Gasp! “No! I didn’t mean it!” This blurts out of my mouth several times a week to no one there. Then, without even thinking about it, my left hand slips into position. My fingers do something. The mistake disappears as if nothing ever happened.
How do I get such miracles? By now, it’s become a function of my autonomic nervous system. Let me slow down and look… Ugh, I can’t even tell which finger is doing what, because slowing it down interrupts the process…
FINALLY, after 20 tries, I am able to catch them in action. It’s my pinky and middle finger. In slow motion, here’s what I see:
My left pinky plants down on the CTRL key. My ring finger floats like a limp node. My middle finger follows with a punch on the Z key.
Zip. Mistake is gone.
CTRL-Z. It’s the keyboard shortcut for Undo. On a Mac, it’s CMD-Z. If you can’t find the Undo tool in any given program, just try that keyboard shortcut. You’d be amazed at how ubiquitous it is.
But hey, it’s not always our fault. I swear every computer is built with its own resident gremlin. When that booger tries to be clever and changes your c) into a copyright symbol, or welds your hyphens into a steel rod, or moves your file into the great unknown, a little CTRL-Z will usually kick things back into order.
Here’s a nice New Year resolution. Do ten CTRL-Z exercises a day to keep the nightmares away. Pinky on CTRL, ring finger on Z, press and chant, “Control Zee”.
Oh, how I wish it worked on mistakes outside the computer. Oh well. Older and wiser is nice, too, I suppose.
Happy 2023!