sin the male

The Other came home from work today – as she often does – and told me how difficult it is to find a pc free at work when she needs one. After finally locating one, she discovered the reason it was free is that it did not work. Duly reporting the problem to several powerful people, she was finally given a telephone number and asked to contact the IT help desk.

The Other rang the help desk to report the non-working status of the pc, and the IT help desk call-taker very pleasantly and efficiently said the modern equivalent of no wucking flurries; - “we’ll be onto it first thing tomorrow morning… could you please just log that request in an email?”

It seems, not only from this incident but from casual observation in other contexts that the digital generations are unable to function without digital stuff – so much so that many even lack basic handwriting skills.

There are millions of clips on YouTube explaining the parts of a fountain pen, each using riveting dialogue such as “this thing on the end is called a ‘nib’”.  

There are even more riveting clips on YouTube explaining how to teach a child to hold a pencil.

If you were able to sit through the whole clip you might have noticed the kid look to someone out of shot towards the end, with a pleading expression of desperation on his face.

In fact it’s highly likely the poor little bugger was so traumatised by the lesson that he swore off handwriting forever.

No wonder the digital generations are unable to function without digital stuff.