My last adult ed class was in comedy screenwriting at UCLA, so right away there was substantial student self-selection. This morning, however, I joined 25 or 30 other tech-challenged adults aged roughly 18 to 65, with quite a few more at the top end, to try to learn something about Excel. I’m not yet sure why I’m taking this particular class, other than that I’m interested in the program and know it can come in handy. Also, the reg fees at the community center are almost embarrassingly low.

Tech-challenged puts it mildly. I suddenly felt like a computer whiz. But although I was both amused and impatient at the confusion engendered by every instruction from the teacher, I was impressed. Most of these people have clearly been through ESL — some with more success than others — and here they are in a computer class. I speak a little French, some street Spanish and a smattering of German, and I can’t possibly imagine taking an Excel class in any of those languages. Quel courage! Que brava! Sehr beherzt! (OK, I admit it, I had to use the online dictionary for the German one.)

On the other hand, I couldn’t resist a snappy answer to the woman who clattered in late in designer jeans and wedges and left a trail of cookie crumbs around her keyboard. She wanted to know why the blue in my screensaver was brighter than hers, so I told her I had a better computer.