Noticias de Internet y móviles
It is a reality, as our parents get older they are transforming into our children without us realizing it, it seems crazy or a biological contradiction but in my case it is a reality as absolute as a house. Some call it the "60's Crisis", something like a kind of rebellious stage of older adults that is unleashed as they discover the modern world that they refused to get involved in or understand before.
With this COVID-19 and the pandemic that forces us to lock ourselves indoors, like the ancient cavemen in their caves waiting for the dangers of the night to disappear with the dawn, I thought it would be something interesting to teach my parents about Internet telecommunications, a necessary way for them to communicate with the world as the quarantine spreads. With a lot of patience I taught them to use Whatsapp, to open an account in a certain well-known social network (you know, the one with the "F") and of course to communicate with my sister who lives on the other side of the world and with the rest of family and friends who always ask for them.
I confess that I feel sorry to see the old people locked up like animals in a zoo, knowing that they used to be so active, that they enjoyed walks, an outing to the plaza to talk with friends, swimming at the beach, in short, doing the things that are expected of a person who worked very hard in life. But COVID is a silent and invisible killer, particularly relentless with the elderly, in fact some friends of theirs have fallen to the indolent virus, so perhaps through the magic of the information superhighway my parents will find some form of entertainment.
At first I only taught them the basics: they already know the famous social network and Whatsapp, open an account on the "G" mail, make teleconferences and search the web. I thought "this should be enough to keep them entertained". It was exciting to see them doing everything by themselves, initiating video calls, writing (they take forever to send a "Hello" but you have to understand them), talking to my sister for several hours, to neighbors and friends, in short, it seemed all geared towards getting the "kids" to be at ease communicating with the world.
After a while my sister called me asking about our parents, I answered her that they are fine but I was very surprised by her interrogation since I understood that she talked to them very often, to which she answered: "no sister, I haven't seen them online for 3 months, they only write me that they are fine, that's all". It seemed strange to me because I always see them online, whispering in the corners of the house with their smarts phones in front of them spending time connected with family and friends. I was overcome with curiosity so I decided to keep an eye on what they do on the web.
The impression came over me as I check their electronic devices. My mother not only had an Instagram account but also hundreds of selfies and 3,000 followers of all ages (?), that is, in a way she is a celebrity on social networks. On the other hand, the personal things she vented about me in her "Face" account was enough to spend the rest of my life in a psychologist's office, that lady has no filters when it comes to talking about me.
But my father is not far behind, I almost fainted when I saw that he has a very "hot" relationship with a lady in Ukraine who insists on asking him for racy pictures and money. And how did my dad get to this dating site, how did he meet this lady, and worst of all, why does he have this kind of conversations with her? I honestly didn't want to go through his photo archives.
I feel like I became my parents' mother in a second, they made me 60 years older the instant I looked at their lives on social media. I have few regrets in life but I think showing her the world behind the screen of the little rectangular box is definitely in my top 5 events that I will have a hard time forgetting for the rest of my life.