I used to be afraid of computers. Very afraid. For my high school graduation, I got a typewriter that could store whole documents and print them out later. I was content with that. I did not need anything more than that.
However, when I was entering college, it was 1989 and the Information Age was being born. Computers were becoming more and more important in college life. I had to take a computer class and learn how to use Word Perfect which was heavy on the F-keys. For a techno-phobe like me, I was in a shaky state of panic. I was a good typist. I could type 65 wpm. But throw in things like F3 for print and F5 for align or whatever and I was lost in a haze of confusion. I barely made it out of that class alive.
I vaguely recall something buzzing around campus called “Eeee Mail”. But I did not have a clue. Why would I send my friends a note on the computer when I could call them on the phone or pop over to their room. I had no use for it. The only thing I liked, or found interesting, was that the college created our account name using the first 3 letters of our last name and then the first 3 letters of our first name. So my gang of friends began to call each other by our new acronyms; carbra, carmar, burjen, sanpet, tonder, petton, aleste, popsus.
A few years later, I met a man I would eventually marry. And he was a nerd, a geek, an egghead. He lived and breathed computers. He had since he was in 6th grade. The good thing was that he was a good teacher and showed me how to use his computer and the wonderful things it could do that far surpassed the abilities of my typewriter and I was hooked.
Since he loved to be on the cutting edge, he began to show me things on what he called the “internet”. I had no time for that. It was confusing and I could not figure it out. But he also showed me email. This was a good thing because more and more professors were beginning to use email as part of their class communication.
Since I had transferred schools and was now 150 miles away from my friends at the private college, email become more useful and a faster way to communicate than snail mail! I was catching on.
A few years later, a college graduate and living in St. Louis with my husband, email became my life line. The internet became more user friendly. And I was becoming a full-fledged computer junkie.
I am a late bloomer but I catch on eventually.
It was the same with cell phones. For the longest time, I could not fathom why anyone would want to be available by phone anytime, any place. But when I divorced and was going back to school and had children who were in school or at daycare, the cell phone became the only means for me to be reached in the case of an emergency. And now, it is my only phone. I can’t live without it.
I used to say that I would never give one of my children a cell phone. I should bite my tongue.
I have a daughter who is now in middle school and has activities with school and church. She is also home by herself in the afternoon. Since I decided not to have a home phone, the cell phone for the kids became a necessity. However, I realized there were good things about it. She can take it with her if she goes to a friend’s house or she and her brother’s go to the park to play and I can still get a hold of her or she can get a hold of me.
“But I see no point in texting people. That’s just crazy. Why would you type a note when you could just call them.”
Famous last words again. I’m a texter. I admit it. And I love it. Sometimes, you don’t need to have a long phone conversation with someone. With my daughter, just a quick hello and “Do you have homework?” is all we need.
I may start out reluctant with technology but I eventually cave. It’s just my way.
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