While the idea of being a true online citizen of the 21st century — so plugged into the modern world that I’m constantly online or receiving information from one source or another, switching between devices to maximize my experience effortlessly — is an attractive one and something that I like to pretend that I live up to, the reality of the situation is quite different for a simple reason: I don’t understand technology. I’m useless when my Kindle decides to cough up a virtual lung and offer the Kindle version of the blue screen of death, and I’m equally helpless when my iPhone decides that holding a charge is for losers.
When those things happen, I go online and Google things, hoping to find the answers. It’s something that makes me feel old, to be honest; in the back of my head, there’s this odd belief that younger people would just instinctively know what to do in these situations, and that by resorting to Google, I’m writing some pre-emptive death warrant for any pretense of being “with it.” Of course, just by writing “with it,” even with some sense of irony, I’m likely doing far more damage to myself. Growing old is no fun, although it beats the alternatives.