Technological obsolescence! It’s a term to describe things that we no longer do or own, because our rapidly accelerating science-driven lifestyle has replaced them with something newer, although not always better. (Remember Windows Vista?) 😯 We’re on generation 12 of Smart phones, and the Chinese are providing the 5G cell phone system to run them on, as well as COVID19.
The telephone operator lost her job when dial phones came into existence. The dials turned into push-buttons, and the push-buttons morphed into touch screens. The poor English language is having trouble keeping up with it all.
Let me introduce you, and then say good bye, to
CHIROSPASM
Spasm of the muscles of the hand, as in writers’ cramp.
Now there’s an expression that you don’t hear any more. It was common for hundreds of years, from religious monks inscribing Bibles, up to school children frantically composing essays for English class all desperately, tightly, clutching quills, pens and pencils, till their hands cramped.
Then, along came the electronic age, with its word-processors and keyboards. Archaic old chirospasm and writer’s cramp have been replaced by hunched-over-the-keyboard data-entry shoulders, and your cell-phone-toting grandson’s texters’ thumb.
Fortunately, I have never sprained or strained either of my middle fingers, the ones so necessary to communicate with taxi drivers and politicians. That would be the only physical disability which might affect my capacity to express myself, although I am just an amateur, compared to some of the old masters.
From his seat inside a private rail car during a vacation in Salmon Arm, BC with his children on August 8, 1982, Pierre Trudeau, then the Prime Minister of Canada, gave the finger to protesters in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, earning the incident the nickname the “Salmon Arm salute”. The gesture itself has also been nicknamed the “Trudeau salute.”
Our young drama teacher ski instructor Prime Minister learned at the knee of one of the (self-described) greatest.
Archon's Den 
I do recall struggling at “penmanship” in the early grades. All school desks at the time had ink-well holes. It was a messy business, points deducted for blots. Nibs and wooden nib-holders purchased separately.
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By the time I reached Grade 5, and was allowed to use pens, fountain pens with inner tube reservoirs, or insertable cartridges were common, and ballpoint pens were right behind.
I liked ballpoints. I never grasped them hard enough, long enough, to cause writers cramp. I preferred Bic Fine-Points, but had to use medium points, because I pressed so hard that, like a light saber, I cut slashes in most paper. 😳
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I remember those days of writing. They look pretty good compared to this year.
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The Good Old Days always look better through the filter of nostalgia. 🙂
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True. However, I really did prefer the 1960s through the 1990s. The last two decades have been really rough for our family.
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[…] so he always thought that he was one better than God. Already famous for his Salmon Arm Salute, https://archonsden.wordpress.com/2020/05/11/20-a-to-z-challenge-c/ he violated protocol and photo-bombed Queen Elizabeth herself, by pirouetting behind her like a […]
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[…] – Glassine is a smooth and glossy paper that is air, water, and grease resistant. Another Technological obsolescence term, while still available, almost every use of glassine has been replaced by ubiquitous […]
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