"But one class—one class—that I took in high school taught me skills that I still use today, all day, every day. It is the one class, had I not taken it, that I’d be dumber, slower, worse off without today. It was the definition of what a class should do: It gave me knowledge that I would rely upon the rest of my life.
"My sophomore year of high school: I took Typing..."
10-4, good buddy. Me too. And I still remember the strawberry blonde teacher, maybe ten years older, coifed and girdled and mascara'ed and Maidenformed and high-heeled within an inch of her life, who fueled a pubescent teen's fantasies--until she was observed in shorts and tank top and flip-flops, hair blown awry by the ocean wind, eating a Dairy Queen cone and pushing a stroller in company of another similarly attired young matron with stroller. Today they'd be right at home in Walmart. But she still taught me to type...er, keyboard.
I always love your work, Will, but I was disappointed in your article about "off ramps" from the public health protections. Exactly why should we be searching for off ramps? Daily transmission rates are still in the mid 70,000s (and slightly RISING) and daily deaths are still in the 1,200 range. That's the EXACT range we were in a year ago before the massive, devastating winter wave. And Europe is experiencing another wave currently that will almost certainly be our near future. Not only are we "not close" we're still smack dab in the middle of a global pandemic with no obvious way forward except vaccinations and masks and public health orders.
My sense is that elite liberals are obsessed with "off ramps" because, for them, the pandemic IS essentially over - THEY are vaccinated, THEY do not feel threatened, THEY are tired of the little inconveniences, etc. Let's start thinking about off ramps when we're down under 10,000 daily cases and, say, 200 daily deaths, for a couple of WINTER months and our vaccination rate is above 80%.
In high school, my social studies teacher was also our typing teacher. I remember telling her that I thought this class was stupid and a waste of time. She told me I couldn't be more wrong and that this skill is something you'll use until your fingers don't work anymore. Thank you, Mrs. Wilhelm for getting me to take it seriously.
I will always regret the gap year I took between high school and college. I sat at the typewriter to type a paper for freshman English and-nothing! The skill was gone.....
I have terrible handwriting. My 8th grade typing class saved me. Thanks for writing this wonderful essay.
"But one class—one class—that I took in high school taught me skills that I still use today, all day, every day. It is the one class, had I not taken it, that I’d be dumber, slower, worse off without today. It was the definition of what a class should do: It gave me knowledge that I would rely upon the rest of my life.
"My sophomore year of high school: I took Typing..."
10-4, good buddy. Me too. And I still remember the strawberry blonde teacher, maybe ten years older, coifed and girdled and mascara'ed and Maidenformed and high-heeled within an inch of her life, who fueled a pubescent teen's fantasies--until she was observed in shorts and tank top and flip-flops, hair blown awry by the ocean wind, eating a Dairy Queen cone and pushing a stroller in company of another similarly attired young matron with stroller. Today they'd be right at home in Walmart. But she still taught me to type...er, keyboard.
I always love your work, Will, but I was disappointed in your article about "off ramps" from the public health protections. Exactly why should we be searching for off ramps? Daily transmission rates are still in the mid 70,000s (and slightly RISING) and daily deaths are still in the 1,200 range. That's the EXACT range we were in a year ago before the massive, devastating winter wave. And Europe is experiencing another wave currently that will almost certainly be our near future. Not only are we "not close" we're still smack dab in the middle of a global pandemic with no obvious way forward except vaccinations and masks and public health orders.
My sense is that elite liberals are obsessed with "off ramps" because, for them, the pandemic IS essentially over - THEY are vaccinated, THEY do not feel threatened, THEY are tired of the little inconveniences, etc. Let's start thinking about off ramps when we're down under 10,000 daily cases and, say, 200 daily deaths, for a couple of WINTER months and our vaccination rate is above 80%.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/12/covid-cases-surging-europe-america-denial
In high school, my social studies teacher was also our typing teacher. I remember telling her that I thought this class was stupid and a waste of time. She told me I couldn't be more wrong and that this skill is something you'll use until your fingers don't work anymore. Thank you, Mrs. Wilhelm for getting me to take it seriously.
I will always regret the gap year I took between high school and college. I sat at the typewriter to type a paper for freshman English and-nothing! The skill was gone.....