It is not easy growing old. It’s certainly not for the faint-hearted. Not only must we contend with stiff joints, achy muscles and diminishing senses, we are constantly being put in our place by the youth.
Not so long ago grey hair was considered to be a crown of glory. Wrinkles signified wisdom. Respecting elders was taken for granted.
I was born too late for that era. I therefore have the dubious honour of maturing in a time when OLD is to be avoided at all costs. Grey must be washed away. Anti-aging, wrinkle cream applied daily. And that middle-aged spread must be kept at bay by gyming.
I find it fairly easy to ignore the pressure of modern society to dye my hair, get botox/lypo treatments, and hire a personal trainer. I am slowly growing my crown of grey, I am content with my body shape and I get enough exercise walking, gardening and cleaning.
What I do find frustrating is modern technology. Well, not the technology itself. I actually love the internet and apps and social networks and computers and gadgets, etc. My annoyance lies with younger people who assume I know nothing about the above mentioned items.
I once moaned that my phone was responding slowly. It was taken out of my hand and the young person next to me began poking buttons and closing apps in an attempt to speed things up. When I was trolling through current movie trailers in my browser, another whippersnapper nearly knocked me out of my seat in an attempt to show me a better way to search.
Since I was born before the advent of the PC, it is taken for granted that I know nothing whatsoever about computers. Or smartphones. Or tablets. And I am surrounded by young people who need NO help or advice, because they know everything. And if they don’t know something, they start typing on their Wi-Fi enabled devices, and they have the answer in minutes.
I suppose that is why I got such a charge the other day when my daughter asked me to help her. She purchased a “vintage” manual Royal typewriter (circa 1960). Being a journalism student and a design boffin, she was thrilled to sit down in front of this exciting “new” piece of equipment. She asked me how to make the curser go to the beginning of the next line. I showed her the carriage return lever. She pointed to the ‘shift’ key and asked what it was for. I suddenly realised that she had no idea how to operate this (simple) piece of equipment. (I mean, how could she?) I delightfully spent the next half-hour explaining all the parts of the machine to her, from the carriage and ribbon to the type guide and the type bars. I demonstrated how to feed a new sheet of paper into the platen and the magic of making words appear on the paper by striking the keys (firmly). And when the carriage neared the end of a line, a little “ting” sounded. “My typewriter has a bell!” she squealed with delight. I smiled.
For the first time in a long time, the old woman had valuable knowledge.
Jan 24, 2015 @ 23:31:20
Reblogged this on Silver Threading and commented:
This is a fabulous read! 💖
Jan 25, 2015 @ 00:20:41
All my comments are in The Hub, but I’m hoping that seeing a comment posted on this piece will inspire others to read this fabulous piece. Bravo!!!!
Jan 25, 2015 @ 04:49:43
Thank you! 😉
Jan 25, 2015 @ 01:08:38
I wasn’t crazy about the truly older, manual typewriters ’cause you really had to press hard on the keys, but man, did I love my electric! That doesn’t mean I want to revert, though. I love the speed and ease of my microsoft keyboard and the “magic” of Word processors 🙂 Fun article!
Jan 25, 2015 @ 05:31:24
Thanks! I wonder if typewriters will ever come back, like vinyls? Nah . . .
Jan 25, 2015 @ 02:44:34
Love this!!!!
Jan 25, 2015 @ 04:50:28
And I’m really not THAT old! 😉
Jan 25, 2015 @ 03:39:10
When I took typing in high school that is all we had was manual typewriters. The “new” electric typewriters were just coming out and we were fortunate enough to have 2 in our classroom. Those two “Selectrics” were there only for the students that had hand or finger injuries. I made sure I got a finger injury and that it was injured the rest of the year. (I know, I’m such a pig):D. When I started reading this it took me back to my high school years and I couldn’t help but smile through the entire post. I love the fact that your daughter loved the bell. I loved the bell too but that was the only thing I loved about it. Oh, the tales that I could tell. 😉
Jan 25, 2015 @ 04:51:54
Thanks, PJ! The world is a much different place from when we were growing up! 🙂
Jan 25, 2015 @ 05:29:07
Yes it is. I enjoyed the memory back to high school.
Jan 25, 2015 @ 03:44:19
Reblogged this on project easier and commented:
Love This!
Jan 25, 2015 @ 05:35:20
Thanks for reading! And thanks for the repost!!
Jan 25, 2015 @ 04:55:27
I can relate on the trials of aging in a youth-obsessed culture. I too am attempting to embrace my age with grace. We differ however on technology. I have to admit I am thankful for my daughter’s patience. None of this stuff comes with directions! Gotta laugh at myself at times.
Jan 25, 2015 @ 05:44:47
I think it’s my fiercely independent nature that keeps me motivated to stay tech-savvy. But the world is spinning faster than I can run and I can see thr day coming when it’ll leave me behind. Unless (because everything requires electricity) we run out of power. Then the world will come to the elderly to learn to live manually. Hey, I think there’s a story in there!
Thanks for taking time to read and comment!! 🙂
Jan 25, 2015 @ 06:15:41
What a delightful tale!!!
Jan 25, 2015 @ 14:10:25
Thank you. I am so glad you enjoyed it. And thank you for leaving a leaving a comment.
Jan 25, 2015 @ 07:11:58
I taught myself to type on one of those 🙂 Great writing!
Jan 25, 2015 @ 07:13:54
Thank you for reading! I’d forgotten how noisy they were!
Jan 25, 2015 @ 07:17:47
Brilliantly written!!!
Jan 25, 2015 @ 08:11:31
Thanks, dear friend!
Jan 25, 2015 @ 07:18:38
I love this! I read this from a reblogged post on silverthreading, and have to admit that she (Colleen), is way more tech savvy than me. She is close to 30 years my senior, and proves daily that age is just a number. 🙂
Jan 25, 2015 @ 14:16:25
🙂 Thanks for that! You have a very kind and humble heart. Age is just a number. Too often society (in general) looks at the outward person and judges. Cool people like you look at the inner person.
Jan 26, 2015 @ 03:21:26
Aww! You just made my day. 🙂
Jan 25, 2015 @ 08:50:10
Loved it – the end made me smile 🙂
Jan 25, 2015 @ 14:17:13
Thanks for reading! DING! 🙂
Jan 25, 2015 @ 09:58:19
I like to press this like button again and again:-)
Jan 25, 2015 @ 14:17:42
You are so sweet!! Thank you!
Jan 25, 2015 @ 12:46:35
What a delightful post! I learned to type on a 1920’s typewriter that my father had learned to type on. I think I’ve typed on just about everything that has been introduced since then.
Jan 25, 2015 @ 14:27:03
Isn’t that cool! My grandfather had a very old cast iron Underwood that he used to type his personal correspondence. When we would stay with my grandparents for a few weeks during summer vacations, he would let us play “office” and bang away on his Underwood. As a graduation gift I got a used Smith Corona electric typewriter, but it never really gave me the joy that that old Underwood did. (Of course, that is probably because I had to type out all of my “it’s-due-tomorrow” undergraduate papers on it.)
Thanks for reading!!!!! ❤
Jan 25, 2015 @ 13:18:33
Great post. I am not that old but obviously old enough… I also learned to write on those typewriters in the 80s.
Jan 25, 2015 @ 14:34:01
Seriously, you don’t even have to be 45 to have spent your early days on a typewriter! Technology is moving so fast, my computer science daughter tells me that typing will be oh-so-passé in twenty years. By 2035 (apparently) we will just speak and our devices will record the written words for us.
Thanks for reading! 🙂
Jan 25, 2015 @ 15:06:30
That’s right! My middle child goes to Gymnasium (the highest possible level after elementary school) and they don’t even teach typing anymore on a regular base. The kids could choose it as an additional class – but my son rather subscribed for a cooking class…
Jan 25, 2015 @ 16:07:57
My 18 year old daughter also “discovered” the typewriter. And “old” 35 mm cameras. And has one of the “new” polaroid “film” cameras. So funny.
Jan 25, 2015 @ 19:38:14
Everything old is new again! 🙂
Thanks for your visit!