Communication Methods and Culture Shock

It is easy to hear a mom or dad say, "I just don't understand my kids speech. They're saying words that I haven't heard or understand." When researching this I find that a generation of people who have little access or little knowledge of computer media are left lacking in meaningful communication.

Our younger generation are geared at multi-tasking to communicate. It is nothing unusual to see someone using a computer, cellphone, and watching TV at the same time. A few years ago when our family were gathered at our son's house four people were all using computers. Cellphones were being answered, and the TV was on. I sat there and felt left out!

I wondered if all four computers being used were on the same subject or were they discussing me!

Now I don't want to sound paranoid but really, four computers being used by four people at the same time in that small room. One would have to wonder.

A college instructor told me that today's generation is geared toward multi-tasking. "You can't hardly get the younger generation to sit still unless they are doing several things at one time." That culture difference from my day can bring a sense of shock to my generation.

I teach a law and ethics college class and I see that multi-tasking image going on. They use words like 'flash drive," "thumb drive," or "USB Port." I had to learn these words and what they meant.

It's one thing for students to say words that a teacher has to learn but when it's our children it becomes another matter.

There was a time when one of the kids said, "Just click the mouse, mom." What mouse? I wanted to get upon a chair to avoid the mouse!

One day I was looking at the computer and seen myself on a computer screen on my computer screen. The children were taking a picture of me from their computer and sending it to me. I couldn't believe that I was looking at myself on the screen while using the computer. Talk about a shock!

I can't keep up on this tech thing. I was from a typewriter generation and there was NOT a mouse!

When we have family gatherings I am learning to listen more than talk. Maybe I'll learn some of the jargon they use and 'Google' the word. Maybe this search engine will know these words in today's modern language.

A Bus Port. What is this? I thought it was a place were people got on a bus. 'Use the port mom?" What port?

I finally learned what that meant. Someone gave me a flash drive and I thought it was a miniature microphone! I kid you not, I really thought that! It wasn't until I saw a student have this object in her hand and told me she would have to get her assignment off this 'flash' to turn in her lesson. I thought that the object she had in her hand looked like the 'miniature microphone' I had been given. I asked her why she hadn't gotten her assignment ready before class and she said the computer lab was locked. She preceded to tell me she couldn't get her flash drive into the computer until the lab was unlocked.

Now I was really shocked but listened to her tell me she would get the assignment before class was over. She did turn in the assignment. Now I had to learn how she did that. So I searched and found out that one could take their information with them on this little gadget. How nice is this?

I'm listening. I have to or I would be lost in the shuffle of jargon and babble unknown to me.

My faith has been a blessing to me during times when I want to verbally communicate with my kids. I revert back to the times when they were small and look where they are now. Ok, if they are laughing, texting, cellphoning, or whatever the multi-tasks are, that's ok. It's not me. It's the culture and technology of the time. I just need to catch up or accept the changes in language of the times.

Now there are some things a computer can't do and that is producing the humor of trying to teach an old fashion woman the tech language and watching the kids laugh. That physical verbal language has a 'language' all it's own. The eye contact, the 'belly' laugh, the nuances of physical features with real humor belongs to the human not a machine. It's ok to laugh at the differences when that humor brings a family close to each other.

I would have never thought a click object belonging to a computer monitor would ever be called a mouse. Well, I'll just get used to it. After all, writing this I'm using a mouse but certainly not the one that runs across the floor.

The best thing of all when we are all together is the food. No matter what language is being used, a computer, cell phone, iPod, flashdrive, or whatever else one is using, just can't cook the food. Someone needs to do this and since the machines haven't matched this in our family I'll use it to communicate.

Thinking about faith in raising the children, their better for it as they arrive at their own faith. Good humor can bring about laughter that replenished the tech worn mind into a sense of release from stress. A hearty appetite and good food can communicate in ways that leaves language barriers adrift. I'll take these three approaches and communicate with them. So far they have worked in their quirky sort of way.

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