Typing/Typewriter

A friend recommended a documentary

California Typewriter by name

Since I grew up in California

I well remember just where

That instrument came into my life

A junior in high school out there

A friend recommended I take it

Typing 101 I think

Sounded like a pushover to me

So dutifully I signed up as an elective class

Without any homework to bog me down

A write off credit that anybody could pass

A friend and I took it

Every day for a year

Had a love hate relationship with it for sure

Got the hang of it and did pretty well

Was the last class I had every afternoon

But so boring I saw it as my personal hell

Over the years friends recommended jobs

A printing company and remodeling

Delivering tortillas all around town

My typewriting languished back in those days

But when prompted was just like riding a bike

Could slip right back into those tedious ways

A friend recommended I take a new job

As a janitor at a state agency

Clean offices, make deliveries and such

Needed insurance so I said Yes and begun

Even tended the director’s herb garden

Then up came an opening for an office position

A friend interviewed me

And the first question she asked

What are your skills - why should we hire you?

You’re a janitor right?

Pulled out my typewriter card

And told her English classes were my sole delight

A friend of mine recommended a movie

About a topic I know something about

Use it as an eBayer and to write poetry too

Part of an arsenal I acquired passively

Thought it was tedious and not quite so useful

But it turns out typing has always been

And will be

Such a valued and true friend to me . . .