Garage & Techie Talk

So the other day I took my car to be inspected. You know how most average Americans go about that good ole’ monthly inspection ;p Rather than taking care of it straight away at the beginning of the month, I chose to wait until August first, naturally. 

And along for the trip I decided to bring my brand spanking new Kindle. It was a belated B-day gift from a couple of the best friends I could ever lay claim to. One of them I grew up with and the other is my beta reader. Some of you may be shocked by the fact that up until a week ago I didn’t actually own a Kindle, though I’ve published four books via Amazon. Part of that was my rebellion against the loss of paperback/hardbound books (love the smell!) and another finances. Why buy a Kindle when you can just download the apps onto your phone and laptops? 

After around an hour of struggling to figure the mechanics out, I decided it was time to take my new device on our first outing ;p 

I took a seat in the makeshift office at the car garage in a little Texas town outside of mine and pulled out my tablet. Several older gentlemen walked in, making sure to say, “You have a blessed day, ma’am,” etc. And then a hunched over old man in suspenders and jeans walked in. After wishing the lone mechanic in the office “howdy son” he took his seat opposite me in the venal chairs. 

I continued to read until I heard him ask in his gravely voice, “Is that one of them Kindle things?” 

I looked up and answered, “Yes sir.”

He proceeded to tell me, “Them things sure are neat. I was thinking about getting one of them for my mother, since she can’t get out much.”

My first thought was, ‘Your mother?‘ as the dear man looked like he was at least in his seventies. Though that could have been poor judgement through my youthful eyes, I was still shocked by his answer. 

He then asked me, “Are they very hard to figure out?”

I laughed and said, “Well I figure if I can figure it out, your mother could. I’m not exactly great with technology.”

He continued musing to himself, “Yeah, I just might need to get one of them. My mother’s eighty one and loves to read.”

Thus ended my Kindle convo with an elderly man at the small-town Texas garage. I am happy to report that I do enjoy my Kindle and while unnecessary for my work, it is decidedly lovely to see my books now as my readers do.