Learn How to Date Online @ Your Library!

He wants to sign up for an online dating website, but he can't sign up without submitting a photo of himself. He goes home to get one. It's a print of his wedding photo. He asks if that's acceptable. I tell him as long as it's a photo of him, it should work. He says he'll have to crop the photo so he's the only one in it. I agree.

He has no concept of how to get from print photo to uploaded photo. That's okay, most people who come here don't. I help him scan the photo and crop it for him. Then comes the much-feared Saving of the File. Although not as problematic as the Creating of a Username, the Saving of a File is often a difficult concept to teach the non-computer-savvy.

Me: Okay, now you need to type in a name for the photo so you can find it when you upload it.

Him: Type in what?

Me: A name, something to call the photo. It doesn't matter what it is, just something that you'll remember so you can find it again. Maybe a description of the photo?

Him: [blank stare]

Me: It really doesn't matter what you call it.

Him: So...uh...I could use my name?

Me: Sure, that would be easy to remember.

Him: Um, what do I do?

Me: [points] Just type your name into this box.

Him: [hesitates for a moment, presumably deep in thought, types in his name, then erases all but the first letter: "E"] Will that work?

Me: Yep, that's just fine.

(I have to admit to shortening my transcription of this exchange due to repetition.)

Then he asks what comes next, completely bewildered and lost by that point. I tell him he needs to go to the website he's trying to upload the photo to and explain what must be done to find the saved photo. He says okay, he can do that, so I leave him to it.

Later, he tells me he couldn't figure it out, so he'll have to come back another day. "Will someone here help me do this again?" Yes, I suppose we will. I make sure to tell my coworkers the file name and location of the photo.

I hope he's divorced.