Leaving grandma out

At the coffee shop today I saw a large family group. Four young adult and teen grandchildren and grandma. The kids were all reading their lap tops; grandma had no one to talk to. Lakeside is certainly going the way of the world! I invited her to my table, and they all laughed, but for a few minutes did make eye contact with her. I have no grandchildren, but if I did and we were in a restaurant or coffee shop, you can bet they wouldn't be ignoring me! Yes, yes. I know the coffee shop has wi-fi, but manners are never out of style.

At another table I handed a woman my i-pod while her daughter read the lap top. Turns out she was a language arts teacher. She messed with it a little then handed it back. "My school bought 50 of these and I'm supposed to come up with uses for my 8th graders. So far, I haven't found any." Keep in mind, the kids aren't supposed to go on the internet. She was also concerned about the "young adult" literature which she thought I might be familiar with when she found out I'd been a librarian. I had to confess I didn't read it when I was a kid and almost never as an adult, unless the title came up on the book group list. I told her that from the reviews I'd read--topics like divorce, abuse, date rape, bi-sexuality, bullying, etc.--I didn't see how they offered much. Topic driven; language impoverished; morally challenged. Sexually ambiguous. Sort of Jodi Piccoult for teens.

Staying connected

I asked if they were e-mailing each other, but they said not--just checking in while the kids slept. Waking up with some great coffee.

Employee training

At Panera's there is a new desk with a computer next to the coffee and cream bar. It's for employee training, not the customers. They log-in, put on their head phones, and learn about all the latest products and procedures. I'm sure it's a way to have all employees, particularly new ones, cover the same ground, but it also helps the long term employees catch up. We had something like this in the OSUL, but it was so primitive (in late 90s) I don't think my staff ever used it.

However, sitting at a computer is not too useful for senators, presidents or representatives. In fact, government staff in general have gotten themselves in deep doo-doo sending e-mails, which causes our tax money to be used to hire battalions of lawyers on both sides to figure out what was purged, what was meant, and who sent it. I'm thrilled John McCain doesn't send e-mail and not impressed at all that Barack Obama sent a text message to his Gen-Next supporters to announce he's added an older senator to the ticket.