Years ago, I received my first iPod as a birthday present. My 12-year-old son had gotten one a few months prior and kindly offered to set it up for me. It was a thoughtful gesture that I gladly accepted.
You may have heard the saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” My son provided me with that first fish, yet here I am today, still floundering in the sea of technology.
To an outsider, I might appear to be a competent participant in the modern world. I work on an iMac, communicate through an iPhone, and read books on an iPad. However, the reality is that I often feel lost when it comes to navigating these devices. Whenever something goes wrong, I must rely on my children for assistance.
Weekly, I find my computer lagging, prompting me to call one of my kids for help. “Mom!” my son scolds, “How many windows did you open? You need to close your windows!” I always think I did, but it seems I’ve missed a few. Occasionally, my toolbar disappears from the screen, and I sit there perplexed until my 12-year-old daughter strolls in for a snack, and I discreetly ask if she could take a look. A few swift taps and—voilà!—it’s fixed.
While I can send texts, my kids chuckle at my finger-pecking typing style. “You’re supposed to use both thumbs,” they chime in unison. How? I wonder. My thumbs don’t seem out of the ordinary, yet I struggle to type a single letter with them.
Then there are the elusive apps. I somehow swipe something on my phone, and suddenly, my Safari icon vanishes into oblivion, only to be quickly retrieved by one of my kids.
When I shared my tech struggles with the technology teacher at my children’s school, she explained that kids today grow up immersed in technology, making it second nature for them. In contrast, my generation didn’t have that same exposure, which makes it challenging to learn.
Ironically, I was quite adept with electronics during my teenage years. Back in the ’70s, my family acquired our first VCR, a game-changer that allowed us to record shows and watch them at our leisure. It was relatively simple to operate—at least for me.
My parents, however, were a different story. Whenever they wanted to record something, they had to ask me to “set the VCR.” When I went off to college, they would call me (on a rotary phone!) for guidance, yet they still struggled. Each time I returned home, the VCR would be blinking “12:00,” and I’d shake my head, bewildered by their confusion. I didn’t understand their struggle back then, but now I do.
A few years ago, my editor requested that I hyperlink something for an article. I was clueless about what that entailed, so I turned to my daughter, who, unsurprisingly, knew exactly how to do it. Once more, she offered to handle it for me, but this time, I decided to learn instead. I realized I needed to “learn how to fish,” especially since my primary tech consultant would be heading off to college soon.
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In summary, while I once felt tech-savvy, I now find myself at the mercy of my children’s expertise. It’s a humbling experience that reminds me of the importance of adapting to the ever-evolving technological landscape.
Keyphrase: Mom struggling with technology
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