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I'm still learning, Walt, and I think that's one of the things you pride
yourself on, right? It is a good thing to keep oneself open to acquire
new knowledge. And I don't mean just innovations or facts, but also
being open to new ways of being, new attitudes, even new paradigms
(as they say in Gnuage-Speak). Our outlook tends to ossify as we
age, and our hard earned wisdom becomes a little prideful maybe,
and perhaps even seems complete.
From the lofty perspective of age, the foibles of youth are plain to
see, and advice all too easy to give, though hardly ever wanted. No
generation arrives educated of life's experiences, but instead needs,
even demands, to live and learn, which I find I am still doing.
For instance, it is so easy to judge the young and their newfangled
gadgets from the perspective of the good old days when we didn't
need "all that stuff". Cell phones are a perfect example. I was the
last person I knew to get an answer phone, and I held that distinction
with cell phones too. When I finally succumbed, I told myself it was
only because it is so dangerous to be in the desert where getting lost
or disabled could be fatal. The functions that accompanied the basic
conversation feature on a cell phone never interested me, and if I am
completely honest, which I tend to be when it suits my pride, I will
admit that I couldn't figure out or remember how to navigate the
buttons to do anything beyond make a call or answer the darned
thing anyway. Lack of motivation.
So it came to be that I began to notice all the youngsters hunched
over their cell phones, thumbing away on their devices in malls and
restaurants everywhere. I looked over at one of my nieces during a a
very dramatic point in a movie theater recently, to find her texting
away in the slight glow of her phone. We hear stories about kids
texting in class, maybe even communicating test answers, an
advantage we never had. If texting is more important to them than a
movie in a dark theater, imagine what our young are absorbing in
the classroom! What sort of brain power and personal
communication skills are the younger generations developing, I
wondered.
You have to understand how backwards I am, Walt. I was shocked
back in the 80's, to discover there were no more cassette tapes in the
music stores; and what the heck were all these tiny records they
called CD's?! With that confessed, I can go on with what I have to tell
you.
With all our new communication devices, I have not been able to
overcome the age old problem of, "Why don't the kids ever call?" My
beautiful daughter, who has made it her mission to be sure my
grandson knows who I am, is still not as accessible as I would like.
Her phone is most often on answer machine mode, and she is very
busy during the day (and evening)...or at least not answering. Does
she screen my calls? I don't know. However, she will answer a text
message. I swore I'd never text, but guess what, if you want to
communicate with someone from a previous generation, this is the
way to make sure your message gets through, and you will probably
get an answer sooner than a callback. The wisdom here is
something about being in Rome...
So I did the unthinkable, I got an iPhone, a frivolous non-essential
which I would never own if it were not that Sharon sort of badgering
me into it with reasoning that was not so reasonable, but she wore
me down. Turns out this phone is the best toy I've ever had, and
easy enough for a techno-moron like me. The camera in it is better
than the first few generations of digital cameras I bought (and also
good from the family glue point of view...instant images to relatives).
Besides phone, camera, wireless emailer and Internet browser, it is a
PDA, and data/info resource, an iPod (and iTune downloader and
Podcast player), a GPS system, a gateway to YouTube, and if I want,
which I don't...a game player. I'm not promoting or bragging here. I
get no toaster. But I do get access to my daughter and eventually my
grandson. I can see him texting Grandpa one day, except texting will
be way old fashioned by then.
So I changed my attitude, Walt. This phone is a marvelous invention,
and it will continue to be useful as I age. I will wander around with
it in my pocket, and if I ever forget who I am or where I am, I can just
pull it out...or eventually stumble upon it when I give up and shove
my hands in my pockets. Then all I have to do is randomly touch
icons until I find my address (from the contacts page), enter it into
the GPS, and I can find my way home. Sometimes I worry, though,
that Sharon might disable my GPS function on purpose. (insert grin
here)