Parents Just Don't Understand

A favorite segment of mine on Collegehumor.com is titled "Parents Just Don't Understand." It's authored by Susanna Wolff and outlines brief stories from college-aged submitters. The stories outline the fundamental differences in the understanding of technology between the baby-boomer generation, and the tech-savvy kids of today. Here are a few eye-opening entries:

I caught my father on Google the other day typing in "show me snow machines". I later found out that he starts any and all searches with the words "show me", or "I want to see".
Kayla-Rose Kirkland

My mom called me over because every time she plugged in her mp3 player the computer "froze" and when she unplugged it it worked again. I asked her to show me so she bent down, unplugged the mouse, plugged in her mp3, then when she moved the mouse and nothing happened said, "See?"
Nick Calenti, Arizona State

I made the mistake of trying to explain Wikipedia to my grandmother. She's now convinced that anybody can modify any website at will, and she won't use Weather.com anymore because she's worried that vandals will change the temperature on her.
Jeff C.

My mom won't make a cell phone call unless her charger is plugged into it. She thinks that it changes to a land line and she gets 'way better reception'.
Aaron Thompson

My mom didn't want my younger brother to make a MySpace for fear of Child molesters, but finally she decided to let him make one. That same day she made him take it off because a man named "Tom" had hacked into his account and added himself as a friend. She made me e-mail MySpace to let them know of a possible child molester.
Alex J., Dickinson College

My sister got an iPod for Christmas. My dad said he wants an iPod so that he can listen to mp3s while he plays solitaire on the computer.
Shawn Cullen, U.M. Rolla

My mom asked to see my pictures on Facebook. I thought about all the drinking pictures that are on it and then I thought about my mom's computer skills. So I said, if you can find them by yourself, sure. I came back 5 minutes later and she had an empty Microsoft word document up. I think I'm safe.
C Murphy, Salisbury

When my mom tries calling my cell and I don't have it on, she'll send me text messages saying, "Turn on your phone."
Andrea Gutierrez

My mom won't scroll down on Youtube videos because she thinks then she won't be able to hear them.
Tim F, UConn

My high school Spanish teacher, on multiple occasions, has been known to photocopy blank pieces of paper in order to get more blank pieces of paper. She's completely oblivious to the fact that you can open the copier to take out the paper.
Jared Kent, Johnson & Wales University

My Mom became a fanatic about the cleanliness of our front yard at home. I couldn't even walk outside when I was at home in my pajamas. When I asked her why she, all of a sudden, cared about our front yard, she replied that the "Google Earth people" would see and post it on their web site.
Katie Phillips, Virginia Commonwealth University