Cursive writing is not being taught in much of America.

[Straw Man]

194. I used to collect fountain pens.

It's a sacrilege to write anything other than cursive with a fountain pen, but when was the last time you saw anyone use one in the real world?

Without cursive, how do people sign checks? By printing their names? Eccccchhh ... Or does no one write checks anymore? I only use them to pay my taxes, but I enjoy the ritual of breaking out the fountain pen every April. Somehow it lessens the sting.

I learned to drive in a '62 Dodge Dart with a "three on the tree" manual transmission. That was all we had. It really wasn't that hard. I have since succumbed to the lure of automatic transmission, though, as a concession to age and creaky hip joints. My last standard shift vehicle was a Ford Ranger pickup that got totaled out from under me in 2010. I walked away essentially unscathed.