HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Navigating the online world during the pandemic can be overwhelming for seniors, so one woman hired a technology coach to help her during these times.
Debbie Watts has many talents and titles including Miss Classic Music City. She said several senior pageants are virtual right now, so it’s been a learning experience.
"It’s frustration, it’s a feeling of inferiority, it’s a feeling of something must be wrong with me," Watts said, "When I see other people doing things on their phones, and doing it quickly, and I feel like… I feel deficient."
She had that same feeling when she tried to sign up for a vaccine appointment after she heard people ages 65 and up were eligible on our news station. "So the first thing I did was go to the link that you guys provided, and the first thing that happened to me when I hit the link was it said 'error' so it must be because it was my finger that tapped on the link that was the first thing I thought: I’m a technological jinx,” Watts said.
She ended up calling the helpline. "She was the nicest thing and she laughed with me," Watts said.
Watts hopes through sharing her story, others like her won’t feel alone. After talking to fellow seniors, she realized others feel discouraged too, "and they told me the same thing if it’s something in small print they can’t see it, that stops them in their tracks," Watts said.
She was unable to find a March appointment in Sumner County, so she will be going to another county with her husband to get the COVID-19 vaccine. If you need the helpline number for people outside of Davidson County it’s 877-857-2945 to reach the Tennessee Department of Health.
