Baby boomers and cell phones: Can you hear us now?

“Baby boomers”—that term used to sound so much younger.

Many of us are grandparents now, and we may find ourselves telling stories similar to those that were told to us.

Ok, maybe few (or none) of us ever really walked 10 miles through the snow to school, albeit barefoot, but most of us really did only have ONE telephone for the entire family. The phone had to be attached to the wall, so it was definitely not mobile, but if we were lucky, it had a long-ish curly cord, so we could stretch it to try and get out of earshot of the rest of the family—after we untangled it.

So, cellphones, as well as the rest of the techy stuff we live with, have been an adjustment—a big one.

I’m proud of us, truly—the way we have adapted. I don’t think most of us could even fathom living without our cellphones…not only for phone calls, but for texting, and FaceTime! Our phones are a main source of knowledge. We stop in the middle of work, conversations, card games, meals to google stuff that we can’t live another minute without knowing.

Waiting at the airport a few days ago to board our flight, I looked around and at our gate there was not one person who wasn’t engaged with their phone in some way…except for one guy who was sleeping (and snoring.) Even little kids were playing games on phones. And we, the boomers were right in there with them.

Sometimes I miss real conversation. But often, I, as well as most everyone I know, find texting much more efficient, and much less intrusive, especially when I am binge-watching something on Amazon or Netflix. Do I think that’s flawed behavior? Not really—I think it’s great that most of us are so busy. I can’t blame anyone else for being joined at the hip with a cell phone, because most of the time I am the same way.

I have to admit that it can be irritating when my kids, who I know are checking their phones every nano-second, don’t pick up when I call. I wonder what device their kids will ignore them on someday? They do share their children with me often, through “FaceTime,” and I am so grateful. When our first grandchild was a baby (we have our fifth one due in May!), we FaceTimed constantly and the first time he made the journey to visit us, I walked out of the house and his face crinkled up in that “OMG, a stranger, I’m going to start screaming any minute look,” but as soon as he heard my voice, he smiled and laughed and it was as if we had always been together.

Group texting has been an interesting phenomenon for my friends. Some of us are better at it than others. Occasionally one of us happens to send a group text that is meant for just one person in the group. Usually we just laugh, but once it was, let’s say, a “very uncomfortable” situation.

And then there are those times when we press that little “send” arrow too quickly and our “smart” phone makes us look not so much so.

We know the lingo, we use the emojis and GIFs, we have drawers full of chargers for every piece of equipment and we have a plethora of passwords, which we almost always remember.

Most of us don’t need to buy cameras any more. We take hundreds of pictures on our phones…we document everything! I actually transfer my photos to a drop box when I get too many on my phone, but I also know how to buy extra storage (as well as many other things) — which I do probably more often than I should.

A recent trip to the phone store (I won’t mention the provider name) was a bit of a humbling experience. My husband and I were greeted, as always, by a very respectful and extremely savvy young person. Before we knew it, we were both getting iPhone 8s (he had insisted that we were just coming in to get a new phone for me.) I noticed that my husband was twisting his earring quite a bit. He does that when he gets overwhelmed, or maybe he was trying to get the young, savvy sales guy to notice how hip he was.

I don’t think that I am an unintelligent person, but I have no idea how we paid/are paying for the new phones. One of the extremely savvy, young people from a past phone store trip told me that I was on a plan where each time I upgraded my phone, all I had to pay for was the sales tax. I believed him and still do. At least I think I am still on that plan. My kids snicker every time I tell them that and try to explain to me how it is not possible, but I am a trusting soul -- I never believed that my own kids could ever be dishonest with me either (flashback to high school!)

I use my phone instead of a flashlight or calculator. I check email, Facebook, Instagram, the stock market and my bank account. I call an Uber, use the GPS (walking and driving), check the weather, and link my wireless headphones to all of my music playlists.

Boomers —we are really on top of it. I am actually looking forward to getting acquainted with a new device that I am going to purchase for my husband and I. Maybe you’ve heard of it? It’s called “the tile”…a Bluetooth tracker that helps you find your phone, your wallet, and your keys.