Even if you can’t wear a belly shirt, you can still learn new technology!

Congratulations!  You are not afraid to read a blog.  I would guess you also may Twitter, Facebook and even know how to send a text message.  In short, you are not afraid to use your computer for more than email.  Chances are you even know how to upload photos onto iPhoto, Shutterfly or Snapfish.

Welcome to the year 2009!

Even though I am getting painfully close to my fortieth birthday, I do try to stay current with what “those crazy kids are into these days.”   I may be a bit square when it comes to body piercings and tattoos but I believe technology benefits everyone – even those of us too old to wear low-rise jeans and belly shirts.  I am a woman who loves learning how to use the latest and greatest tools available to the average computer user.

I was excited to jump on the Facebook bandwagon in March of 2008 (back then, the majority of the users were college students and Canadians – I am neither one).  Once I saw how great it was to be able to re-connect with old high school and college friends, I tried to sell my friends on the idea.  The typical response was (and often continues to be), 

“I just don’t have time for that.”  

” You must have so much more free time than I do.”  

Or  

” I could never figure out how to do that.”

At first, I tried to explain how easy it was and why Facebook can be fun.  I thought others should get to enjoy it as much as I do.  The feeling of wanting to share cool technology is very much like wanting your friends to try Pinkberry yogurt for the first time.  It is not going to benefit you but you want to share the experience.  You want your friends to enjoy the same things you enjoy.

Of course I know it is not my business what other people choose to do.  However, it is the closed-mindedness that irks me.  I am always shocked to encounter well-educated intelligent people unwilling to explore something new.

I am shocked when I experience OUR GENERATION acting like our grandparents. I imagine these reactions are similar to how my Grandfather must have reacted the first time my father brought home rock music on an 8-track tape. 

I recently attended a committee meeting with approximately 40 parents from my child’s school.  I must have been high from the fumes of the yummy hazelnut coffee because I foolishly attempted to introduce a new idea.  I stood up and suggested creating a Twitter account for the parents on the committee.  I thought it would be a great idea.  I had prepared to explain how easy it is to sign up.  It is FREE and one can receive a text message once in a while with pertinent information.

A simple Twitter account could replace the old fashioned “phone tree” our parents used in the 1970s and 1980s.

The instant negative response I received was unbelievable – and honestly quite upsetting.  I may not have heard actual “boo-ing” but the objecting chatter sounded eerily similar to a scene I witnessed recently on CSPAN.  It was the same reaction heard from a group of Republicans when Obama started discussing healthcare policy.  I felt like Nancy Pelosi attempting to introduce a gun-control bill in a town hall meeting in the heart of Texas.

Amidst the chorus of objections, I was able to clearly hear a few specific complaints.  The overall response was a mixture of, “I barely know how to use email” or  ”I don’t text” and my favorite “I don’t have the time.”

” I don’t text.”

What?????  These are parents of pre-teen children.  Can you believe they don’t text and have no interest of learning how?  You better believe each mom will be learning how to text very quickly.  It will happen just as soon as she realizes how easy it is to communicate with her 12-year-old daughter via texting.  It is much easier to text a teen than to try to talk on the phone when she is in the middle of a swarm of other teen girls.

” I don’t have the time.”

The majority of the women who tell me they don’t have the time to learn to text or “Tweet” are the very same group of women who frequently send me Facebook “Flair”, virtual Starbucks lattes, requests to join the group “Save the original Bloomies logo”, and challenge me daily to beat their high score on Bedazzled.

All these thoughts went through my mind and I was about to scream,

“This is not your father’s computer!”

Luckily, I have more self-control than my six year old.  I am able to contain my frustration – sometimes.  I calmly sat down and thought to myself, “If your children spoke out in class in this rude manner, you would be getting a call from the Dean telling you your child is sitting in his office for disrespecting his teacher.”

I took a big breath.  Exhaled.  Took another big breath and then, I let it go.

I sadly have to realize I cannot force my peers to remain open to change.  I cannot shake them and tell them they are positively absolutely unbelievably missing out on great and amazing technology!

I will accept things I cannot change (sorry, I know that is so corny and cliché, but that was too easy. I had to stick that in there).

And truthfully, there is a HUGE benefit to these women being unwilling to grow with technology.

If I want to vent about them in my blog, they will never know.  They don’t read my blog.

Those women only use their computers for email.

They don’t have the time to read my blog today because at this very moment there is a Bedazzled tournament on Facebook!