old dog; new tricks

Today I had a conversation with an acquaintance on the astonishing speed of technology growth. We laughed at how the early Star Trek shows used the precursor to a cell phone: ridiculous! We agreed that technology is pretty much outpacing our ability to keep up.

Then he says, "well lots of companies no longer pay for phone service. They use this thing called 'skype.'"

Uh, yeah. I've known about skype and get this - I have skyped - for well over a year. He seemed surprised that I knew anything about it.

Well. I give all credit to my young adult children, who have enlightened me to all manner of modern technology. I have frustrated them wildly, too, because I seem unable to master any new technological skill on the first go-round.

Whether it's cutting and pasting, scanning and saving, downloading (or is it uploading?) photos, or texting (don't get me going on that), I'd be somewhere back in the 1970's were it not for my savvy, weaned-on-computers offspring.

Look, when I was their age, the only phone in my college dorm was one that 25 girls shared. And it was attached to the wall down the hall. I took a typewriter to college, not a computer. As the student government secretary, I typed up the meeting's minutes and ran copies on a mimeograph machine. I spent hours and hours in a darkroom, developing film and printing photos for photography class. Whether accomplishing assignments or calling home, everything I did took lots more time. But it was all I knew, so I don't remember being particularly annoyed or impatient over what might seem to my children as slow-motion living.

I do think my past explains everything as it relates to learning today's technology. Our boomer brains grew up finding answers in encyclopedias, not online. We gabbed with our friends on a phone in the kitchen while our mothers cooked dinner, so conversations held no secrets. We took pictures and waited a week or two for the photos to come back.

If I must defend my technological inadequacies, let it be known that I didn't even touch a computer until after my first of four kids came along. So the computer revolution essentially blew by me while I was having and raising my children.

Bottom line, it can be challenging for an old dog to learn new tricks. But not impossible, given the desire and a few twenty-somethings with the patience to train their parents the new stuff.

Am I longing for the good old days? Not on your life. I won't be left in the dust. I'm gonna skype the bajeebers with my grandbaby!