I recently had the opportunity to train my Mother at a temp job because I will be making my first big career move tomorrow. Once upon a time my Mom was a legal secretary for many years. She had retired about 5 years ago due to some serious health conditions, and now she is ready to slowly make a comeback into the workforce. So, it was up to me to get her up to speed on the Internet, checking/sending email, using a new phone system, and logging client calls as a switchboard operator. Those of you who know me, might know that I have the patience of a mosquito at a fourth of July picnic.
After two days I am pleased to announce that I only made Mom cry twice. It isn’t that I yell, but apparently I “click” too fast. I tried to explain to her that there is a difference between “clicking twice” and “double clicking”, what exactly a task bar is, what it means to BCC, and ultimately got frustrated when I had to explain why I was pissed that she was sending “Mike”, “MARK’s” emails! When it came time to put her in the drivers seat at the big girl desk, it came to a huge meltdown.
She also kept uttering things like “you keep forgetting I don’t have a computer”, “I can’t”, or “you don’t understand”. If you knew this woman you would realize that she has kicked my ass into becoming one tough cookie. I do not take any shit from anyone, ever. Now she has become this helpless victim who is afraid of an inanimate mouse! I gave her the pep-talk that was Superbowl worthy as to why she is not allowed to say “I can’t”, but she is going to GET IT, if it is the last thing she does. No more whining.
A job that took me literally 20 minutes to learn, took her 2 full days and I am still nervous she might have a meltdown. I believe we take for granted the experience and knowledge that we have, and how we might “lose it” if we lose it. I honestly could teach my Labrador Chloe to cook me a 5 course dinner on the stove faster than I could teach my mom to navigate the information superhighway. That being said, Chloe is a really smart dog.
