Hanicaped

I can't type like normal people. It's ok that I'm not normal, I don't mind, but sometimes it causes issues, like when it gets dark. I have a basic Logitech keyboard set that I've been using for years. I love it, and it runs like a dream, but I've also always had overhead lighting to help me type because I never properly learned how. Let me give you a little background.

First, dad tried to force me to learn how to type like a normal human being when I was but a young teenager. Any person that has known me a decent amount of years knows that I am not a normal human being! He'd purchased a program on CD and expected me to learn it. Yeah well, like my times tables and the metric system I gave it half a shot and quit. I could type just fine being ambidextrous with my left hand hunt & peck and my right hand on the mouse. In fact, I was so efficient at that method that every time I was tested I got at least 40 wpm.

In junior high I was forced to take a typing class. To show you my age (and the relative lack of funding at our school) we were on old Mac computers that I called "green screens" or "amber screens" because they were nothing but a cursor and a floppy drive. We were given "assignments" to type out which I am at my slowest when trying to copy something off a sheet of paper. I got so frustrated. The teacher did nothing but randomly walk around to make sure we were typing. In fact, when he told us to cover our keyboards with a wood board and type, I pretended to type (it was compete gibberish) and he never cared or noticed. I think I got a C, which was a passing grade so I didn't care lol.

I continued to type my way until about 2008 when I was about 24 years old and got a job as a data entry person at a place called IBS (no relation to the syndrome). With my phone in my right ear I would type using my left hand but it didn't feel right. It was hard to correct mistakes without the use of my right hand. So, I began to cradle the phone on my shoulder and type with both hands. It came on completely naturally.

[I'm always reminded of The Simpsons episode "The Crepes of Wrath" where Bart goes to France and learns French out of necessity.]

Suddenly, I could type with two hands. It was a miracle. What I have yet to learn, however, is typing without looking down. I've mastered it somewhat. I can do it sometimes, but I move my hands around a lot; I don't keep them stationary like most other people. So, when the sun sets, I have no light in the living room and I had to buy a special lamp just so I could point it at the keyboard. And now I'm looking at buying a backlit keyboard thanks to my "handicap".

It's so pretty.

I guess that's the price I pay for being unique!