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Can you Speak Shorthand?

Clean Teen Reads

Greetings Teen Reader~~

Did you know that in the not-too-distant past, shorthand classes were offered in every high school in the nation. In my book Flower in the Hills, our main character Latina has taken on the task of helping her new friend Donna Dee practice shorthand.

Clean Teen ReadsWhat is Shorthand?

So exactly what is shorthand? And why would so many students (mostly girls) want to study the subject?

Shorthand is an abbreviated writing method that uses symbols rather than the normal letters used in writing. The objective is speed. Before the days of recording and dictation machines, shorthand was an essential skill for a girl to become a crackerjack secretary.

Any office worth its salt was staffed with stenographers (a person who can write shorthand), who were speed-demons when it came to taking dictation. Here’s how it played out:

The boss wants a letter to go out. He calls in his stenographer. He dictates the letter; she takes it down in shorthand in her steno pad. When he’s finished she goes back to her desk and types out the letter. (Oh yes – on a typewriter.) The steno pad was designed to prop up tent-shaped for ease of reading.

Oh those were the days! (Hopefully, she’s good enough so she can actually read her own shorthand!)

Clean Teen Reads

Learning shorthand was like learning a whole new language (hence the silly title of this blog) and took a great deal of skill to master. But those who did were the ones who commanded the best secretarial positions.

Secretaries and stenographers have long since fallen by the wayside – now someone who works in an office might have the title of administrative assistant.

Or better yet, some of you gals might be the CEO of your own company. (That possibility was quite rare back then.) Let’s hear it for advances in the workplace!!  Rockin’!

Do you have plans to own your own business one day? If so tell me about it in the comments section below!

Meanwhile, keep on reading

Norma Jean

PS: Heads up!  The second title in the Norma Jean Lutz Classic Collection is about a girl who’s all mixed up about whether to enjoy her passion in life –or worry about what others think of her.  Ever feel that way? Tiger Beetle at Kendallwood is coming soon!

Clean Teen Reads

Hand Me That Barf Bag – Motion Sickness

Clean Teen Reads  

Greetings Book Lover ~~

Clean Teen Reads

I have a question for you.

Have you ever been car sick?

What about seasick? (On a cruise perhaps?)

How are you on the rides at the amusement park?

Motion sickness is a horrible, icky-feeling experience.  Car sickness plagued me as a little kid, into my adult years, and still yet today if I’m in the rider’s seat, and if there are hills and curves. (Like Latina experienced in her first ride into the Ozark Hills in my novel Flower in the Hills.)

What is Motion Sickness?

But what is motion sickness and how does it happen?

This type of what I call an icky-illness, happens when your balance-sensing system (that means your inner ear), feels that things are moving but the rest of you isn’t getting the message.

Clean Teen ReadsLet’s say you’re on a cruise (neat, right?) and you’re in the cabin – your inner ear senses the motion of the moving of the ship, but your eyes don’t believe it. You can’t see any movement. This difference of opinion between the inner ear (balance center) and the eyes results in motion sickness. (Great way to ruin a nice cruise.)

Did you know that pilots who use flight simulators can suffer from motion sickness? Crazy. In this case, the eyes see motion, but your body doesn’t sense it. Again, there’s a difference of opinion within the workings of your body.

That person can be sitting in front of a simulator (nothing around them is moving) and they begin to get all those well-known, familiar icky symptoms:

  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Headache
  • Sweating
  • Clammy Hands

Preventing Motion SicknessClean Teen Reads

I’ve been on only one cruise, and the water was pretty rough, but I was told ahead of time that ginger capsules might help. And they did. Because ginger is a natural substance, there’s no drowsiness. Lots of other passengers were lying on their beds in their cabins, but I was fine. (That’s a picture of a wild ginger plant.)

Of course, there are plenty of over-the-counter medications available as well, but Latina wasn’t prepared. She had no idea she was going to be the wimp in the family who gets sick.

But if she hadn’t been sick, she would never have crossed paths with Tully on that very first day!

Is Shorthand On Your List of Electives?

In my novel, Flower in the Hills, Latina’s friend Donna Dee is working to sharpen her shorthand writing skills. There was a time when shorthand classes were offered in every high school. My, how things do change.

Join me in the next blog where I’ll be giving more insight into this interesting skill of bygone days.

Meanwhile, keep on reading

Norma Jean

PS: In the comments box below tell me about your worst motion sickness experience! (barf)

PPS: Heads up!  The second title in the Norma Jean Lutz Classic Collection is about a girl who’s all mixed up about whether to enjoy her passion in life –or worry about what others think of her.  Ever feel that way? Tiger Beetle at Kendallwood is coming soon!

Clean Teen Reads