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| Blogs > spiritwoman45 > Life in the Canyon |
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From Palmer to Mavis to Sari Or at least I think that is the name. After my last blog I thought about the changes technology has made in our lives. After struggling with the perfect penmanship issue of grade school came junior high school and a change in approach. I was on what they called the college prep class track. I am not sure about everything but we had more science, classes in advanced math like algebra, trigonometry, geometry etc. and academic focused English classes. There was also the business track which taught the office skills of the day along with the basics. There was little crossover except for a typing class. In 9th grade all college prep students were required to take and pass a typing class (40 words per minute on an old manual typewriter). The purpose of this class was to prepare us to type our reports and papers in college. I believe the method taught was promoted by the name of Mavis Bacon. I may have this mixed up with some of the self taught typing programs I got when my were in school. Perhaps someone can remember the right name if I am incorrect. I managed to pass the class but hated it and found it incredible boring. That was what cinched my decision to go to college. I could not see myself typing every day trapped at a desk in an office. My grandmother was very satisfied. She preached that while our primary role was to be mothers and wives a woman needed some back up skills in case some disaster came about and she needed to support a family. Typing was one of those skills that insured access to some of the better paying traditionally female jobs of the day. Off to college and I did type my papers. I even got a portable electric typewriter the first year they came out. I still have it packed away somewhere. When I pass and the go through my stuff they will probably donate it to a museum. Talk about feeling old! I was far from a perfect typist so when I completed my master's thesis I had the final draft typed by my mother's secretary to insure perfection. Life was good. On to the workforce of the day. Notes were scribbled, reports dictated via phone from anywhere and arrived in the in basket by some sort of magic. but then came the dawn of the computer era. I can't remember when exactly but we went from filling out paper forms that were sent to data entry clerks for entry into the system to needing to enter the information in the data base ourselves. Next came the elimination of the word processing department. We were all given PC's with WordPerfect, sent to classes in how to use it began typing our own report. Life had come full circle. After 6 years of college and 2 degrees I was back to depending on one of the minor skills I learned early in high school. Fortunately the keyboard and finger positions did not change and I produced so many reports that I got plenty of practice and quickly became a fast typist. Once I was better at it I started liking it. When I was stressed the rhythm of fast typing was like meditation for a calming effect. I discovered some of the early graphics functions and produce a multitude of creative originals. I used to need a pen and yellow legal pad to create. Now i need a keyboard and screen. By the time I left the mainstream workforce computers were a vital part of my daily life. I am still typing, the very thing I spent years of education to avoid. However technology appears to be making no more than a brief stop here. We have Sari, Cortina and soon a multitude of software that take voice commands and questions and speak the results. Word to text Additions to standard word processing software get better and better. We are almost at the point where even typing will be an obsolete skill. If the arthritis in my hands decides to progress this may be a salvation for me. I wonder if my great great grandchildren will even learn to write or if they will move to telling a computer what they want from the babble of their first words. Talk about the old days when computers were not built ins you never see like electrical wiring and keyboards will be part of the stories I tell them about the "old days". Spiritwoman ^i^ |
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7/27/2015 12:25 pm |
Hi Spirit: When I was just a little girl I used to watch Perry Mason on t.v. and think what a glamorous job his secretary Della Street had. I asked my parents to buy me a portable typewriter and somehow I learned the correct finger position and learned to type all by myself. I carried around a cardboard keyboard and in the car I practised typing all the street signs. I spent hours a day typing. By the time I got into high school I had been typing for years already and my speed (even on a manual typewriter) was about 100 wpm With electric typewriters, then computers, my speed went way up from there. Everyone who ever saw me typing said I was the fastest typist they'd ever seen. At one time I could type the alphabet in 2 seconds.
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Hi Spirit: When I was just a little girl I used to watch Perry Mason on t.v. and think what a glamorous job his secretary Della Street had. I asked my parents to buy me a portable typewriter and somehow I learned the correct finger position and learned to type all by myself. I carried around a cardboard keyboard and in the car I practised typing all the street signs. I spent hours a day typing. By the time I got into high school I had been typing for years already and my speed (even on a manual typewriter) was about 100 wpm With electric typewriters, then computers, my speed went way up from there. Everyone who ever saw me typing said I was the fastest typist they'd ever seen. At one time I could type the alphabet in 2 seconds.
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Hi Spirit: When I was just a little girl I used to watch Perry Mason on t.v. and think what a glamorous job his secretary Della Street had. I asked my parents to buy me a portable typewriter and somehow I learned the correct finger position and learned to type all by myself. I carried around a cardboard keyboard and in the car I practised typing all the street signs. I spent hours a day typing. By the time I got into high school I had been typing for years already and my speed (even on a manual typewriter) was about 100 wpm With electric typewriters, then computers, my speed went way up from there. Everyone who ever saw me typing said I was the fastest typist they'd ever seen. At one time I could type the alphabet in 2 seconds. Alfie...
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7/27/2015 6:17 pm |
Hi Spirit: When I was just a little girl I used to watch Perry Mason on t.v. and think what a glamorous job his secretary Della Street had. I asked my parents to buy me a portable typewriter and somehow I learned the correct finger position and learned to type all by myself. I carried around a cardboard keyboard and in the car I practised typing all the street signs. I spent hours a day typing. By the time I got into high school I had been typing for years already and my speed (even on a manual typewriter) was about 100 wpm With electric typewriters, then computers, my speed went way up from there. Everyone who ever saw me typing said I was the fastest typist they'd ever seen. At one time I could type the alphabet in 2 seconds. Spiritwoman ^i^
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7/27/2015 6:21 pm |
If I remember correctly the 20 WPM goal was adequate to get by back in those days. Spiritwoman ^i^
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7/27/2015 10:10 pm |
Thanks for sharing - yet another story of how some of the basic skills carry us through many situation and change. Spiritwoman ^i^
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7/28/2015 3:30 am |
That is incredibly fast typing bijou. I wish I were a bit faster at it. Alfie...
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