Teaching Old Dogs

Teaching Old Dogs

“You can observe a lot just by watching.”

Yogi Berra

Maybe you have had this experience. As a matter of fact, if you know anyone under thirty, you are certain to have had this experience.

Let me set the stage a bit. My daughter and I were at an estate sale; not her idea, but we were there. Spotting a silver bowl my wife would like, I took a picture of it with my phone. Then, having clicked the Photos app, intending to attach the photo to a text and send it to her, I heard a common refrain, “Dad! What are you doing?”

Now, if you are under thirty, you can stop reading, as you know what happens next. But if you’re north of that, read on, you’ll be glad you did.

My daughter took my phone and said, “Why are you doing it that way, you just…,” and zip zing, she took a new photo of the item and sent it to my wife in about two seconds flat.

I learned nothing from the experience, because it happened so fast that I couldn’t really tell what she had done, other than that it was way faster than what I’d been doing since I began texting photos. Why wasn’t I informed of this sooner?

In the Apple store, the instructors don’t touch your phone at all when they teach you something every third grader knows. So, when my kids roll their eyes and do some magic with my phone, I ask them to make like an Apple instructor. Show me again, with me holding the phone and doing the steps myself.

I’m sorry I don’t know how to do the trick on a Samsung phone, but if you find someone of a certain age, I’m sure they would be happy to show you. Then ask them to tell you, while you hold your phone and follow the steps yourself, if you want to be able to do it again without child supervision.

-Hank