The other day, during that awkward period of pre-meeting Zoom banter that normally focuses on the weather in the participants’ locales, talk turned to learning how to type. This led to the somewhat embarrassing revelation on my part that I learned to type on, wait for it, a typewriter. Yes, whiteout was involved.
In addition to outing myself as old, the experience reminded me of my typing teacher. To put it kindly, she had a very clear point of view on the manner in which one should type. It involved a very upright posture and very short fingernails. To my high school self, she was the epitome of an out-of-touch old fuddy duddy.
But her lessons stuck.
To this day, one of the first cues that it’s time to cut my nails is that it’s hindering my typing. As someone who makes a living stringing words together, typing inefficiently has a distinctive domino effect on my overall productivity, and I remain grateful to my typing teacher for giving me the tools to work more effectively.
This also got me thinking about other people in my life whose opinions I may not have valued at the time but whose advice and counsel I now feel lucky to have received.
When I started at Sports Illustrated Kids, we had not one, but two, full-time copy editors. (Just for SI Kids. Big SI had a full team of copy editors that may have numbered in double digits.) Their job could dismissively be referred to as “grammar cop.” And I certainly bristled at their notes in my stories. (Having to include “a U-shaped ramp” when using the term “halfpipe” was particularly galling. It felt like wearing a belt and suspenders.) I felt like they just “didn’t get it” and were, like my typing teacher, out-of-touch old fuddy duddies.
But as appreciative as I am for my typing teacher, I am 10x more so for those copy editors. Finding a way to say what I wanted to say and preserve my voice while still adhering to the rules of grammar and style has made me such a better writer. There’s a saying that I use frequently that I think makes me sound smart, which is, “Clear is better than clever. And clear and clever is better than clear.” Working with those copy editors taught me to do the former, and over time, I learned to do the latter.
I bring this up because I hope that people remain open to the wisdom that may not make sense when it’s given but will down the road. A lot of companies, particularly startups, don’t put enough value in that historical knowledge layer when staffing for fear that it will stifle innovation. The younger generation will always think it has the finger on the pulse (which is true) and that the older generation can’t tell them nothing (which is not).
It’s fine to break the rules, but you have to know what the rules are first before you break them. Otherwise, it’s just sloppy. So while it may be fun to dismiss back-in-my-day knowledge with an “OK, Boomer,” try to remember to thank that Boomer when, a few years from now, you realize you’re doing exactly what they said.
“I’m Full,” by Adam Platt
I’ve always had a fascination with journalists who stick around in a gig long enough to become institutions. I appreciate the perspective that comes from seeing trends du jour come and go over and over and over again. New York magazine restaurant critic Adam Platt was one such journalist. His reviews had a mix of hubris and humility that made them unmistakably Platt. His sign-off column after 22 years has both as well as a healthy dash of nostalgia.
—Justin
I Survived On $0.01 For 30 Days
I have what I think is a very unique relationship with YouTube. I pay for a Premium family account so I can gift an ad-free experience to five friends and I watch a good amount of YouTube, but I’m entirely unaware of who the big YouTubers are. I was a Dobr*k fan for a while, but have moved on. And, of course, I know who Mr. Beast is. When Blake Robbins tweeted “@RyanTrahan's "I Survived On $0.01 for 30 Days" YouTube Series will go down as one of the best content series of all time.” I figured I had to check it out. I’ve since since a handful of videos in this series and Blake might be right. Ryan Trahan is incredibly likable and has a sort-of age-ambiguity that I think makes him massively appealing. Not to mention the theme of the videos is a nice escape from much of the other content on the internet right now.
—Andrew
Brain Dead Presents: Big Balls Boards
I think I first came across Brain Dead when Bobby Hundreds mentioned them in a blog post a few years ago. (Even though they’ve been around for a minute, they still seem to be who I go-to when people ask me about new brands doing cool things.) What impresses me is how they consistently do their own thing, removed from trends, and their ability to make me reconsider what I think of as cool. For example, I’m not one inclined to think that Magic The Gathering is cool, but when Brain Dead collaborated with the card game, I had to question my take. For Brain Dead’s new Vans teamed up with Tim Robinson, of I Think You Should Leave fame and a legit skater in his own right, to create this hilarious video.
—Justin