NAVIGATING THROUGH LIFE ISN’T EASY THESE DAYS; ESPECIALLY WHEN ONE IS FROM AN EARLIER GENERATION. I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE—THE SMART PHONE HAS MADE ME STUPID. I USED TO REMEMBER MY KIDS’ TELEPHONE NUMBERS, NOW ALL I HAVE TO DO IS PRESS “RECENT” OR “CONTACTS” AND THERE THEY ARE! IF I LOSE MY PHONE, I’M LOST!
Waze gets me to where I’m supposed to go and I get a little annoyed when it gives me my time of arrival. I’m always trying to prove Waze wrong, to no avail. It knows exactly to the minute when I will arrive.
I don’t even want to talk about the television. There are a million channels with nothing to watch! That doesn’t bother me as much as the fact that it takes me an hour to figure out which remote will turn the thing on! And to make matters worse, my kids want me to put an app on my phone so I can control the house—lights, ovens, heat etc. Really! What’s left for me to do? I still know how to open and shut the lights!
Recently, my daughter put an app on my phone for the muni-meter. Granted, I like having it, so I don’t have to search for a quarter, but it seems everything I do is controlled by an app and my phone.
Since the coronavirus arrived on our shores, I’ve learned how to Zoom. I have Zoomed to weddings, brits and bar mitzvahs in my pajamas. I haven’t worn lipstick since last March, because of the masks we’re required to wear. Now the government has placed a ban on plastic bags. My shopping list used to consist of lettuce, tomatoes, kirbys, milk, juice, etc. Now my list is: phone, keys, mask, reusable bags, plastic gloves and hand sanitizer. Too bad there isn’t an app for that!
I’m not complaining, there’s no use in that, I’m just explaining how life has become a little more complicated with all this new technology. It gets a little embarrassing when you have to ask your grandchildren to help you figure out how to forward an email, with attachments, or how to get on Netflix.
My grandson, Alan, had to explain to me not to answer every request I get from Facebook. “It’s not only sent to you, Grandma. Please do not respond!” I responded, I explained to him, because I didn’t want to seem rude. This made him throw up his hands and declare: “rude to who, Grandma? It’s computer generated!” How would I know that?
I can remember the days of the Million Dollar Movie. It was on channel 9, and they showed the same movie for a week. And we watched it over and over again. I think I watched King Kong a hundred times. We were fine with that. My generation grew up with shows like Father Knows Best, Bewitched, The Munsters, The Beverly Hillbillies, I Dream of Jeannie, Leave it to Beaver, Hogan’s Heros, Mr. Ed, Lassie, I Love Lucy and My Three Sons. It was fun and entertaining. Now, everything is either political or nerve wracking.
I suppose we’ll all need to get used to this new world they have created for us. I’m just waiting for an app to help us get grape leaves out of the jar! That would be helpful!
Joyce Chabbott
