Today was a day to help my youngest son get ready for college, plus to watch the World Cup together.
First we went to the local branch of the bank I have been using since I moved here in 1971. We opened a savings and a checking account for him, linked to mine.
The young Salvadoran woman who helped us was formal but charming, as he took one of the lollipops they provide on such occasions.
He had to sign various documents, which is funny, because he has not yet developed a cursive signature. I guess they don't teach that type of writing any longer, as least where he went to school.
So he just prints his name, five letters for the first name and four letters for the last. The bank representative said it was distinctive as the scanning technology the bank uses confirmed this was his unique signature.
As I watched him sign repeatedly, I noticed he did so more rapidly each time, and as he did that, it became closer and closer to cursive writing.
Maybe by the time he graduates from college, his signature will be more like that of those of us who are much older? His 19-year-old brother and 15-year-old sister already have more conventional signatures, so part of this may be just his own unique nature.
He does pretty much everything different than do other people. And that is part of his special charm.
Once we had his accounts set up we walked to the nearby cellphone store, where we upgraded his phone to an iPhone 5s. This process took an hour and a half, and the Asian man who assisted us apologized again and again for how long it took.
In the end he walked out not only with a new shiny phone but also a tablet that will cost us $10/month over the next two years.
The latter device was my choice for him. Envisioning what his college life will be like, I know having a tablet will allow him to read books, watch movies, and access many kinds of content in a more convenient way than in possible on a cellphone or a laptop.
In the in-between tech world we inhabit, ideally we each have all three.
In the photo above he is sharing the new features and functions of the new phone with his little sister.
It turns out, although he plays no sports, my youngest son loves to watch the World Cup. We watched the thrilling battle that ended in a tie between Germany and Ghana.
Since soccer has been such a large part of my life as a parent, and both his older brother and younger sister have played for years, I was so surprised to see how Dylan, who didn't choose to play, cares about watching the World Cup.
In thinking about that, it hit me that watching sports is such a vicarious way of participating, or being part of it all, that this made perfect sense.
He may not choose to play, but he chooses to be part of the beautiful game by being part of the crowd. Perfect.
-30-
