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Today Is National Handwriting Day — Much to My Displeasure
Because all it does is bring back unpleasant memories
Today, January 23rd, is National Handwriting Day, and it’s a day that brings back memories I’d rather not have.
When I went to Rossall, a boarding school in the northwest of England, in 1967, we were made to use dip pens.
For those who are not familiar with these ancient torture devices, it was basically a nib stuck in the end of a brightly coloured piece of plastic (which was usually blue, yellow, green, or red).
To use it, you dipped the dip pen (hence the name) in an inkwell that was built into the desk. You wrote until the ink was used up, and then you dipped it in the ink and wrote again, and repeated this process ad nauseam (and I do mean, ad nauseam).
I’m not sure anybody really enjoyed using these dip pens, but for a left-hander such as myself, it was a nightmare.
Why?
Well, you were constantly putting your hand in the wet ink you had just written with the outside edge of your left hand. (The same thing happens with regular fountain pens, for the same reason — but I’ve never like using those either.)
