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Technology and My Mom

By
Real Estate Agent with Christine E O'Shea Broker

First I want to preface this blog by saying that I love and respect my 77 year old mother.  She is totally self sufficient and independent, active, looks great and is in wonderful shape.  

Mom has great difficulty embracing technology.  She will not get a computer and use the internet, which surprises me as much as she likes to catalogue shop.  She uses a camera with film, she just got a DVD player because she could no longer rent VHS movies.    She hates voice mail and is upset with her bank because they no longer return her original cancelled checks to her.

 keyboard

My mother is in Baltimore, I am in New Jersey, so we communicate by cell phone within the same network constantly.   This took years on my part to get her to drop her old carrier and use the same one I have so we could talk to each other anytime,  Mom thought this was cool, just like me being right around the corner in person.  I was programmed into her cell phone #2.

 

 

 

This relationship and me being #2 on her phone lasted for almost two years until my contract ran out and I went under Maurice's family talk plan and changed my cell phone number. 

 Instant confusion on my mother's part:

 "Did you change carriers?"  " No" I replied, "same carrier".

 "Do I have to pay for minutes now that you changed your number?"   " No, Mom, same carrier, same free minutes."

 "Well how am I going to get your new number into my cell phone?"  "Just save it in there", I answered.

 "I don't know how to do that"  she said.phone

What ever she was doing, along the way we were communicating again, that is until the other day. 

I called her on her cell and she shouted from the other end "I can't hear on this phone anymore, it's not working".  I called her on the house phone and she told me my niece was playing a game on her cell and now she can't hear calls.

Something must have been adjusted and she tried but could not get the incoming volume up.  Mom decided she was going to go to the phone store and  get her phone fixed.

I need to mention, when she purchased her cell phone "the nice lady" in the store programmed it for her.  Every time there was an issue with the phone she went to see "the lady at the phone store".

Yesterday I got a call from "mom cell" telling me that she went to the phone store and the nice young man in the store told her everything was fine with her cell phone "except for the piece of tape with my new cell number on it covering up the hearing portion of her phone".  [my niece must have moved it there when playing games]

Mom was totally embarrassed and said to the young man and all the customers around "Oh no, don't tell my daughter, she will put me in one of those places."

While in the phone store she noticed a really "cute" little red phone and thought she would buy the phone on the condition "the nice young man" got a commission for selling the phone, since he was so helpful to her.

Today I called "mom cell" to see how everything was going.  She loves her little red phone and the all "the nice man" had to do was take something out of her old cell and put it in her new cell [SIM card] all of her old numbers were still there, and he re-programmed me in the new cell and I am still #2.

Who is #1?    That would be her "boy friend" Jack, who uses a pre-paid as you go cell phone.

Don't worry, I am not going to put Mom in "one of those places", she gets along just fine.   It is difficult to keep up on the leaps and bounds of changing technology and as mom says "I like things just fine the way they use to be, much simplier then".

Photos courtesy of Microsoft Clip Art

COPYRIGHT, Christine O'Shea 2008, all rights reserved.

 

Posted by

Christine O'Shea, Broker

239-290-8577

                                        

Naples Florida Sunset

Comments (12)

Lynn911.com ~ Dallas Real Estate Agent Top Team
Dallas Houses for Rent Dallas Apartment Rentals Lynn911.com - Dallas, TX

OH my my mother is older than yours all of her buddies ARE HUGE into emails, and etc. they cant stand anyone in there group much less family that does not have emails It is a great way for all them to stay in touch . She cant live without it. Now she is seeking a turbo charged. laptop, air card computer, telling us that is what she wants for Xmas ... LOL... I am sure she will get it.

Aug 22, 2008 07:09 AM
Carey Pott
January Financial - Foothill Ranch, CA

Lol! What a great story! Your mom sounds like quite a card...

Aug 22, 2008 07:14 AM
John Lerch
Master Home Inspections - Johnson City, TN

Great story! Like so many folks change is hard, just imagine all the changes she has seen before the cell phone showed up. Like My mom used to say "enough is enough already"

Aug 22, 2008 07:19 AM
Kristin Moran
Owner - RE/MAX Access - KristinMoran@Remax.net - San Antonio, TX
San Antonio,TX - Real Estate - 210-313-7397

Hilarious.  Sounds like my mother completely.  Everytime something goes wrong she calls me.  I am glad she does though because usually it is something simple I can fix vs. someone who would charge her a ton of $ to do something simple.

Aug 22, 2008 07:21 AM
Christine O'Shea
Christine E O'Shea Broker - Naples, FL

Lynn,  That's great, I hope your mom gets the lap top for Xmas.  My mom's friends are into the internet so she says if she needs anything she will ask them.

January Financial  Yes she is truly a "card"

John,   She remembers when she use to "watch the radio"

Kristin,  My mom has spent so much money getting things fixed I told her "No More" call me first.

 

 

Aug 22, 2008 07:31 AM
Ryan Field
RE/MAX Signature Properties - Fergus Falls, MN
Real Estate - Fergus Falls - MN 56537

Funny story. I picture my grandparents struggling with technology. I once saw my grandfather using a computer mouse with two hands. He must have thought it was easier to control that way.

Aug 22, 2008 07:34 AM
Joan Mirantz
Homequest Real Estate - Concord, NH
Realtor, GRI, CBR, SRES - Concord New Hampshire

Christine...that was hilarious! Sounds like she's more savy that you think...after all she got herself a "nice little guy" to fix the stuff for her!

Aug 22, 2008 07:37 AM
Gary Woltal
Keller Williams Realty - Flower Mound, TX
Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth

Christine, it is hard enough for us younger folks to stay up with technology so with your Mom I think she is doing fine.

Aug 22, 2008 07:43 AM
Richard Dolbeare
Inactive - Wailuku, HI
Living the Hawaii Lifestyle

Don't give up on a computer for your mom.  My mom turned 90 this year and loves her email.  I got her started about 5 years ago by putting an older computer in her home and setting up email for her.  She thought she was too old to learn but now she loves it.  I don't think I'm going to get her to make the stretch to internet browsing though.

Aug 22, 2008 07:55 AM
Nancy Larson
I am a licensed referral agent in NJ - Hutchinson Island, FL

Christine, that sounds like my hsuband. My mother died at age 82 and she had an answering machine, and was becoming a wiz on the computer, could even operate the mouse left handed on our right hand keypad.

Aug 22, 2008 12:51 PM
Christine O'Shea
Christine E O'Shea Broker - Naples, FL

Ryan, Joan, Gary, Richard and Nancy,

I think the cut-off for technology is around 5o-55, either it is embraced by folks at that time or not.  Some of us learn what we have to to get by and others totaly get into it. It is difficult to keep on top of everything, once we get something down it is time for something new.

Thanks for all your comments.signature

Aug 23, 2008 03:57 AM
Greg Fox
Realty World Wichita - Wichita, KS
Techy Broker in Wichita Kansas

Golly, I feel blessed.  My mother is about the same age, but surfs the internet for everything!!  My father (on the other hand), will only read what mom prints off.  He won't even look at the computer screen...

Aug 25, 2008 05:50 AM