Thursday, October 06, 2005
Opening Salvo
My name is Wayne, and I am a fifty year old male lifelong techno geek. One of the problems with being an old fart like me is trying to keep up in a society where the younger generation thinks we have always had 200+ channels, CD's, DVD's, iPods, computers, and that everyone drives 15 miles or more over the limit, in tight packs that would make a Nascar driver nervous.
Another problem is being the father of several teenagers. When you have a child in your thirties, (ok, at least two of them were born while in my thirties) they see you as this ancient fossil who probably remembers the invention of fire, and therefore couldn't possibly understand their generation, or any of their electronic toys. Strange, however, that it's always me they come to when one of their high-tech toys doesn't work.
One day I was reminded of my age when one of my daughter's friends was over, and her CD player quit working. Right in front of me she asks my daughter, "Can your grandpa fix this for me?" Ouch.
Of course, I'm the one that actually understands all the buttons on the fifteen different remotes (when I can actually find them,) but do I get any credit for it? Noooooo! I get angry children bouncing the stupid things off the front of my big-screen TV when they can't get it to record another episode of 'The Simpsons' even though it comes on sixteen times a day, seven days a week.
I also have the privilege of driving my daughter over to the mall (I'm not allowed to come inside with her) and dropping her off at the farthest entrance from where her friends might be so they don't see her with me. Guess it goes back to the time my wife and I were walking around the mall, and saw her kissing her boyfriend on the monitor outside of the photo booth. Fifteen year old girls don't like being caught by their parents while kissing a boy. The child didn't speak to us for a month. The silence was golden!
Ok, more to come later. Got to go earn a buck to feed this crew.
My name is Wayne, and I am a fifty year old male lifelong techno geek. One of the problems with being an old fart like me is trying to keep up in a society where the younger generation thinks we have always had 200+ channels, CD's, DVD's, iPods, computers, and that everyone drives 15 miles or more over the limit, in tight packs that would make a Nascar driver nervous.
Another problem is being the father of several teenagers. When you have a child in your thirties, (ok, at least two of them were born while in my thirties) they see you as this ancient fossil who probably remembers the invention of fire, and therefore couldn't possibly understand their generation, or any of their electronic toys. Strange, however, that it's always me they come to when one of their high-tech toys doesn't work.
One day I was reminded of my age when one of my daughter's friends was over, and her CD player quit working. Right in front of me she asks my daughter, "Can your grandpa fix this for me?" Ouch.
Of course, I'm the one that actually understands all the buttons on the fifteen different remotes (when I can actually find them,) but do I get any credit for it? Noooooo! I get angry children bouncing the stupid things off the front of my big-screen TV when they can't get it to record another episode of 'The Simpsons' even though it comes on sixteen times a day, seven days a week.
I also have the privilege of driving my daughter over to the mall (I'm not allowed to come inside with her) and dropping her off at the farthest entrance from where her friends might be so they don't see her with me. Guess it goes back to the time my wife and I were walking around the mall, and saw her kissing her boyfriend on the monitor outside of the photo booth. Fifteen year old girls don't like being caught by their parents while kissing a boy. The child didn't speak to us for a month. The silence was golden!
Ok, more to come later. Got to go earn a buck to feed this crew.
