Maybe you could ask the biggest handwriting offenders to print in all caps? Of course, given that it sounds like they consider it their God-given right to make your job impossible, I doubt they’d agree.
Can I hijack slightly? I’ve been thinking lately I’d like to improve my handwriting (printing, that is - though I’d actually like to relearn cursive, in an attractive style, if anyone has any advice on where to get materials or how to go about it.)
My handwriting is not bad - it seems like my elementary school teachers criticized it, but I write enough in my daily life to keep it readable and - to my eyes at least - fairly attractive (if unique) when writing on lined paper. (My mother insists that it got significantly better when I started studying Chinese.) But when I try to write a note, or write quickly, it starts looking sloppy and childish again. Worse when I try to write in all caps - I’ve seen people who could do that in an attractive style and it would be useful for certain things, but I can’t seem to manage it.
If anyone has advice on how to polish up my acceptable handwriting to a golden sheen, I’d love to hear it.
I have heard (anecdotal, no cite, just a thought) that the people with the best handwriting are generally those who have no (other) creative outlet.
IOW, those who are creative in other aspects of their lives, whether it’s drawing or web-building or architecture or really any type of “creative” outlet, are generally not the people with the best handwriting. Even when they are really trying.
Whereas people who don’t feel those creative urges generally have pretty damn good penmanship, b/c that’s their “art-form.”
I do have to say, from anecdotal personal experience, that this is true. My father, who can’t even draw a straight line, has exquisite penmanship. So does my mother. So do both of my best girlfriends, neither of whom have any aspirations towards anything artistic. The theory being that people who can’t really create anything take lots of pride in what they are actually capable of. Which are emulated patterns…of any kind.
And, being an ex-custom-framer with a lot of experience with artists, I do have to note that the better the artist, the worse their handwriting. It’s like they just don’t see the point; it’s slightly aggravating.
It may not be a “proof” or a reason, but I do think there’s a grain of truth in the theory.
Myself…my handwriting is very childish, b/c I learned to type at the age of ten, and very rarely wrote anything after that, so basically the only thing that “evolved” was my signature…but nonetheless, my writing is always legible. Not very pretty, but definitely legible. (And FTR, b/c of my theory, I am a photographer and a pretty decent artist.)
As for the OP…your coworkers are being asses. I find it difficult to believe that a decently-sized random sample of coworkers would have real actual problems writing in legible penmanship; they’re being arrogant and lazy. Sic your boss on them. That’s crap.
Disabilities aside, it has to be somewhat correctable. I’ve consciously changed the way I write a bunch of letters. I remember deciding I wanted cooler-looking As, Ds, Ms, and that u looked too much like n - that was only a few months ago, I practiced changing the shape on some yellow paper - and also that I was going to really dot i. Looking at a college notebook from 5 years ago, I see I used to write in cursive all the time. I definitely don’t do that now, although how much print vs. how much cursive I use depends on how fast I’m trying to write.
Any chance you can get those co-workers to type or e-mail the information you need (especially if you can get the boss to support you on this)?
My sympathies. I used to help my dad (university prof) read illegible handwriting on exams - boy did it strain the eyes!
I’m one with terrible handwriting too. The strokes just don’t got the way I want. I can’t write straight, unless it’s ruled paper. The proportions of the letters are always wrong. Writing slow hurts my finger. I always print, can’t write in cursive.
Recently I learnt that my dad (long divorced from my mum) writes the same way too.I don’t think it’s correctable, if proper handwriting is not drilled since young. And consider the fact now that I type more than I write, I think it is quite impossible for me to change. Anyway, there don’t seem to be a programme for changing handwritings for adults.
(Not that I know, that is)