My son asked me a weird question when he entered high school: "Can you tell all my friends that you drug test me randomly?" I looked at him and said, "I don't drug test you." He smiled and said, "I know. But if they think you’re a psycho who tests me every Sunday, I can say no to everything at parties without getting roasted. I just blame you." Now, whenever someone hands him something stupid, he hits them with: "Bro, I can't. My dad is an absolute lunatic, he tests me every week and he'll take my car for a year." Done. Zero peer pressure. Zero lost street cred. Parents: be the villain in their stories. Give them the excuse they need to stay clean without feeling like an outcast.

We are quietly isolating an entire generation of older people from society, and nobody seems to give a damn. I took my 84-year-old grandfather to his local bank branch on Friday. The exact same brick-and-mortar branch where he opened his first account in 1978. We pull up to the front doors. They’re locked. Inside is an empty lobby with a small sign: “Cashless Service Hub.” A young guy in a polo shirt opens the door and tells us: “We don't handle teller deposits or paper checks here anymore. You just need to download the mobile portal and scan your routing number.” My grandfather pulls out an old flip phone with a cracked screen and a paper pension check from his coat pocket. His hands were visibly shaking. The employee just shrugs. “You can do it on an iPad, or have a family member manage the app for you.” This man worked forty-two years in a manufacturing plant. Paid his taxes. Fought for this country. And now he is made to feel completely useless and stripped of his dignity because he doesn't own an iOS device. Tech isn't making life easier if it completely locks out the people who built the world we’re living in. Are your elderly parents or grandparents running into this wall too?