My First Keyboard!

           I found this picture today at Mr. Typewriter.com, which incidentally is located in my hometown, St. Louis, Missouri.  He gets the credit for the picture . . . my Quiet Riter is no longer in my possession, *boo-hoo.*

Dang, Ain't She Pretty!

          My first journalistic enterprise ideas came to me after I had just received my first typewriter, a "portable" Remington Quiet Riter. As I was the trendsetter in my neighborhood my best friend, Clara Mayes, asked her parents for the same typewriter. My idea was to start a newpaper about events in our class and elementary school. We typed it with three columns, three carbon copies, cut the columns and passed out the little slips of "news." The $.05 subscriptions were obtained from my classmates after passing out samples of what was to come. This was 1959. I was in the seventh grade, but I cannot remember what we called our paper. Subscriptions went great. I would either take my "portable" Quiet Riter to Clara's house or she would bring hers to mine. We would write the article and then type the same thing in three columns with as many carbon copies as would come through (5 or 6 was questionable!) until we wrote about Calvin Banks (who was most of the time in trouble), the details of his punishment and offense. When he read it he signaled to me from across the room his "finger slicing the neck" move and gave me the stank eye. I immediately broke down in tears at my desk. Of course the teacher called me outside and after counseling and calming me down suggested the newspaper cease. I thought that was drastic but agreed and she told Calvin he better not bother me. End of that story. I could type 90 wpm by freshman high school year and my typing teacher told my father that he did not have to worry because i would always be able to get a job. So i was cruising at 125-130 by the time i graduated from high school and the rest is history--have always had a job!  I am a world-class typist with proof, but cannot divulge my real name here if you want to live.

               My current worklife is like I have a brand new job, but I did not leave my pesent firm. No, yours truly did not get the promotion, the little "whoras" did. Our office manager who had been here for 18 years has now moved to the Midwest. The secretary to the Senior Partner was promoted to Office Manager. She brings her recently-graduated-from-junior-high daughter in to work every day. It is really a juicy story but maybe someone might actually read this.

Keeping my fingers busy :)

Love,

Me