(A King Llama post that is actually serious and is NOT about secretly being Bob Iger or my seething hatred of Duffy)
I'm thankful for Zoom, and here's why....
My parents are in their mid-70's. Both of them have underlying health issues. My dad has fallen repeatedly over the past year and had a procedure a few months ago that has helped his balance/strength, but has also had heart issues in the past. My mom has a unique form of Alzheimer's that has left her essentially blind. They are both already isolated at home anyway, because it's just too hard to get my mom out of the house. One, it takes an hour to get her fully ready, and two, she never wants to go anywhere anymore because she can't see anything anyway (so there's depression kicking in too, most likely).
Obviously, I haven't been able to be around them. I've spent time on their front porch, leaving groceries/medicine for them and talking to them through their front door. But still, to not be able to hug your own parents is pretty terrible, and there's only so much communicating that can be done through a front door when their hearing isn't great anyway.
Last night, my sister-in-law held a birthday party for my nephew, who was turning 3. And she did it via Zoom so that everyone could "participate". I tried all day to talk my dad through the steps of installing/using Zoom, and I thought he had given up. But somehow, some way, he figured out how to install/use it, and joined at the exact right time. And to see the look on his face and my mom's face when they realize they could have actual, real-time, visual interaction with people was VERY cool. It even helped that my mom could sit close to the screen so that she could make out who was talking and what was happening.
Technology, especially social media, has made our lives worse in several ways. I feel strongly about this, even though I am on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram. But when it does GOOD things, the good far outweighs the bad. So for technology, at least for one night, I am thankful.
And now, I shall go back to posting about secretly being Bob Iger and not-so-secretly hating Duffy.