2000-09-08 - 05:34:26

Many years ago when I was in highschool my mom saw me writing all of my scrappy little poems by hand on notebook paper and she wanted me to have something important upon which to write, to give me joy and power in writing. We were poor so mom didn't buy me a computer or a word processor, she bought me a Smith-Corona, and she bought it from Sears. This is my first and most faithful electric typewriter. And after years of sometimes neglect and sometimes feverish use, my ribbon finally ran out.

So today I went to Sears to buy a new ribbon. And I get there and I ask around and I find out that Sears, The Sears, SEARS the oldest and most respected department store in American history NO LONGER SELLS TYPEWRITERS. At All. I asked the lady at the counter where they used to be and she said to me:

Lady: Oh No, we don't sell typewriters at Sears.

Me: But I bought my typewriter at Sears before--

Lady: That must have been years ago. Now we have computers - Who needs a typewriter when you could have a computer?

Me: Well, I really like a typewriter. I'm a writer, see, so I dig looking at the words printed out on the page just as I'm writing it.

Lady: But you could see the words as you're typeing on a computer screen, and a computer can do so much more. Who needs a typewriter when you could have a computer? No, we don't sell typewriters at Sears Anymore.

ME. I am a WRITER. I LOVE TYPEWRITERS. I NEED A TYPEWRITER, NOT A COMPUTER!!!! Yes yes I dig computers too and I am keeping my journal on one right now -- but when I'm writing my most special stuff, when I'm writing my first drafts, I choose a typewriter. Instant gratification seeing the words on the page. A typewriter is mobile and can go in any room -- and a manual typewriter needs no electricity. Plus a typewriter makes a keen sound, it gives you momentum. I also hate writing something and then waiting around to print it out -- I like the beauty of a word printing as you type it - and printing out only one copy, one solitary copy for me, for right now only -- A typewriter is a machine that can't be replaced. Do you think I want to buy a computer for 2000 dollars when all I want to buy is an 8 dollar typewriter ribbon? FUCK NO!

I really really could not believe that Sears no longer carried typewriters or ribbons of any kind. So I went on with my quest, this time to Office Depot. And guess what? No typewriters there either. The only ribbons they had were for the brand new model of smith corona typewriters, the "H" series, which is now the only model that Smith Corona makes. They told me that I would have to go to a specialty store to get my speacialty ribbon -- and that the last typewriter store in Atlanta was a little shop in Tucker which closed down a year or to ago.

So basically, I'm fucked.

And I'm angry at a world that is leaving behind the machine age -- Yes I know we're in the information age and I dig it too - but I'm sad that there is no longer a love or respect for old technology, that the typewriter has been replaced and demoted -- Does this mean we're giving up on writers too?

Each day I become increasingly more alone, with my roomate moving out and all, and the one comfort I was looking forward to was my old friend the typewriter. But I can't use him either. Its just me and me these days -- I have to learn to get used to that.