Double-Spacers are Not Evil

2011-01-14 08:46:01 by jdixon

Recently, a torrent of criticism has been unleashed towards "double-spacers", bitching and moaning about our excessive keystrokes. Single-spacers en masse are mocking our outdated beliefs. They trot out their modern typographers, quoting type-space rules and style guides. If the level of vitriol is any measure, we've caused them a great deal of distress.

Yes, I admit it, I'm a lifelong two-spacer. The habit was learned as early as middle school, drilled home in high school, and reinforced in college. It's the sort of thing that becomes ingrained and part of your muscle memory. So trust me when I say it's no small task to unlearn this behavior. But I have absolutely no qualms about changing my spacing if it's the right thing to do. In fact, I've already started.

I'm not quite sure what teed up these people and unleashed their rage over such an innocuous thing. Are their lives so methodical that a few extra pixels cause their stabilities to unravel? I have little doubt that what they're preaching is the truth. That's not the crux of my issue. I'm concerned over their lack of reasonable discourse; what they fail to realize is that we double-spacers were trained in this manner over many years. We want to do the right thing. I'd be happy to save a few extra keystrokes. But I don't need to be chided to gain the proper motivation to do so.

In other words, don't be a dick. These are not the typographical equivalent of the Crusades. Publish your findings and make your point. Oh, and give us time to adapt. My delete key is working overtime.