Mary

As a teenage boy, I had almost the polar opposite of your experience.

At the beginning of my third year of five years at high school, my
mother and I agreed that I should take Typing as my third elective
subject, on the grounds that I was intending to go to University, and
being able to type my essays and papers would be a significant advantage
(we hadn't made the connection between the Apple IIe computer that I was
spending my spare time at school writing incredibly Basic programs for
and its subsequent evolution into the desktop PCs on which I have for
many years written all of my reports and correspondence on a daily
basis).

The school refused to accept my choice on the grounds that I was an
'academic' student, and should be taking three academic subjects as
electives.  My mother had to demand an audience with the Principal in
order to get me admitted to the Typing class - during which she pointed
out that we already knew that I would be studying Maths I & II, Physics,
Chemistry and one other subject, probably English (in the end, it was
Art) in my final year, so that it really didn't matter which elective
subjects I did in my third year ...

Anyway, I took Typing that year (1979, I recall).  Within the first
couple of months of the class, when we were typing drills (on the manual
typewriters) to recordings of music with a strong metronome, I was
annoying my classmates by typing in first double time, then triple and
occasionally quadruple time.  By the end of the year, I had an
accredited typing speed of 55 wpm (words per minute), and had passed at
least one test at 65 wpm.  The target for students in the class was 30
wpm.  

I put it down to having learnt the piano from the age of 6, and thus
being used to moving my fingers independently without watching where
they needed to land.

For most of my first decade at work, I used to reassure myself that if,
for any reason, I was one day out of work, I could go and get temporary
work as a typist!!  Never did though.

Over thirty years on, I know it was one of the most useful classes I
have ever taken.  I am able to type significantly faster than I can
write by hand, and it is correct and legible and electronically
transmissible.

Cheers

David West
Executive Director
internationalconservationservices
T:     +61 (2) 9417 3311
M:    +61 (411) 692 696
E:     [log in to unmask]
W:    www.icssydney.com
sustaining your heritage
 

-----Original Message-----
From: The listserv where the buildings do the talking
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mary
Sent: Tuesday, 27 April 2010 2:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [BP] rivets -- i want to learn about rivets

Because folks have shared childhood learning experiences, here's one of
mine (although I did have similar epiphanies and clandestine  
wanderings and borrowings -- none of which involved kitchen stuff--  
which might explain how enlightening this particular experience was.

So, in the beginning high school, I was drooling at the prospect of  
electives after eight years of Catholic school. I signed up for shop.  
The high school counsellor/advisor changed it to typing. And I thought  
she was my friend. Girls don't take shop and girls need to know how to  
type.

.....

Signed unrepentant,

Mary V

----------------------------------
Mary Tegel
hands on impresario
Tegel Design + Planning
----------------------------------

--
**Please remember to trim posts, as requested in the Terms of Service**

To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>