On Being Outdated

The other day, I saw that the window of a friend’s car had not been raised. She had just parked, and was using the remote to lock the car. Helpfully, I told her that the window was open. She grinned and said, “I know”, and proceeded to use her remote to raise the window. I gaped and shook my head. Technology moves too fast for me.

Yet, that’s just one of many incidents that make me realise how easy it is to become outdated. I find myself sympathising so often with my grandmother, who asked me long ago in utter confusion what a Facebook was.

Last week, I went to withdraw money from an ATM at a kiosk attached to a bank. It was a slightly fancy place with two machines, and I confidently went up to one and swiped my card. I was told that my transaction was not allowed. I tried again. It still didn’t work. Shrugging at how inefficient banking can be with machines instead of people, I went to the next ATM. I swiped my card as someone else walked in to use the machine I’d been trying. Curious to know whether he could operate it, I watched him out of the corner of my eye. Soon, I sensed his frustration and was just beginning to feel triumphant that it was not a typical ‘Varsha and technology’ problem, when the watchman walked in.

“Kya likha hai is par?” he asked the gentleman at the other machine. The watchman was bored and irritated, and his whole attitude was one that seemed accustomed to deal with people too ignorant to cope with technology.

I peeped warily and realised that I’d just assumed it was an ATM because it looked like one. It was a cash deposit machine, for deposits only, not withdrawals. Feeling a little guilty, I was more than a little glad I hadn’t been on the receiving end of irritation for my inability to keep up with the times!