I was talking to my cousin last night — she’s just celebrated her 85th birthday — and she tells me she picked up a second-hand computer from someone who had one to get rid of. A brave new adventure and I hope it doesn’t lead to unnecessary frustrations. I can’t leave a message on her answering machine because she hasn’t mastered how to use her message manager — one bit of frustrating technology for her.
I asked her if she could type and she said, “I can learn.” Spelling will be a problem for her, though. Unfortunately my cousin not only lacks basic education, but also has some type of perception issue. She may read a short poem or quote she likes, but when she decides to copy it for me, she garbles the word order and line breaks. So she’s likely to see a lot of red lines on her screen as she types.
However, writing isn’t her goal anyway; I’m sure she didn’t get a printer in the deal. Another senior told her you can play games on a computer, so she’s looking forward to that. I hope it works better for her than her attempts to operate the TV remote control. When I spent a week with her a few years back, I had to call her cable company frequently and ask them to reset her TV because she’d hit the wrong button on the remote and switched it to “Play DVD” mode — then didn’t know how to switch it back. (Being somewhat technologically challenged myself, plus we haven’t had a TV since 1974, I couldn’t figure out how to fix it without help, either.)
Still, I have to admire her willingness and courage to try something new and am keen to see how this technological ‘step forward’ works for her.
Going through old files I came across this bit of wit, my adaptation of one of Murphy’s Laws. Hope it gives you a smile.
Christine's Collection 
My mum’s about the same age and a couple of years ago my dad bought her a tablet. She loves it! She’s always telling me what she read “on the tablet” and even sends me emails 🙂 And she also sometimes gets all messed up with the TV and satellite box so she’s coming from the same place.
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I struggle with computer adjustments (and mis-adjustments) sometimes, and i’m able to read what’s on the screen. Having for the past 25 years seen my cousin struggle with any kind of printed instructions, I can’t imagine how this is going to work. It MAY, if she has help and sticks to learning one game.
I do wish she’d first get a handle on her phone’s message manager, though, so I could leave a message. She can never remember the PIN #.
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