Have you heard the one about what to do when you can’t work a computer, or something goes wrong with your computer? Simple, go out to the street and find an eight-year old, they’ll do it for you!
Like it or not knowing how to do simple things on a computer, and most importantly today knowing how to go “on-line” to use the internet is now a virtual must-do. So much information needed in everyday life is now mostly (and very quickly) available online. Government and business information is now far less available in print. Applying for just about anything is now being directed online, and (it’s not all bad news) vast amounts of news, information and entertainment is easily available online.
To some folk however the thought of having to learn how to use a computer for the first time is enough to cause a rash to break out and a nervous twitch to appear on the cheek, never mind the thought of having to fork out money to buy one of the dreaded objects.
As always, help is at hand at your local CAB office in Helensville. Planning is underway to start classes in how to use a computer, and how to access this internet beast. Like many challenges we perceive in life once we take that first step forward we finish up wondering what the fuss was about, and quickly become a positive show-off to our friends!
Children of course learn quickly because they don’t know what to be fearful of, adults however can develop inhibiting attitudes and irrational biases due to fear of the unknown, or the natural desire to stick to what they know and what has always served them well.
Nothing is as certain as change however, as those with a few decades of life experience know only too well. Just as King Canute couldn’t stop the tide, so we can’t stop the accelerating pace of change. The big lesson is not to allow yourself to be denied the ease and accessibility of often important information for fear of pressing a few simple keys. Never fear, the CAB is on your side. More good news is on the way.
