When I was nine years old, I remember my dad standing at the sink washing dishes and announcing to me that he was going to teach me how to type.
At the time, I was clueless as to why he had decided to do such a thing; I couldn’t understand the purpose.
So for the next several months after dinner daddy would pull out the powder blue and white manual typewriter, open the lid, and sit me down at the kitchen table to teach me how to type.
It wasn’t long before he had me doing it on my own.
In high school, typing was one of the classes offered and I decided to go for the easy class and took it to help hone my skills.
With my dad getting transferred, it meant that I changed schools a couple of times.
My last year in high school, they had old equipment with just ONE electric typewriter in the room…I got it!
But, there was a catch…
Since I already knew how to type, and the other teachers used the typing teacher to create their handouts….guess who got volunteered to help???
Ugh, those old mimeograph masters! They were a bear to deal with; especially if you made a mistake.
Little did I know back then how much those typing skills would come in handy.
One thing many journalists do not know how to do it type – they two finger their copy. I know how to use all of them and in the right order.
I didn’t realize it then as a nine year old; but that was one of the best things my dad ever did for me…that and teach me how to find out information…look it up!
Both of those skills have been invaluable over the 30 plus years I have spent writing articles for newspapers, newsletters, and online publishing.