The revelation is that people who are going to die have to take classes at the YBOTHR School. Your first lesson there is that there is no point in surviving the communications age: ‘Why bother?’ you ask yourself. This explains why mother did not like the Beatles and why Granny did not want to own a radio. Continued advances in technology continue to create this YBOTHR School as people give up. Mind you, I love this age of communications and will therefore live forever.
Mind you, playing golf on Wii with an eleven-year old grandson the other day was also a revelation. That little character was beating me! It was not my drives that did me in, they were straight and far. My approach shots were right on and I would reach the green, ready for my birdie. What did me in was that on a television set I could not read the speed of the greens. On one hole, I tapped my ball off the green, across the apron and into a sand trap. I have to get that little guy onto a real course where he could learn some respect for Grandpa.
But where you do appreciate their supercilious technological superiority is in dealing with today’s television equipment. A flat screen high-definition system with video recorder and high definition digital video discs requires electronic engineering expertise not readily available among us seniors. And a 12-year old is not always available to manage all the buttons for you. Some of us older folks seem to prefer to fall asleep in front of the TV rather than admit we could not get to what we really wanted to watch.
Thankfully, the telephone company changes the clock on our computers and keeps them set to the right time. The same is true for the cable company and the video box. At your age you hardly care if the clock radio is not all that accurate but it is the time on the microwave that can make a senior cry. It is only twice a year—with daylight saving—that the clock needs adjustment and occasionally the power goes off. The problem is not with the simple method of setting the time. It is with remembering the simple damn method of setting the time.
And as for the blankety-blank computerized car information system in late model automobiles, not even a 12-year old can fix that. The auto companies have it rigged to get you into their avaricious dealerships so that they can squeeze more money from you. For the last 3000 kilometres, since I last changed the oil, the stupid system tells me unctuously that I need to change the oil soon! Then I fixed that by putting on my snow tires and now it tells me my tires are flat before adding that I need an oil change. If I was philosophical about it, I would think of it like a stopped clock. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
So you can understand why so many seniors give up and go to the YBOTHR School. Life in the communications age is a challenge. It is also great fun!
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