I've always had good eye-hand coordination. As a youngster, I could whip things up with my Tinker Toys, my Lincoln Logs and my Erector Set with one hand behind my back. As I grew older, my skills helped me to excel at a variety of tasks things from crochet to clarinet. I dabbled in wood burning, quilting and macramé. There was always a bird house that needed building, a cage that needed mending or a plant that needed re-potting. Once I got to college, my extraordinary eye-hand coordination allowed me to master the games of "quarters" and Centipede.
Yet I feel like a useless oaf when it comes to my smart phone. I've downloaded one "app" after another and still only use a few. My aging eyesight and my big clumsy thumbs have robbed me of my nimble-fingeredness. I have very poor eye-thumb coordination. Nowadays, you have to find a child if you need help with electronics.
Last week, eight-year-old Landon Crabtree used a tracking application that he had downloaded to find an iPad and other items that had been stolen from his family's home. He accessed the app from a computer and learned that the stolen iPad was at a neighborhood hotel.
"You don't mess with our family." – Landon Crabtree
The boy told his father who then notified police. Sheriff's deputies soon called to say that they had arrested a suspect who had, apparently, been using the motel room to stash a lot of loot from recent burglaries in the area.
Kids today don't learn with Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets. Heck, some of them don't even turn pages in a book. The only eye-hand coordination that they require is the ability to touch a screen in the right place. It's a "sign of the times" and today's youngsters are doing a great job of teaching us older folks how to survive in their world ... the world of eye-thumb coordination.
Am I the only one who relies on youngsters for assistance?
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