Thursday, February 26, 2009

typing with the right fingers...

it's really quite amusing to see some ppl type. the boss types with only 2 fingers, with the index fingers of each hand. the bossboss types with 6 fingers, using the thumbs, index and middle fingers of each hand. the bossbossboss types with all 10 fingers, but not the right way.

other than the bosses, i've observed many amusing typing styles in many ppl. and that being said, the bossboss particularly loves watching me type. during meetings when i'm typing out the minutes as they speak, at my work station where she'll linger just for the sole purpose of watching me type, or even at HER workstation, where she'll push her notebook towards me for me to type out an e-mail reply while she dictates. i guess she finds my typing as amusing as how i find hers amusing...

actually, i got to learn how to type the correct way rather coincidently. since we were young, we had this big ass manual typewriter at home which belonged to the mother. sometimes we would insert a paper into it and just type things out with our two index fingers just for the sheer fun of it. then when we got older, maybe around 10-12 years old, the mother would try to encourage us to learn how to type on that typewriter. because u know, there's no harm learning a new skill and u'll never know when u'll need them. anyway, neither the bro nor i payed any heed to the mother's words and just continue tapping away with our 2 fingers.

fast forward to 1996. the brother has just gotten into uni and has bought a pc. whenever there's a sem break, he'd bring the pc home and i'd go crazy going online everyday! that was the era of icq and geocities websites... anyway, the brother had this cd-rom that teaches us to type. but instead of those really boring prog that tells you where to place your index fingers and which letter should be tapped by which finger, this prog is really awesomely cool! they formatted it into a sort of a game, and i was so hooked with this computer game that i was typing away in just days!

who could've imagined that typing is really so easy? before i got hooked with that typing game, typing seemed like a really serious and difficult thing to learn. i guess i got that skewed perception from one of my tuition classes all those years ago. when i was in form 6, i had 2 classes of tuition in this old crickety building in jln trengkera, known as something-something chamber of commerce. it's one of those pre-war 2 storey shop houses that line that part of m'ca, and all our classes were conducted upstairs. but in the main hall of the downstairs, there's a classroom with desks and chairs... and an ancient, bulky metal typewriter on each desk. at first i thought that classroom was just a remnant of times gone by and is now not functioning anymore. and those typewriters were just left there to rot. but then one day, as i was passing by to go upstairs, i saw a small girl of about 10 years old sitting at one of the desks and typing out something. in the desk next to her sat the skinny aunty whom we all thought was the building's caretaker. she actually has a second role as the typing teacher! she was practically breathing down the little girl's neck in trying to make sure she's using the right fingers to type out her exercise. yikes, how boring to be learning to type on an antique typewriter, in a dusty classroom in an old rickety building and with an old scrawny aunty as your teacher!

well, actually i don't reallly know what's my point in writing this post. it's just that i get so amused with the bossboss staring at my fingers flying about the keyboard everytime i type in front of her. anyway, in retrospect, had the brother not brought back that cd-rom all those years ago, maybe i'd still be typing out this post with only my 2 index fingers!

anyway dear readers, do you type (the right way)? how did you learn? a curious gal wants to know...