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Advice & More May 2012

Teaching Grandma to Text

By Teresa Ambord

The problem had more to do with becoming constantly aware of her phone, the way young people are. Unlike those among us whose phones are like a second heart beat, Kate’s silent phone had lived its entire life, tucked somewhere in the dark bottom of her purse, existing mostly for emergencies.

 

Ready or not, technology is moving ahead at an unbelievable pace. It doesn’t seem that long ago that email was the latest greatest way to stay in touch. To the younger generations, email is hopelessly old-fashioned. Texting is what they do now, though by the time this goes to print they may be on to the next trend. What our kids and grandkids don’t understand is that just because they are up to the minute on the latest technology, we may not be. You’ve probably seen the commercials where friends are passing around text messages at warp speed, and no matter how fast the messages go through, the receivers say “that was so 12 seconds ago.” Ready or not, like it or not, that’s the word of messaging that we live in today.

A friend of mine named Kate owns a tea shop in my town. One day when an employee showed up late for work, she was about to pounce on him for not contacting her to say he was running late.

“But I did,” he protested with big sad eyes, “I texted you!” That was the moment Kate realized there was a yawning gap between her and her young employees.

“Honey, I don’t text! You’re going to have to call me,” Kate said.

She didn’t want to admit that she was not tech savvy, but the truth was out. She had no idea how to send or receive a text message. But that event showed her it was time to learn. If she could run a business, surely she could learn to text. Of that she was confident. The problem had more to do with becoming constantly aware of her phone, the way young people are. Unlike those among us whose phones are like a second heart beat, Kate’s silent phone had lived its entire life, tucked somewhere in the dark bottom of her purse, existing mostly for emergencies.

It took a little instruction and some practice, but she did learn to text. And the payoff was worth it. Soon her grandkids began to send little messages during the day. “Hi Grandma. I’m at basketball practice.” The thrill of being in the loop was enough to develop “phone awareness.” Soon she was keeping her phone on a counter near her and she found herself glancing at it frequently, looking for the occasional word from the family.

Too many of us of a certain age – being constantly plugged in is not appealing. Yet if there are people in our lives for whom we want to be reachable, it may be time to go kicking and screaming into the current decade. Let’s make it as easy on ourselves as we can. To start with, we need the right tools. For some reason, the smaller the phone, the cooler it is supposed to be.

Forget cool. Plus, let’s face it. Men have big hands, so even if they still have perfect eyesight, tiny keyboards are a challenge. There are cell phones available with oversized, lighted keys, large screens and large text. There are also phones with standard QWERTY keyboards like your computer has. If you are hearing challenged, there are phones with hearing aid compatibility, and there are phones that have 911 emergency location assistance… we could all use that. These are not hard to find and not expensive. Go to any major retailer and you’ll find a TracFone that is senior friendly for about $15.

TracFone is just one of the possibilities. They offer a Senior Value plan which they market as “the least expensive cell phones for seniors.” This is a no-contract plan, cancelable at any time. There is an activation fee which, for a year, is about $100 but there are other options available as well. And the monthly fee may be as low as about $7.

Check with your phone service provider to ask what phones and plans they have that suit your needs. Not only do you need a phone that meets your challenges, but there is a whole language developing that kids speak. Some of the shortcuts might seem annoying till you get the hang of it and realize they do save a lot of keystrokes. Just a couple of examples:

  • BRB -- be right back.
  • TY or 10X – thank you.
  • G2G – got to go.
  • GAC—get a clue.

There’s a mind boggling list available online at: http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations.asp

Or just go to a browser and type in “text abbreviations.” You may never be the prolific text speaker like your youngers are, but some of these shortcuts will become second nature.

Easy lessons are available online at http://www.teachparentstech.org/watch for many technology functions that other people take for granted. You can request videos that walk you through every little thing. But maybe the best way to learn to send and receive texts is to sit down with your grandkids and have them show you. You want to spend time with them anyway, right? Maybe you can even get them to shop for a phone with you. Just don’t let them talk you into a tiny credit card sized-phone that has all the bells and whistles unless that’s really what you want.

My advice to you is, CTO till then, BFN, CULA! Translation? Check this out, `til then, bye for now, see you later alligator!

 

Teresa Ambord is a former accountant and Enrolled Agent with the IRS. Now she writes full time from her home, mostly for business, and about family when the inspiration strikes.

Meet Teresa