Never Too Old

Over the past few years, I have really enjoyed teaching ‘well seasoned’ citizens (I don’t like the term senior citizens), basic computer skills. I have taught classes at our local Council on Aging and also in home lessons on the person’s own computer. The following is a phone conversation that took place a few months ago…names have been changed!

Phone rings.

Me: Hello.

Caller: Hello, I’m looking for the lady that gives calculator lessons.

Me: Do you mean computer lessons?

Caller: Probably.

Me: If you're looking for computer lessons, this is Sunny, the lady you want to speak with.

Caller: My name is Bill, I got your name from the COA, they said that you are the calculator guru.

Me: (Laughing) I'm hardly a guru but I'd be happy to help you.

Bill: My son bought me this contraption because he knows I like to research stories and he said that I can do a lot of that with a calculator. I don’t know one thing about it. I could be hopeless you know.

Me: Nobody’s hopeless, would you mind if I asked you a few questions?

Bill: Fire away, you’re the expert.
Me: Have you ever used a computer before?

Bill: Nope, never had a reason to.

Me: Is it a laptop or a PC?

Bill: I hope you’re not going to use all kind of fancy names. What’s a PC?

Me: A PC is a personal computer and is made up of several parts, a laptop is all in one.

Bill: (After a long pause.) There are a couple of big boxes, does that help?

Me: The computer is still in the box?

Bill: Right in the middle of my living room.

Me: Do you know what make the computer is? It should say right on the box.

Bill: Hold on, I’ll go look.

Several minutes pass.

Bill: It says D-E-L-L, does that mean anything to you?

Me: Yes thank you, it’s a Dell computer.

Bill: My son told me I need to learn to Goggle (this is not a typo) and send Email.

Me: I can teach you how to do that.

Bill: (Laughs) It could be a lot harder than you think! You know what they say about old dogs!

Me: Do you have someone to set your computer up for you, or would you like me to put it together for you?

Bill: You do that too? You must be very smart.

Me: It's not as hard as you may think. Do you have an Internet Provider? Either cable or DSL?

Bill: Whoa!, there you go again with all those fancy words! Let me ask you a question, do you have children?

Me: I have a grown son.

Bill: Do you remember when he was a little boy learning something for the first time?

Me: Yes.

Bill: Well think of me as your second son!

Me: (Laughing) Okay, I’m sorry if I’m confusing you. Let me explain; in order to do research, or send email on the Internet, you have to be able to connect your computer to the Internet, the company that provides that service is called an Internet Provider. Around here, Comcast has high speed internet and Verizon has DSL.

Bill: This is a foreign language to me, I think my son should have saved his money!

Me: You'll do just fine but it’s a little difficult to go over all this on the phone, would you like me to stop by and see what you need to get up and running?

Bill: I think that’s a grand idea, this damn calculator is going to drive me cuckoo!

A couple of days later, I met with Bill, connected up his computer and scheduled him for some lessons. He was a wonderful student, a fast learner and within a few weeks he had learned to ‘Goggle’ on his calculator and send email to his grandchildren. He researched a ton of stuff that interested him and even sent me an email telling me that old dogs can learn new tricks. Bill is a real gentleman, determined, stubborn and quite a character.

Oh, did I mention that he was my oldest student at 94?