How long's a piece of string?

[Vic Evans]

Mme is on one of her 'tidy up' sessions & going through two lounge cupboards putting aside anything I might have stashed to ask the inevitable " can this be chucked?"
One of the items was a programmable RF remote control which had become seperated from the relays I had used to switch some long since sold 2kW electric inertia radiators.
I asked her if she's seen the bag containing the relays so they could be reunited so she asked "what do they look like?"
I explained as best as I could & told her they were white.
She then asked "are all relays the same?" & gave the evil eye when I replied "nope, there are hundreds if not thousands of varieties of all shapes & sizes doing similar but different jobs you'd never understand.
"OK then" she asked, "explain how they work"
I lost her after my first sentence when a glazed look took over her visage.
She seemed quite happy just to know they were white & stupid old me should have left it at that.
Aaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!

[mickthemaverick]

I know that syndrome only too well. SWMBO has a negative grasp of technology and as life goes on she is finding it harder and harder to live. It took her three years to convert to using the phone app for banking, and she only did that because they closed her branch in town and she didn't want to keep doing a 24 mile round trip to go to the bank. At that point I had to spend a week or two going through each option with her until she finally got it sorted. Now she can transfer money between her acounts and to me so that I can buy and pay for anything she wants online!!

[myglaren]

It's a commonly held belief that women can't grasp technology. There is a very long going thread on ARRSE on just this subject. Makes me wonder if I married a man as my wife had no difficulty with suh concepts.
It may have it's origins in her school days, when she excelled in the science subjects and maths as she "wasn't going to let the boys think that they were better than her"!
And no, she wasn't in any way masculine, far from it, but wasn't phased at all with many of the things that seem (apocryphally) beyond most women.
A huge vocabulary, very literate and numerate, laughed at calculators and did it all in her head. A damned sight smarter and quicker than me, no contest whatsoever.

[Vic Evans]

I don't think its that they can't grasp technology but more likely don't need to or 'have better things to do' etc
Mme is far from stupid & since I've retired, controls all of our finances as I have better things to do
She's always shied away from the many mechanical things we have & need to manage our 3 Ha of garden & fields as I've always done the lions share but recently asked me to source a self propelled, walk behind flail strimmer to enable her to keep the boundaries of her horse fields clean.
I agreed as long as she could control the 180 kg, 4 stroke beast which has 3 forward & 1 reverse gears, independent wheel brakes for steering plus other levers etc .
I showed her how to start it, ran over the controls & stood back whilst she took her first attempt at using it.
Much to my surprise she reversed it out of the barn & proceeded to drive it like a good'un & has done since without any help from me.
I guess it's because she wanted to do it & wouldn't let a machine beat her.
She's only 5ft 2" & 46 kg soaking wet so respect due & given.
Oh yeah! She drives any car likes she's born to it & is a really good driver.