Dear Abby: Reluctant User Decries Society's Tech Pressure

Abigail Van Buren

DEAR ABBY: Can people in this society please stop assuming that everyone has a smartphone? Not everyone is willing — or able — to spend $1,000-plus for one. Some of us carry older, less-expensive phones that receive calls and text messages and that’s it.

I just got off a really annoying phone call with the secretary at my elderly mother’s doctor’s office, who said she was “sending a link” for a video conference on her phone. I nearly choked. I said, “Stop, OK? Look, not everyone has an expensive phone!” So then she chirps, “OK, I’ll send the link to your phone, and she can use yours!” I then had to explain that I don’t have an expensive phone either.

Our society forces people to spend big bucks on these toys. You go to a bank and ask a customer service representative for assistance, “Oh, it’s easy. You can set it up yourself with your phone!” You call a business for an update on an order and, three hours later, when a live person finally picks up, you are told, “You can just track your order with your phone!” It makes me want to scream into my $30 flip phone.

— LOVE MY CHEAP PHONE

DEAR LOVE: Thank you for letting me help you to vent. I understand your frustration because your problem is one I have heard about from other seniors, too. Although technology moves quickly, not everyone is on the cutting edge. Because this is going to happen more and more frequently, for your own sake as well as your mother’s, it’s time you start seriously considering upgrading one or more of your devices.

Abigail Van Buren