People keep telling me I need to get a smart phone. It happened the other morning and I found myself tearing up.
I wish technology would just leave me alone. I don’t mind learning something new, even at my age, but I want to become fairly proficient at a thing before something new is added or the thing is upgraded. This happens to me all the time in the technology I already have…formats for e-mail and Facebook change and I don’t know what to click to get to where I used to be able to go. It doesn’t do me any good to search for instructions because I can’t understand them – the language keeps changing.
I am absolutely sure that the day will come when my phone won’t work. The Big-Entity-in-the-Sky will stop the signal reception or transmission needed for my phone to work. My phone will be obsolete. We will all have to change over to the new thing or there will be no communication other than face-to-face. That is scary to me. My children and grandchildren will only communicate through technology. They don’t have time for face-to-face.
I realize, too, that if I wait until the day when I am forced to make a change, there will be so much more to learn than if I make the transition now. Well, folks, whenever I look at my husband’s smart phone, it seems to me there is too much to learn already. I haven’t yet figured out how to make a phone call on his phone. I have the same problem with his computer and even the TV but that is another story…and another source of tears.
Friends tell me, “But look at all the things you can do with a new phone!” That is supposed to get me excited, but it doesn’t. I don’t care if my phone can do all those things. That stuff isn’t attractive to me. Why would someone go to all that work to get something they don’t even want?
Most people would consider me to be a fairly stable person, even one with a fair amount of wisdom, but I have this one weakness… technology is my Achilles heel.
- An Achilles heel is a weakness in spite of overall strength, which can actually or potentially lead to downfall. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, idiomatic references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to downfall are common.
Keep the phone you have until they no longer have the battery whenit needs replacing. If hubby has that tech phone thats all you need. Go play with his once in a while to see if you can accomplish anything.
Four days into getting mine 1-1/2 years ago, I almost threw it out the window. Bill still has issues with his. Don’t sweat the small stuff!
Good advice.
Aw… this post makes me sad. We all have an Achilles heel (or two, or three). Remember, those of us who look like we are negotiating technology without a problem, probably had to work hard for that knowledge at some point. I remember reading instructions while looking up ever-other word because I didn’t understand it at all. I was completely intimidated, but I had no choice… my world demands technology. I have been at trainings, with tears in my eyes, because I did not understand what the presenters were explaining (while the young whipper-snappers around me seemed to magically absorb the new data without effort), but, again, I had no choice but to learn… and it wasn’t easy. You have a wider range of choices as a retiree… your world does not necessarily demand the shiny, fast technologies, which is just fine.
Those of us who marvel in technology live, in my opinion, in a faster world than you do now, and the world is a faster place, generally, than is was in the past. You have time for things that many do not, so they need to lean on technology to help them fit everything in. Both sides of this need to have compassion and understanding for the other. Those of us who live in a technology centered world need to understand that it is not for everyone, and to respect that in others. Those who live in a low technology centered world should understand that there are those of us who not only rely on technology but our world demands the skill. Both sides need to be patient and respectful… the argument could be had for both sides that there is a hindrance, so no one skill level is better or worse than the other.