The technology train
I have always wondered at what point in life individuals decide to jump off the technology train. You know the one, the train that allows us to operate gadgets such as DVDs, Ipods, Cell phones, etc. I was blessed to be raised in a house where a father encouraged his daughter as well as his son to learn how things tick and take apart machinery, all the while knowing the likelihood of the machinery ever returning to working order was very slim. I always wondered why my dad had 2 and 3 of everything. Now I know he wasn't a collector. He simply did this out of necessity, for surely one of everything he had would be disassembled and made into a ray gun attached to the go cart.
Consequently, I have a difficult time relating when one of my female (and sometimes male) counterparts says, "I don't know how to____."
I once had a friend tell me that her mother called her for advice. It seems that she had recently purchased a new computer and was trying to explore the internet. She followed all the technician's instructions and successfully logged onto the internet. Once her homepage popped up, she typed something in the search box and patiently waited for results. And she waited. And she waited. This woman must have surely been born of saint blood, because she waited for 30 minutes and then called her daughter to ask her just how long she should continue to wait for the results. Of course, knowing something was wrong, the daughter proceeded to try and diagnoise the problem. After making sure the computer was correctly connected and in working order, she asked her mother to run another trial. The mother typed something in the search box and waited. Of course, nothing happened. Finally, the daughter said, "Mom, after you hit the enter key, did you get any error message at all?" The mother replied, "Oh, I didn't know you had to hit the enter key."
You see, she had jumped off the train.
The other day, my mother asked my partner where the phone was. Now please understand, when my mother was a teenager, all the neighborhood kids would come to her parent's house because they had the only television on the block. Yes, she is that old. And, she lived most of her life in an area where technology seemed to lag about 50 years behind the rest of modern civilization.
My partner told my mother that the phone was on the end table and went back to watching her television program. After a few minutes, it became obvious that my mother had not yet made any calls. So, I looked about and discovered my mother setting patiently at the kitchen table intently studying the aparatus in front of her. I asked her if she needed any help, and she replyed, "I dialed the phone number, but I can't figure out where the talk button is." I investigated and quickly realized that she was trying to make a call on the television remote control.
The sad thing is this has happened multiple times. I frequently find myself saying, "Hey mom, bring back my remote control. I can't change the channel with this phone."
Yip, she has jumped off the train.
Consequently, I have a difficult time relating when one of my female (and sometimes male) counterparts says, "I don't know how to____."
I once had a friend tell me that her mother called her for advice. It seems that she had recently purchased a new computer and was trying to explore the internet. She followed all the technician's instructions and successfully logged onto the internet. Once her homepage popped up, she typed something in the search box and patiently waited for results. And she waited. And she waited. This woman must have surely been born of saint blood, because she waited for 30 minutes and then called her daughter to ask her just how long she should continue to wait for the results. Of course, knowing something was wrong, the daughter proceeded to try and diagnoise the problem. After making sure the computer was correctly connected and in working order, she asked her mother to run another trial. The mother typed something in the search box and waited. Of course, nothing happened. Finally, the daughter said, "Mom, after you hit the enter key, did you get any error message at all?" The mother replied, "Oh, I didn't know you had to hit the enter key."
You see, she had jumped off the train.
The other day, my mother asked my partner where the phone was. Now please understand, when my mother was a teenager, all the neighborhood kids would come to her parent's house because they had the only television on the block. Yes, she is that old. And, she lived most of her life in an area where technology seemed to lag about 50 years behind the rest of modern civilization.
My partner told my mother that the phone was on the end table and went back to watching her television program. After a few minutes, it became obvious that my mother had not yet made any calls. So, I looked about and discovered my mother setting patiently at the kitchen table intently studying the aparatus in front of her. I asked her if she needed any help, and she replyed, "I dialed the phone number, but I can't figure out where the talk button is." I investigated and quickly realized that she was trying to make a call on the television remote control.
The sad thing is this has happened multiple times. I frequently find myself saying, "Hey mom, bring back my remote control. I can't change the channel with this phone."
Yip, she has jumped off the train.
posted by Lena @ 7:48 PM
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