The Laptop Incident (Part 2)

Ewoo! I was too numb to react or think clearly. I practically ran inside my room, dropped all the stuff I was carrying on the floor, changed to comfy shoes, carried my wallet and ran out. Until that day I had never ran and prayed at the same time in my life. I kept begging God to have mercy and deliver my eyes from tears. The worst part of the situation was that I couldn’t remember where I had left it. I called a friend who was still in class to help me check if I had left it there and her reply was in the negative. As I ran, different thoughts scrambled through my mind but the most prevalent was "how was I going to explain my carelessness to my father?” I started doing a mental calculation of all my estates (clothes/shoes/bags) and bank accounts and what it would take me to buy a new system in the worst-case scenario.

Since it wasn’t in class it had to be in the cafeteria or in the ‘free’ ride I had taken. I couldn’t stomach the possibility of my beautifully new in the car of someone I had no concrete information about, so I ran to the cafeteria hoping for the best.

As I got nearer to the cafeteria building, I began looking at every one that suspiciously. It’s funny how all the male species I passed by looked like my laptop’s abductor. (Yeah I know females steal too but in that frame of mind I wouldn’t have credited my own sex with such betrayal). There was even a young gentleman with a big black bag that I had to steel myself from walking up to and demanding rights to search his bag.

By the time I got to the counter, I was heaving heavily. Some students were buying meal tickets so I waited patiently for them. I couldn’t risk someone overhearing my inquisition out of sheer embarrassment. With my heart in my mouth I mustered all the courage I had left and asked the lady if she had seen a grey laptop in a matching grey laptop case. When the lady didn’t reply immediately but instead proceeded to call her friend, it suddenly dawned on me that I might have lost it forever.

The ladies asked me some questions pertaining to my pc’s identity and features. Then the first one smiled and said I was very lucky after which she proceeded to berate me stating how I must have plenty laptops to throw away. The second lady said I should go and buy them drinks. It’s funny how if they had asked me to buy them the whole cafeteria I would have (although that would have been subjected to the money in my possession). I collected my laptop and in that moment my world was made right again. God had indeed delivered my eyes from tears.

“Glorify the Lord with me,

And let us praise his name together.

I asked the Lord for help and he answered me.

He saved me from all that I feared.

Those who go to him are happy,

And they are never disgraced.

This poor man (referring to me) called, and the Lord

Heard him and saved him from all his troubles.”

Psalm 34:3-6 (NCV)

(Emphasis added)

Yours sincerely,

Cee

The Laptop Incident (Part 1)

So my old laptop who I named ‘ablaze’ had all of a sudden started acting up and giving me full blown ‘wahala’ (trouble). The trouble reached its height last year when I was working on my final year project. At first I thought it was a passing phase, until it’s fits of anger and temper tantrums increased dramatically in its frequency and duration. I’ll be working and the screen will just blank out and start display multi-colored lines. Being the cool headed lady that I am I took it all in good stride but that was until it started getting really angry with me for No good reason and it would shut down by itself after I had typed for hours and then I wasn’t a fan of saving while working so you can imagine how many times I sat on the floor and wept out of frustration. Anyways by God’s grace I was able to finish my project and defended it. The amazing thing was God compensated me big time by giving me the best grade in my class.

So at the beginning of the year I pleaded with my ‘Economist’ father to get me a new one and he did but that was after he gave me a serious lecture and told me this was going to be last buy and that after this I was *OYO* (on your own).

 After a few weeks of enjoying and basking in the euphoria of my new good tempered laptop who bears my name(you can’t blame me for resisting the temptation of naming anything exotic), I had to carry him (referring to the laptop) to class for a mini presentation with my supervisor. It was just a routine meeting with our supervisor to show him our architectural drawings so that he can monitor our progress and make any corrections where necessary. As soon as we were done, I went to the cafeteria to buy a meal. I was carrying a fashionable but BIG (as in one of those lady’s bags that are big enough to hide a multitude). On getting to the meal ticket counter, I couldn’t find my wallet in my bag so I had to empty the contents of my bag to get it.

I wasn’t in the mood to eat alone in the café that day as I have learnt from past experiences that a random male species who feels he has the prerogative to seat beside me will come over and ruin the meal by talking utter nonsense. So I bought a take away food pack and left. On getting to the bus stop I was lucky to get a very nice ride to somewhere very close to my post grad lodging. As I was walking the short distance from where the car stopped me to my room, images of my freshly laid bed and how beautifully I was going to sleep in it after eating came to mind. Suddenly I realized that my bag wasn’t as heavy as I remembered. I quickly opened it only to get the shocker of my life… My Laptop was not inside.

...To Be Continued