An accident of youth that eventually paid off

The Daily Herald’s Feb. 15 “An ‘old soul” story of the area’s last typewriter repairers prompted nostalgic thoughts of a time in my life, decades ago, when a journalist uncle, told me to take a high school typing class. Thus, as a senior, I became one of three males in a 30-person “Beginning Typewriting” class.

It was a confidence-shaking experience because my fingers seemed too big for the keys, I made too many errors and could not match the cadence of the class females. At the end, the teacher took me aside and told me that she was giving me the lowest possible grade and letting me pass only because I was a graduating senior. Bad — but at least I left the class knowing where the keys were without looking.

Fast-forward through my college days, my time in the military and in my early jobs. All involved a need to write letters, essays, reports, proposals — and prolonged my relationship with a typewriter. Though clumsy at first, accuracy and speed finally came my way. Then a miracle happened — the personal computer revolution arrived. Soon “typing” became “keyboarding” and keyboards became de rigueur. Legions of secretaries and administrative assistants disappeared.

All kinds of administrative and other workers were given PC’s or CRT’s and required to use them to complete their tasks. “Hunt and peck” became a tedious game for poor souls without prior keyboarding experience.

Now late in life, I periodically look back and think about the things that brought me to where I am. What experiences, what learnings, what relationships, etc. have positively affected my life’s trajectory? Although it seems quite pedestrian, my somewhat accidental acquisition of typing skills is one of those things. It allowed me to quickly do more and better work in many settings. Who would have thought?

Amongst a sea of keyboards, I still have three typewriters in my home.

Charles F. Falk

Schaumburg