But I'll Blow Something Up!

Those were the words my husband heard when he first suggested that I give his new computer a try, way back in 1996. I was scared to death. I just knew that I would press the wrong button and missiles would be launched or the world would explode or something.

My previous experience with any type of computer had come approximately ten years earlier in my late father-in-law's Western Auto store. They had installed a P.O.S terminal and I was trying to learn how to use it. I don't know what button I pushed, but the screen said "Ignore. Reboot.", which I read as "Ignore Robot" and told the thing that I was not ignoring it. As I recall, my husband rescued me from that incident.

After my father-in-law died and his wife sold his business, I had no occasion to touch another computer until 1996, when my husband was squeezed out of his job due to diabetic retinopathy (the employer refused to abide by the ADA and accommodate his needs) and the Commission for the Blind stepped in to try to help him.

It didn't take too long before I figured out that the world would still be safe even if I did click the wrong button and I became addicted. That has caused some problems along the way, but it has also brought some good things into our lives. It made it easier when we made the switch to homeschooling our children. There was a world of knowledge at our fingertips. Our then three year old was making pie charts in WordPerfect before we even knew the program could do that.

What do you remember about your first experience with a computer? Was it in the privacy of your home, in the work environment, or was it at school? Were you afraid or were you excited about the opportunity that was put before you by having access to a computer? Please share!