Have you ever found a story that is so good that you created a blog post – simply to share the story?
I have. This is it.
The focus of this story (which I believe is true) deals with change. While most paradigm shifts within history used to take thousands of years (bronze age, silver age, iron age, etc), now they take place in less than a decade. The truth is: change is coming no matter how hard you fight against it.
Here’s the story:
From the Voter’s Assembly Minutes – June 19, 1908
Mr. Grueber introduced the following to be discussed: Nine reasons not to introduce the typewriter into our church.
1. The paper must be put into the machine and aligned properly, tabs must be set. This is not easy. When writing by hand, one simply begins, exactly where you want with no restrictions.
2. With a typewriter, you have to constantly remember to capitalize and put in punctuation. It is easy to forget, and to go back and change things is hard. When writing by hand, such things are automatic.
3. With the typewriter, you have to have been trained to find the proper keys. This takes time. We already know how to write.
4. With the typewriter, you are limited to the size and spacing of the type. When writing by hand, you can use any size letters or style you want.
5. With the typewriter, centering and setting margins is not easy; when writing, it is no problem.
6. A typewriter breaks down and costs to be fixed. Writing does not.
7. Correcting a mistake after something has been typed is a problem; when writing by hand, it is not.
8. The church has gotten along for over 1900 years without a typewriter; why do we need this now?
9. Instead of learning a machine with all the above drawbacks, time should be spent on penmanship.
Isn’t this awesome? I wish I could attest to the validity of this. If Mr. Grueber were alive today, he probably wouldn’t be on Twitter either.
I came across this story in a resource from John Maxwell. All I know is that it clearly illustrates the lengths many will go to in order to avoid a necessary change.
“Every new idea goes through three phases: It will not work, it will cost too much, and I thought it was a good idea all along.” – Anonymous
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