My Folks and Their Gadgets

Old people and the internet. Just thinking about it makes me want to roll my eyes. Every time my grandpa joins my family for dinner I find myself explaining some new technology to him. Kudos to him for being aware enough to ask, but trying to talk my grandpa through Twitter is not one of my favorite activities! So far we've gone over Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and simple email. There are really only so many times you can hear the word "twittering" without going crazy. However, I found an ironic situation about a week ago.

One summer I was doing some pretty intense job hunting at home. I spent hours everyday filling out online applications for jobs all around my home town. But whenever my parents would walk into my room and see my on my laptop, it looked to them like I was doing nothing. It took some time for me to explain to them that most companies prefer online applications now. They could not fully wrap their heads around this concept.

Then, just last week, my family was sitting at the table for Sunday dinner. We had all finished eating and were just sitting around talking. Lately my whole family has been obsessed with the game Song Pop. We're all competitive and we all love music so it's perfect for us. Inevitably the topic of Song Pop scores came up at which point my mom pulled out her iPad and my dad pulled out his smart phone. My sisters and I just looked at each other as I said, "Hey, no technology at the dinner table!" My mom's answer? "You're just jealous!"

Since when did our (or maybe just my) parents surpass us on being so up to date with their gadgets? My parents are still no where near tech savvy. I still have to show my mom how to get pictures off of her digital camera. But I think I've been underestimating my parents' abilities when it comes to technology. How have your parents transitioned in the past few years? Have they resisted the tides of change or embraced all that it has to offer?