Worn around the Edges

My laptop is a little workhorse - a 5 year old workhorse. It's seen me through a lot of writing. It's nothing special, an HP Pavilion with a 12" screen. We've seen a lot together, this laptop and I.

A few things are starting to go on it. The power cord has had to be replaced a few times and the replacements aren't quite up to factory specs. The battery died a couple of years ago and I've somehow managed to always find an electrical outlet where I can plug in - airports, coffee shops, etc.

It's starting to show wear and tear in other areas as well. Some of the keys are looking a tad weather beaten... or finger-beaten as the case may be.

On the left hand side of the keyboard, the A S E and D and C are looking particularly sad.

On the right hand side of the keyboard, the L and the N are showing definite signs of wear, with the M soon to join the group.

Which got me to thinking... is there a pattern here? Perhaps those are the most frequently used letters in the English language? So I did a bit of research and there are several versions of the most frequently used letters. Amazing what you can find if you only look for it. I compared my keys to the lists and... well... there isn't too much of a match.

E T A O I N  S H R D L U  C M F W Y P  V B G K J Q X Z

I suppose my most badly worn letters are in the Top 13. But beyond that... I would have thought that the T and the O and I would be worn as well...

Is it a handedness thing? Well... most of the worn keys are on my left hand side (five keys) and I am a right handed person (three keys worn), so that wouldn't seem to fly either.

Is it a finger-strength thing? Like maybe the most worn keys are all on the middle row... or under the index finger or something? Doesn't really seem to work either. Although, only one key in the upper row is worn... and three keys in the lower row.

Or perhaps it's simply differences in the paint that was used to mark the letters on the keys? I just checked the keyboard on my desktopk and, lo and behold, the same pattern is there as well. So... probably not a manufacturing defect but likely a user issue!

Now, for some people, the fading keys might be a problem, particularly those folks of the hunt-and-peck variety. Myself, having suffered/benefited from three years of typing in junior high school, I am a full two-handed typer. FDSA space JKL; space! We might not have understood the method behind Mr. Papais' madness as he called out the letters in class... but it worked! Anyhow, the F and J keys are the anchor keys on a keyboard and each have a small raised bar on the key, so that the index fingers always know where they are and can find "home" easily. After that, it's easy. Just watch the letters materialize on the screen.

Theoretically, if all the markings on my letter keys eventually became worn down to nothing, I could still type quite effectively. It's like the letters on the keys are training wheels.... I could still function without seeing them. No so with number keys or some of the upper case number keys like # or ^ or *. I still need to look for those sometimes.

But... if those little raised bars on F and J ever disappeared... I'd have a much more difficult time. Those are the things that keep my fingers moving. If I lost those, I'd be pretty much hooped and would have to look at the keys.

Which is kind of interesting... it isn't so much the lettered keys that help me to type... it is two small raised bars (or raised dots on some keyboards) that really help me to type. It is they that guide me back to "home". It isn't always the obvious things in life that guide us... but sometimes the more subtle things. We rely so much upon sight but oftentimes our other senses are working away as well - sound, smell, taste, touch... helping us to move through the world.