I took typing (on a typewriter) in eighth grade for the same reason I took Home Ec--that’s where the girls were. I didn’t know I’d actually be using the skill just a couple of years later.

My kid grew up in front of a computer, before such things were rightfully frowned upon. He taught himself to type, I’ve watched him do it. He uses the first two fingers of each hand and a thumb for the space bar. He types as fast as I do, which is to say, I’ve never been a particularly fast typist, but I get by okay.

What I never learned to do, because I don’t do it much, is type with two thumbs on a phone.