Stupid Computer Site

essaysbysean.blogspot.com

Hello Reader,

Got computer frustration?

Preface

Toastmasters International, (TMI) the organization of public speaking clubs world-wide, (scores of clubs in my city alone) has really changed how they do things. 

Remember when Boy Scouts switched from the clear path of Tenderfoot to Queen’s Scout (Eagle Scout) to offering instead a bunch of coloured star paths? Simultaneously changing the age old Scout and Wolf Cub uniforms from green to grey, from insulated shorts and long wool socks to thin grey shorts or grey pants? Adding an impractical red broad shoulder-to-waist sash? (It always had to be removed for games and anything physical) My father had been a long term Scout and Cub master. He quit.

I might quit Toastmasters, as TMI is bringing in coloured “pathways” that all but require members to own computers. As it happens, my club meets in a church. No wireless connection.

For the new “Pathways,” it all begins with doing an on-line quiz to choose your path. Which I did. 

Prologue

Happily, a club member I had gone to the bar with, after a meeting, had told me of when she had troubles. She got someone from another club to come to her house and show her why clicking on the title bar labels did not work. Turns out that to the RIGHT of each label is a tiny triangle, and THAT is what you click on. “Nice to know” I said.

What bugs her is that some other TMI districts have had the new computer Pathways program for two years now. “Why,” she demands, “aren’t the bugs out of the system yet?” She means why aren’t the computer nerds being supported by a person of common sense such as an English major who knows communication, a person who would know, for example, how hard it is see a teeny tiny triangle.

Here is an e-letter I sent to TMI, re-worded for clarity for my blog audience: An awkward-to-you paragraph is deleted; I broke up a couple paragraphs to fit blog attention spans; and I added a couple italics and bolds. 

Note: The first speech every toastmaster does, for every path, is the icebreaker speech. I didn’t know what the new-fangled Speech #2 was supposed to be for my new path: I sobbed and whimpered attempting to find out. Figuratively, that is. Grrr! 

Instead of heading with a company letterhead slogan or quotation, I headed with a suggestion, so:

Main Body (Here's My Letter)

Suggestion

Next time you make a web site, please don’t test it on someone who can already program their VCR.

To Whom It May Concern:

Regarding problems in trying to move beyond my ice breaker speech

A man at TMI Supply suggested I send a letter. I would, but instead I am sending this e-mail. Why? Because a blank e-mail, addressed to Supply, keeps showing up in my draft section, even when I deleted it twice. Coincidence? A glitch? Or God’s will that I use e-mail? So here goes.

I did my icebreaker. I wanted to move on. Had problems. At my next club meeting I meant to ask my club pathways person but I forgot.

A speech opening came up, as someone said on our club e-mail. 

“I can do one” I said using reply-all, optimistically hoping I would be able to find my second speech.

Kept trying. Kept up an e-mailing correspondence with my club pathways person, without result, over the next week.

To find that second speech, the first thing I tried was moving my cursor everywhere. I did the drop down menus. Tried different pages. 

… Oh yes, previously I dimly knew that after my icebreaker I would do a self assessment/feedback. Then I get an e-mail from TMI asking me to give feedback while using a smart phone camera or a computer camera. I have no such phone, and have never used my computer camera, not even for blog comments, not even on my own blog site. So I wrote an e-mail to say this was just as unfair as if the Olympic biathlon committee was to knowingly choose a rifle that athletes from poorer countries could not afford.  

...This e-mail I sent to the board of directors, because I suspected the pathways guys, like Muslim radicals, were getting an echo chamber of excitement over all their computer skills, and needed some calmer oversight. As it happened, the board secretary intercepted my mail and passed it on to the pathways folks. Better than nothing, I thought, but surely it wouldn’t curb their enthusiasm… …

Never mind, I could simply find my Speech Two and click on it. No luck. I found the trail heads for Base Camp and Navigator and so forth, but those were all the entry level page collections for people who had NOT yet done the "choose a path" thing. Meanwhile, in my correspondence with my club pathway person, I had learned that I had to do the self assessment first. That’s assessment, NOT evaluation. Maybe I had typed in the wrong search term? Maybe if I tried again for the umpteenth time I would get results? No. No-go. No joy. I suspect that search box is all-around useless. 

I didn’t give up. Kept trying different pages and moving my cursor around. At least I was often able to often find my own personal page, with transcripts and things. Hurray! … no, not hurray… for my cursor did not work for anything. My club correspondent asked me which path I was on. My cursor was useless, unable to locate which path my on-line assessment had recommended, (before I did my ice breaker)  “It’s blue,” I said “and it starts with an i… I think.”

In my searching I found something that I bet most people don’t find. A “get help from your club” thing. So I tried it, typing in my problem. Hit send. No help. Of course not! There is no point in pooling ignorance! My club members are all new to this! 

Then, an hour later, in a tone I imagine in my head like an adult talking to child, I get an e-mail from TMI saying, “Did you know you can ask for help from your club…?” I was not impressed.

With my pathway person being absent for our upcoming meeting, and being resigned to doing the stupid assessment before I did speech two, I considered putting my computer in my car, carrying it to the meeting with a page on the screen, and asking someone to put their finger on the screen to tell me where to click. My club does not have wireless, we meet in a church. Problem? Feeling a stone in my stomach, I knew that the odds were that I would bring my computer set to the wrong page. I just knew it.

So I gave up. I called the TMI supply place to fork out for my pathway on paper. “It’s blue,” I said “and starts with an i.” She answered, “What is the product code number?” I stated: “You’re not a toastmaster, are you?” … She put a toastmaster on the line. The path I wanted was not in print. “Oh.” I didn’t want to wait. “I’ll change paths.” And I did.

Angry Afterward

So I’m in the bar after last night’s meeting. (I did my speech, my path person had said it wouldn’t matter what my topic for speech #2 was) 

My speech was on “Inclusion” which fit my path of Team Collaboration. How ironic, as I do not feel included at TMI just now. 

I am beside the lady who had told me to use drop down triangles. She is angry at Pathways computer difficulties, saying “I am not a stupid person.” I said “Me neither. I have a university degree.”  (From Canada, where no one puts the adjective “good” in front of a Canadian university: in Canada they are all good)

You will recall from high school that if, in September, you skimmed through your entire mathematics textbook, you knew more than a classmate who had read Chapter One word for word, because you have an overview. Well, I was looking forward to getting my manual and being able to look all through. With no delays from self-assessment!

“You can’t” my buddy says. (What?) They send it in portions. (What?) They don’t send your manual all at once. (Are you kidding me?) They want to micro-manage you, like a child.”

I can only hope she is mistaken.

Yours truly,

Sean Crawford ATMS

Sean Crawford essayist,

(Advanced ToastMaster Silver)

Calgary,

July,

2018

Footnotes:

~Now I have two e-mail drafts addressed to Supply. I’ll have to ask at the Apple Store how to remove them.

“They send it in portions…” They do. The first manual is free, the second costs $25. They sent me two: the first has four speeches, the second only three. Yup, I paid 25 bucks for three speeches. (blank speech outlines and evaluations) And this path has at least three manuals to go.

…Meanwhile, at Friday Free Fall, we each read aloud, and so every time my character sings, I have to sing too. Then the others always say I should be in a choir. My friend Judy, who got me into Free Fall, sings on the same night that my Toastmaster club meets, so maybe I’ll drop TMI and go there.

Weekly Blog continuity

Last week was Free Fall pieces, the week before was my Inclusion speech.

...  
I got a reply! Just the day before this blog went to post (to print) So here it is, with anything private, such as name, e-mail and telephone numbers deleted:

Dear Toastmaster Crawford, 

Thank you for your email and I apologize for the delayed reply. 

Thank you for taking the time to submit such a detailed email regarding your feedback and suggestion for improvements on the Toastmasters Education Program. We would not be able to improve our programs without members like yourself giving us feedback. 

Further, to explain the Pathways printed material shipping process, it is sent in three shipments. These shipments are set up as follows:

Shipment One: Levels 1 and 2 are included

Shipment Two: Level 3 + Level 3 Electives (The optional Pathways Mentor Program is also offered)

Shipment Three: Level 4 & 5 + Level 4 & 5 Electives

Printed materials are paced to match the timing of your journey. When your vice president of education (VPE) verifies that you have completed the projects in that shipment you will receive the next shipment. The VPE will use the level verification completion forms, included in your package, to verify the completion of your levels. 

Additionally, I will forward your email onward for review and consideration for possible future updates. Thank you for helping us expand so that we may continue to help our members grow!

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please let us know. We are happy to help!

Best Regards,

(name deleted for this blog)

Education Program Team

Toastmasters International

Where Leaders Are Made

(contact phone and mail deleted)