Today as I was waiting for my lunch at the counter in a diner, an elderly woman sat down next to me. After she placed her order, she watched intently as I sent a text message with my cell phone.

“Is that an iPod?” she asked. No, it’s my cell phone, I explained.

The conversation went on longer than I would have liked, with her playing the part of the self-righteous luddite, demanding to know why there’s so much unnecessary technology in the world, and me being respectful to my elders and trying not show my annoyance.

She owns a business, she bragged, and she still banks the old-fashioned way - by walking into the building. She doesn’t want a computer because of hackers. She doesn’t want cable television when her TV antenna works just fine. Yada yada yada.

I was polite. I didn’t tell her that evil hackers wouldn’t be interested in her computer; they would much rather hack into her bank’s servers. The only thing I did allow myself to say was that many municipalities do not allow installation of unsightly TV antennas. She muttered that wasn’t the case in HER neighborhood. That’s when I bade her good bye.

I consider myself to be a reluctant technophile. I don’t automatically lust for every new gadget on the market. Heck, I don’t have cable TV OR an iPod. But I do embrace technologies that obviously enhance my life. (I LOVE my cell phone!!!) What annoyed me about this woman was her outright rejection of individual differences, her ignorant belief that there is no need for new-fangled things like computers, and most of all, her lack of reciprocation in the manners department.

I mean, really, old people these days are SO rude.

Tags: ranty
Categories: toys
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