Old traditions and sayings

I was thinking recently about how some things should be kept traditional, while some absolutely should be updated.

For instance, this web post:
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html

If you still type two spaces after every period in a block of text, you need to read this article! The only reason I was taught as a teen to type with two spaces was because of that ugly Courier font, aka., typewriter font. I took typing in 7th grade on a real typewriter. It was the last year the school ever used typewriters; they switched to word processors the next year. However, I continued with the two-space habit until I got a job in the publishing industry. The first day I worked there, they told me to stop using two spaces. With modern fonts, one space is clear and appropriate. And since then I have retrained my thumb to do only one space. It's a normal thing... only one space is in between words, so why not the same for sentences?

My son is learning to type at school, and they have taught him to put in two spaces after every period. It makes me want to scream! He is using a computer with the latest version of Windows, is learning to do PowerPoint, Word, and Excel, but they want him to use an archaic two spaces after every period? Crazy. When he brings his work home I go on a space hunt and do a search and replace throughout his document, leaving one clean, clear space between each sentence.

One other thing I've been meaning to discuss...
The name of my blog, "Many true words," comes from an old phrase, "Many a true word is spoken in jest." I like this saying because, basically, it's true. So many times people use sarcasm or "just kidding" or, in electronic media, a winky face ;), to soften a harsh comment or intimate that what they are saying is just a joke.

I was thinking back to elementary school when "just kidding" became a catch phrase. I don't know why, but it was all the rage to insult your friends then say, "Just kidding!" and laugh. For instance, "You're so ugly. Just kidding! Ha ha ha ha ha..." It was the lamest form of communication ever to hit the playground. It was even spread through notes, via the "j/k" abbreviation appended to many snide comments. I hated this fad and avoided it. Being shy and without many friends, when I said something I wanted it to count and build goodwill... not hide an undercurrent of pettiness or unkindness. I endured the years of silliness, silently wondering how many true words were being spoken in jest.

Unfortunately, mastering the art of sarcasm is the specialty of the teenage years. And then it was my turn to inflict sarcasm on my children (not knowing, until my husband took psychology in college, that children have no understanding of sarcasm until they are much older, say 11 or 12). For instance, I told my daughter this morning she had "a really long verse" to read in the scriptures, then directed her to read Jacob 6:12. She looked it up and said, affronted, "That's not a long one!" Evidence that sarcasm is grasped only at older ages (she's 8). (And in case you don't want to go look it up, the verse reads, "O be wise; what can I say more?")

And that is my diatribe for today. J/K. ;)