Reverting to Type

posted by Jeanne Munn Bracken

I spent four hours last weekend typing a legal paper for a patron because I figured I could use some gas money; usually I have more time than money, and this was no exception.

It was like a blast to the past. I earned my spending money in college typing papers for cash. I had an old upright manual typewriter that I lugged around when I had to find a place where I wouldn't be disturbing anybody; it was a given that I was typing late at night. That sucker was heavy, but I still miss its bouncy touch.

I was able to do this because (deep dark secret revealed here) I started at the university as a secretarial sciences major. My parents and their trusted friends had convinced me that "secutaries" made decent money and the job field was secure. In order to justify a four-year education, I announced I would be minoring in German and would become a bi-lingual secretary. This was  in the pre-feminist days when a poster with a picture of Golda Meir was captioned, "Yes, but can she type?"

I had taken business courses in high school along with the more academic ones, partly because of my "career goals" and partly because the tiny high school I attended didn't have a wide range of courses in any field. So I know a little about bookkeeping, and I learned to type.

Freshman year of college I took some of the usual required courses (chemistry, anyone?) and a typing class. Already I was in trouble, because business class professors insisted that we arrive dressed in skirts and nylons, and the class was across campus at 8 am. This plan lasted into the beginning of sophomore year, when two things happened. The university came to its senses and canceled the secretarial sciences major, although I would be able to finish two more years before having to transfer to one of the state colleges. Secondly, I was taking filing and shorthand, and I was really, really bad at both. I mean, we're talking alphabet here, and I was getting a C. I had one of those epiphanies the mystics talk about: I was paying for my education myself and could study whatever I wanted. In short order, I changed my major to German, my minor to speech and drama, and announced I was going to be a librarian. And the rest, as they say, is History (which I didn't study, either, much to my later regret.)

So, long story short, I ended up last weekend typing this legal separation agreement for a fellow I'd never met before. We didn't discuss upfront what this would cost him, so I poked around a little online and emailed all my friends asking what it was worth. Answers ranged from $8 per page plus $7 per hour (that would have been $250,  which seemed a little steep to me) to "$1 to $1.50 but that was a while ago." One professional typist quoted $3 to $4 per page. I decided to err on the side of my time being worth something and when I sent the document to him a couple of days later, I asked for $3 a page. The fellow balked at the $65 and offered $50 instead, so I caved and accepted that, which is at least a couple of tanks of gas. I figured I was doing better than a librarian colleague who reported that a kid had asked her to type his paper for 5 cents a page. (She declined.)

This has got me thinking. The same day this fellow was looking for help, another patron asked for software to learn to type. It occurred to me that people don't take typing anymore. I suppose it's called "keyboarding" and nobody hangs over the students making sure they are using the right fingers on the various keys. It's a new world out there.

What do I take away from this experience? Well, it's nice to know I was right--that as a secretary, I make a damn fine librarian.

Comments

[Dennis]

I never "learned" how to type. I remember the first paper in English class I had to type - not the paper but when we were told it needed to be typed. According to my teacher, this was the first time I spoke up in any of her classes. She was probably correct - ha ha. Now I type on the computer - no particular method though!!! Kind of a combination of hunt and peck and two or more fingers.

[Elise]

I was surprised that people still actually pay others to type things for them. As Dennis said, with a computer, you can hunt and peck and correct all the mistakes fairly easily yourself.
My mother is responsible for me learning how to type - probably as a result of her staying up all night to type a high school term paper for me. The summer before college she bought me a book of typing lessons and suggested I do one every day. I dutifully sat at that manual typewriter (Smith-Corona?) and worked through one each morning. I've never worked as a typist, but it certainly has helped me as a programmer.

[Jody]

You're right. I don't think they teach much of keyboarding/typing any more. So many kids are like my grandchildren - "typing" away on a computer before they even start school. One of my daughters (she's 35) took a keyboarding class in H.S., but didn't remember much of anything. They all have developed FAST hunt & peck typing. I think my grandson (age 16) can type as fast as I do but he never had any classes. I'm old school - took typing as a freshman in H.S. - and think it helps a lot when I'm working or playing on the computer.

[JennieB]

I taught myself how to type. My dad brought home an old Smith-Corona, circa 1950 - this would have been in the 1980s sometime - and I asked a friend who did take typing in high school where the proper positions for the fingers were. After that, I just made sure each finger stayed there as I hammered the keys. I'm not all that fast - 50 wpm maybe - but it beats hunting and pecking, and my fingers can just about keep up with my thoughts.

[The older sister - Pat]

Amen, I agree, your are a fine librarian. I took 1/2 year of typing in Freshman year High School - graduated from the same tiny, now non-existant high school.
The thing I really taught my self was the calculator keyboard. At one of my jobs, I had to add up columns of numbers for my boss. I went into the accounting department to use their calculator and they laughed at me hunting and pecking. I resolved to learn the keyboard and did. I just imagined it in my head and watched the paper I was adding from. In HS we couldn't look at the keyboard - it had blank keys anyway - we looked at the keyboard up on the black board. Seems like a good way to learn to type. Of course, kids have access to computers early in life - Bryce, my youngest grandson, has one that talks to him - damned if I can understand it but he has a blast hitting the same key over and over - grammy is getting grayer!

[Jeanne]

Thank you all for your comments. From this week's post, you can see why I was out of touch for a while. I watch kids (mostly) on the library computers going right to town, speed-wise--amazingly fast, given the use of two or three fingers on each hand. My typing teachers would be shocked. Oh well, whatever works! (and Dennis, are you Back In The USA yet?)