What's This Button For?

You have to picture this in your head…. I will give you a second… I was in the gym using the elliptical machine burning off a big lunch (Yes, I waited thirty minutes before my workout!!) when I noticed something wasn’t right. I saw a seventy something year old man riding an exercise bike flipping through the TV channels using a state of the art remote control (man’s term “The Clicker”). No big deal right??? Well, as he briefly stopped on the ESPN station I said to myself “All right, a sports guy!!” No sooner did I say that off he went flipping again like it was his first time using a remote. I wanted to scream out “Hey pops, you’re killing me, pick a channel!!!” I was waiting, waiting for it to happen, just waiting for him to hit a wrong button. Then all of a sudden…. Bam! He did it. He did me proud! Now we were looking at a solid black box that covered approximately sixty percent of the screen. I wasn’t concerned that I could not see the screen because he picked a political channel to watch. Witnessing his frustration I cut my workout short to offer my superb technical wisdom to an obvious amateur. I walked over to him and asked if I could help. He smiled and said “I did something wrong.” I said to him, “Ya think pops!!” No!! I did not say that!! I wanted to, but I felt bad for him. He handed me the remote and after a few seconds the black box was gone. He proceeded to thank me and after a nice conversation I realized I completed my good deed of the day. He was a sweet man. I finished my workout watching the program he selected and realized to myself this poor man is a victim of today’s technology. As he was trying to keep himself in shape, I was afraid he was going to have a coronary trying to operate the remote.

As I later reflected on my gym experience that day, I realized that, as technically inclined as I am, I too one day will be a victim of the present day technology. When that time comes I hope to be in the same shape that man is so I can whip the butt of the young whipper snapper who makes fun of me for not being able to operate a remote.