Old time tech illiteracy - examples?

[kgtest]

I saw this one on another forum and just had to pass it on:

A guy gets a series of text messages from stepson, two and a half hours away at college, car won't start. He gets to yes, it has a dead battery, yes they tried to boost it but can't, he's gathering tools, booster cables, and stuff that might be needed and so on...

Finally gets there, the car door is locked so he asks for the key and unlocks it with the key by turning it in the lock since the battery is dead, electric locks don't work... stepson is dumbfounded. He did not know that a car could be unlocked that way. When he'd said they tried boosting it but couldn't it was because they couldn't get into the car to unlock it.

Pop the hood, put the booster cables on, wait five minutes, all is good.

Any other examples?

My sis had a dodge neon, we were inside it when the fuse blew for the power locks. She quickly panicked and started rolling down the windows (those were manual) I said what are you doing? She says, how the heck else are we gonna get out? I flipped the manual lock and opened my door (but I let her crawl a little out the window before I did it)

 

[ChiliPepr]

Not long ago there was a viral video showing a couple of teens trying to figure out how to dial a number on a rotary phone.

 

[Chuckanut]

A young fellow I used to work with turned up one day dressed very nicely. It turns out he had bought his first suit, and really liked how he looked in it. But he complained that the coat pockets were 'fake'. I got out a small pair of scissors, snipped the threads and, Presto!, instant pockets.

 

[candrew]

Ah! Just remembered, it was a Smith Corona. Full upper-body workout.

I took 3 years of typing class in H.S. for the easy "A". By my senior year, I was banging out 70wpm on a manual w/ no mistakes. It paid off during freshman year of college making $$ typing term papers for other students.

 

[geeky_grrl]

Yeah, I know several folks who can't drive a manual trans. What's more, they don't have interest in learning.

I can't drive a stick. My parents cars were automatics when I learned to drive. My SOs truck is a stick so he was going to teach me on it but I'm too short to reach the clutch on it. I wouldn't mind learning but I don't have access to a stick to learn on easily.

 

[W2R]

I am such a city girl, that I have never used a wringer washer when doing my clothes (like my grandma used to use). I wouldn't have a clue as to how to operate it properly. She would probably think that was hysterically funny, if she was still alive. I also cannot even imagine using an ice box instead of a freezer.

Sort of analogous to what we tend to think of younger people for not knowing how to use a rotary phone dial or typewriter.

 

[GrayHare]

A friend's daughter didn't know how to play a vinyl record because, "It doesn't fit in the CD player's drawer."

 

[RunningBum]

Sort of analogous to what we tend to think of younger people for not knowing how to use a rotary phone dial or typewriter.

Well put. I also wonder how many folks here on their first use of a cell phone, punched in the numbers without hitting Send, staring dumbly at the phone wondering why they don't hear the other end ringing. Or why they never heard a dial tone.

Funny story on the kids with the crank windows though, that someone told above. I remember the first time riding in my Dad's friend's Caddy with power windows, which I'd heard of but had never seen. I badly wanted to push the button to put mine up and down, but I knew my dad would yell at me for doing that, so I kept my hands off.

 

[scrabbler1]

I once mistakenly forgot to put a day camp van/minibus into Park, putting it into neutral before removing the ignition key (back then, in the early 1980s, you could do that). When it came time to leave the park we had taken the kids to, I couldn't start the van. None of the other counselors and I could figure out why. We called the camp and they sent over the maintenance man who immediately spotted my mistake. He put it in P(ark) and it started right up. I was rather embarrassed.


And it wasn't like I had never driven a vehicle which had its transmission's gear-changer in the steering column. It was less than 2 years earlier that I had last driven one, my parents' old 1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88.

 

[scrabbler1]

I recall a car windows story. About 15 years ago, my cousin picked me up from the airport in West Palm Beach, as we and other relatives were there to empty our grandfather's apartment following his passing. My cousin was driving a small SUV, as the rental agency didn't have any of the smaller cars he chose (free upgrade).


Anyway, he couldn't find the switch to roll down the window. It wasn't on the door, the place he expected to find it. This made it awkward when he had to take the ticket upon entering the airport's short-term parking lot. He had to open the door and exit the car to get it.


He knew this was going to happen again upon leaving the airport with me, so together we looked around for a window switch. We looked around the seats and center console between the front seats for several minutes before one of us found the buttons which were for some reason carefully hidden on the side of the center console but not really too visible for someone seated in either front seat. Still, we both felt kinda stupid although he was relieved he would not have to open the door to pay the cashier upon leaving the parking lot.

 

[Andre1969]

Years ago, I had an '89 Gran Fury ex police car, with a 4-bbl carburetor. It could get a bit stubborn in cold, damp weather. One day, one of my friends saw me get under the hood, take the top off the air cleaner, use a screw driver to hold the flap open at just the right angle, and I was able to get it to fire right up.

Well, he had a fuel-injected '98 Tracker, and a few weeks later, it wouldn't start. He got a screwdriver, opened the hood, and then, just stared at it, dumfounded. He asked me where do you stick the screwdriver? I told him it doesn't quite work that way with new cars!

 

[imoldernu]

It was a while back, but I can remember standing on the front seat in front of the drivers wheel, and my dad cranking the engine from the front of the car. When it turned over, my job was to advance the spark. Can't remember if the little arm clicked or slid... but I remember my dad was proud of me.

My kids are in their 50's and 60's , and I don't think any one of them has ever changed a flat tire or put on chains, even though I taught them how when they were young.

 

[JoeWras]

A few years back I was getting ready for w*rk and the power went out just before I was going to the garage to get in the car.

I thought you were going to talk about having to replace a fuse.

There are still plenty of houses out there with fuse panels. I bet you that would flummox a few youngsters!

 

[JoeWras]

I almost blew up the house

When company came over, mom would use the oven upstairs, and also the old one we kept active downstairs, in the basement.

One Thanksgiving, she said, "Go downstairs and put this casserole on 350."

I went downstairs, opened the door, and put it to 350.

A bit later, my mom comes from downstairs with singed hair! What happened? "Joe, you have to light the oven! Why didn't you light it? I didn't think there was too much gas so I tried to clear the air. Luckily the whole house didn't blow."

First time I ever understood that some ovens needed a match, in a special hole, to work properly. I also understood a few Bugs Bunny cartoons that day.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Find the enter key. That’s funny.

like Homer simpson - he got stuck because he couldn't find the "any" key

 

[W2R]

My kids are in their 50's and 60's , and I don't think any one of them has ever changed a flat tire or put on chains, even though I taught them how when they were young.

I am 70 years old, almost 71, and I have never changed a flat or put on chains. I don't live in a snowy area (thus no chains), and I have never had a flat while driving.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I am 70 years old, almost 71, and I have never changed a flat or put on chains. I don't live in a snowy area (thus no chains), and I have never had a flat while driving.

we weren't allowed to drive a car (learners permit) until we could show Dad that we could change a tire on our own, even my sisters....

 

[Walt34]

we weren't allowed to drive a car (learners permit) until we could show Dad that we could change a tire on our own, even my sisters....

Your Dad was a wise man.

I was changing tires as soon as I was strong enough to lift it onto the hub. Around 12 or 13 I think. We did all the car repairs/maintenance we could in the driveway. Taking a car to a shop was very rare, and usually only because the needed tools cost more than the repair would, or once I remember time was of the essence.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Your Dad was a wise man.

Thanks - he passed away in December, he would have been 91 in May

We also did everything we could on our cars, in the driveway.

That's how I learned to flush coolant, do a brake job, change a starter, change the oil, plugs, set timing, tune the carb, etc

I wonder how many people nowadays can use a timing light? I still need to on my 74 F100!

 

[Sunset]

I am 70 years old, almost 71, and I have never changed a flat or put on chains. I don't live in a snowy area (thus no chains), and I have never had a flat while driving.

I am such a city girl, that I have never used a wringer washer when doing my clothes (like my grandma used to use). I wouldn't have a clue as to how to operate it properly. She would probably think that was hysterically funny, if she was still alive. I also cannot even imagine using an ice box instead of a freezer.

I'm quite a bit younger than you, and I've had about 4 flats in my life, so you have been lucky

I used to help my Mom with the wringer washer, much more exciting than today's washers that lock the top down.

I also used to carry ice in 25 lb blocks for our ice box (like a refrigerator) and would play in the ice house where ice was stored in summer as it was literally cool.

I can also drive stick as I owned a Russian Lada (everything in Russian) for 1 year.

 

[MRG]

Your Dad was a wise man.

I was changing tires as soon as I was strong enough to lift it onto the hub. Around 12 or 13 I think. We did all the car repairs/maintenance we could in the driveway. Taking a car to a shop was very rare, and usually only because the needed tools cost more than the repair would, or once I remember time was of the essence.

I've changed many but...

Last time I tried to change a flat the safety device on the spare tire of Chevy pickup attacked me. Locked onto my finger trapping me. I would have left a big chunk of my middle finger in the spring if someone didn't rescue me.

Be careful out there. [emoji23]

 

[ls99]

Whiteout

 

[jim584672]

I saw a video where the landlord was saying these young tenants didn't know how to change a light bulb. They left the bulbs which where out alone. The landlord just couldn't believe it.

 

[Chuckanut]

A friend of mine had an old VW with a manual choke. One day some goof-balls tried to steal it from the school parking lot. But, they could not get the cold engine to start and run reliably, and gave up when they saw us coming. The 'choke' saved the day.

 

[calmloki]

I saw a video where the landlord was saying these young tenants didn't know how to change a light bulb. They left the bulbs which where out alone. The landlord just couldn't believe it.

It isn't at all uncommon for me to go into rentals and find them mighty dark. Working theory is that as the place gets darker and darker it becomes less attractive to live in. Then they move.
I've replaced an incandescent bulb in a hanging lamp - it took about 16" of extra altitude to reach the lamp and remove the shade to replace the bulb. Young newly married man said his wife wanted it changed. I would, in his position, have been demonstrating my caveman can-do-it-ness. Guess he was smarter than me, as he did get the job done.
Four foot florescent bulbs have never been tenant changed.

Our 40's gas stove has pilot lights for the burners but takes a match for the oven. Just fine with that $25 church sale stove.