April Fool’s Day

This post is real, not a fake to lengthen the April Fool’s tradition. I can laugh at life without faking the life, or the emotion. There is much humor to make and enjoy. Just not at the expense of others.

I know, the jokes of old make the joker appear clever, witty, attractive. But is that necessary, especially when others are made to feel the fool? Don’t we have enough foolishness to last a lifetime? Can’t we avoid all that and concentrate instead on the things that matter?

As I age, I think I see things more clearly. Just as I make that conclusion, however, I realize the complexity and mystery of most things. Life is not simple. Neither is it impossible.

Here are some things that seem impossible but surely there are solutions!

First, consumer electronics. Especially cable TV. Mine doesn’t work very well. The cable connection is faulty, but no one will come out and investigate it without charging me. It is their system not mine. And they continue to charge me for very little. $168/mo for a handful of channels and wi-fi. Why won’t they respond to a call for help? Why are elder citizens expected to crawl around on hands and knees to switch plug-ins, those little doo-hickeys with labels so small our eyes cannot see or read? And then, where is the helping hand to assist said senior citizen up from their knees? Don’t they understand we cannot get back up on our own? Really? They don’t get this?

Second, again a consumer electronics issue. I invested in a surround sound system many years ago. It is a dandy of a sound system for music, CDs and FM radio broadcasts. But the electronics to connect with the cable TV system changes enough to make the surround sound system useless. Oh, I know, with a Geek Squad membership at Best Buy, they will fix this for us, but for a $50 visit fee for one hour. Sounds cheap, but consider the elder expense base for medicines and healthcare in general. $50 is a lot of money. And the next time the system needs another quick fix, we don’t remember how to do what the Geek guy did. Plus, when he did it, he crawled around on his hands and knees, and made instant sense of countless cables and plug-in labels. We’ve covered this already. The unworking components remain that way as we avoid yet another $50 fee.

Third, early electronics of fancy cars were difficult to navigate. Remember the early GPS systems built into cars? Very costly, and very difficult to operate. What does a senior citizen do when it is time to use some of these options? Newer models are simpler; the engineers finally got the message. But stuck with an old car (a classic?), what does a person do to even change the clock setting for daylight savings time? Really, ask the granddaughter to do this again? Forget the GPS, use the cell phone instead when guidance is truly needed. The GPS screen, however, is fun to watch as it tells you where you are but not how to get anywhere else!

Well, that’s my April Fool’s for the day. I certainly do feel foolish being unable to navigate the very things I once did so very well. But change has made the welter of life so much more difficult. Perhaps Geek Squad should produce a corps of Geek Grandkids to seek out the elders in need of their services?

April 1, 2022

 

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