My handwriting has been better than it is now. Not because of any ailment, but because I no longer work. I do not have others relying on my written information in which to make a judgement. I have also learned one more thing: my spelling has become horrid. Another thing that has gone kaput since retirement. I was always a good speller and would often be called upon to spell words for others. Oh me, oh my.
I now type all my letters for friends & relatives for snail mail. Actually, careful handling of a pen still produces acceptable results, but it hurts to hold onto the dang thing properly. Drawing Engineering Blueprints my lettering was really good. We had to write and draw using special "leads" on plastic sheets, big, size of your kitchen table. That was back in 1979. My co-worker and friend, also having moved from Indiana to Phoenix, worked with me there at Penn Athletic Products C o., Div. of General Tire & Rubber Co., the plant manufacturing tennis balls and racquetballs. The tennis ball, hollow of course, is molded in "halves", which are " glued" together to form the ball while adding air pressure to their interior. The edges of the halves had to be ground, trued-up, then liquid rubber adhesive applied, then they were placed together in a press and molded under heat and force to form the ball. We designed two machines to replace 10 old hand-operated machines which were labor intensive and prone to failures. Those were designed in the 1930s, when tennis balls first became "the rage". In the old method, operators hand-dipped the edges of the halves in black liquid rubber, then placed them in a hand-operated fixture which closed them together. Our machine fed the halves using a vibratory feeder into stations of 6 each, which ground the edges, sprayed the rubber adhesive, then deposited the prepared halves in trays to be inserted into the molding presses. Two of our machines easily kept the plant going compared to 16 of the old, labor-intensive machines. Penn had two other plants, one in Arkansas, and one in Ireland. Ireland's output needed only one "Buff & Spray", as did also the Arkansas plant. Phoenix got 2. Plant output when I left was 22,000 dozen tennis balls PER DAY! Our two machines easily handled that. Bottom line? $ 1.6 million cost savings per year, I was being paid $28,000 per year then, and they LAID ME OFF! So much for gratitude for productive employees, eh? My wife and I were tossed into the doldrums of the Reagan Recession. We prevailed, but only barely. I lost my job, came home with the news, told her, on her BIRTHDAY! Excuse my misdirecting the intent of the OP. Guess my "penmanship" on those "Penn" drawings prompted this story. To make it's insertion here more excusable, let me point out that my ability to so gracefully and usefully hand-draw in lettering on machine blueprints disappeared after that dire experience. It had serious repercussions in our personal lives. I'll go further if anyone cares to hear. Frank
I still hand write letters on occasion, but I've noticed I tend to use a combination of printing and writing. I think my brain knows which movements will be less painful, and seeks that automatically at this point. Mainly those notes and letters are to my mother. I use email for the rest. I don't text, since I don't have a cell phone these days, but even when I did, I didn't use my thumbs to text. I would text using my index fingers, probably because of all of my fingers, the thumbs are the most painful, because of tendinosis, on top of the rest of my hand issues. I do still admire nice handwriting, but mine was never pretty.
My handwriting is fine meaning it's still as legible as in elementary school. I can't tell if Johnny's has changed though because it's always been bad . I have to read it several times to understand what it says. Sometimes he can't even remember what he wrote, no lie. I had to tell him to let messages go to voice mail instead of writing them down so he doesn't even answer the phone if the number isn't recognizable to him.
My writing has changed, a lot. I was able to use cursive from beginning to end of a paper. Now I start with cursive and end up printing. My daughters tell me that I have the worst writing ever, and when I write they don't understand when I wrote, (sometimes I don't either). My oldest daughter has beautiful writing, just like the example above. And I have to give thanks to the private school I send her to. One of their studies was a cursive, they had this class for an hour. My youngest (omg), her writing is , I wish that the same private school was still there. Now when I sign my name on anything I start with cursive and scribble the rest of my name.
Hi Diane, You sound like me, I also do the same thing, I also notice that when I have to spell a word, I forget,but yet when I'm here or using email it's easier because it has auto correct. I don't like using the cell phone, the only one I text is my husband and I use my index finger, I tried doing what my daughter does, which is using her thumbs to text and I just can't get the hang of it. I guess my thumbs are too fluffy, lol. I agree with you, I love to see hand written papers.
Hi Rachel, I've seen several articles about how younger people are developing repetitive stress injuries to their hands/fingers because of texting and playing so many video games. I have a feeling many of them will develop arthritis at a younger age because of it. I don't always trust spellcheck, I have seen it be wrong before, so I usually open a separate window and look it up, just how I was taught when young, except nowadays I'm looking it up online, and it suggests words, unlike the printed dictionaries. I've also seen talk about whether or not cursive should even be taught in schools anymore. Losing cursive would be a major loss, in my opinion, and that shouldn't even be a consideration.
This reminds me of the fact that, signing a signature has become almost a non-mandatory requirement. Using my credit card for store purchases, where the scanner demands a signature, I always place an "X", a little drawing, or a droodle of some kind, never a real signature. Invariably, the machine states, "Signature Accepted"! Frank
My handwriting has gotten sloppy but there is no reason for it except laziness. I don't have arthritis in my hands. When I want to take the time I can write decently but I only sign checks and I've gotten to the point that for bills it's A "C" that flows to a wavy line. Then my last name also starts with a C and that's just a line too basically. The utility companies would think its a forgery if I did it the way I can. I don't like to print though, never have.
I still don't understand why they never continue cursive, and I also agree that this should be part of their curriculum, have the student write stores and learn how to write out the alphabet. How to use a pen or pencil the right way. When ever we go some where, I look around and everyone is on their cell phone texting, what happen to looking what is around you. Looking where you're going, making sure you don't get hit my a car or fall into a pond. lol. I read a posting that read "Cursive will be the new code" this is funny because if you ask kids to read a sentence in cursive they will not be able to read it. . So if you want to send a secret message to someone use cursive. . I also agree with on how kids will be getting arthritis at a younger age. Now this is what I call the alphabet, Or a typed signature which is accepted just the same. Who is to say that you're the real person, owner of the credit card, because some places don't bother asking for and ID. You swipe, sign and out the door. Then they wonder why someone's identity is stolen. I should try that next time, put an X on the spot.
About forty years ago, while I was working for a towing company, I broke my right hand, and it was in a cast all the way to the tip of my fingers. I went to my Bank of America branch to cash my paycheck. The bank teller asked me if I could sign my signature again because the one on the check didn't match the signature they had on file. I explained to her that I was right-handed, and pointed out that my right hand was in a cast. She asked if I could try signing it with my left hand. I told her that because I was right handed, and had never tried signing my name with my left hand, it was doubtful that I would be able to produce a signature that matched the one on file. She said she was sorry but she would not be able to cash my check. I asked if I could speak to someone else, so she pointed me to one of the bank managers. He apologized, stamped the back of the check as approved, and sent me back to the same teller for my money. I told her, "He said you're an idiot and you're to cash my check now."
It seems in the past, many employees were constrained by specific rules they had to abide by. These days, that's also often the case, but on top of that, there seems to be a dearth of common sense, which can make dealing with such situations extremely difficult. You'd think having a cast on your writing hand would have been recognized as inhibiting your ability to sign your exact signature on file. I like the look of cursive, and think it's a bad idea to do away with it. It's withstood the test of time, and just because new technology exists, doesn't mean it has to wipe out everything that's come before it. Hopefully cursive will experience a resurgence the way vinyl records have, and the argument will become moot. I agree, it could be used as code. Perhaps the parents who used to spell things out in front of their children will now resort to writing one another notes in cursive, so the children can't read them.
My handwriting has changed but it is still readable. I used to take notes whenever i read something that strikes me as worth remembering and i have notebooks that i could compare my handwritten notes in my college days and now that i am a senior citizen.Whereas before my handwriting was written with large and clear letters, now i seemed to write hurriedly and with small letters.