Ever notice how gunky your computer keyboard can get? Perhaps if I didn't eat and drink near my laptop, just like the stern posters in computer labs always warn, mine wouldn't be so filthy. Since I check my email more than I eat real meals, my laptop might as well be my table setting.
A few mornings ago, I was at the apex of my caffeine high when I'm prone to clean and tidy rather than write or brainstorm. I pick up the dirty coffee cup sitting next to the keyboard and set off to find the Dustbuster. Somewhere between vacuuming crumbs in the cracks and swabbing the keys with a Q-tip I dislodged my 'Backspace' key.
Even for writers who can silence their inner-editor, continuing seamlessly in a freewrite flwo, that key is critical. At some point you have to go back and fix the typos. I'm making do with this intricate dance of the arrow keys, highlight function and 'Delete' button but is a huge hassle. The revision stage is now as tedious as it is painful.
I can picture the experience I will have when I take it to the IT store to get it fixed. I'll watch the guy perform a lees-than a minute, more-than-$20 repair, the kind the techs snicker about later amongst themself. I'll have to suffer that humiliation and expense, unless I plan to never correct a mistake again.
