Upwardly Mobile

 

Photo by Katie Franklin on Unsplash

 

Upwardly Mobile

  I bought myself a Smartphone,

but I’m not smart.

I fumble with the touchscreen like a real old fart.

My stubby fingers tap, tap, tap,

as through the screens I go,

but what the heck’s an ‘app’? I don’t know!

GPS and wi-fi,

now I’ve got it all,

but when it rings, I’ve no idea how to take the call!

My old phone was my trusted friend,

a real old brick,

with solid worn out buttons- no need to slide or flick.

It had no fancy features,

no Bluetooth in my ear,

I simply shouted louder, though my wife could never hear.

But now I’ve got my ‘upgrade’,

I can face the modern age.

I’ll stare in silence at the screen, reviewing every page.

My Smartphone handles everything.

I’ll become a mobile geek.

With email, Facebook, Twitter, I’ll never have to speak!

In restaurants, pubs and living rooms

I’ll ignore all my friends,

take heed of every whistle, read all that my phone sends.

No, it’s not rude!

Now everyone enjoys their mobile phone,

but hang on…. where have they all gone? I’m in the pub alone!

Judith Boardman

 

Yesterday, I had a conversation with friends about the problems that can result if you get locked out of your mobile phone. This has never happened to me, thank goodness. My clever phone usually recognises my finger print and if not, I can remember my pin (though how much longer that will be the case I dread to think).

It hit me how totally dependant most of us have become on our phones and how necessary they now seem to be to function adequately in society. Yet, I suspect that for many older people this is a challenge. We make assumptions that, firstly, everyone has access to a smartphone, tablet or computer of some kind and secondly, that they know how to use them. I wrote the above poem several years ago when my father got a new mobile phone (although it wasn't a smartphone). I, and others, spent hours trying to explain to him how to use it, but to no avail - he never really got the hang of phone technology and usually had it switched off.  Frustration resulted!

Yet, looking, back that frustration was so misplaced as his technical skills and expertise in other areas were to be admired. This was a man who, during WW2, was a wireless operator, signaller and air-gunner with the 280 Squadron, part of Coastal Command. He was an amateur radio ham well into his 80s, sending and reading Morse code messages at high speed. He would chat every evening in his 'shack' to people all over the world. Similarly, until his arthritic fingers got the better of him, he could take down a Pitman shorthand note, in immaculate script, at more than 200 words a minute, and read novels in shorthand for fun!

Writing Prompt:

• Imagine that, from tomorrow, you no longer have access to a phone. Write about how your life would be different.
• If you own a mobile phone, make a list of all the things you use it for then choose just one (be it texting, camera, Whatsapp, Instagram etc) and write about the impact this has on your life.
• What other technical skills do you have, apart from using your phone? Describe them in your writing.
• Do you think the older generation is somewhat excluded by modern technology? Explore this question in your writing.
• Write about a time when you forgot something. It could be your PIN, where you left your keys, the title of a book you read. Describe what happened. How did it make you feel?  
• Watch this video and write about your response.