Screen Save Him From Modern Technology

(My grandpa has driven five hours to visit me at college. At both my and my grandmother’s insistence, he takes her smartphone with him, because he’s never been to the part of the state where my school is and it’s easy to get lost. He and I have gotten to talking about how smartphones work.)

Grandpa: “So, if I turn it off like this—” *hits the button to make the screen go black* “—how does it know when I get a call?”

Me: “Well, think of it more like a computer. You’re not powering it off all the way; it’s more like screensaver mode.”

Grandpa: “But…” *lights up the screen again a couple of times*

(My grandpa was an engineer at a phone company for 30 years; when I told my aunt, she told me that he never understood how cellphones worked without wires, and both coworkers and family had to talk him into retiring early!)