Yup, I'm One Of "Those"

One of those old people who give old people a bad name.  

I'm one of those who hold my phone in my left hand while poking at the screen with my right index finger - no thumbs for me, not coordinated enough.

I'm one of those who doesn't really care for video calls.  (When The Husband and I were dating those 54+ years ago and spending all our time talking on the landline we used to fantasize about what it would be like if we could actually see the person we were talking to.  We thought it would be great! And now?  I'm not a fan.)  Some people call via Google Meet, some through FaceTime, some through Zoom and I haven't a clue what method the rest of you all use.  I just know all those apps behave differently and I can never figure out which one is being used so I'm helplessly poking at the screen wishing I could figure it out (while the "ringing" noise ceaselessly batters at my mind).

I'm one of those who no longer is able to multi-task very well.  (Witness the check I wrote for our tax lady that had the year wrong by three years - too busy trying to write the check and listen to the conversation around me.)  If someone -anyone- is talking to me while I'm trying to do something -anything- else I get easily overwhelmed-stressed and function not at all. I really can actually do pretty much everything I need to - especially on my phone - I just need a bit of time, a bit of quiet and a bit of space.

I'm one of those who accidentally called another on a video call and thought it a strange coincidence that the person I was just talking about was video calling me.  And while poking at the screen to figure out how to answer it (and stop the blasted "ringing" that causes such anxiety in me - it's like a crying baby that absolutely demands attention) managed to poke the speaker button so the person on the other end of the call could hear all my frustrated words.  Her face on the screen exhibited just enough disdain that I remain embarrassed all these hours later. 

I'm one of those who has trouble keeping their voice down when failing at the multi-tasking thing.  I am fully aware it is a byproduct of all the screaming-yelling-shouting I lived with on a daily basis in my growing up years.  I'm working hard to overcome it.  It's a very s-l-o-w process.  Sometimes I'm more successful at it than others.

So, yes, I'm one of "those" old people that cause so much frustration (slow with technology, slow to implement knowledge (the brain processes differently these days), slow to understand and quick to give in because I know how much I'm testing the patience of those around me).  I never thought I'd be one of "those" people.  I figured I'd just keep going a day at a time, always doing the same things and managing just fine until one day I'd no longer exist on the earth.  The problem is:  the world keeps changing around me. So the same old, same old is no longer effective or even useful. It's no wonder some of us old people feel irrelevant and unimportant.  We do our best to keep up.  But it's hard.  Please, be patient with us.💓