Two Great Skills To Have

I learned to cut my own hair when I was in Grade XI.  I continued to cut my hair during university; now when I look at photos of myself from those years I think, what was I thinking. It looks like someone cut my hair with a knife and fork.

 I do believe my skills have improved as time has gone by.  At least I think so because I continue to cut my hair all the time and occasionally I have someone ask which salon do I go to.  My hair is naturally curly and this helps hide a multitude of hair-cutting sins, I think. This was a great thing to be able to do when, for a good portion of my life, I went on to live in isolated communities with nary a hair salon in sight.

 I now cut Hubby's hair or his head fringe as he calls it. I also trim his eyebrows which look positively Cro-magnon if left to their own furry devices.

I learned to type in high school.  My mother was always talking about having skills to fall back on.  She really liked the idea that I could cut hair; if need be I could become a hair dresser, so she may have thought. 

With this same idea in mind, my mother sent me for private typing lessons when I was in Grade X. Several other young women and myself (I was the youngest) gathered in a neighbour's rec room (remember them?) and were led through one of the old method courses for learning to touch type.  I went for a couple of hours each week for several months practicing on a large old fashioned, non-electric typewriter (also sounds ancient) with keys that needed real pounding to produce print. There were tests all the way through and at the end I received a certificate saying I could type 89 words a minute.  My mother was thrilled; if the university/teaching thing didn't work out, I had yet another option to fall back on.

 However dedicated I was to the typing course, and I did really try my best, I found it a little boring and couldn't imagine a career spent at it.  Nowadays of course keyboarding skills are taught quite differently.  In fact, people can teach themselves if they've a mind to. There is a course online that says you can learn in an hour and the children are basically teaching themselves with all the texting going on. 

But for myself it is another skill I have always been thankful I had.  It came in handy for all the assignments in university and then throughout my teaching career and especially now with using a computer.  I'm writing this post to you so much faster than if I had to hunt and peck.

 So yet another thing I'm thankful to Mom for.