Teen Can't Figure Out How To Put Cash into the Gas Pump To Fill Mom's Tank
Kids these days. With the advent of all things digital, sometimes it feels like generations are trying to communicate from entirely separate solar systems.
It’s certainly humbling to admit that in many ways, youngsters and teens can run absolute circles around their elders. The Guardian recently shared some fairly excruciating findings from communication group Ofcom.
This study confirms what many full-fledged adults have secretly suspected for years. Namely, it indicates that the average 6-year-old understands way more about apps, smartphones and tablets than the typical 45-year-old grownup.
Most of these kiddos have never had to duke it out with dial-up internet service, for crying out loud. A lot of them can’t even vote yet, or operate a motor vehicle, or fasten their own shoelaces.
So this degree of digital domination can be pretty intimidating for their parents to accept. But don’t give up hope — because when it comes to anything old-school, mature folks still rule.
One recent video on the Just Life News Facebook page proves this point in a hilarious way. In it, a mom asks her unsuspecting teenage daughter to purchase some gasoline.
Sounds simple enough, right? “I’m on empty,” explains Mom, “and I’ve given her twenty dollars to fill my gas tank.”
Except, in this case, the currency is in the form of cold, hard cash. The perplexed teen thinks about that for a second, then knocks on the car window.
“What do I do with cash?” she inquires, glancing over at the pump. “There’s no slot to dispense it in.”
Mom chuckles indulgently and gives her mystified kiddo another quick minute to figure it out. Then comes an amusing moment of mischievous motherly misdirection.
It takes the form of a helpful parental prompt. Mom innocently asks, “You see anything on there you can put cash into?”
The daughter considers this question and decides she’ll give it a try. She heads over to the pump, then tries shoving the $20 bill into the credit card reader.
Nope, no dice. Next, the teen stoops down, gazes straight up into the opening and gamely gives it one more dedicated shot.
In case you’re keeping score so far, the tally is Pump 2, Teen 0. But ever the good sport, the girl glances back at her snickering mother — and starts giggling helplessly herself.
Finally, Mom decides to let her troubled teen off the hook. “Go inside and hand the cashier the cash and tell him we’re at pump number six,” she patiently explains.
In this particular daughter’s defense, she took all this good-natured ribbing like an absolute champ. There’s every indication the two ladies simply shared an extended laugh and made social media smile in the process.
Perhaps the moral of this story is that it’s astonishingly easy to trick today’s kids with antiquated terminology. Want a quick chuckle? Go find some unsuspecting youngsters, and ask them why we still use expressions like “ring up a purchase” or “dial the phone.”
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