Woe to us, the Baby Boomers! The computer age has passed us by! Well, some of us anyway. Do you understand your laptop, your phone or any other of those fancy technical play things they make these days?  Seems everyone knows how to utilize these things into their lives but me. How about you? Are you a poor struggling buffoon when faced with technology? I am and when I have to use my laptop or cell phone, I need help! Don’t even think about gifting me with anything technical, it will only make things worse.

I have a problem with people who know everything about computers; when I ask them for help, they assume that I know something, like understanding the basics. No, I had to buy a book for that and without someone to translate, I cannot understand it either! Maybe some of us Boomers just aren’t wired for the computer age.

I hate it when something on my screen suddenly changes without my knowing it was coming. For example, a few minutes ago, my screen letters suddenly changed from 100% to 80%. What did I do? Well, a while back I found the tiny magnifying glass icon on the top of the page and figured out how to get the size of the letters  back to where they should be. That took a while! Sometimes, the page seems to have a mind of its own too, moving around until one cannot see any edges with important things like the up and down arrows, or the attachment icon on emails. Sometimes one can work it out, but mostly when something gets fixed, we Boomers do not even know how we fixed the problem! I realize some of these problems may sound ridiculous to some, but to others of us, they are real and real difficult to figure out.

Maybe someone reading this will know how to stop all those annoying emails we receive after we have expressed interest in something online.  Just because I look at a website does not mean I need to be bombarded with advertisements for the rest of my life with them trying to get me to buy whatever is loose in their warehouse. Email after email I delete, delete, delete. I am not going to purchase anything that is dumped before me multiple times in a day, taking up valuable space on my computer or phone. And oh, the hated pop-ups! I won’t buy it either if it pops up on my screen a hundred times a day; I’ve seen enough by then and have figured out a better way to get whatever it was I was looking for or to look at theirs and make my own. Some of us have gifts other than technology…we learned from our mothers and grandmothers how to make things last, and reuse them, or recycle them into seemingly new and useful objects to be used again and again. If one can do this, there is no need for all the fancy stuff they try to force one to buy with their fast-paced, annoying pop-ups and emails.

Now, the job sites. I attempt to fill out an online application and get questions that have nothing to do with me getting a job, like “Do you want to further your education?” My answer: “No, I’m 69 and do not want to go to school any more.” I did that in middle age. Guess what? My email is flooded with invitations to try out for this or that school and it takes a lot of time daily to erase all of these ads. If I said no, I meant no! The same goes for this one, “Are you interested in having more insurance?” NOPE! I have all I can afford, so please do not contact me again; they still do. UGH! They will probably never give up. I will have to quit everything technical to have some peace in life. Last, but not least, are those who say they will give free coupons for just about anything you need or want. Have you ever tried this one? Before they send any coupons, you have to answer questions wired to find out which companies they can send your name to, allowing them too to aggravate you to death as well! I guess all those poor advertisers for those poor companies have to do whatever it takes to get our money.

Even with all the trouble my technical devices cause for me, I probably won’t be getting rid of them any time soon. I like being able to watch my tiny bank account so that I don’t over do it. I like looking at pictures of wonderful places all over the world, I love reading positive stories about people helping each other and about people helping children and animals. There is so much to see and learn from computers. With all of my ineptness with the devices, I guess I will keep plugging along, learning as I go, and as much time as it consumes, it is probably worth it!

Feedback needed! burnsmybiscuit@gmail.com

You are in my prayers,

E.J.