Roger Porter
May 31, 2011
You know I used to have really good handwriting back in the day when I used to actually write things out longhand. In high school I used to hate those teachers who would force us to type the final draft of an essay. It bothered me because up until that point every English/ Language Arts teacher I had ever had placed a huge emphasis on our handwriting.
When I was in the 1st grade my teacher used to make us copy a paragraph from the chalkboard. Then when we were done she would go from student to student making sure she could place her index finger between each word and if she couldn’t she would make us rewrite the whole thing. It was a heartbreakingly tedious process but it did instill a respect for calligraphy in her classroom. Unfortunately, over the years I have lost that respect. As of today I can’t remember the last time I have handwritten anything. Since I created my blog site I don’t even journal any more. All those countless hours I spent learning how to write in cursive—what a waste.
And who can forget those teenage years when you used to ask a young lady for her phone number and if she wanted you to have it she would reply; “You got some paper?” Then you would look all over the ground for a brown paper bag or rifle through your pockets for a gum wrapper so she could give you the digits. After you finally got it you would analyze her handwriting. You would see if she dotted her eyes with hearts, or wrote down a specific time to call her. If she wrote in cursive then she was sophisticated, if she wrote in print then she just might be a freak. Now all she does is put your number in her phone. How boring.
Needless to say I miss those days of everyday art; before texting, laptops, and facebook. Back in the good old days when people had to put pin to paper and express themselves the old-fashioned way.