So us old fogies’ like me are trying hard to survive in this
teach savvy world. I have found that if you don’t have some degree of
participation you might just as well be a deaf mute and go live behind the
garage. Beside’s this computer I am typing on, I now have a smart phone and a
smart television set, which is pretty good for a dumb man. My grandson calls me
the other day and somehow he changes the ring tone on my phone, from his phone,
from my usual barking dog signal to a Gestapo style siren. Not knowing what was
going on I rushed outside, to go hide in the top of the garage, when suddenly
his voice sounded out of my pocket and he identified himself. Not funny
Michael.
I was flying back from Mesa a while back and the plane cabin
looked like the control room at an N.F.L. game with laptops, I pads and smart
phones everywhere. The guy next to me was watching some movie about an airplane
crash and the kid on the other side of me was playing some game, where he broke
out in gales of laughter about every thirty seconds because he was killing
people. Not to be outdone I got out my phone and turned on my music consisting
of “Somewhere over the rainbow” without earphones.” Have you ever had one
hundred and fifty people stare at you at the same time? “ The pilot actually
increased the throttle and banked the plane and the flight attendant gave me
the old finger across the throat signal. Fussy people.
I once told my granddaughter what it was like growing up
without all of these electronic conveniences. We had one phone in the house and
we had to ask our parents if we could use it and the answer was always no. My
granddaughter told me she would have simply died rather then live like that. I
told her I thought about that but didn’t know how to end it. She told me there
was an app for that and gave me the address of a website in case I ever wanted
to download it. Relax I didn’t.
I now have many new words in my vocabulary like Hulu and
it’s not the hoop. Pandora and it’s not the box and Amazon and it’s not the
river. I can skyp, twitter, tweet, and meet you on face book, LinkedIn or
e-mail. I Google more than I gargle and my browser is my best friend. Whoops
almost got in trouble there. Second best friend. Sorry dear.
So I have upgraded my electronic network and in the spring I
will have a garage sale. I have a very nice eight-track player with the best of
Elvis tapes. I have two cassette players with several cartridges, including the
best of John Phillip Sousa. A tape movie player, see I’ve even forgot what they
call them any more, with a box of movies, including Lassie Come Home. Two
thirty-five millimeter cameras-- one still has seven pictures on the roll that
is in it-- and two black and white television sets and a flip open cell phone with
a dial inside of it that’s great for those seniors who don’t want to change and
a pong game still in the box. For the time being I’m hanging on to Donkey Kong
and Frogger. Any one want to play?
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