Post 3 – Computer Lab

It might sound simple and archaic, but some people still don’t know computers.  At the shelter, there is no discernment based on age or race regarding who knows how to use computers or not.  During my down time, I sit in the computer lab, a 20x20 foot room that some people not-so-fondly refer to as “the oven,” and teach the homeless computer skills.  The residents are always learning new things from the effects of right-clicking to more advanced things like browsing for files in the computer to find a resume to send to a company.  However, others still seem mystified by the glowing box and think of computers as glorified type writers.  Trapped in a time before computers were popular or accessible, some are still discovering the art of left-clicking on “the big ‘e’ at the bottom left” to get to the internet.  Many left the “civilized world” so long ago or never had the finances to pay for computers that they never knew of the almost limitless possibilities and are only now discovering their main advantage – applying for jobs online.  Now returning from their time in technological isolation, they are discovering a world of cheap computers, smart phones, and tablets.  It is obvious that some people, at some points, feel overwhelmed from the change and become nostalgic of better, simpler times when they had control.  As a high school student, it seems alien to me to think of a time in which computers didn’t make things easier, but this attitude exemplifies the paradigm shift that has occurred in the world to which the homeless are now returning.