Angry Birds, Pylons and Pigs. . .

"The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball."
Doug Larson 

Grandsons, Madness and Mayhem
In their crocheted caps
by Crochet Rochelle

Last year, before Christmas, I was trying to come up with a significant gift for my father. Those of you with senior parents will understand how difficult it is to purchase a gift for someone who has accumulated things over a lifetime of 75-plus years. My father has an obsolete computer which does not have the capacity to keep up with current technology so I asked my mother if he might like a computer tablet. 

She thought Dad would enjoy a tablet. She explained that he could get his email and use the device for reading. My father worked at a computer before he retired and has a rudimentary understanding of how they operate. My mother, however, is computer illiterate. Even so, knowing that “Myth Busters” had debunked the idea that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,”and with minimum trepidation, I bought the tablet.

Ever the optimist, I set up an email account and downloaded Facebook and Words With Friends. My Dad seemed to be pleased with the gift and paid close attention while I gave him a brief tutorial on operating the tablet and accessing his applications. He quickly disabused me of the notion that he would play any games with a brusque “I don’t play games!” He also informed me that he wouldn’t remember any of the instructions I had painstakingly taken him through! It was at this point that I realized the challenge I had inadvertently embraced.

I monitored Dad’s tablet from my own and it wasn’t long before I realized someone was playing his Words with Friends application. Then, I noticed he was commenting occasionally on Facebook! I was excited, thinking that he was getting the hang of the new technology! This illusion was quickly cleared away when I received a call from my mom stating that Dad’s Facebook page had disappeared. 

She also wanted me to add her name to the Facebook page! It turns out that she was playing Words With Friends and she wanted to comment on Facebook but didn’t want folks to think it was only Dad commenting? I should have guessed. Although my dad loves to tell a story and visit with people, he hasn’t been one to offer random comments on others' thoughts or feelings.

The next time I went to see my parents, my mom had several questions for me and wanted me to download some different games for her. Mom is in her 80’s and likes to play the age card when she wants you to cut her some slack but she is as sharp as a tack when she wants to be so I downloaded  Angry Birds and Where’s My Water. With just a brief introduction she started playing the Angry Birds game.

The next time I visited, Mom needed help because she couldn’t get the Angry Birds game to work. She said, “I knocked down all the pylons but didn’t get any stars and I can’t move on to the next game!” I sat down and looked at the game with her. I immediately noticed the green piggies were still alive and mocking us. “Look” I said, “You don’t get stars until you kill all the pigs!” 

Disgusted, she said, “Well I didn’t know I was aiming to kill pigs, I thought I was just knocking stuff down!”  So, now she knows and I, alas, have unwittingly become the world’s most underpaid IT consultant! So if any of you out in Facebook-land get comments from my parents, I’ll leave you to guess which one left them.

I think I am slowly getting them to use the tablet without fear of starting some dreadful, world altering domino effect out in cyberspace and I do think they are having a little bit of fun with the tablet. I love that they are courageous enough to learn something new!

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young."
Henry Ford

Image found at:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Angry-Birds-for-Windows-Phone-Now-Free-to-Download-for-a-Limited-Time-350257.shtml