Are We Raising a Generation of Helpless Kids?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I like the sound of a typewriter in the background---for awhile at least.

Reminds me of that old Tonight Show bit where Johnny Carson (as Walter Cronkite) is trying to announce his retirement, with the omnipresent typewriter sound in the background. He turns around and says "For GOD's sakes, KNOCK off that dickety-dickety-dickety!"

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJafME2mKag[/yt]

(it's at about 1:18)

 

[RoJoHen]

I've honestly thought about getting a separate word processor, or at least a cheap non-wifi computer. I like to write, but I get too distracted by the internet sometimes. I want to have a separate device that is physically incapable of having an internet connection.

 

[Mary Ann]

I like the sound of a typewriter in the background---for awhile at least.

I love the sound of ticking clocks, probably because I grew up in a house full of old-fashioned wall clocks and, in later years, a grandfather clock. It's surprised me over the years how many people hate that sound, including people my age. When my kids were small I made sure we had a clock with a traditional clock-face on it to help my kids learn to tell time traditionally as well as digitally. I had real issues finding a mantle clock that had Arabic rather than Roman numerals.

 

[scotpens]

I like the sound of a typewriter in the background---for awhile at least.

There was something about the sound of an office full of typewriters clattering and their margin warning bells going "ding!" It sounded like work!

Reminds me of that old Tonight Show bit where Johnny Carson (as Walter Cronkite) is trying to announce his retirement, with the omnipresent typewriter sound in the background. He turns around and says "For GOD's sakes, KNOCK off that dickety-dickety-dickety!"

Maybe it's splitting hairs, but that's actually the sound of a teletype machine.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

there's a museum for sounds that are extinct or on the brink of extinction: http://savethesounds.info/ (the site loads very slowly and sometimes not completely. You may have to try a few times)

 

[Timewalker]

I've honestly thought about getting a separate word processor, or at least a cheap non-wifi computer. I like to write, but I get too distracted by the internet sometimes. I want to have a separate device that is physically incapable of having an internet connection.

That's easy enough to accomplish; just don't pay your internet bill. You can still use your word processing programs, but won't be able to post your work anywhere.

My first computer was an Amiga 500, and it didn't have an internet connection. It didn't even have a hard drive; everything was on 3 1/4" disks. I got an immense amount of writing done on that.

I like the sound of a typewriter in the background---for awhile at least.

I love the sound of ticking clocks, probably because I grew up in a house full of old-fashioned wall clocks and, in later years, a grandfather clock. It's surprised me over the years how many people hate that sound, including people my age. When my kids were small I made sure we had a clock with a traditional clock-face on it to help my kids learn to tell time traditionally as well as digitally. I had real issues finding a mantle clock that had Arabic rather than Roman numerals.

I have a couple of battery-operated clocks that tick - one in the bedroom and another in the living room. It's comforting.

There's a story in one of Isaac Asimov's autobiography volumes (it took 3 books for him to say it all) about when he was in the hospital. He was having trouble sleeping, so his wife had the nurses place a recording of typewriter sounds beside the bed. When he heard that, he went to sleep with no trouble at all.

As for numerals, I prefer Roman to Arabic for clocks. Of course it is better for kids to learn the Arabic numerals first.

 

[Melakon]

I've honestly thought about getting a separate word processor, or at least a cheap non-wifi computer. I like to write, but I get too distracted by the internet sometimes. I want to have a separate device that is physically incapable of having an internet connection.

Ever hear of an ancient device known as a typewriter? You can take it anywhere, no batteries needed. You might have seen one in a museum or pawn shop.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Once when I was a kid I uhh.. Liquid Paper'd my teeth to make them super white.

My sister has never let me forget this.

 

[Melakon]

Liquid Paper

Remember The Monkees? Mike Nesmith's mother invented that stuff.

 

[Timewalker]

I've honestly thought about getting a separate word processor, or at least a cheap non-wifi computer. I like to write, but I get too distracted by the internet sometimes. I want to have a separate device that is physically incapable of having an internet connection.

Ever hear of an ancient device known as a typewriter? You can take it anywhere, no batteries needed. You might have seen one in a museum or pawn shop.

They're being sold again.

Or there's this thing called a pen. It writes on paper. I've got several binders full of fanfic I wrote with pen and paper, and that's where it has stayed. None of it has been posted online.

Even my notes for next month's NaNoWriMo contest are partially done with pen & paper.

 

[Melakon]

I only mentioned the pawn shop because I was reminded of Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend.

 

[Mary Ann]

Once when I was a kid I uhh.. Liquid Paper'd my teeth to make them super white.

My sister has never let me forget this.

I had a couple of classmates who loved to sniff that stuff when it first came out. I very much doubt it gave them a high but it made them happy. Remember how long that stuff used to take to dry when it was first available? And how the ink used to bleed though? Several of my teachers in the early 80s wouldn't let us use "that white stuff", insisting we continue to cross out our mistakes instead.

 

[Timewalker]

I'm not familiar with that movie, but your pawn shop comment reminds me of an incident I had some months back when I wanted to buy a Sony Discman. I did some research online and both Staples and London Drugs sold them. So I went to the local Staples, and the clerk told me "They haven't made those in years. You need to go to a pawn shop." She had no answer when I told her I'd found a couple of models listed on their company website just the previous evening.

Then I ordered one from London Drugs and it works just fine.

 

[{ Emilia }]

I've honestly thought about getting a separate word processor, or at least a cheap non-wifi computer. I like to write, but I get too distracted by the internet sometimes. I want to have a separate device that is physically incapable of having an internet connection.

Ever hear of an ancient device known as a typewriter? You can take it anywhere, no batteries needed. You might have seen one in a museum or pawn shop.

They're being sold again.

Or there's this thing called a pen. It writes on paper. I've got several binders full of fanfic I wrote with pen and paper, and that's where it has stayed. None of it has been posted online.

Even my notes for next month's NaNoWriMo contest are partially done with pen & paper.

Writing with a pen for longer periods of time makes my wrist and fingers hurt... truly I'm a product of the information era.

 

[Melakon]

When I was learning programming, I didn't own a machine. I'd write several hundred lines on paper before I'd be able to test it to see if it worked. That was just for BASIC. Coding COBOL was even harder, and that was through a class. I tried to learn C on my own, but never succeeded at it.

@ Timewalker: The Lost Weekend was about a man suffering from alcoholism, including moments of delirium tremens and hospitalization. Pretty strong stuff for 1945. It won Oscars for Best Picture, Director (Billy Wilder), Best Actor for Milland, and Screenplay Adaptation.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Once when I was a kid I uhh.. Liquid Paper'd my teeth to make them super white.

My sister has never let me forget this.

A girl in my class used to paint it on her nails like fingernail polish.

[Cliff Clavin] It's a little known fact that Liquid Paper's inventor, typist and entrepreneur Bette Nesmith Graham, was the mother of Mike Nesmith from The Monkees, who inherited her correction fluid fortune when she passed away after selling the company to Gillette. [/Cliff Clavin]

 

[Melakon]

^ At least I never delivered the mail. Then again, we can't be sure Cliff wasn't hiding all those letters in his closet.

 

[Timewalker]

Ever hear of an ancient device known as a typewriter? You can take it anywhere, no batteries needed. You might have seen one in a museum or pawn shop.

They're being sold again.

Or there's this thing called a pen. It writes on paper. I've got several binders full of fanfic I wrote with pen and paper, and that's where it has stayed. None of it has been posted online.

Even my notes for next month's NaNoWriMo contest are partially done with pen & paper.

Writing with a pen for longer periods of time makes my wrist and fingers hurt... truly I'm a product of the information era.

Any repetitive motion will hurt if it's done long enough at a session, especially over an extended period of time, and typing is one of the major ones. My sessions of writing story notes and making literal character sketches are not painless when the fibromyalgia acts up.

I had decent handwriting until I majored in anthropology and the instructor gave us outlines of the day's lecture and told us to "make a few notes in the margin" - and 80 minutes later the paper would be covered in notes in very tiny writing and my hand would be aching.

@ Timewalker: The Lost Weekend was about a man suffering from alcoholism, including moments of delirium tremens and hospitalization. Pretty strong stuff for 1945. It won Oscars for Best Picture, Director (Billy Wilder), Best Actor for Milland, and Screenplay Adaptation.

Thank you for explaining. That does sound like a difficult movie to watch, especially if the viewer has had close experience with alcoholism either personally or because of a family member.

 

[Sector 7]

Actually, what disturbs me now about the people half my age or younger is that they can't fathom why they should need to know handwriting. They say, "Why should I have to know that? I write everything on my computer."

Well, what if they don't have a computer? "I'll use someone else's," they say. Questions about what they would do if the computer had no batteries result in the response that they always have batteries. They cannot imagine being without batteries or electricity, ever.

This is the kind of attitude that can lead to illiteracy if something goes wrong and advanced technology doesn't work.

Kids still do a lot of handwriting in school. It's not as if all their classwork is done on computers; note-taking is still done by hand. My teens only write longer essays on the computer, often using Powerpoint, but their homework and short assignments are always handwritten. Heck, my daughter has pen-and-paper penfriends, though that's probably unusual. There was a strong emphasis on writing and spelling in the primary schools I worked in, so I'm not sure where you're coming from.

Using computers is a godsend for children like my younger son who have issues with hand control and for whom handwriting is a lifelong chore. A few years back I bought him an iPad specifically to help his hand-eye coordination, and playing computer games has also helped with this skill.

My state is no longer going to teach cursive handwriting. I believe it is a loss.

I have also experienced that drop-jaw stare of amazement from cashiers. I wanted 3 quarters back for the car wash. Thus, I gave the cashier $1.12 for a $.37 item [.37+.75=1.12]. The cashier tried to hand back the 12 cents. When I explained to her what I needed back, she said, "I don't think that's right". It took a full minute of wrangling to get her to "just put it in and let the computer decide". Once she did, I got that deer-in-the-headlights stare of amazement! "How did you do that?" "It is called MATH. We learned it in school."

If a guy has straight long legs and a firm butt we find that attractive and we like to see both. Why do you think buckskin breeches were so popular in Regency England, or Jeans have been for the last 100 years all over the world? Why do the males of all indigenous peoples either wear no pants at all or tight leggings / trousers? If you have a firm bottom and lovely thighs, flaunt them, guys! We appreciate the view! (but we don't want to see your undies!)

Honestly, ladies and gay gentlemen: who'd you rather date?
One of these?
http://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/sagging-pants-e1300457430474.jpg

While I may not want to date one of them, as a gay man, I quite enjoy the view! Heterosexual men enjoy looking at women in short shorts or skirts, and gay men enjoy a man who shows off his goods, as well. Eye candy!

I never did let my kids wear such things, though.

 

[Sector 7]

http://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/sagging-pants-e1300457430474.jpg

(edited to turn hotlinked photo to a url)

This actually began in prison with gay men advertising their availability to other gay men. Just tell them to save their gay pride for the appropriate time and place.

CCC.

Of course it's futile to continuously mock the younger generation for the way they dress and stuff like that. I might argue that it's also futile in reverse - to mock the older generation for being stodgy and stuffy (stuff like "Don't trust anyone over 30", "If it's too loud, you're too old").

If the former doesn't make sense, then neither does the latter. Both are equally silly.

^Shoulder pads are out? Better donate them to goodwill along with my maual typewriter. I hear those are outdated too. No, I'm keeping that.

I've honestly thought about getting a separate word processor, or at least a cheap non-wifi computer. I like to write, but I get too distracted by the internet sometimes. I want to have a separate device that is physically incapable of having an internet connection.

Actually, what disturbs me now about the people half my age or younger is that they can't fathom why they should need to know handwriting. They say, "Why should I have to know that? I write everything on my computer."

Well, what if they don't have a computer? "I'll use someone else's," they say. Questions about what they would do if the computer had no batteries result in the response that they always have batteries. They cannot imagine being without batteries or electricity, ever.

This is the kind of attitude that can lead to illiteracy if something goes wrong and advanced technology doesn't work.

Kids still do a lot of handwriting in school. It's not as if all their classwork is done on computers; note-taking is still done by hand. My teens only write longer essays on the computer, often using Powerpoint, but their homework and short assignments are always handwritten. Heck, my daughter has pen-and-paper penfriends, though that's probably unusual. There was a strong emphasis on writing and spelling in the primary schools I worked in, so I'm not sure where you're coming from.

Using computers is a godsend for children like my younger son who have issues with hand control and for whom handwriting is a lifelong chore. A few years back I bought him an iPad specifically to help his hand-eye coordination, and playing computer games has also helped with this skill.

My state is no longer going to teach cursive handwriting. I believe it is a loss.

I have also experienced that drop-jaw stare of amazement from cashiers. I wanted 3 quarters back for the car wash. Thus, I gave the cashier $1.12 for a $.37 item [.37+.75=1.12]. The cashier tried to hand back the 12 cents. When I explained to her what I needed back, she said, "I don't think that's right". It took a full minute of wrangling to get her to "just put it in and let the computer decide". Once she did, I got that deer-in-the-headlights stare of amazement! "How did you do that?" "It is called MATH. We learned it in school."

If a guy has straight long legs and a firm butt we find that attractive and we like to see both. Why do you think buckskin breeches were so popular in Regency England, or Jeans have been for the last 100 years all over the world? Why do the males of all indigenous peoples either wear no pants at all or tight leggings / trousers? If you have a firm bottom and lovely thighs, flaunt them, guys! We appreciate the view! (but we don't want to see your undies!)

Honestly, ladies and gay gentlemen: who'd you rather date?
One of these?
http://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/sagging-pants-e1300457430474.jpg

While I may not want to date one of them, as a gay man, I quite enjoy the view! Heterosexual men enjoy looking at women in short shorts or skirts, and gay men enjoy a man who shows off his goods, as well. Eye candy!

I never did let my kids wear such things, though.