I Want My Space Back
I'm not pleased with the world this morning.
Friends were visiting us last evening, and we went out to eat Mexican food. I like Mexican food and was enjoying my meal when the female half of our guests mentioned that her son had been marked down on a paper for using two spaces instead of one between sentences.
I must admit that I lost it at that point. The rest of the evening was a blur.
I taught English for 25 years. Linda, my wife, taught typing and keyboarding for 30 years. When we taught, two spaces between sentences was the standard. I suspect that this has been the standard since the invention of the printing press.
I never questioned this practice. It seemed perfectly reasonable. It gave the overall pages a nice uncluttered look. Why would anyone question this practice? Is it too much work to tap twice on the space bar? After all, your finger is already there.
I have noticed that some of the essays submitted to oldartguy.com have only used one space between sentences. I assumed that this was a lack of education, but, no, it is a matter of miseducation. It, apparently, is the new standard. For years I corrected the errors, but then gave up and allowed the single spaces to remain…not as a matter of conviction, but I just tired of correcting the problem.
I keep trying to imagine what kind of person woke up one morning and said, “One space between sentences---not two.”
Whoever it was must surely be classified at the top level of bureaucrats---one who confused “can” with “should”---one who justified his or her existence by changing something for the sake of changing something---one who believes in reinventing the world even when the world doesn't want or need it.
Somewhere in the universe floating in space there is a bucket holding all of the unused spaces---lonely and alone.
enough