Hahaha! If someone took a video recording of you and posted it on social media, the insurgency has officially started. And with a Lettera 22 at that! Speaking of, mind sharing details about that L22? How does it compare to the feel of mine? Snappy? Where did you find it?
The L22 was an eBay find, slightly cheaper than most but interesting since it has a decal from Amsterdam and has been adapted to type $ and ¢. Pretty snappy, though yours felt a bit better to me. I have yet to give it a good cleaning.
My ideal typewriter feel is when the typebar starts responding immediately when you touch the key, and develops momentum so that you can pull your finger back after a staccato touch and the typebar will still easily smack against the ribbon. I don't think this typewriter will ever feel like that. Then again, hardly any small typewriter does.
Geez, It's not as if you'd put your seat back or something. What's odd is I have gotten that from in front of me and in the same row, never behind. I think the guy in front was because it was on the tray and perhaps was jiggling. I personally think the airlines have squeezed passengers so much they can only turn on each other.
Sorry to hear it worked out like this, but I can appreciate why you stopped. After I left you at Cincinnati airport last year, a couple got into the row of seats in front of me, both "wired up" with headphones, mikes and laptops, and continued VERY loud conversations throughout the flight. I've never experienced anything quite so rude. Compared to that inconsiderate racket, a 22 clicking would be nothing.
I agree that the typewriter revolution has to be stealth and subtle and that being out in the open, one only makes himself/herself the target of establishment. Establishments, by their very nature, prefer "status quo". By the way, I was expecting you to mention that how one flight attendant asked you to turn ON the "Airplane Mode" on your Lettera :)
I think public typewriting is a good thing, IF it can be done in a considerate way. That means avoiding situations like an airplane cabin, where there is a captive audience (who are probably not having the best time of their lives to begin with). As long as public typing isn't obnoxious, then it can be a very good way to spread curiosity and acceptance.
I wonder how those who get annoyed at typing respond to the loud talkers. I only tried typing one time on our last trip to Iowa. We always get front bulkhead seats so no one in front and planty of room. No complaints and the flight attendants all stopped to talk about it. There is so little room on the cabin seats in an aircraft I only ever read.
I'd like to know how the TSA people felt when they put that machine through X-Ray. Back when I used to pac a CPAP, they'd wipe it down for drugs. I still have yet to find a Lettera 22 and I'm itching to try them out.
I have enjoyed the occasional encounters I have had when typing more-or-less in public. These have pretty much all been while working on a letter at the picnic table in an RV camp site. Near enough to other folks to be audible, but not in their faces. The conversations invariably begin with a comment on how the sound is a pleasant kindling of a typewriter-related memory. I've even gotten "thank you's" for that! To me, though, using a typewriter in a more public place, where the sound could be an aural disturbance, is more of a "look at me!" sort of display. Not that I am against that sort of thing, I do drive a red Triumph TR6. But the one thing I'm most sensitive to when in packed sardine situations, which could be anything from a coffee shop to a campground to an airplane, is unwanted sound, be it a loud cell phone conversation or someone's music they feel the need to "share".
I think that when sharing the wonderful world of our typewriters that it is best done subtly. Like when I want to get my grandkids involved in a beach activity, I don't command, "Let's go build a sandcastle", I just go off and start work on one. And pretty soon the whole gang is around me. Sometimes I think the concept of an "insurgency", which to me suggests a conflict or antagonistic relationship, can get us off on the wrong track.
The antagonism is against a certain set of habits, a certain mentality, much more than against any individuals. The last thing I want to do is be an aggressive jerk while typing.
Tony said it beautifully. In my humble opinion, the best places to use a typewriter in public are the places where people are relaxed and getting away from the daily rat race. An airport, bus station, plane, the tube, or the train, those are places where people are stressed, in a hurry, and with the nerves as tense as a catgut guitar string, and they only need a subtle pretext to snap.
Maybe it comes down our society's changing attitude. It seems acceptable today to shout into a cel phone on a flight but to use a typewriter . . .? Back in the 1950s and 60s my father habitually took his Hermes Baby on international flights to work on. Someone shouting in a cabin back then would probably be politely asked to lower his voice!
Hahaha! If someone took a video recording of you and posted it on social media, the insurgency has officially started. And with a Lettera 22 at that! Speaking of, mind sharing details about that L22? How does it compare to the feel of mine? Snappy? Where did you find it?
ReplyDeleteOh jeez, I really hope no one posts a video!
DeleteThe L22 was an eBay find, slightly cheaper than most but interesting since it has a decal from Amsterdam and has been adapted to type $ and ¢. Pretty snappy, though yours felt a bit better to me. I have yet to give it a good cleaning.
My ideal typewriter feel is when the typebar starts responding immediately when you touch the key, and develops momentum so that you can pull your finger back after a staccato touch and the typebar will still easily smack against the ribbon. I don't think this typewriter will ever feel like that. Then again, hardly any small typewriter does.
Uh-oh:
Deletehttp://www.peoplesniper.com/old-school-flying-airplane-work-typewriter-people-pic-1306.html
Geez, It's not as if you'd put your seat back or something. What's odd is I have gotten that from in front of me and in the same row, never behind. I think the guy in front was because it was on the tray and perhaps was jiggling.
ReplyDeleteI personally think the airlines have squeezed passengers so much they can only turn on each other.
Sorry to hear it worked out like this, but I can appreciate why you stopped. After I left you at Cincinnati airport last year, a couple got into the row of seats in front of me, both "wired up" with headphones, mikes and laptops, and continued VERY loud conversations throughout the flight. I've never experienced anything quite so rude. Compared to that inconsiderate racket, a 22 clicking would be nothing.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the typewriter revolution has to be stealth and subtle and that being out in the open, one only makes himself/herself the target of establishment. Establishments, by their very nature, prefer "status quo". By the way, I was expecting you to mention that how one flight attendant asked you to turn ON the "Airplane Mode" on your Lettera :)
ReplyDeleteThat would have been funny!
DeleteI think public typewriting is a good thing, IF it can be done in a considerate way. That means avoiding situations like an airplane cabin, where there is a captive audience (who are probably not having the best time of their lives to begin with). As long as public typing isn't obnoxious, then it can be a very good way to spread curiosity and acceptance.
I wonder how those who get annoyed at typing respond to the loud talkers. I only tried typing one time on our last trip to Iowa. We always get front bulkhead seats so no one in front and planty of room. No complaints and the flight attendants all stopped to talk about it. There is so little room on the cabin seats in an aircraft I only ever read.
ReplyDeleteNice Lettera 22.
Glad you are enjoying the 22 despite the in-flight experience.
ReplyDeleteTypewriters can get up some peoples' noses... sorry that wasn't a typewritten entry.... :)
ReplyDeleteI'd like to know how the TSA people felt when they put that machine through X-Ray. Back when I used to pac a CPAP, they'd wipe it down for drugs. I still have yet to find a Lettera 22 and I'm itching to try them out.
ReplyDeleteOn the way out, they did wipe it down! No delays on the way back.
DeleteI have enjoyed the occasional encounters I have had when typing more-or-less in public. These have pretty much all been while working on a letter at the picnic table in an RV camp site. Near enough to other folks to be audible, but not in their faces. The conversations invariably begin with a comment on how the sound is a pleasant kindling of a typewriter-related memory. I've even gotten "thank you's" for that! To me, though, using a typewriter in a more public place, where the sound could be an aural disturbance, is more of a "look at me!" sort of display. Not that I am against that sort of thing, I do drive a red Triumph TR6. But the one thing I'm most sensitive to when in packed sardine situations, which could be anything from a coffee shop to a campground to an airplane, is unwanted sound, be it a loud cell phone conversation or someone's music they feel the need to "share".
ReplyDeleteI think that when sharing the wonderful world of our typewriters that it is best done subtly. Like when I want to get my grandkids involved in a beach activity, I don't command, "Let's go build a sandcastle", I just go off and start work on one. And pretty soon the whole gang is around me. Sometimes I think the concept of an "insurgency", which to me suggests a conflict or antagonistic relationship, can get us off on the wrong track.
Nice points.
DeleteThe antagonism is against a certain set of habits, a certain mentality, much more than against any individuals. The last thing I want to do is be an aggressive jerk while typing.
That great Olivetti logo on your paper - have you somehow acquired some Olivetti stationery?
ReplyDeleteIt's one of Nick B's wonderful rubber stamps. Visit Xoverit.
DeleteHere's a link to the stamps.
DeleteTony said it beautifully. In my humble opinion, the best places to use a typewriter in public are the places where people are relaxed and getting away from the daily rat race. An airport, bus station, plane, the tube, or the train, those are places where people are stressed, in a hurry, and with the nerves as tense as a catgut guitar string, and they only need a subtle pretext to snap.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it comes down our society's changing attitude. It seems acceptable today to shout into a cel phone on a flight but to use a typewriter . . .? Back in the 1950s and 60s my father habitually took his Hermes Baby on international flights to work on. Someone shouting in a cabin back then would probably be politely asked to lower his voice!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete