A nice middle-aged woman holds her cell phone in one hand, in the other something that resembles a small mp3-player. That’s what I can discern from where I’m standing, waiting for nearly an hour in the fancy new hospital with my father, who came for some simple medical examinations and needed entertainment. I’m sitting down in the now empty seat next to her, and overhear her conversation, in which she apparently receives directions on how to use the little gadget that is now carefully seated in her lap.
She repeats the directions, closely examines the tiny buttons and then just seems to push them all, one after the other. Headphones go up and down, head tilted in expectation, eyes squinting… no go. At this point I feel really badly for her, and for not saying anything, but I wait patiently to see if the person on the other side eventually succeeds without my having to rudely interrupt their conversation. I stop staring at her downcast head and chat with my bored dad.
After a little while I understand that the conversation is over and the problem is yet unsolved. “Um… excuse me,” I turn to her, “I might know how to help you with this thing you have there. We have something similar and I was just about to teach my dad here how to use it” (swear to god, that was the truth!).
Her relieved smile lights up her pleasant face, and she turns to me with her hands, holding the source of bewilderment, extended in despair. “That was my son on the phone,” she says apologetically, “he said I’ll probably be able to find someone young to help me out…”
(Photograph courtesy of Disney)
October 9, 2006 at 2:29 am
Yep, I’m in this club. Even my 9 year old has zoomed past me (at about 4) 🙂 Men seem to be so much better at keeping up with this stuff. Must be related to their disposition on asking directions.