologize for those who are reading this because they thought I would be discussing Neilson Class locomotives, or G Scale model trains, or Thomas and Friends. I did not intend to participate in a clickbait deception.

I want to talk about typewriters.  

I learned to type in high school, and my younger readers will be surprised to hear that there was not a plug in sight in that classroom. Just rows of manual typewriters. While some of you may use the hunt-and-peck method, we were taught touch typing. That means you look at the source material, not the keyboard. And you rest your fingers on the home keys (identified by the raised markers on the J key and the F key).

Although I have since read that there is no statistical evidence to prove it, we were told that touch typing was much faster. And I also read that carpal tunnel syndrome has been attributed to touch typing because the wrist rests at a downward angle. Pros and cons for everything, but I am still a fan of that style.

Once radiation treatment healed my cancer but messed up my right hand, I began to use a hybrid method, which meant touch typing on the left and hunt-and-peck on the right.

My Daddy typed using the touch method. And for a young man of his time, that was unusual. He joined the Marines and quickly discovered that his flat feet would ultimately get him discharged, but not before he spent a lot of hours typing in the office at the base while his platoon marched on healthy feet.

Growing up, his kids knew that he kept his turquoise manual typewriter fastened in its case and stored in his closet. With it, he typed income tax returns, letters, and business forms.  We weren’t allowed to use it until we had taken typing classes as a school elective, but I loved listening to him type. The typewriter pictured in my blog title reminds me of Daddy’s typewriter.

When I was a senior in high school, typing became even more important. I was a Vocational Office Education student, meaning I went to school in the mornings and worked as a clerk for the City of Pasadena in the afternoons.  That set the stage for a career as a secretary (now known as an administrative assistant). By then, we were using electric typewriters, which were much faster, but didn’t sound the same.  

Following Daddy’s lead, I insisted my children learn touch typing, so when we bought our first computer, we loaded “Typing Tutor,” which was a violent game requiring the typing of letters before they exploded. Probably damaged their psyche, but they could type!

Typing today is called keyboarding, and computer keyboards offer auto-correct, print buttons, copy and paste, and saving for later edits. All these incredible enhancements and more. I accept that touch typing will go the way of the double space after a period. And I am ok with those changes.

But I do miss the clickety-clack of Daddy’s old manual typewriter.