Smart Aleck
Your great grandfather told about a woman,
Who, when he was a child,
Thought that after her house had been converted to electricity,
Every outlet had to have a plug in it or the electricity
Would run out into the room.
Grampa the lady just didn’t understand the technology,
And maybe no one explained it to her.
That’s right. She wasn’t deficient, just ignorant of the technology
And so she seemed to young people like your Great Grandfather,
Old fashioned or behind the times and a subject of some ridicule.
You mean that she might have been held up as an example of
The old way not understanding the new way.
Yes. I do mean that, but I also mean that young people,
In order to embrace a new technology,
Need to feel superior to those whose grasp on modernity is weak.
As a result sometimes the technologically challenged are left in the dark
Almost as if on purpose.
Grampa why are you telling me this?
Because when I ask you for help with the computer, iPad or iPhone
You solve the problem but you don’t have the patience to teach me anything,
So I’m hardly any better off.
Grampa, I’m not a teacher and I don’t know what you want.
I do know that there are classes and tutorials available and if you’re interested,
You could obtain all the assistance you need.
So, like you like to say, “The keys to this prison are in your hand.”
Fair enough Peter. Would you go a little slower with me when I ask?
Sure, Grampa. We wouldn’t want that electricity to run out of your ears.
Grampa Grant is Richard Hille a long time Laguna Beach resident with three grandchildren.
