So, back from the public holiday in the UK and I find - nothing's changed since last Friday. Is there a reason it should? Why certainly. Because Friday, in the UK, was Silver Surfer's Day. No, nothing to do with remaking the second Fantastic Four film; this was a day dedicated to people who are older and who are trying to get to grips with modern technology.
So far, so schmalzy and patronising I thought. As a 43 year old I have a few silver hairs myself, as would my fellow blogger Davey Winder if he had any at all to speak of. I imagined at first, then, that this would be like so many greetings card 'days' - a commercial ploy to get people buying more cards, books or whatever.
The disturbing thing I found on checking the website out was that this had the backing of Ofcom, the Office of Communications. This is a UK Government body that regulates television, Internet, games, all sorts of things - if you see something that offends you on TV, if you get an unsolicited commercial phone call, you can call Ofcom.
And here it is, backing something that perpetuates the old myth that older people are somehow handicapped when it comes to using technology, say, to surf the Web. My mother is 70 and she has no trouble but we'll let that pass. So I had a look at a local computer store this morning and would you believe about a third of the books on display were for older people trying to get the hang of their computers.
I don't swallow this. Of course there are people with Alzheimers and that's a different and very serious case, but most older people manage perfectly to drive, operate a DVD player and yes, they can use a computer as well. Computers are easy and once you're over the 'good grief it's a computer' stage there's nothing left to worry about.
Maybe the difference is that once the kids have left home, once the house is paid for, they have more money for books and will buy something they think is going to help them. If there' anyone out there who identifies themselves as 'older' and thinks I'm wrong, feel free to get in touch.