Phil Roberts, 8-26-23
For a brief moment yesterday, I was transported back to Nov. 5, 1964, and Mr. Siegle’s typing class. We had just moved to Cody and the only class with an opening at that late date in the school year was typing. Turned out I was the only boy in that “typing class for secretaries”–there were 16 girls. But beyond that fortuitous assignment, that class gave me a skill I have used through nearly every day of my life and in future jobs in the private sector (journalism and law), government (State Historical Department); and academia.
At the time, I did recognize my good luck– to be with such attractive and charming classmates, seeing if I could compete against new classmates to win the “test of the day” for fastest, most accurate typist (I never did). But that “good luck” was only a part of what appeared to be a greater time of change. Women were occupying more slots in classes leading to the professions; even in welding and physics.
Politically, it appeared to be a time of change. Just two days earlier, Park County voted for LBJ over Goldwater, crushing the dreams of the reactionary and racist group of John Birch Society members who thought their cult had the majority of the county on their side (LBJ also took Wyoming, 80,000-60,000; Gale McGee was reelected, beating John Wold 76,000-65,000; and Teno Roncalio squeaked by William Henry Harrison, 70,693-68,482–it was a Democratic sweep).
Why would I be thinking of those days now? Because yesterday, for the first time since my stroke on May 5, 2020, I was typing with BOTH hands. My right hand was “back”–not just a useless appendage holding down a shift key once in a while. And I hope it is a sign of coming progressive change again in my home state of Wyoming–and America, with a cult on the run, their leader disgraced and about to go to jail, women regaining rights they have been stripped of by court decisions. Who knows? Like in those school days in Cody, I can aspire once again to becoming a productive member of society (although, this time, not by getting drafted into the Marine Corps first!)