At 52, the Anti-Tech is Going Tech

15 Sep At 52, the Anti-Tech is Going Tech

By Lauren Chesley

I am finally up and running. In fact, my new best friend is Bruce—the computer guy. I am actually surprised he hasn’t changed his phone number by now because I have literally called him day and night for the past week.

The Internet and my little nest don’t seem to like each other. Yes—I still have a desk top computer and for the past week I have been plagued with the dreaded message: “Internet connection is unavailable…check pop-up server”.  What?????

I am the Anti-Tech. However, I have come to realize that being 52 years old and not growing up in this “smart phone” world is no longer a valid excuse. We didn’t grow up with-it—but we are not going to be able to grow old without it.

I loved my Razr Phone. I loved my Blackberry. I loved my fax machine. I could make all of them work without the help of my children. In fact, I still love my electric typewriter with the roll-y ball. What happened to carbon paper and white–out?

My son warned me before he left for college. “Mom, you had seriously better figure this out because I won’t be here to fix your “stuff” when I am at college…you are on your own.”

But of course, I ignored his warning and sadly stayed true to my anti-tech self.

For several years I have had a Facebook page. It seemed like a good idea—but, I never opened it because I had no idea what the password was. Yes—it would have been nice to stay connected with high school friends or spy on my kids—but re-setting a password stopped me every time. Too many steps. Too many questions…who needs it?

It seemed like unchartered waters that I couldn’t navigate. Once I commented on an old boyfriend’s page—some might construe my comment as not so nice. Who knew that the whole world saw the comment? I didn’t even know until my daughter called from college and said “Mom—what are you thinking—you can’t write that!”  Ahhh…so that’s the difference between “messaging” and “commenting.”

So you see I was kind of dangerous with a mouse and a keypad. I always have preferred pen and paper. I am a note taker and a list keeper!!

But now that I am on my own—so to speak—and it’s just me and Bruce (who charges money to answer my idiotic questions), I have been forced to jump in head first.

It is a beginning—but I am now hooked up…logged in…LinkedIn…connected. In fact, I am Blogging, Facebooking, YouTubing and Tweeting, although I must admit… Twitter still makes me twitch.

But as I keep reminding myself…change is hard, but sitting still is harder. I have no choice but to face my fear and embrace it, and I am facing those fears one day at a time.

How about you, you joining me? What’s your “new something” that you will face head-on today?

Photo credit Scott McLoed on Flickr