My chat with the Sweet Young call center girl started with words I can't remember while she ran a program for me.
She said: I can’t go anywhere without my phone. My granddad said put your phone down and handed me a map and I said, what is this? He said this is a map, to find your way where you are going. I said I just ask my phone. He said, what would you do without your phone? What if you lose it? What if it dies.
I said to her, I am good with a map, I mapped our trip from Maine to Napa Valley CA, using an Atlas when we were driving a semi.
Her answer “what’s an Atlas?
I answer: It's A book with a map of a state on each page, you follow the one, to find how to get to the next highway.
She says, REALLY?? I've never heard of one. I had not seen a map until Grandpa handed me one.
I said, if I ask you for directions to McDonalds, could you tell me the streets?
she said, no, not without asking my phone. I said, do you know what street it is on, the one nearest to you? She answered I can drive to McDonalds without my phone, but, No, I would have to look it up on my phone to get the address.
Remembering the lost pizza delivery girl a few weeks ago, I said to her, if you were delivering pizza to my house, and you called and said you needed help, and I asked if you were going East or West on 17th could you tell me? She said absolutely not. I said do you know directions, North, south, east west? the answer was No… I said, if you called 911 and they said, which side of the road are you on? North or South bound, would you know? She said I would just tell them my GPS coordinates and they would come.
she laughed and said when grandpa said, find your mile marker, I said what's a mile marker?
She is helpless without her phone. Her generation can't use a phone book, or a map, or give someone directions.
It is not just that generation, both my sons are in their late 50's and so is the lifeguard at the Y. I once asked her where she got her hair cut and she said, next to McDonalds. I said which street. she said, it's not on the street with Walmart on it, it's on the other street that goes to the beach. I said Manatee Ave? she answered yes, I get Cortez and Manatee mixed up. She knew they both go to the beach but could not tell me where her hairdresser was. there is a McDonalds on both streets.
The basics of knowledge are gone from 2 generations.
I told the girl, I should start a class online, and call it What to do if your phone dies or is lost.
She said I would take the class. OY VEY! it has just occurred to me to wonder how the young soldiers find their way on the battlefield! Does the Sergeant say SEE that Hill? point to it and say take your jeep up that hill I am pointing at, when you see 3 more hills, turn left. No, your other left. Maybe they have GPS in the jeeps?
Does anyone know if they teach basic skills in school now? Alphabet? NSEW? Numbers? I wonder if the call center girl could walk in a library and find a book by its title?
All this is written and pondered by a person who used Walmart App to find Push Pins Saturday morning. Who buys those anymore? I did. hey were on aisle F 29, I almost gave up finding the F but did find it.
WHAT WILL THEY DO WHEN ALL OF US ARE DEAD AND GONE AND THE POWER GRIDS GO DOWN TAKING THE INTERNET OUT?
