Tomorrow is the anniversary of my grandmother’s death. It’s been seven years. I still miss her so much. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about her, wishing she were here to enjoy her many great-grandchildren. I found an old post that I did a few years ago about how I imagined my grandmother reacting to today’s technology. I was reading through it today, and it made me laugh. So I thought I’d post it as a re-run post.
With my finger? Really?
So today was Afton’s day with me. She and I headed out to the mall and hit all of her favorite stores. We were buying a couple of shirts at Nordstrom, and while the salesgirl was ringing me up, I swiped my credit card (you know, through the credit/debit machine) and the girl pushed this little hand-held device at me and asked me to sign with my finger. I was like, “What? Sign what with my finger?” and she said, “The screen. Just sign your name with your finger.” So I looked at what she was talking about, and it was this little tiny computer screen. Instead of signing a piece of paper or signing in the little credit/debit machine, now we are signing our name WITH OUR FINGER on some little hand-held device that looks like an iPhone. Crazy times we are in! The technology blows me away sometimes. Honestly, I felt silly signing my name with my finger. I felt like a five-year-old finger painting in Kindergarten class.
Anyway, for some reason my grandmother came to mind, right about the time I was signing my name with my finger, and I tried to image how my grandmother would react, if she were still alive, if she were asked to sign her name with her finger while paying for something at Nordstroms. I imagine the conversation going something like this:
salesgirl: (holding out the iPhone-like device for a signature) …and just sign your name right here, with your finger.
Then there would be silence as my gram’s 83-year-old mind tried to make sense of what the girl just asked her to do.
gram: I’m sorry…what was that you said?
salesgirl: Just sign your name right here on the screen, with your finger.
The salesgirl would then hold out the iPhone screen further towards my grandmother, prompting her to sign it.
The salesgirl would then hold out the iPhone screen further towards my grandmother, prompting her to sign it.
gram: With my — with my FINGER? Whaddaya mean, with my finger…I never heard of such a thing.
salesgirl: Yea, you just sign it…right here…using your finger.
Then there would be more silence as my gram tried to figure out if the salesgirl was trying to be funny or not.
gram: Oh come on…you aren’t serious. You’re joking with me.
salesgirl: No, it’s new. Really. You just sign it with your finger.
gram: Oh, who ever heard of such a thing….
salesgirl: Yea, it’s new.
My gram would stare at the salesgirl for another second or two.
My gram would stare at the salesgirl for another second or two.
gram: With my finger? On this little thing, right here?
salesgirl: Yes. Just sign right here, on the screen.
gram: Oh, I don’t believe it.
gram: Oh, I don’t believe it.
Then my gram would start to write her name on the tiny screen, using her finger and feeling slightly ridiculous…all the while expecting Alan Funt from Candid Camera to pop out from behind the counter and say, “Smile! You’re on Candid Camera!” (does anyone else remember that show from way back? or did I just age myself?)
gram: (as she’s signing her name) You mean right here, just like this? Am I doing it right?
salesgirl: Yes.
gram: Well, this is silly. You mean to tell me this works? I don’t believe it. Who ever heard of such a thing!
Anyway, it would’ve taken my gram about 10 minutes to sign that thing with her finger because she would have talked it to death first. I almost did, too, but I didn’t want to embarrass Afton. So I kept my comments and questions to myself. But I shot Afton a quick look as I was signing my name with my finger…and the look clearly said, “I can’t believe I’m signing my name with my finger.” Afton rolled her eyes at me. Of course.
Has anyone recently been asked to sign their name with their finger? Is this happening everywhere now, or only at Nordstroms?
I lost my grandfather a year ago. ((hugs))
I remember reading about that on your blog for the first time. It is still so funny.
You made me think of your dream comment. I can’t remember if I wrote back to you about it? If not, I have been meaning to for what seems like forever. That dream completely and totally melted my heart. My gosh. I so wished my dreams of Aviana were anything like that, but they are not. One day when I’m ready I will post about my dreams. They have tapered…thank goodness, but they were nothing of the sort.
I am wishing you nothing but love today. I so miss mine so very much as well. They are like nothing else on this earth, aren’t they? And when they leave this place for another – they take with them an undefinable amount of…everything.
That is a riot, and right on too. I know because I went through this with my mom while she was experiencing dementia, but still had much of her faculties. I went to show her a video of her playing soccer with her grandchildren, which she had just finished, through my camcorder view finder. Her comments were exactly as you imagined your Grandmother’s would be: Oh come on…stop it…I don’t believe you…It does not…and so on and so on. She refused to even look, convinced it was all a trick.