My elderly mum in her late 80s has been playing 'bridge' for over 30 years. In her hay day, she was pretty good often getting her name in the local press for winning one thing or another. She's been recovering from a stroke the last couple of years which has slowed her down, but she's still as sharp as a pin. She loved her weekly bridge get together, as she got to meet old friends, chat about their latest ailments, ask about how Jimmy was doing in school, etc etc.

This week, we got notification that her class was going solely online.

Some dickwit thought this an improvement. Yes, you can get multiple people to play bridge simultaneously, but that misses the point. Mum, along with others are not 'online', and even if they were, their bridge is a social activity, not just a hand of cards.

It's so easy to see why young'uns have no social skills, despite, 'social' media. Chatting to a group of people in person does not compare to tapping a computer keyboard.

She is putting a brave face on it, but she really doesn't want to see much more change in the short time she has left...

Kinda like 'meeting for a pint ' over Zoom instead of actually going to a pub! 

Face to face contact/interaction is so important for everyone,  especially for the older generation who may not get out so much.  Didn’t we learn anything from Covid? 

Hopefully they'll see sense and reinstate proper meetings.....failing that,  could someone start arranging it themselves?

29 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Some dickwit thought this an improvement. Yes, you can get multiple people to play bridge simultaneously, but that misses the point. Mum, along with others are not 'online', and even if they were, their bridge is a social activity, not just a hand of cards.

So very sad, but so very typical of the way things have gone.

I hope that a sensible and workable solution can be found for your mum and her friends.

@StephenFord is there a nearby pub that would be willing to host a couple of tables on a quiet night through the week? Win-win situation,  pub gets a few punters in and the oldies get their social meetings 👍

Wouldn't take much organising 😉

How did this young dickwit get his claws on the runnings of this bridge club. Stupid Boy!

Unfortunately this attitude is all pervasive - Forcing technology on those that may not want it or unable to access it.

Ticket Offices, parking by app only, cash not taken by leisure centres, and DVSA are now removing car tax options frompost offices.

14 minutes ago, Paulkp said:

Ticket Offices, parking by app only, cash not taken by leisure centres, and DVSA are now removing car tax options frompost offices.

The whole banking industry has also turned it's back on the 'elderly' and non 'IT' folk, in addition to BT (digital voice) and various others that I'm only aware of as I've become more involved in managing mum's affairs. Personally, I can see the whole world of AI shutting me out, but that's progress for you...

17 minutes ago, Paulkp said:

Ticket Offices

At least it looks like that one has been dropped (for now) after widespread protest**. I wonder if the next government will raise it again.

**Ironically given that the rail unions cited ticket office closures as one of the reasons for their industrial action, we found the ticket offices really proved their worth in getting refunds for cancelled trains. Unfortunately we found tickets bought online had to be reclaimed that way, which took weeks. Refunds for tickets bought at our nearest office were refunded by the helpful staff there in about 5 minutes!

That's sad so sorry for her.

I think the internet and mobile phones are amazing however as you say the kids have lost social skills because of it.

I have customers that text me for a taxi but half the time I don't notice, I tell them all the time they need to phone because I can't read and drive at the same time.

I was brought up at the start of all this, space invaders, spectrum computers etc but I never thought I would see so much advancement in technology in my lifetime.

I also see the downside down in the town centre with the lack of people out and about catching up with what's been going on through the week, now people talk 24/7, send photos etc so they have nothing to talk about so stay at home. 

So yes I feel the same as you

4 minutes ago, Sanddancer said:

I think the internet and mobile phones are amazing however as you say the kids have lost social skills because of it.

There is also a palpable downside. On Monday, my local EE transmitter went AWOL. So my Lidl app wouldn't open, and I had several good offers activated on it! I left my basket un purchased as I'm fortunate enough to be able to visit another time. But, if your phone gets no signal, it just chucks you back to the stone age.

Most apps won't work, and your banking app certainly doesn't. Our reliance on them should be tempered by the fact that we have all experienced times when we don't get a signal - then what...