Hard to learn the language

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

Most native-born American adults and recent adult immigrants to the U.S. share something. Both must depend on their children in ways they are not accustomed to.

For recent immigrants it's a reliance on their children - who tend to learn English and its nuances more quickly than their parents - to serve as their translators. That gives the children a certain degree of power over their parents.

For native-born adults it means depending on their children to deal with the increasingly complicated world of consumer electronics. That translates to asking for help in setting up and using computers, cell phones, televisions and so on. Consider, for example, a parent who wants to block their children from certain Internet sites or TV channels and programs. Software is available to do these things, but often it's the child who must set up the software. And what the child can do, the child can undo.

The solution is to learn the language, whether it's English or Tekish (or whatever computerized devices speak). But as most people who have tried to learn a new language or follow the "easy directions" in the manual discover, rocket science may be easier.

Instead, when it comes to electronic gizmos, we're left to ponder this major modern philosophical question: If they're supposed to make our lives easier, why do we spend so much time trying to make them work?