Computer, Not A Dog

 Old people, and I'm one and can, therefore, use the O word, often get themselves a dog. Why? They are "lonely" and a dog offers them love and companionship. So I am told. When I am out in the morning, I see the dog people and none of them look happy, nor does the dog seem much interested in companionship. The four-legged furries,  go for the nicely mowed lawns and decorative stone corners. We won't talk about the other necessary things that dogs do and must be picked up by their Alphas.  All in all, a dog is not only a financial drain, it demands much more than it gives. And if you think dogs love you, think again. Animals want one thing and it isn't love. It's food. That is truth about why your dog "loves" you. It knows you are the A dog in its life and you feed it. Now, a much cheaper and more productive part of your life could be a computer. Those who have a dog and a computer know this. If you gave them a choice: dog or computer, their minds would say "computer" while their guilt would go for "dog". I love dogs and have had many of them in all kinds. After the initial grief of losing a friend, my dog, I had a great wave of relief. No more did I have to deal with fleas, dog washing, veterinarian costs, kennels that were no good or picking up the you-know-what every day all day. Computers on the other hand just sit there and give, give, give, and they are cheaper than dogs. Look it up. Lonely elders who do not have computers, and there are fewer and fewer of them, should definitely go out and get one and then shop for someone to sit by you to teach you the very few basics about using them. You don't learn how to use a computer going to a class. You need someone who will almost hold your hand, often from creating a disaster by putting the wrong finger on the wrong key. A computer banishes boredom and loneliness. Lots of us, the oldies, complain about family forgetting about us. We whine that we can't get out and about as once we did. Some rue their physical incapabilities. All that trouble can be removed if you have a computer. Well, a lot of it. I don't need to feed my computer but it does cost an initial outlay plus a monthly fee for the internet. Otherwise, you don't, for basic use,  need to spend anything but time over it. Costing it out, it's way less money than a dog.  You can mail, do business, shop, go travelling, find out about your aches and pains, snoop into other people's lives and doings, get the latest news, watch movies old and new, write your life story or blog like this, read books, listen to music, play games. The list goes on forever. Dogs don't do any of that and you don't have to take a computer out for a walk at six in the morning or eleven o'clock at night. Computers don't attract fleas, have the flu or need water and food. They never bark. That is the good news. Computers are machines and no amount of petting and cooing will sometimes fix the flubs on them. You can gnash teeth, stamp your foot, growl at them and they just sit there not caring. But there is way. Along with your new computer, find a nerd. They are the computer vets. Lonely and old? Forge on and choose, not canine, but computer. You'll never be lonely again.