JUST GOOGLE IT !

     The word “Google,” is no longer just a noun. It is also, for the last couple decades, a verb. To “Google,” something is to look it up on the internet, even if you’re using an alternate search engine such as Bing, Firefox, Yahoo or many of the other alternatives.

     I belong to gardening groups, log cabin aficionados, cooking circles, book clubs and history pages on Facebook. Many times, just like I do, people go to these groups and ask questions having something to do with topics of interest to other members. It’s not that people cannot do their own research. It’s so easy to surf the web. Within moments you have more knowledge before your eyes than any local library could have offered you even as recently as the 1990s.

     Yet, you have Jennifer and Jason, in their thirties, asking, “What are these little green insects all over my bushes and how can I get rid of them?” I mean, come on, they as children of the 1980s clearly grew up with technology from the day Grandma and Grandpa gave Jason his first Teddy Ruxpin and Dad gave Jen a Gameboy.

     I’ll tell you three reasons why they are reaching out: A. Just like you, they are in your Facebook gardening group called Roses for the People, B. their mothers were too busy at work to garden and show them the way, and C. they are wary of “Googling,” because in the past when Jason did a search about a pearl necklace that Jennifer really wanted, one that looked just like her grandmother’s, let’s just say, image search was not their friend. (There are some things that Jason can NOT unsee.) Likewise, Jennifer did a search about health care options and had to wade through legitimate looking sites that were actually sponsored, selling the equivalent of modern-day snake oil. Next weekend, when they have time, Jennifer and Jason might do an internet search together on driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains for their eighth anniversary, but right now they need to find out what kind of creepy crawlies are sucking the life out of their newly planted rose bushes.

     On Facebook the JaJen Johnsmith profile asks about the insects. A few people offer help suggesting sprays, powders or ladybugs. Without fail in the time it takes to scroll on by, some knuckle-dragging troll will type, “Why don’t you just use Google?” Yes, why? Because Jennifer and Jason share the love that everyone else in the group has for roses. They don’t need some revolutionary, new, expensive powder that a sponsored ad insists they must buy within the next five minutes before the two-for-one sale ends, and so on. They want to know what works for you and your bushes. They don’t want to have to try each and every product, watch each and every video and testimonial. They have work in the morning. Someone in their group can help them with experience and wisdom. Jennifer can purchase the recommended clippers and a carton of lady bugs on her way home from work. Their bushes will grow better, yield more roses and they’ll make friends with other helpful people who love to garden.

     In the meantime, Mr. Justin Googlyte made a few enemies and left the conversation with a big announcement. Within the hour he’s banned from posting, group members are breathing easier and getting on with their gardening.

     That, my friends, is why many people won’t JUST GOOGLE IT!

                                       Artwork by the author, Liesa Swejkoski (1985)