“And another finger nail bites the dust, that stupid typewriter”.
“Did you say something Margret?” and the teacher’s eyes bored into Margret’s face. At least that was how Margret felt.
“Did you say something Margret?” and the teacher’s eyes bored into Margret’s face. At least that was how Margret felt.
“No Miss Trustworthy, everything ok” said Margret as she looked dismayed down to her broken crippled finger nail, thinking how will she be able to make it look like the rest; nothing worse than a broken fingernail, looking like a saw accident.
Miss Trustworthy came closer and looked down to Margret who was fighting to come to terms with her Underwood typewriter in the class.
“Margret, you will never master the accomplishment of being a perfect secretary if you do not apply the most simple of rules when learning how to type a letter. The first rule is short, clean, neat fingernails. You cannot achieve a top position in a serious company if you do not possess the rudimentary rules of a good secretary. Writing letters with painted daggers at your finger tips will never be a success.”
This last remark was accompanied by sniggers and stifled laughter by the other girls in the class.
“Girls, behave. We are an academy for young ladies who will one day be the supporting pillars of a company director. Janet I noticed your laughter was loudest, so let us examine your so perfect finger nails.”
Janet was not very happy. She had spent an hour the previous evening filing her nails to a shapely point and painting them bright red.
“Janet, I can see your nails from here, they are shining like a stop light on the main road.
Girls, I can see you are just not treating your typing lessons with the correct attitude. Our institution has invested money into supplying this class with one of the most modern inventions of the twentieth century. Each one of you has the opportunity to learn how to type on an Underwood typewriter. This is not to be ignored. We now have the year 1925 and this invention has now progressed to the perfect model of a typewriter. It is now lunch time. I expect each one of you to apply the necessary care to your finger nails during the lunch period, and when you return to the class there will be an inspection.”
After lunch the class returned to their places and the typing lesson continued. Miss Trustworthy noted with satisfaction that there was no longer an accompanying “click-clack” as the girls were typing the exercises from their books. The results were clean sheets of words typed perfectly.
If Miss Trustworthy had visited the girls’ rooms afterwards she would have found a colourful mixture of nail clippings in their waste disposal bins.
Many years later, Margret reflected on the days when she was learning to become a secretary.
“If only electric typewriters, even computers, had existed at the beginning of the twentieth century.” she thought.
Miss Trustworthy came closer and looked down to Margret who was fighting to come to terms with her Underwood typewriter in the class.
“Margret, you will never master the accomplishment of being a perfect secretary if you do not apply the most simple of rules when learning how to type a letter. The first rule is short, clean, neat fingernails. You cannot achieve a top position in a serious company if you do not possess the rudimentary rules of a good secretary. Writing letters with painted daggers at your finger tips will never be a success.”
This last remark was accompanied by sniggers and stifled laughter by the other girls in the class.
“Girls, behave. We are an academy for young ladies who will one day be the supporting pillars of a company director. Janet I noticed your laughter was loudest, so let us examine your so perfect finger nails.”
Janet was not very happy. She had spent an hour the previous evening filing her nails to a shapely point and painting them bright red.
“Janet, I can see your nails from here, they are shining like a stop light on the main road.
Girls, I can see you are just not treating your typing lessons with the correct attitude. Our institution has invested money into supplying this class with one of the most modern inventions of the twentieth century. Each one of you has the opportunity to learn how to type on an Underwood typewriter. This is not to be ignored. We now have the year 1925 and this invention has now progressed to the perfect model of a typewriter. It is now lunch time. I expect each one of you to apply the necessary care to your finger nails during the lunch period, and when you return to the class there will be an inspection.”
After lunch the class returned to their places and the typing lesson continued. Miss Trustworthy noted with satisfaction that there was no longer an accompanying “click-clack” as the girls were typing the exercises from their books. The results were clean sheets of words typed perfectly.
If Miss Trustworthy had visited the girls’ rooms afterwards she would have found a colourful mixture of nail clippings in their waste disposal bins.
Many years later, Margret reflected on the days when she was learning to become a secretary.
“If only electric typewriters, even computers, had existed at the beginning of the twentieth century.” she thought.
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