how CAN you be this stupid?

my mom knows absolutely nothing about technology...

*this totally steamed me and annoyed me the hell off; i figured i got the angry streak from my mom, but due to my dad's silent, shy nature, i hold it in so much...*

so my mom calls me on friday afternoon and asks if i could call back home because she can't get my cd player to work...

i'm lazy on returning calls back to mom, but oblige, calling back on saturday night...

tells me she puts the cd in, and can't get it to work...

-was i supposed to put the shiny side down?
-yes... did you make sure to set the cd dial to "cd?" (either tape, radio or cd)
-yes
-what about the cd? did you make sure to close the cd player?
-yes
-did you press play?
-yes

now i'm just getting confused; i'm running off all the thoughts in my mind trying to understand how my cd player isn't working... i end up telling my mom to just try all sorts of stuff(my mom seems to be very timid with experimenting with technology), and call me back if anything else goes wrong...

get a call back on sunday... i call back, mom's not there, so i explain as best i can on the phone how to work the thing...

get a call AGAIN on monday after class, because my mom still can't get the thing to work...

now i'm just really confused(i KNOW i did not break the cd player at all when i used it a lot back home, and it ran even though it was pretty dusty a lotta times; i took care of it)... i ask all sorts of things, like did my mom try to play a dvd in the cd player? did she try one of my music cds instead of her cds? did she wait about 10 seconds after the cd loaded to make sure it actually played? was the volume turned up?

my mom's getting angry at how i'm seeming to ask the same set of questions over and over, and i'm in return getting angry because i KNOW the cd player can't be broke...

finally...

(remember that this is all paraphrased in english; i rarely talk to my mom in english straight up, due to respect, and because my mom knows absolutely zero english besides really basic stuff; my mom's fobby like that; in a way though, it's helped me a lot; i'd say i speak the taiwanese that i use quite well)

-what does the digital counter say?
-13(ok, so i'm thinking that the cd player stopped, and isn't playing; my player shows the # of tracks if you don't play it)
-is the cd spinning?
-no
-ok, so press play/pause(i'm thinking the cd should start spinning, and the digital counter should flash, indicating that it's loading and then the player will play)
-YOU JUST TOLD ME TO DO THAT!
-well do it again!
...
-anything? is the cd spinning?
-no...
-(running exasperated through my mind right now, but not allowing myself to get angry over the phone)... ok, um, there should be two large buttons that are on the side, that say "play/pause" and "stop"... press STOP and then-
-should it stay down?
-*confused* no, it shouldn't
-*my mom's probably acting sheepish on the other side of the phone right about now* oh, you mean the SIDE buttons, not the ones on top...

so it basically turns out my mom was trying to use the tape buttons to run the cd player... y'kno, the bulky buttons that stay down when you press them, as opposed to the cd player's buttons which pop right back up...

*normally, i'd probably laugh at this, but you know how my personality is; i think i gain a new appreciation for tech support guys through trying to help my mom*

by now, as you could've guessed, i was flat out exasperated and pissed off that my mom could be so STUPID as to try to use the tape buttons to run the cd player...

i remember telling my mom before i got off the phone that "when *oua goh doa dun lie, oua be gah lee hew*"

but i love my mom... i just can't understand how my mom can be so technologically dumb...