My Dad Gets Schooled in Facebook

My dad is a Baby Boomer.  He is going to be 60 in a few short weeks.  I love him to death, but he is not- shall we say- very fast to embrace technology. 

He loves to take pictures.  For years, my siblings and I encouraged him to get a digital camera. We told him how much he would love to be able to see his pictures right away- instead of having to take all 24 pictures on his 35mm film and then wait for it to be developed. Nope- he was having none of that. Finally, my step-mom bought him one about two years ago, and as we told him, he LOVES it.  He laughs about it now, wonders why he waited so long to go digital. 

He does have a computer, but I suspect that was my step-mom’s doing too.  Every now and then he will tell me something like, “I got on the computer, and looked up that Google….wow- you can find a lot of stuff there.”  Usually at this point, I use our standard teasing line with him, “Welcome to <whatever year it happens to be>, Mr. Banks.”  We took that  from Father of the Bride, when Steven Martin’s character (George Banks)  is in shock over how much the wedding was costing and Franck, the wedding coordinator, laughs at him and says, “Welcome to the 90’s Mr. Banks.” (This line occurs right around the 3:40 mark)

Yes, my dad is the Mr. Banks of technology.  He knows it exists, but that’s where it ends.  Last night, while we were hanging out with family, visiting with our cousin (Peter) and his girlfriend (Megan), from out-of-town, my sister, Mara, decided to show my dad Facebook on her laptop.   It went like this:

Mara (opening her laptop): So Dad, this is Facebook.

Dad: Face-what?

Mara: Facebook

Megan: It is a social-networking site.

Dad ( already lost- has that deer in the headlights look)

Mara (pulling up her profile page): This is my-

Dad (cutting her off): Hey, that’s your picture.  That is a nice picture of you.

Mara: Thanks- so this is my page, and here I can check my news feed and see what my friends are doing. They write updates, and then I can see what they are up to.

Dad (looking disgusted): Why in the world would you want to post what you are doing?

Me: Because it is interesting.

Dad: Why don’t you just pick up the phone and call them?

Me: Because people are busy.

Mara: Yes, remember my friend,  Ellen, (name has been changed) from high school- well here she is.

Dad (putting on his glasses so he can see the tiny profile picture): Oh yes, I remember her. That is a nice picture of her.  What is she up to?

Mara: You just have to read her update- and it says she put her son to bed and she is going to watch a movie.

Dad: Why do you need to know that?

Mara: I don’t need to know it, but now I know what she is doing. 

Dad (looking confused): Is this like Big Brother?

Me: No- but it’s almost midnight- you would never pick up the phone and call someone this late, just to see what they are doing.  But when they post it on Facebook, now you know.  It helps you stay in touch with your friends.

Dad:  I call my friends- I don’t call them at midnight, but I don’t need to know they are watching a movie.

Mara: Look here, Caroline, (our other cousin who was not visiting us), made stroganoff for dinner.

Dad: Really? How do you know that?

Me: Because she posted it on her page. 

Mara: Yes, and Heather wrote her back and told her we missed her and hope she could come visit us soon.

Dad (reading this exchange): How did Heather get a computer to write her back?

Me: I sent it from my phone. 

Dad: WHAT?!  You can send this to your phone- so is this like a video game then?

Everyone in the room laughing: No, it is not a video game.

Dad: These these are your characters- in your world- you control them?

Mara (because everyone else was still laughing): Dad, these are real people.  Look- here is Maggie (another high school friend).  Remember her?

Dad: Yes, I remember her. That is a nice picture of her.  Where does she live?

Mara: About 10 minutes from here.  We became reacquainted again on Facebook.

Dad: When did you last see her?

Mara: Last week.

Dad: Does she have any kids?

Mara: Yes, and I can show you the pictures of her kids. 

Dad (looking at the pictures): Well, they are cute kids.

Me: See how nice it is- you don’t have to wait for your friend to send you a picture- you can just look at it.  A few weeks ago, when I was having a bad day, I posted on my update I was having a hard time, and a lot of friends wrote back, just saying hang in there.  It was nice.  I would have never had been able to call that many people.  But with a few sentences, you can update all your friends.

Dad (thinking): Well, pen and paper work just fine for me.  When I want to write a letter, I don’t need a computer or a phone- I just get my pen and paper.  I don’t need Spacebook.

All nine people in room, crumbling into laughter: Spacebook…

Mara and I: Welcome to the 09’s Mr Banks!

My dad is wonderful and is a good sport. If he ever decides to join Spacebook, I’ll let you know.  🙂