With both Easter and Passover behind us now, the odds are pretty good that you’ve experienced at least one Zoom or video call with your extended family. This probably includes your older relatives, for whom this technology is most likely uncharted territory. We at the Clog observed during these family Zoom calls that there are several categories of older relatives that emerge.

The relative who struggles to make it onto the call at all

Maybe they got overwhelmed by the idea of it or maybe they just couldn’t figure it out despite all the coaching they received over the phone, but this relative fails to make it onto the call for some reason or another. We’ll just have to stick to talking with them over the phone until we can see them in person again.

The relative who doesn’t know where the camera is

You may never get a good glimpse of their face throughout the entire call, but the views you receive of the bottom of their chin or their lap will make up for it. This relative gets too caught up in the conversation to realize that the camera is not trained on their own face.

The relative who forgets they’re not seeing their family in person

Sometimes this video conferencing technology can seem a little too much like real life, and this is definitely the case for the relative who forgets they’re on a video call. You’ll hear them offering up a taste of their food or saying that they have the something that someone was looking for in their own house.

The relative who can’t stop marveling at the technology

When you really think about it, it’s pretty amazing that these screens we carry around enable us to talk to people across oceans and continents. Yet this relative can’t seem to wrap their head around this phenomenon the entire time they’re on the call. They’ll share their thoughts of amazement with everyone listening — don’t even get them started on the screen sharing or the virtual backgrounds.

These experiences with our older relatives on Zoom remind us of how lucky we are to live in an age when we can stay in touch so easily with all of our loved ones. So be sure to give your relatives a call, whether that be on Zoom or another way that works best for them!