Round And Round, What Comes Around Goes Around

I was taken back in time yesterday and it was a great ride. I opened the phone book in search of a computer repair shop. The first two I called had gone out of business or just changed their numbers. The third time, proved to be the charm.

I asked the man about getting my desktop fixed. It has been broken for months. I gave an explanation of what it was and wasn't doing over the phone.

I'd basically handed the computer off to the kids when I got my laptop. Somehow they ended up getting a virus and before I knew there was a problem, the virus had messed up a lot of the programs, causing the whole thing to seem even more screwed up than it actually was.

My daughter, Lane 2, has been asking, begging and selling everything she can to get enough money to cover the cost of repairs. The first place I called months ago when it stopped working, quoted me at least $100. Even after Lane 2 had earned enough in her garage sale, she ended up donating most of her earnings toward the school fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina victims.

I've been wanting to fix it for her just because she is such a kind, giving person who makes her mom proud. I thought with her birthday coming up in a week, that would be a good gift. I could buy some games that she has been wanting and have it ready for her to turn on and get to playing on her special day.

The computer repair man said he could come over right away to look at the computer.

"I don't have to take it all apart and move everything around to get at the plugs to bring it to you?"

"Nope. It's too much trouble for people to have to go through just to have to reconnect everything. Plus, I work out of my house so I can keep the costs down for my customers."

I was blown away with the house call offering. My mind reflected back to the last time anyone had touched that computer. It had been months. I thought about the dust that must have been inside the enclosed desk.

I scrambled around cleaning baseboards of dust and cobwebs, crawling around the floor as if my house was going to have an inspection. I pulled everything off of the shelves in the desk and dusted as fast as possible. I stirred up a lot of hidden dust bunnies and went into a sneezing fit. Thankfully, I finished my speed clean before he arrived.

He was at my house 35 minutes after we hung up. That just seemed amazing to me. I think one of the dust bunnies inside of my nose peeked out to wave at him. It took three hours for him to wipe out the bad and put in some new software. My internal alert system was on because, there was a stranger in my house. So, I sat right near him and talked his ears off and watched his every move, until he finished. He also installed a newer anti-virus software so the problem wouldn't happen again.

When he was done, I asked what I owed him, and he said, "Nothing."

I couldn't believe my ears. Three hours of work, and he drove out to my house, and was charging me nothing? It just was too good to be true.

I must have had a perplexed look on my face because he said, "Your daughter did a good thing. You were doing a good thing by getting it fixed for her. I just wanted to do something good too. Tell the kid I said 'happy birthday,' will ya?"

The computer dude made me think of the good old days, when people did good things... just because.