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   Hi! Ardith,   
      
   On 12/07/2019 11:46 PM, Ardith Hinton -> Paul Quinn wrote:   
      
    AH>            As my father might have said, they're "as scarce as hens'   
    AH> teeth"... especially nowadays.  When I mentioned to one of our   
    AH> daughter's young friends awhile ago that my mother was a stenographer   
    AH> she didn't understand what I was referring to although she herself has a   
    AH> university degree.   
      
   How many would remember who a 'computor' was?  I never knew any but I do   
   recall the next generation of data entry 'operators'.   
      
    AH> Stenographers may have been done a disservice by the   
    AH> common tendency to lump them together with anybody who can type, use a   
    AH> copying machine, and answer the phone.  Years ago there were jokes about   
    AH> the "steno pool"... more likely a "typing pool" AFAIC. And I agree that   
    AH> recording devices may have changed the picture as well.  ;-)   
      
   Yes, later and still last century, I knew a cardio specialist who used to   
   dictate to his receptionist via a hand-held tape recorder (I think, though it   
   may have been a dedicated device).  He used some form of formal directions   
   probably in an agreed 'verbal shorthand'.   
      
   I vaguely recall that in my earlier example, the O/C of the Typing Pool may   
   have been #1 substitute for -the- stenographer.  If not, then she would have   
   ensured one of the girls would have had the required skills as a short-term   
   replacement.  I recall her 'training huddles' in hushed conversation with two   
   or three other girls at times.   
      
   That was all so long ago.  In the early 80s typists were being phased out as   
   fodder to provide 'balance' in pay increases deals won by unions.  Supervisors   
   and clerical staff were expected to produce their own formal output via   
   automation (early computers), while skilled staff were converted or 'let go'.    
   Later, the clerks became the fodder.  I got on my own terms.   
      
   Cheers,   
   Paul.   
      
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