Not computer savvy? Or just chicken?

I work with many “not computer savvy” people on a daily basis — customers and family and friends — and I try to have all the sympathy and empathy for them that I can possibly muster. For many years, I have considered it a kind of ethical responsibility to be available to help people with their tech woes, to ease their gadget pain, because I can.

Nevertheless, it tests my patience when people try to excuse themselves as being non-savvy. It’s mostly a fear-based excuse: 99% of tech ignorance is due to aversion and abdication, not inaptitude. The people who claim non-savviness are the most likely to fail to even attempt to simply Google for the easy answer. And that attitude is increasingly problematic and worrisome in our tech-powered world.

I can foresee a time when I will start refusing to help people who refuse to help themselves with tech. In about five minutes.

Unless it’s my wife. She has a free pass.