The recycled teens – seniors’ have fun hashtagging away

By Amitabh Sharma

Jenny and Stephanie are close friends, they go to bed late, wake up late, the last thing they do before going to bed and first thing as soon as they get up is to say a prayer and reach out for their smartphone … teens we tell you.

… well no, both are septuagenarians and are trending as #recycledteens – not on social media platforms but we can call them that.

Last time we took a peek into Aunt Anna’s life – from finding purpose to being a proud owner of two tablet computers; Jenny and Stephanie are ‘younglings’ compared to her but catching on.

Both of them are recent tech converts – and their love affair with smart devices began a couple of years ago. Let’s rewind to get some context – Jenny and Stephanie’s story is similar, they worked as administrative assistants, their lives revolved around taking care of their families, going to work, weekly visits to the supermarket, doing household chores, Sunday church, looking up family and friends over the weekends.

One of the most important part of their daily routine was to read the newspaper, and on Sunday’s edition was an icing on the cake – browse through the different sections, catch up on crossword and keep abreast with the latest happenings. The newspaper was their link to the world.

Then came 2020 and the dreaded COVID-19 hit, social distancing, wearing masks, restricted movements became a norm, social engagements took a nose dive. With the safety protocols being implemented – there were no church gatherings, no visits to family and friends, and their daily newspaper temporarily stopped printing.

The pandemic was taking an emotional toll. Especially on older folks, who were used to seeing and meeting people and socializing.

Both ladies, who live in the same community, and now retired, weren’t faring too well with the occasional lockdowns, and being confined to the four walls. The rescue came in the form of a tablet they borrowed from their children.

“It was difficult in the beginning, how to navigate the tablet (they did have smartphones but weren’t using data on it),” said Jenny. “Since we were home, our children and grandchildren became our teachers and helped us to learn about the different apps.”

“The best thing was,” Stephanie quipped, “our church started streaming Sunday services online on YouTube, and we were able to see our church brothers and sisters online.”

Then they became inseparable … well, the two ladies and their tablets.

Fast forward to 2024. They have mastered their way around the tablets, even bought accessories, and stands to watch their favourite show online, binge on the Netflix series, catch up on what is trending on social media. They know first-hand what Taylor Swift is up to these days, or who is Rihanna dating. These girls are keeping up with gossip columns, and sharing the ‘hot off the press’ information with their children, and caught up with online jargon.

This came as a bit of surprise, especially to their grandchildren … but there were no complaints. They are having many OMG moments – add the LOL and ROFLs.  And they are still getting their news by flipping the pages of their e-paper and the app.

The almost three years of the COVID-19 pandemic were physically and mentally taxing for all of us, many were affected physically and all of us mentally. More so, the seniors who were isolated and felt left out.

Thank God for technology, which in this case, came to the rescue of these two seniors. They were able to keep their sanity intact, and in the process learnt a new way of keeping themselves occupied. Now that these seniors are tech-savvy, they can keep in touch with their grandchildren who live on their smartphones, participate in group video calls and even pay bills online.

It is not difficult for seniors to learn how to navigate technology, all it needs is guidance and intent, in this case, a blessing in disguise.

(The column Postcard from Jamaica appears every Wednesday.)

Read also:
Never underestimate the elderly
How one woman defied age with purpose
Elderly Parents’ Day Out … that had their daughter on edge