I see most of my clients in their own homes but I go to one Assisted-Living facility every month. They put me in their daily events calendar and I never know who or how many will show up.
This last week, I walked into the computer room and there were two residents waiting for me. I introduced myself and learned their names (we’re going to call them Jack and Barb for this blog). Jack had a last name I had never heard of.
As I started the computers up, I heard Jack talking to Barb about our current immigration issues. He told her that his parents had immigrated from Kurdistan.
I helped them to the computers. Jack told me he had never used one before. I showed him how to get to Google and asked what he would like to learn. He didn’t know where to start. Remembering the conversation I just overheard, I asked, “Would you like to learn the origin of your last name?” He nodded and the top hit was Wikipedia. There were black and white photos and maps. He was thrilled.
I then turned to Barb. She wanted to write a letter to the president. I set her up with a Word document and showed her how to indent her paragraphs. As I was helping her, I could hear Jack next to us talking under his breath, “Well, you don’t say….”
A few minutes later, I went back to Jack and showed him how to click on a link. While he was doing that, I peeked over at Barb, and, boy, she was giving the president a piece of her mind. Bless her heart.
It was a great hour. I love not only teaching my clients how to use the computer but also finding what they are interested in, which makes it so worthwhile. Jack learned about his past and the White House will be receiving a very interesting letter.
