Dear Editor,
When I started school in 1943, we brought new scribblers and pencils to begin this adventure. Miss Row was our teacher and I remember her fondly. We learned letters and numbers by using a pencil. We practised forming our figures carefully.
Around Grade three, we learned to write. That was very exciting, but the next big step was pen and ink! Not just an ordinary pen that we use today. This was called a “straight” pen. It was about 8 inches long and was recessed at one end to hold a “nib.” We all had “ink wells” set into the right hand top corner of our desk. Probably uncomfortable for left handed children. The nib was very sharp and was forever sticking into the paper, causing a big splash of ink.
About this time, a new gadget called a “ball point pen” was appearing on the scene. We were not allowed to use one.
Our teachers, Mrs. Swan, Mrs. Hooper and Mrs. Herchek were very particular about our penmanship. We tried very hard to make nicely formed letters.
As a throwback to my early days, I still like to write and I try to write clearly and without any scratch outs.
The new technology train has left me running for the caboose. It is my fault. I haven’t kept up. Little screens that are supposed to do something at the touch of a finger, just can’t seem to figure my finger out and I fight the urge to throw the damn thing out the window.
Now that is what “I” am like. My question is what are the children of today like? Do they learn how to write neatly? Do they really have to? Has writing gone the way of the dodo bird? Does it matter? Should it matter?
It does to me. Is that one more sign of my disappearing over the hill? It’s like losing a language and it’s very sad. I guess this is progress, but is it really?
Mona Baker
Airdrie, formerly Barrhead
