Wednesday, February 4, 2009

To Those Who Cross the 7

There are over 6 billion people living on earth and each of them is unique. They vary in race, religion, political beliefs, and cultural differences, but I believe we can basically divide the human race into two separate groups. Those who cross their sevens and those who don't. I dedicate this post to those who do (judging from how long it took me to find a picture of a crossed seven on the Internet I'm pretty sure that group is in the minority).

I'm a 7 crosser and I think I started when I was living in Europe as a kid. I remember my teacher was a stern woman who wore a white lab coat who walked up and down the isles as we worked on math. The Austrian kids were doing pre-calculus in third grade but I was still trying to figure out long division. (Don't feel bad I wasted them all in P.E.) Anyway to fit in with the other kids I started crossing my 7's and I guess it just stuck.

This habit may have been reinforced if I mistook a 7 for a 1 and had such a traumatic experience that I swore that would never happen again, but if that did happen I'm not sure because I probably suppressed the memory. Anyway I really struggle when I see a regular 7 because I want to cross it. It even pains me to write this post with a keyboard that will not type a 7 the way I like it. I also cross my Zs so they don't get mistaken for a number 2. I know most people wouldn't usually confuse the two but I work with Vin numbers everyday.

I feel a need to apologize for the lameness of this post, but you have to take into account the boring nature of the subject matter. Anyway if you don't cross your sevens then I challenge you to just try it once to see if you like it or not. At least I'm not trying to promote making a smiley face out of the dot on the letter i.

8 comments:

MikkSolo said...

I cross my 7's. I think it got reinforced when I served my mission in Toronto, Canada.

Anonymous said...

I crossed sevens for a few years after living in Europe but gradually gave up the habit. It is really more accurate when you think about it, too bad it isn't mandatory. What I could never give up was the European style of eating with the knife in my right hand and the fork in my left hand--it's so logical,gracious, and efficient and just feels more natural (if you are right handed that is,) Etiquette books say that it is wrong to eat this way in America and is a sign of having pretentious affectations, but I don't care. The biggest side effect is people assuming you are a lefty if they are seated by you at a meal. I'm curious if Chaka is also partial to the German double S that the uninitiated confuse with the letter B. My keyboard will not allow me to show an example without using special computer skills I have yet to develop.

Tom said...

I am not such a fan of the double S, but I'm intriqued by the umlat. I think it's kid of cool to see dots over an A or U. I've been tempted to change my name to Gunter and listen to Motley Crue just so I can enjoy it more. Sorry I don't know how to display on my keyboard either.

Kiezie said...

Ah, for the love of a crossed seven! What a fun post, sometimes you just have to say what's on your mind! I grew up in Holland from ages 10 to 20, and I love my crossed sevens!

rachelsaysso said...

I cross my 7s. And my Zs. And I also eat with the knife in the right and the fork in the left. And I know that you can get the "ö" by typing alt+660.

Clearly, I am awesome.

Tom said...

You are better than awesome, you are awesöme!

The Mauermans said...

it's amazing to see how many of your readers are seven crossers. I admit I am a crosser myself. It makes me wonder now if we all attract other 7 crossers unknowingly. My wife doesn't cross hers-but they say opposites attract . So maybe all the seven crossers are subconsciously lumped into a category of "just friends". Sorry, I know this may come as a disappointment to many of you.

Maui said...

I don't cross my seven's but I do prefer to dot my i's with a heart.