The most literate still fumble their words
Issue date: 4/1/08 Section: Op/Ed
Kat Callaway
Managing Editor
I am in the process of locating a place to live for the next few years while I go to Emporia State University. Over break, I looked at over 10 different places, each one different from the last. In the end, I went back to the very first one I had looked at, and you would think this would be where the story ends, but it had just begun.
One would assume that a person who spends her hours writing would be able to fill out paperwork no sweat, right? Apparently that is not the case. Behind paper I do have a special way with words. But in person, over short messages like text messaging, or on small papers, I have a way of getting myself in a bind.
I was filling out paper after paper; the average information: name, date of birth...basically signing your soul away! Then I got to the part for the spouse's information and of course I am not married! Furthermore, I am happy to be single for the time being. So, in rather large letters, I wrote single with an exclamation point. I really didn't think about it until after I handed the paper back. Then, like a light bulb going off in a pitch black room, my cheeks turned pink as the (very cute I might add) landlord was reviewing the paperwork and turned to that specific section. I would have been ahead to keep my mouth shut. But instead, I chose to stutter and stumble over words trying to explain why I did that. I'm not sure what the final conclusion was. But as I walked out of the door at the end of the meeting, he was laughing and I was still blushing!
So, the moral of the story is this: Don't assume that people who can write have a way with all words, both written and spoken. I proved this today as I do often. Maybe this is why I became a writer. For me, it's always been easier to write out what I have to say (not confining it to a certain word count). Furthermore, writing is much easier when there is a delete button involved; and trust me, there was no delete button the day I went to fill out my paperwork for my new apartment! But on the bright side, I bet my new landlord remembers me when I go to pay rent on the first day!
Managing Editor
I am in the process of locating a place to live for the next few years while I go to Emporia State University. Over break, I looked at over 10 different places, each one different from the last. In the end, I went back to the very first one I had looked at, and you would think this would be where the story ends, but it had just begun.
One would assume that a person who spends her hours writing would be able to fill out paperwork no sweat, right? Apparently that is not the case. Behind paper I do have a special way with words. But in person, over short messages like text messaging, or on small papers, I have a way of getting myself in a bind.
I was filling out paper after paper; the average information: name, date of birth...basically signing your soul away! Then I got to the part for the spouse's information and of course I am not married! Furthermore, I am happy to be single for the time being. So, in rather large letters, I wrote single with an exclamation point. I really didn't think about it until after I handed the paper back. Then, like a light bulb going off in a pitch black room, my cheeks turned pink as the (very cute I might add) landlord was reviewing the paperwork and turned to that specific section. I would have been ahead to keep my mouth shut. But instead, I chose to stutter and stumble over words trying to explain why I did that. I'm not sure what the final conclusion was. But as I walked out of the door at the end of the meeting, he was laughing and I was still blushing!
So, the moral of the story is this: Don't assume that people who can write have a way with all words, both written and spoken. I proved this today as I do often. Maybe this is why I became a writer. For me, it's always been easier to write out what I have to say (not confining it to a certain word count). Furthermore, writing is much easier when there is a delete button involved; and trust me, there was no delete button the day I went to fill out my paperwork for my new apartment! But on the bright side, I bet my new landlord remembers me when I go to pay rent on the first day!
Be the first to comment on this story