I've been out of the working world for over 20 years now and there are days when I'm fairly sure I couldn't ever go back. Not because I wouldn't be a hard worker, but because technology has made such huge strides since my time in the work force.
I've tried to keep up, but so many of the advances are way over my head. Dealing with the computer was easier when my boys lived at home. If I got into a problem, I'd sit in front of the frozen screen and yell "Help" until one of my sons came to fix whatever I'd done wrong. Most of these bail-outs began with them telling me, "Don't touch anything else until I can see what you've done!"
What can I say? I'm an IBM Selectric II girl, living in a world of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Most of the time I view technology like a caveman who gets his first glimpse of fire. It fascinates me and flat scares me to death. Yep, technology and I have a rocky relationship...I hate it and it hates me right back.
Recently, I blundered onto the social networking site known as Facebook. I didn't actually MEAN to sign up for it, but after clicking on a link sent to me by a friend, I found I had joined the eleventy billion or so other people who use this site to stay in touch with friends, both old and new. This habit of clicking first and asking questions later has gotten me in trouble with the internet before, so you'd think I'd know better. Yeah, you might think that, but you'd be wrong.
Actually, I thought Facebook would be a handy way to keep tabs on, I mean check up on, I mean STAY IN TOUCH WITH my two sons, both of whom are also on Facebook. The problem is, you can only view someone's profile and actions if they agree to be your "friend". Only ONE of my sons has approved me for friendship...the other STILL ignores my friendship requests. Somebody has some issues and I just hope he remembers this when they read my Will.
It doesn't matter, though. It turns out, I have plenty of friends of my OWN. Who knows why, but countless forty and fifty somethings have discovered the joys of Facebook and other social networking sites. These sites allow us to keep in touch with current friends, reconnect with old friends and even make new ones. Sort of like a mini-high school reunion, without the nagging worry of wrinkles, baldness or the extra baby weight you still haven't lost (especially when "the baby" is 25 years old!)
So many Baby Boomers are on-line, and "surfing" (a term that has NOTHING to do with water, believe it or not),the sites' younger users are starting to complain about the sites being taken over by the "older generation".
I say TOO BAD. We're on Facebook and we're on it to STAY! But, I'm going to have to find me some technological back up...these dogs don't do a THING when I yell for HELP!
