Keys

My relatively new laptop lost the left shift key - completely and totally lost it. Unlike a desktop keyboard, the keys on the laptop do not just 'pop in' - the thing is 'gone'. Completely and totally gone. What is showing is just metal and plastic - like a 'chip' of some kind - but it will not respond to a keystroke. The key is off and cannot be attached again - we've tried - several times.

You wouldn't think the loss of that key could be such a havoc-wreaking issue, but it is. I cannot train my right pinky to use the right shift key - after 30+ years of using the left shift key exclusively, changing to the right (even though I am right handed) is a challenge.

I learned to type on an old manual typewriter - black and heavy. I would write my grandmother in Oklahoma pretty regularly and always typed my letters. My first line was always 'How are you? I am fine. What have you been doing?' I was really fast on that sentence using two fingers.

My mom taught 'business machines' at a community college and she insisted that I learn to type 'properly'. I took typing in high school and practiced at home and eventually learned to type by touch. I remember 'grousing' about it, insisting that my two finger method was just fine and I couldn't see the value in practicing and taking classes - but she persisted so I took them. She was right. The last time I tested (when I was job hunting after leaving the corporate world), I typed 78 WPM with no errors. Not bad. I was sure grateful to my mom for making me learn to type - she must have 'seen' the future and realized that soon, we would all be using computers in everyday life and typing would become a necessity. In her day, the only folks who really learned to type by touch were those who had decided that being 'assistants' of some kind was their life goal. Now, you need typing for virtually any job in pretty much any field. So I'm grateful that I have that 'skill' and don't have to rely on two fingers to get my words to appear.

I never did learn shorthand (which she was also very proficient at) but I've never regretted it. I worked in collections for many years and have my own 'shorthand' learned from years of typing notes about conversations and agreements keeping things brief and short. Sort of like what kids use to text message these days - no vowels. Sets of letters 'defined' as a phrase. It works.

We will eventually be taking the laptop to the Geek Squad to see if they can repair it. I am adjusting but my right hand is 'cramping' and I'm convinced it's because my pinky is not used to being 'used' in this fashion and it is rebelling. The muscles that control that motion have not been used for this keystroke ever and it's going to take a lot of time and effort to retrain. So I have to get the left key fixed before I really 'switch'.

It's already going better 'cuz I've typed this entire post using the right pinky - never needed to 'contribute' another finger or method to using caps. Which is a marked improvement because most of the communications I've sent the past week have been all lower case - and I have to admit when I receive communications without caps I just think 'what is so hard about capitalizing when appropriate'. Now I know - maybe their left shift key died and they can't retrain their right pinky. It's a lot harder than you would think.