Writing on Paper

It used to be so difficult to continuously write with pens on papers. The hand would sweat and sweat, it just won't give a damn! In exam, it's even worse, when I needed to write lengthy essays or draw diagrams. The papers would curl up so badly, or got drenched by the sweat. Putting on another piece of paper just below my wrist to prevent the sweat from directly in contact with the exam sheets would be the choice; or sometimes it sweat so badly that I needed a handkerchief for the "absorption power". And by doing so, once my classmate thought I was so "kiasu", as if people wanted to copy my answer, and therefore I purposely closed up the answers with a piece of paper!

In tuition classes or lecture halls, as the tutors went on like bullet train and scribbling all over the board, students were copying everything down on their ruled pads. But for me, it was a real frustrating moment. As I wrote faster and faster, the palm would get more and more sweaty. The pen grip was loose, the sweat would make the papers soaked, the armpits would start dripping and wetting the underneath of my shirt. And so, I kept having pauses in between the copying sessions, either to vigorously dry my palms on my trousers, or excused myself out of the room, just to shake them dry! Total nuisance!

At times, the lecture hall was so packed, that we had to squeeze along the bench with a tiny writing area on the table, that would be my nightmare! Besides what I have mentioned above, the crowd would actually made me sweat more, even on the forehead. Heart beat would go faster. And I used to think that I had social phobia, but now I know it was just sympathetic overdrive.

Today, I write as much and as long as I love to. No more sweaty problem. The papers remain dry and neat. The pen grip is excellent. And best of all, attending any conference, no matter how crowded, I remain cool and calm. Hand shaking with all the participants around me. Improved social networking, and my palms, dry and warm! How confident I am now.

Funny, isn't it? Just a tiny thoracic T3-4 nerve problem, could give rise to all sorts of unimaginable nuisance to those hyperhidrosis sufferers!