My parents are still using the same AOL email address they made in 1998.
By @noelkay · Nostalgia
I love them, but it’s getting to be a genuine problem. They miss important emails for bills and appointments because their inbox is a mess of spam and forwards from 20 years ago. I want to help them switch to Gmail but my dad thinks it's 'too complicated.'.
The full story
My parents set up their AOL email account when I was a kid, and it's been their only email address ever since. The problem is, it's basically unusable now. It's so full of ancient spam, chain letters, and forwarded jokes from their friends that they can never find anything important. They've missed doctor's appointment confirmations, bill notifications that resulted in late fees, and even wedding invitations. Every time, they blame the sender for not calling them, or they say the email must have gotten lost. I keep explaining that the emails ARE there, they're just buried under thousands of junk messages. I've offered multiple times to sit down with them and set up new Gmail accounts. I'd show them how to use it, how spam filtering works, and how to import their old contacts. My mom is open to it, but my dad is completely resistant. they says he's 'too old to learn new technology' and that he 'knows how AOL works.' He doesn't want to have to tell all his friends he has a new address. I’m at the point where I think I just need to make the accounts for them and force the issue, but I don't want to be disrespectful.
How people voted
- Facts — 43% (16 votes)
- Depends — 19% (7 votes)
- No Way — 38% (14 votes)
Readers are split: “Facts” leads with 43% — 37 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@nia — I feel like maybe the problem is less about the email and more that he just doesn't want to deal with bills or appointments.
@danaish — lol let them live in the digital stone age
@levihere — A man's email address is his castle, you don't just go changing it.
@cole — It's so nice of you to be patient and offer to help them with this. You're a good kid.
@fayehm — My dad still has a hotmail account and prints out every single email he gets 'for his records'. I feel your pain.
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