I don’t know
if it is age or lack of practice, but my writing looks like a five year old’s,
only worse.
I wonder if
it is just me.
Mrs. C’s writing
is notoriously bad and apparently always has been. My handwriting has never been very good,
perhaps because I write lefthanded, but currently it is awful. It is not only awful, but I also write very
slowly, forming each letter with great tongue-sticking-out effort and have
great difficulty keeping the letters in a straight line.
Previously,
even though my writing was bad, at least I could write fast. My writing looked a little sloppy, but it was
legible.
I suspect it
is because I have been writing via keyboard for the last 30 plus years. I do not write letters, I send email. Almost anything I wrote at work years ago was
on the computer and obviously my blog is done on the computer.
I think the
only thing I actually write on with an actual pen is when I sign a card or fill
out a check. Apparently if you do not
use a skill, you do lose it. I wonder
what else I can no longer do for lack of practice.
I can jog
fast, but I don’t think I could run without injuring myself. I wonder if I can still skip…I haven’t
skipped in years.
I probably
can no longer ride a skateboard, come to think of it I never rode a
skateboard.
I used to be
able to throw a ball, not great, but OK.
The last time I tried, I threw like a girl, that’s right, I said it you
feminists. Actually I still throw better
than most girls, except for my daughter-in-law who was a two time softball all-American
and has a rocket for an arm.
I think I could
still ride a bike, but only with both hands on the handlebar. As a kid we would ride all over with no
hands, steering by just shifting our weight, might be a bad idea today.
I can still
kick a ball, but probably only half as far as I used to kick one.
There are
some things that I can do that I didn’t used to be able to do. I can do laundry, clean dishes, and even
clean bathrooms, not often, but as a kid I had zero practice at these chores.
Use it or
lose it they say, I guess that is why Mrs. C has me write all our checks.
So...when was the last time you gracefully stepped into /out of a 10 foot or so sailboat?I can still do it as long as NO one is watching!
ReplyDeleteMaybe 10 years ago, and it was not pretty.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Mrs. C should dictate the grocery list to you. That way, you could read it easier than her writing, and you'd be getting penmanship practice.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea!!
DeleteMy handwriting is getting rather poor too, and I write letters to friends. On a sad note, apparently cursive handwriting is not always being taught in today's schools here in the USA.
ReplyDeleteAnd by cursive, I assume you mean longhand or script.
DeleteMy own handwriting has suffered from constantly using the keyboard too. Never very neat to begin with, unless I was careful, but now I have to write more slowly if I want to be able to later read what I wrote. I also notice I can't walk as far or as fast as I used to because I sit too long by the computer, so all muscles are getting to stiff and lazy.
ReplyDeleteIt is reassuring to see how many people have the same writing complaint. I had't thought to blame the keyboard but it's a good excuse for my very strange handwriting. I look at it and wonder who wrote it!!
ReplyDeleteHope you have recovered from your Christmas Eve indulgences. That was a funny poem. There are many things my mind thinks it can do, but my body disputes. Thanks for the visit.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny. I write everyday, mostly lists, but still!
ReplyDeleteMy handwriting has suffered too....often I can't read my own grocery lists. It's not from lack of practice though becuase I write a lot. Just old age and impatiene I guess.
ReplyDeleteThe only time I write more than, well, my signature, these days is when I jot down notes for blogging ideas. I have noticed my handwriting is not as good as it used to be. At all.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that when you're out of practice on something, the skill drops a lot.
I think I could still ride a bike. Probably. I wonder whether I could swim, though.
Yours is better than what many young people use, they are not taught to write at all any more.
ReplyDeleteYes, many of the things I used to be able to do I can't anymore, but I wouldn't trade where I am for anything.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day, Joe. 😎
Ha ha, I can so relate though your handwriting looks like calligraphy compared to mine. It is lack of use. I keep waiting for the bank to bounce my checks thinking they are forgeries.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I do get quite a bit of practice writing ~ the professor in my last class had us buy "blue books" for our exams (a blue book is simply a collection of 16 pages with a blue cover on it). Our exams were short answer and essay and I imagine it's pretty hard to read some of them. Even so, my handwriting skills have suffered the passing of years. And most of all, I care less about it!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you were supposed to be a doctor? Here's a little advice from the operating room...don't get on a skateboard, bike without using your hands, ice skates, roller skates or blades, trampoline, use a jump rope, and for heaven's sake don't climb a ladder, (they're evil). Oh, and on the snowiest, ice covered day just leave the mail in the mailbox. Amen. P.S. Be careful when you go to the bathroom, many broken hips happen when folks trip on their underwear.
ReplyDeleteGood ending, Joe! Made me laugh. Actually most of it made me laugh. But I'm with you on the handwriting thing. I think I used to have a modernistically elegant "hand". Now when I'm forced to pick up a pen and write something in cursive, it looks like a 200 year old goofball wrote it. And I'm not that old! I find that, for years now, I print when I'm forced to use a pen. I believe your "use it or lose it" analysis may be correct.
ReplyDeleteWell summed up. I should say that my handwriting is going from bad to worse. Every time my cheques get passed, it is like I have passed another exam.
ReplyDeleteNow you have me wondering if I could still ride a bike...or swim.
ReplyDelete