Constant Vigilance And Sensitivity

Dealing with the insecurity of computer illiterate seniors requires constant vigilance and sensitivity. I was tested this week.

An older senior client that I’ve known for years called from another city to ask a question about an email attachment. She knows my feelings about opening attachments, but this one was something she had been expecting from a known source. The only problem was that the attachment wouldn’t open, and the letter said that if it wouldn’t open, she should “click here” to download the appropriate software. Clicking on a link in an email is a double no-no, so she called almost in a panic.

My first question to her was what is the full name of the attachment. She told me, and sure enough, it ended in “pdf.” The “click here” enticement was to send her to Adobe to download Adobe Reader. I told her it was okay. She didn’t seem mollified. “Are you sure I didn’t get one of them viruses?” she asked. “I’m sure.”

Then I suggested she simply click on the suggested link and then do what they told her to do. She didn’t want to do that, perhaps in part due to my admonishments about not clicking willy-nilly. She had generalized that to “don’t ever click a link anytime anywhere .” So I told her to open her browser, and I would walk her through the download and install process. She hesitated and said that she really didn’t need the attachment. At that point I should have realized that she was contradicting herself since a few minutes before she had been anxious to open the attachment that she had been waiting for, but I was too much on a mission to listen to her-to really listen. Installing Adobe Reader is certainly no big thing. It would take a few minutes max and then she would have it.

So she opened IE and I told her the URL for Adobe. She said she didn’t know how to enter it. Another warning sign that I overlooked! So I described in detail where the box is. She said she didn’t know how to do it. So I asked her to open Google and search on Adobe Reader. She did, and I asked her what were the first couple of entries in the response. Instead of answering, she said that her daughter was going to visit next week and her daughter could get the necessary download. That is when I finally woke up. “You really don’t want to do this, do you?” I asked at the risk of being obvious.

“No.”

“Well, there is no mistake you can make that will hurt your machine. Just do what I say.”

“I don’t want you to see how stupid I am.” This from a woman who had over forty years of teaching experience before she retired!

“Hey, if you’re not comfortable, that is the best thing to do. Wait for your daughter to come by and help.”

“Maybe I can learn something from her.” Yes, mothers are now learning at their daughters’ knees.

If the client had been local, I would have simply driven over and had her punch the right keys while I looked over her shoulder. She would have been comfortable with that. My mistake was to cast the problem as a simple technological one. That is not what it was to her. All issues with the computer were hopelessly complex to her, and she remembers by rote the keystrokes she needs to perform her routine tasks. Without the underlying image of the technology, she was unable to deviate from normal tasks without direct supervision. Therefore from her point of view the problem was sociological, not technological. She was saturated on technology already. By not listening to her carefully, I might have set her progress back.

She behaved like we all do when we are under stress. She retreated into behavioral patterns that have worked in the past. Instead of trying something new, she would let her daughter do the work and she would forever after be able to open pdf files without knowing or caring what they are and why they are different and require special software. This is not a tragedy. She will eventually get what she needs. That is what counts. I just wish that I had been more sensitive to her qualms. When she called me, she just wanted assurance that she had not infected her machine, but I didn’t hear that. Next time…

Click here to read about my new tutorial on helping seniors. The new version has grown considerably over the original. It has more topics and anecdotes, and fewer typos. While you’re at it, check out my expanded tutorial on decision theory.

[tags]pdf,senior computing,senior learn,technophobe,technophobia,dangers of click here[/tags]