Don't touch that dial! Or, well, I'll do it.

I'm reading an article in AARP magazine about the "culture of distraction," and how adults over 50 (of which I am not yet one...quite) are, for various reasons, the most susceptible to the cacaphony of competing stimuli.

Exactly while reading the article, I happened to be distracted by a full-page advertisement for easy to use "boomer friendly" cell phones and cell phone contracts. This was, after all, AARP magazine. (which, truth be told, is one of the few magazines I'd bother with. Turns out it's often relevant and interesting.)

I have often, over the past several years, given thought to obtaining the simplest of cell phones for Jeff--one with little more in the way of buttons than a standard touch tone phone. (I must interject, though--there really isn't such thing as a standard touch tone phone anymore. The last couple of cordless phone selections I've made have been with the express purpose of avoiding excess buttons. Not an easy task nowadays.)

Then, looking at the advertisement displaying phones of enticing simplicity, I realized Jeff could not use even these. Then it occurred to me: he has not, as far as I can recall, even picked up a telephone and made a call in months. No question it was getting difficult. In the last 2-3 years when he did wish to make a call, 9 times out of 10 I'd end up dialing for him as hitting 10 numbers + a dial key in sequence was proving to be too much.

Well, there's not much point in testing, but I suspect that--for Jeff--placing a phone call has fallen off the edge of the map, capability-wise. Nor has he swept the porch in some time. I think he could though, and maybe I should ask him to, once in a while.

Well, back to my article. (Nothing, it seems, gets a solid 10 minutes of attention from me. I'm not even sure I can apply such luxurious amounts of time anymore.) The article is called "May I Have My Attention Please?" It speaks of scattered focus in a zany world--a life ambiance I know well. Even a boomer friendly phone with big, raised buttons isn't going to add a snippet of calm to that.