Pickles by Brian Crane for January 12, 2024

Opal has had another senior moment.

Hilarious because it’s true!

It is not the ‘this younger generation’ is so much smarter, they were weaned on electronicsl. Blame Sesame Street. Kids wee brought up from a very early ages on electronics. It comed natural to them.

Sort of like some old people I know have their Grandchildren open their “child-proof” medicine bottles for them!

ONCE, I was a TV repairman (who wasn’t) the lady at the drug store where I got coffee and the wife of my gym teacher for all my years in school. She said her TV didn’t work, I went and plugged it in. I charged her! It was a 12 mile trip. She was P’d

I find it interesting that both of them misinterpreted the quote. Notice the keyword “imagines”.

I did this thing with my GFs mother once back around 2000. Not young but a mature tech hobbyist, I changed the graphic on her PC so that, on the W98 soft shutdown, the message was changed from It Is Now Safe to Turn Off Your Computer to It Is Not Safe to Turn Off Your Computer. And restored it once it played its role.

Don’t worry about it, Opal. Remember, “skill” is not the same as “intelligence.” Neither is “knowledge” the same as “intelligence.”

Everyone from Ugg the caveman to the most recent baby is still running the version 1.0 firmware.

so true….

Doh!

So that’s why all the GoComics are solid black today!

And it was unplugged too.

Technology is a tool, not a crutch. Unfortunately, some people don’t understand this. I’ve always embraced Technology, but some people are scared of it, as a offended by it. You can’t replace real life experiences with tech. You miss the beautiful things in life of you try to.

Best Pickles Strip in YEARS. Thank you, Nelson!

“That’ll be $50 upfront!”

My mom was in the greatest generation, so I don’t go along with that!

When I began teaching digital arts courses, I was shocked to find that I knew far more about file protocols than any of my students.

and the kid just proved it!

: ( ….no Roscoe : (

As a boomer who helps people with computer problems, it amazes me how many of the people I help will say they know computers because they are “not some boomer” after going to a boomer for help.

What we call a PICNIC issue ~ Problem In Chair, Not In Computer.

That is TOTALLY my Mom..!!!!!

Ageist

I don’t think GoComics will allow me enough laughs to do this one justice.

She’s lucky to have Nelson. I have to pay my IT guy. I’ve had him on a monthly contract for years and it’s been worth every penny,

Had a SIX year old once fix my cellphone for me! Jaw gone!

I often refer to two of my grandkids (ages 18 and 15) as my tech support. I do well with technology, but those two are extra special.

If you want something electronic fixed, ask a 10-year old.

I watched a coworker try to run a projector at a going-away party for a jerk of a manager. I let him go for 4 or 5 minutes before taking the lense cap off for him.

I once got a call from the secretary at a small business client. She said she always leaves her computer on but it was off today. When she tried to turn it on, she heard the fan and then it shut off. I was working a software gig about a mile away, it was a nice day so I changed into my tennies and walked over.

I asked her to show me.

She pressed the button, heard the fan, and let go. I explained that you have to engage the button (hear the click) before letting go.

I forget if I charged them for this service or considered getting out on a nice day reward enough.

Back in Orwell’s time women did not count for much.. (kinda like today) so he was only referencing men.

LOL! LOL! Good one, Nelson! You just made Grampas day!

When I was in the Navy, the communications job I had required some technical knowledge and skill. As communications became more advanced, especially in use of computer systems, so did my knowledge and experience increase. About half-way into my career, I got bitten by the computer “bug” as it were when I had to research a way to restore some lost files on a floppy disk I was working with. I started to learn computer programming, even though that wasn’t a requirement for my job. Just a few years before retiring, I learned Pascal and C programming languages. When I retired from the Navy, I was hired as a clerk at our local Sheriffs Office. Some of my clerical skills such a mastery of Word Perfect and knowledge of MS-DOS and PC hardware know-how made me the go-to guy for computer issues in my department. While working there, I did get a AA in computer science using my VA educational benefits. I think that learning to keep pace with technological advances is driven by needs when it comes to occupations. Some people are satisfied with what they know and stay in their “comfort zone” while other avidly accept challenges to learn more and grow.

When I want info my son tells me to ask ChatGPT. Googling stuff is so yesterday.

So Nelson is competent with computers, smart phones, the tele, likely video game consoles; all are vital in today’s world…but is anyone teaching him to change a tyre, check the oil in a car, change a light fixture or burnt out electrics switch? Replace a bit of rotted board on a step? Change out a filtre in a furnace?

Young lad lives next door…brilliant, highly educated, on course to be a physician, methinks…but he literally had zero clue how to deal with a flat tyre on his Beemer this summer…

I grew up on a farm in a really rural area of northern BC, so self-sufficiency was the norm, and I learned a whole slew of practical skills. And while not everything is necessarily useful in 2023 in the Vancouver ‘burbs – pretty sure that being able to pregancy test a cow or shear a sheep is not going to help my neighbours or I – but I’m thinking that folks have missed something if they can’t change a tire.

I did suggest to the young lad that he use his modern skills to go to YouTube and look up ‘changing a tire’ :-)

Atta boy, Nelson……..

So much for THAT,opal……

Best response, see Jay Leno’s Jaywalking shows on YouTube. Kind of sad all the crap they made us study.

Funny, but the only problem with this old joke is that pretty much most people in their 70s and definitely 60s have been using computers for years. Social media, however, is another story.

I don’t think that Sessame Street is the culprit here.

A few years ago, before I retired, I was working at a US Army post as a contractor. We had an “incident” and a young FBI agent walked into the large teleconference room, where I was a technician, with a take charge attitude and a laptop. He put the laptop down, opened it and started to setup before he addressed the room. After a moment he stood up, looking perplexed. He scanned the room, saw me (the oldest person in the room), and walked over. Sheepishly, he asked for help connecting his laptop to the monitors.

A friend worked at a call center for a while. People frequently called about a problem with something not working. She learned to say, “Try pressing the red button and holding it for 10 seconds then release and see if that fixes it.”

If she had simply said, “Turn on the device,” they would have been angry, but when she included the 10 seconds and made it sound like something that they were doing extra, they were quite happy with her.

Tech support unavailable from 8p.m. until 7a.m. – he’s in bed asleep!

Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie, Kissed the girls and asked them why.

Every generation is convinced they are the “be-all and end-all”, and each one makes most of the same mistakes as the one that went before. Just with different fashions and toys.

My generation (boomer) invented the personal computer.

This is their grandson… the generation AFTER the next generation.

Does Earl have computer? Have we seen him use Opal’s? Has he ever used a typewriter, as Opal has done in many strips? He reads the newspaper and naps…

Youth of today are only as intelligent as all other generations. The difference is what knowledge they have been taught. Each generation before has learned the technology of their time and for the majority of us it was reading books to find knowledge. I was a young adult out of school when computers started coming on the market for home use. I got into them with doss and have kept up with technology since. But that did not cause me to lose all the knowledge that I learned from my parents or in school. Today the first thing a child learns is how to find information on the internet. They don’t have to learn and memorize information. They just look it up. How would they survive if an EMP wiped out all internet along with cooking appliances, heating systems, etc? They wouldn’t have the knowledge to find and implement alternative resources. Being dependent on technology for everything doesn’t make me this generation any smarter, intelligent though they may be. Not learning anything besides technology proves a lack of wisdom, both on the parent’s part as well as teachers and the younger generation. Intelligence is useless if you don’t know how to use it wisely.

Ok, now type a command.

Very stupid example of younger generations being “smarter”.

If anything, IQs have been dropping steadily since the 70s.

I cannot count how many times I’ve solved this problem for people

RTFM

While COUNTING FLOWERS ON THE WALL first introduced me to The Statler Brothers, this song was great for perspective:

Class of ’57

Song by The Statler Brothers

“Tommy’s selling used cars

Nancy’s fixing hair

Harvey runs a grocery store

And Margaret doesn’t care

Jerry drives a truck for Sears

And Charlotte’s on the make

And Paul sells life insurance

And part-time real estate

Helen is a hostess

Frank works at the mill

Janet teaches grade school

And probably always will

Bob works for the city

And Jack’s in lab research

And Peggy plays organ at the Presbyterian Church

And the class of ’57 had its dreams

We all thought we’d change the world with our great works and deeds

Or maybe we just thought the world would change to fit our needs

The class of ’57 had its dreams

Betty runs a trailer park

Jan sells Tupperware

Randy’s on an insane ward

And Mary’s on welfare

Charlie took a job with Ford

And Joe took Freddie’s wife

Charlotte took a millionaire

And Freddie took his life

John is big in cattle

Ray is deep in debt

Where Mavis finally wound up is anybody’s bet

Linda married Sonny

Brenda married me

And the class of all of us is just part of history

And the class of ’57 had its dreams

But living life, day to day, is never like it seems

Things get complicated when you get past eighteen

But the class of ’57 had its dreams

Oh, the class of ’57 had its dreams"

I remember the three wise men the king of Id summoned for solving a big problem. A bearded wise man, an astrologer with starry cloak, and a kid with big spectacles.

I am age 73. Graduated High School in 1968. I had a computer class in high school. Wrote programs in computer machine language in college. I like to think I am still fairly competent with my desktop computer. So, I have used computers all my life. I have only minimal skills with my smartphone, but I get along.