Musings from the Desk

There is a controversy brewing. I can feel it the same way you feel a thunderstorm brewing on a hot August day long before you feel the first drop of rain. Okay, maybe I am the only person who finds this controversial. But there seems to be some discussion in certain quarters over whether you should leave one space or two after a period. (I know, it was a slap in the face for me, too.)

Apparently, some people find it old-fashioned to leave the traditional two spaces after a period. And I have noticed some magazines are asking writers to submit their manuscripts with just one lonely space after each period.

I am old enough that when I learned to type I was taught on a manual typewriter. (If I had all those manual typewriters from my old high school now I could probably sell them for a small fortune on e-bay, but I digress.) So I had it drilled into me to hit that space bar - HARD - twice with my thumb before my finger dared land on that period key. I'm not even sure I can retrain myself to only hit it once. It is so automatic. And besides, I like the satisfying bump, bump of my thumb hitting the space bar at the end of each sentence.

Truthfully, I just can't see the sense in this one. And once again I feel I am being left behind in this world gone mad for technology. I thought the two tiny spaces following a period were safe, but I guess nothing is sacred anymore.