Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Fat Finger

"fat finger"

That phrase is new to me. Well, I should say it's newer to me. I was only recently introduced to it a couple months ago. For those of you who don't know what it means, it's simply a way to describe a typo in an email, text, or any other document generated by using a keyboard.

Sorta like, "Oh, I guess I fat fingered the numbers on that spreadsheet."

Can I just say how much it grosses me out to hear that phrase? I fat fingered it. I mean, what? Your fingers are so fat they hit wrong numbers? My mind goes to so many places (mostly involving fried chicken grease) I can't even tell you.

But this lovely phrase brings up a good point about the infamous typo.

Most of you probably don't know this, but I am acutely aware of really bizarre details like: typing skills, handwriting, nose hair, incessant throat clearing, vocabulary choices, word pronunciation, slouchy socks and a few others. I notice these things right away, which is so strange, but I do.

Nonetheless, my professional, post college work life has solely been with the corporate world. I've always had email, computers and other technology all around me. I say this to convince you of my typing skills. I'm a good typer. I'm a fast typer. I'm an accurate typer. But it's because I've been typing my entire teen through adult life. Typing is like second nature to me. I don't have to look at the keyboard and can totally be doing something else while typing.

I'm not bragging, I promise.

So, when I see others in professional settings who also are using keyboards for their day-to-day work, but aren't so......proficient, I take notice (due to my problem mentioned above.)

Picture this:

I go to the bank to deposit some Christmas money. It consisted of some actual cash and some checks. I handed it all to the teller who starts keying it all in. Well, I notice that she FAT FINGERED (gross) one of the entries because I'm standing there watching her. She counts the money again, looks at the screen very confused, and recounts again. Then I tell her.

"I think you accidentally hit the 2 instead of the 0."

Which I know she did. I watched her.

She looks at me strangely and then back to her computer to see if I was right. Then she started looking at me like I was up to something or like my invisible twin was on the other side of the teller desk watching her. When really, all she needed to know was that it's just one of the things I notice.

I don't know what the point of this post was except to tell you about "fat finger" and some of my obsessive tendencies. However, I'll try to do what most big fancy bloggers who actually earn an income off their blogs do and leave you with a question (which will only receive about 4 responses.)

What are some of your crazy, obsessive tendencies????

1 comment:

Sarah M. said...

*incessant throat clearing - avoid at all cost my college psych/counseling prof. We lost count every time we tried to count in a 50 minute span of time. And, well, just avoid him period.