Hunting and Pecking

You read this yarn because even at nearly 90 years, I can peck a computer keyboard with only two fingers.

“Hunt and Peck” on a typewriter was good enough when at age 14, the Abilene Reporter-News hired me, part time, to proofread and write sports stories.  I only knew how to type with two fingers. Didn’t bother to take high school typing lessons.

But at age 18, the University of Texas required you pass a typing test if you wanted to enroll in the beginning journalism class. Never doubted I couldn’t type 35 words a minute with only three errors.   Until I saw their typing class keyboard.   Caramba! No letters on the keys.

Took me four semesters to qualify.    I was fast enough, around a hundred words per minute, but not careful enough to use all my fingers on keys that had NO letters.

When I returned for my fourth semester, I hid on the back row of typewriters.    Ms. Fox, who ran the typing lab, always started the 35 words-a-minute, three-error speed test with “Ready, Set, Go.”   I started typing when she said “Ready ”.

 “Oh, Mr. Elam, are you in here, again?”

 I finally qualified. Solution was type fast, but quit when you see three errors.    Yes, I know I cheated. I wasn’t supposed to look at what I had typed.

 Tab ahead. At age 82 Sasha, our Russian blue cat, bit my right fourth finger. I suffered blood poisoning.

Problem: fourth finger droops. Can’t keep up with the other digits.

Easy solution:  I returned to ‘hunt and peck”. Works for all we chickens.

Unexpected result.:  My muse returned from my days when I pecked out words for people to read. Also the “delete” key works better than “back space” on the old typewriter.     Not to mention the glories of spell-checker.

You lucked out, Reader. I reread this copy. Can’t find even three typing errors.

Image by Mali Maeder from Pexels