Parents Just Don't Understand: 11/11

Do your parents not understand technology? Do they ask you stupid questions? Do they send you absurd text messages? Do they use words like “MyFace,”“SpaceBook,“or “The World Wide Web?”

My mom once asked my friend, very earnestly, “Tim… what does an MP3 look like?”
Max L, University of Arizona

My grandmother called me and told me she was having problems with her cell phone battery. I drove 20 miles to get to her house. When I got there she had two AA batteries. She swore they were in the phone before she opened it.
Hunter S

My mom pointed to her Blackberry and asked “How do I write on somebody’s wallpaper with this thing?” Later she asked, “Why can’t I write on your dad’s face?”
Kevin Deskins, Columbus State Community College

My dad still orders things out of catalogs.
Kelli K, University of Wisconsin

My mom’s relationship status on Facebook is “It’s Complicated.” Ibrought this up to her because my parents are married. Her response:“Well, it is!”
P J

My dad “doesn’t do updates” because they make his laptop slow. Now the display stopped working and he has to use the old VGA display that came with the PC in his office. He has to switch cables behind his desk every time he wants to use a different computer. He doesn’t want to get his laptop fixed because “those IT-guys never fix anything.”
John P, Group T

My parents bought a wireless router, got home, pulled it out of the box, put it over the fireplace, went to their PCs, and started bitching that it didn’t work.
Kevin Miller

My mom has been calling me after sending me an e-mail to ask if I got it for the past ten years.
Mike Collymore, Algonquin College, Ottawa, Canada

My dad recently went back to college and had to pass a computing course in order to get his degree. After weeks of coaching, he still had no idea how to use anything in Microsoft Office. When he went in to take his test, the teacher asked the class to hit the power button on their computers. My dad took that to mean the switch on the powerstrip under his desk, hit the switch, and turned off the power going to the teacher’s computer. Instead of making them take the test again, the instructor gave the whole class an A.
Matt Moran, Delaware

My mom asked me if “the email” is on the internet.
Andrew Newman, USC

Submit yours here!