Boomer Barb's Technology

“Get the camera, we’ve gotta take a picture of this!” My husband screams. As I break into a sprint, I remember that the camera broke over three years ago. I remind him that we own a disposable, although I can’t quite remember where it is, and that our Brownie Instamatic might still be in fine form, save the dust. Quickly dismissing the disposable, but pondering the Brownie, he realizes that no respectable CVS would develop the film. By that time, the “Kodak moment” has long passed.

And what about those computers?! After we gave up the WANG, we bought a PC that takes up the entire dining room table. It's a nightly choice of eating in a civilized manner or checking the e-mail. And what about those cell phones? I finally exchanged the one that resembles an anvil in a suitcase, for the model that fits into that previously “what is that for?” pocket in my purse. I mastered dialing and answering the phone, and after several months, putting the ringer on vibrate.

Picture taking and texting continue to elude me, but my free with sign-up phone doesn’t have a camera, or that mini typewriter that has become all the rage.I won’t even get into the TVs. Come February, my husband and I will be staring at the black screen unless we do “something”, but that “something” is as perplexing as the financial crisis. The last time we bought a TV, I needed physical therapy and my husband a cortisone shot after jointly lifting it onto the shelf. While my 8 inch with the bunny ears doesn’t require a forklift to place it on the kitchen counter, its days are also numbered.

Just how did we find ourselves left in the dust of the technology revolution? Could it be that we selflessly spent our money on state-of-the-art mega pixel digital cameras before the kids left for college? Or what about those required laptops that give the darlings freedom to write papers (or check their Facebooks) while lounging in bed or before Frisbee games on the Quad? With their new cell phones, they mastered the art of texting in no time, as well as sending pictures of their weekend escapades to dozen of their cohorts. I can’t blame the TV situation on them, as they don’t own one. However, no suffering is involved since they can view favorite shows on their new laptops – all while lying in bed!!! GRRRRRRR So are we boomers so technologically behind (or broke?) that we can never catch-up?