Breaking Up is Hard To Do
Last night I broke up with my best friend—my new Toshiba laptop. The one that was going to travel with me all over the country this year and keep me on track of all my deadlines plus entertain me with music and DVDs. Is that too much to ask?
Apparently so. Once I introduced myself – my dear best friend became my enemy. First she took a while to start and then the wireless wouldn’t work. So after nearly two hours of trying to make this relationship work I decided we needed help.
So I went back to where we first met at the local name brand office store and hoped that they would be able to fix our communication problem. I knew our relationship was doomed the moment the woman behind the counter furrowed her forehead and said “Wireless?” as though I had made up the term. She had her manager call “someone from technology”. This usually makes me cringe because from my experience at this place that meant someone who understood the word, but not necessarily what it was about.
In this instance, I didn’t get to find out because the “someone from technology” stood about ten feet away and waved to us as he continued a conversation on the telephone. Obviously I wasn’t going to get help in that direction.
The manager and the clerk smiled at me (they were nice so I maintained my good humor though my heart was breaking) and again asked why I wanted to return the laptop. I again mentioned that the wireless wasn’t working, but if they could find someone to check it I’d be happy to take it back home.
They continued to smile at me. I sighed.
(At one point the manager thought I hadn’t opened the box, I suppose she thought I had psychic powers and could determine the wireless wasn’t working with the help of my X-ray vision).
Reluctantly, I handed over my companion and the dreams of a fresh new year together. I also returned her clothes—a carrying case, which turned out not to fit her anyway. It just wasn’t meant to be.
So have you ever broken up with a technological friend? How did you cope?
