Column: Something About Nothing

Let your fingers do the walking. Remember that slogan from the Yellow Pages? That slogan crossed my mind one morning as I was with someone that is about 20 years older than I am. It is not a secret that I am approaching retirement age in a few more years.

The scenario was an Internet problem. My friend had to reach a real person at his Internet company. My older friend dialed the number. Then he had to choose the regular push one, push two, etc. He knew exactly what he was doing. He is a pretty smart cookie.

The problem arose when he needed to punch in his account number. There was no option for voice. His fingers could not do the walking fast enough for the automated machine and it kept kicking back error messages. He got frustrated. He handed the phone to me and I was able to complete the task.

We then had a conversation about the changes in technology and how hard it was for him to access information and take care of his accounts and personal business because of the confusion of the technology at the companies he had to contact.

I arrived back at my office and stated the obvious. “That is going to be me a few years from now.” I am a pretty good technical person. I have to be. I can only imagine where technology is going to be when I am in my ’80s. I feel that no matter how much I keep up with the technical aspect of life there are going to be many roadblocks when I am older that I am not going to be able to overcome because of technology. My body will be slower and my mind won’t move as fast. My fingers will not always be able to do the walking.

Recently I visited another friend and they also were having problems with the new televisions and computers. Again the frustration was trying to get help from a system that is confusing and a system that reroutes everyone to the other guy because it is not their problem. These people were feeling like a bouncing ball that never gets caught. All they wanted to do was watch their new television. It used to be simple.

In all of our technological advances there is one thing we haven’t accomplished. We haven’t been able to figure out how to keep communication simple for those who want to stay independent. The older generation is smart and independent. They are people who do not always want to bother their children or younger neighbors for help. Our older generation has always maneuvered the roads of life independently and with great skill.

I have to say that I cannot blame them for being confused or irritated at the turn of their ability to access the information they need. I have been known to slam down the phone in frustration when trying to impart or access information on the telephone and my fingers still can do the walking.

I have to wonder in all of the wisdom of the new technology why someone hasn’t thought of giving Senior Citizens this choice: Press 1 if you need to speak to a live representative. It would be so simple. Senior citizens would know right away what number to punch and a live person could take their information since it is hard for older people to be speedy punching account numbers into the phone. Of course the problem with this simple solution would be that everyone would be pressing number 1 to speak to a representative rather than navigate the maze of instructions that send us to more instructions ending with the possibility of never finding a live voice. If there is a live voice at the end of the maze of transfers we have already hung up in frustration.

We can’t stop the advance of technology. I wouldn’t want to. New technology is exciting and leading us to worlds that we can only imagine. It is inevitable that I am going to get older, slow down and not be able to keep up with all the advancements in communication. I wonder if my parents felt this way.

I do know that at 90 years old my mother was still able to pick up a telephone, phone her doctor’s office and talk to the receptionist right away. That receptionist got her to another live person that helped her through the maze.

I know that if my mother at 90 years old had trouble with her phone bill or her electric bill she could pick up the phone and talk directly to the office manger and figure out her bill. I know that at 90 years old my mother could call her bank and talk to someone that could give her the help she needed.

That is not the case anymore in most circumstances. Even small businesses have opted for the option answering system.

There is a saying and it is called KISS. It is an acronym that means everything should be kept as simple as possible. The words are actually “Keep It Simple Stupid.”

I implore all of the companies out there to give us Senior Citizens a break and KISS.

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday.

Send email to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net.