My parents are
intelligent, educated people who cannot for the life of them figure
out anything in the technology department created after the year
2000.
Dad and I were in Walmart
one afternoon and he wanted to go through the self check out aisle but he
didn't want me to help him – he's smart and should be able to work
this machine with no problem.
So I watched while he
swiped and swiped, occasionally hitting the bar code but most of the
time not. I eventually stepped up and pointed out the bar code and he
managed to move along.
But then he moved a bag or
something and the woman's voice coming from the machine started
telling him something about the bagging area.
He was already frustrated
so that made him mad and he yelled at her (the voice in the machine)
She repeated what she'd said before and that really pissed him off so
he started pushing buttons and yelling back at her like you wouldn't
believe.
The whole debacle was
hysterical and the fact that people were staring at him just made everything even funnier.
And then it was time to
pay.
Good grief, you'd think
the world had ended when he pushed the wrong button and then the
machine froze.
The rest is just a blur of
him yelling and a cashier rushing over to escort him to the
'difficult folks' register and handled the rest of his transaction.
Three items and thirty
minutes later we were on our way.
Later on I told my Mom
about it and she said “Oh honey, never let him go through that
aisle – he just can't do it and everybody in the store will think
you're with an idiot.”
He is determined to keep
up with technology but bless his heart, his smart phone is smarter
than he is.
We have Iphones but he is
against the “I Movement” so he's got a Motorola. Very cool phone
with lots of features but I barely know how to use my own phone so
telling him how to use his is impossible.
I got this text the other
day.
I didn't hear from either
one of them again so I assume the lesson went south pretty quick.
He has learned to talk to his phone to check the weather so he knows there is someone in there 😉
My Mom doesn't really care
now that she's learned how to use Ebay, Amazon and Paypal. She has a
landline in her home and a new cell phone that she turns off and can
never find.
If she does find it all
she can do is make and answer calls. I've talked to her about texting
before and when her eyes glazed over I knew texting wasn't in her
future.
I think Dad knows that now
too.
Labels: Staying