Computer wiz am I

I am smarter than I thought I was...computer-wise, that is.

Usually when I have a problem I run to Joe with my computer. Lately I have realized that what he says is true: If you google it, you will find that for every question you have, many people have asked it before, and you will usually find the answer if you look. Sometime I can't even articulate the question, so Joe usually figures it out or if not, I take my computer to the geniuses at the Apple Store.

Yesterday at the Literacy Project, where I usually tutor in math and English, Michelle asked if I would help someone get an e-mail account and sign in to his Dunkin Donuts rewards program. My only obstacle was re-learning how to use a PC and also trying to find him a user name since his whole first name, middle name and last name were already taken. (A double?)

I was struggling to get things to happen, so I asked another tutor if he could figure out what I was doing wrong. "Left click," he said. I had been hitting right click, right click, the way you do it on a Mac. It took a while to remember how to do it the Mac way, and it was hard for my little brain to reverse it.

So after a few tries he did get his e-mail address and the card that would enable him to get his next coffee free. Big smile.

Next I took a computerized tour of West Palm Beach apartments with a Puerto Rican immigrant who might want to move there. We found three really nice ones, and he wrote down their phone numbers. He said his next step was to buy a computer, which he was going to do at Walmart. I showed him that the prices were the same at Best Buy, where he could take advantage of sales and better service.

Then we went to a map and I showed him the location of the closest Best Buy.

He seemed very satisfied with all of this.

I was happy to be able to help some people.