My recent trip to Boston revealed an ugly truth—I am tech challenged. Needless to say, my pride was wounded as I’ve always believed myself to be on the cutting edge of this rapidly changing field. But, No! As soon as one aspect is mastered, another innovation swoops in.
ELEVATOR TECH CHALLENGED
Believe it or not, the elevators were the worst. The plain old kind where you punch the UP button, enter, and then hit your floor number doesn’t exist anymore. The first hotel had a system where you selected the floor number on the outside of the elevator; it flashed the letter of one of the seven elevator banks to enter.
No buttons existed inside the car! Took me and my PhD brother several tries to figure this out.
My next lodging featured a round disk that you had to touch with your room card key before punching the floor number. Grrr.
Even worse, while standing in the elevator holding a drink, I put it in the crook of my arm while leaning over to fish the key card out of my purse. My beverage leaned with me, splashing onto the floor, making an ugly mess. (And, no it was not an alcoholic drink, I was stone-cold sober when this happened.) Thankfully, the historic opera house elevator was old-fashioned, with a woman inside to operate it! What a relief. My anxiety level dropped twenty notches.
TRANSPORTATION APP TECH CHALLENGED
Personally, I don’t see any way to get around Boston without an app. Their metro system has a neat one. You tell it where you want to go and it sends you to the appropriate spot to grab the right transportation mode (bus, subway, etc.), as well as when the next conveyance arrives, where to get off, and how to walk to your destination. (Still, my brother and I managed to get turned around a few times.) I mastered this fairly quickly but it sucked all the life out of my Galaxy battery so swiftly that I had to buy a battery pack to stay powered up while walking. 
Then, there’s the Uber app. My brother walked me to death the first two days, and I began to resort to Uber for the rest of the trip. He’s a good foot taller than me and walks so fast I spent most of the time trotting behind him.
Uber doesn’t run in the Texas countryside so this is only the second time I’ve used it. The last time was in March, and I’d forgotten most of the lessons my daughter gave me. Took a while to figure it out and make all necessary decisions and pay the tip, but, by the end of the trip, I was fairly competent.
COVID APP TECH CHALLENGED
Twice in Beantown, I was required to show proof of vaccination, a practice I am unfamiliar with.
(Texas makes being required to show proof a sin.) So, scared to carry my card for fear of losing it, I loaded its image on my phone with an app. And duh, I failed to recall how to use the damn thing when the time came. (I needed to allow the program to take a picture of my face to open the proof of inoculation.) Finally, I managed to prove I am a good girl with a booster and all. What a relief!
MISCELLANEOUS TECH CHALLENGED
Don’t get me started about downloading convention schedules and room locations. And tickets—show tickets, tour tickets, airline tickets, etc. to your phone and remember where you stored them!
My only solution is to become a road warrior to keep my skills current. Getting rusty is not an option anymore.
Puerta Vallarta, anyone?
Photo of Elevator by Russ Ward on Unsplash
Sign up on www.mariewatts.com to receive future Stories About Life delivered to your email address or read more stories by clicking here.
Recent Comments