I've been reading the posts for several years now - NO CODE vs. KNOW CODE; Keep-It-Or-Dump-It; DitDah or Not DitDah. Frankly the argument is tired and played out. It's fairly likely that knowledge of Morse Code will not be a requirement of any U.S amateur radio license in the near future. Personally, I think it's sad, and on many levels a big mistake. But life is full of changes, disappointments, and opportunities to overcome adversity. This is one of them. Time to move on, or at the very least, to take a different tack.

Before I delve too deeply into things, let me first start out by telling you what this post is NOT:

-it is not a reflection on the “Good Ole Days”. Even though I'm over 40, and eligible for QCWA, I still feel like a kid in this hobby. It's one of the delightful things about ham radio. The hobby finds new and wonderful ways to surprise and amuse me virtually every day.

-it is not an attempt to stratify our ranks into the “Elite Speakers-of-Morse” vs. the “Great Unwashed NO-CODERS”. This argument serves no purpose but to divide us and get us looking for new ways to belittle those of differing opinion. I don't believe for one second that NO CODERS have anything less to offer Amateur Radio than those who can copy 40 WPM in their head while simultaneously watching TV, reading a book, and baking cookies.

-it isn't an attempt to convince anyone how easy Morse is to learn. The truth is that, like most things in life, some have an easier time of it than others. I fully recognize that some people don't have the Morse Gene, if there is such a thing. They just don't process broken bits of tone into letters and numbers. Others are simply too busy to learn what amounts to a new language.

What is this post, if not just another trip down that well-worn path, sure to degenerate into a series of sniping WE vs THEY counter-posts?

It's an opportunity for us to all consider Morse for what it is: a second language.

Educators all over the world recognize the need to know more than one language. Some high-performance American schools begin teaching a second language to children in their first year of grade school. In many countries, learning a second language is compulsory starting in elementary school. My preschoolers get a regular dose of basic Spanish just watching “Dora the Explorer”. The world is shrinking, and uniting all 6 continents under one universal language may be a goal for the Utopians to consider one day. Until then, the prevailing attitude in education is that it is very helpful to cross the border equipped to speak the language of your destination.

Morse Code, while not a foreign tongue, is a language. Actually, it's better than a language, because you don't need to learn a whole new vocabulary to use it. Just another Alphabet. There are many engineers who, through their knowledge of mathematics, had to learn the Greek Alphabet. Some of you reading this post right now will pause here and recite Alpha through Omega, just to prove that you still can. I'll give you a moment to get through it. (Too bad there isn't a song that goes with the Greek Alphabet, like the A-B-C song done to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I could hum along. But I digress).

Morse Code doesn't require a voice, a computer, a radio, or even sound to use. Two people equipped with flashlights can communicate while separated by ½ mile, if they know the language. Oh, and it helps if it's dark out, too.

I could be stopped at a stoplight, spot your call sign on your license plate, and with my car horn say,

“M-E-E-T M-E A-T I-H-O-P F-O-R C-O-F-F-E-E ?”

If you know the language, you can reply,

“S-U-R-E, C U T-H-E-R-E”.

If you don't know the language, you feel sorry for me because my car horn seems to have an intermittent short that is attracting a lot of attention.

So, what's the point? The point is this: even if Morse disappears from the FCC curriculum, take the time on your own to learn it as a second language (or third or eighth or whatever). Nobody is telling you that you have to. But maybe you should anyway.

I regret that I grew up in an age where foreign language studies were not required, even in high school. I work for a German company, so it would be very helpful to Sprechen zie Deutch. Sadly, all those years watching “Hogan's Heroes” did little to prepare my language skills for the German Business World of 2005. Living in Texas, it would be very nice to know more Spanish. Right now, I know just enough to know when my lineage or mom's occupation are being questioned. Alas.

At least I've learned ONE language other than English.

Thanks for listening. C-U A-T I-H-O-P.