| It all started several years ago when I | | | | stage, I was blissfully unaware of the |
| walked out on a well-paid job of 11 years. I | | | | terrors ahead. |
| needed to get another job fairly quickly. My | | | | |
| monthly mortgage repayments were pretty | | | | I successfully started Microsoft Word and, |
| hefty. Something I hadn't thought about | | | | then, clicked a couple of things. All of a |
| during my dramatic exit. | | | | sudden, I had a box on my screen that I |
| | | | couldn't get rid of. What do I do now? The |
| I eagerly poured over the job columns in the | | | | manual didn't help. I was stuck and too |
| newspaper. Yikes, every job required | | | | scared to click anything else. I eventually |
| Microsoft Word. To get another job, I needed | | | | rang a computer help line company I found in |
| to learn a new computer skill. So what? There | | | | the Yellow Pages. Chris, the guy who |
| are loads of people "in the same boat" in | | | | answered, said to click the Cancel button in |
| this ever-changing world. If they can do it, | | | | the box. I felt really stupid. Why didn't I |
| so can I. | | | | think of that? |
| | | | |
| First, I had to decide how! Group classes | | | | Over the next 4 weeks, I spent a small |
| didn't work for me. At one, I got left behind | | | | fortune ringing Chris (the computer help line |
| - simply because I didn't grasp one little | | | | company charged by the minute) and he started |
| point and wasn't brave enough to admit that | | | | treating me like a long lost friend. I just |
| I, apparently, was the only one who hadn't | | | | felt more and more stupid as most of the |
| "got it". At another, I actually knew more | | | | solutions were as simple as clicking the |
| than others and felt frustrated listening to | | | | Cancel button! I remember thinking, thank |
| stuff I already knew. One-on-one training | | | | goodness, he's the only witness to my |
| would be better, but too expensive. | | | | stupidity! |
| | | | |
| My computer-whiz niece offered to help. She | | | | Eventually I discovered the Undo button. What |
| sat in my computer chair, took control of my | | | | a find! I could now undo any action I had |
| mouse and went zap, zap, zap. All kinds of | | | | taken. This made me feel heaps better. Then, |
| things appeared and disappeared on the screen | | | | an amazing thing happened. As I was able to |
| at a fast rate. During all this activity, I | | | | do more and more things, thanks to Chris and |
| stood behind her chair feeling quite dazed. | | | | the Undo button, I started to feel excited by |
| Finally, she said with a smile "That's how | | | | what I was achieving and CONFIDENT. I still |
| you do . . . whatever it was she was trying | | | | made mistakes (plenty), but I didn't feel |
| to teach me (I still don't know)". Her smile | | | | scared. Nor did I ring Chris. I was CONFIDENT |
| was replaced by an incredulous look when I | | | | that I could work it out on my own. And I |
| said that she had lost me after the second | | | | usually did. |
| zap. Needless to say, I didn't pursue her | | | | |
| kind offer any further and, as a result, we | | | | I went on to learn many new computer skills |
| are still the best of friends. | | | | and they all featured some Microsoft Word |
| | | | tools and menu commands AND an Undo button! |
| What I really wanted to do was to learn at my | | | | And, guess what, I became so thrilled with |
| own pace and at home. I decided to try the | | | | Microsoft Word that I went on and created |
| manual that came with my computer. At this | | | | three tutorials for computer novices. |