I never used an electric till I moved away from home.
There was only 15 in my high school typing class in a very small school. I think there were only 3 electrics and the rest were manuals. The ones who learned to type the quickest were rewarded with the use of the electrics. I wasn't one of them....:-(
I didn't get to use an electric typewriter in school either, Bob and Chez. It was the quickest and best who got them at my school too, and I definitely wasn't one of them.
I even tried flirting with the typing teacher who was a very nice looking woman in her mid twenties. but she just grinned and told me to practice more.