Another Story About My Sister
During a recent phone call, my parents and my sister talked about the new computer they bought, to replace the failing old one. My sister pointed out that one problem for her was that it didn't have a floppy drive--"How am I going to bring files home to work on the computer here?"
After mercilessly teasing her about still using antiquated 1.44 MB magnetic storage, I suggested that she get herself a USB flash/keychain drive. She had never heard of this technology, not to mention seeing one. Admittedly, I am a great big geek and ahead of the curve, but how could you be a functional adult in a modern office and a regular reader of the New York Times, yet never have heard of them?
I accidentally let go the fact that I had a spare (as recounted in my post "Not A Paid Advertisement for Staples"). She immediately asked if she could have it. I hemmed and hawed about it--I do find it useful, and it would involve shipping it across a friggin' border to get it to her. Since then, when she asked a second time, I told her definitely no--it is too useful to have a spare hanging around, for secondary uses or in case of failure or loss.
Incidentally, did I mention that she's an attorney in New York City? Admittedly, her salary fell out of the six-digit range when she went to work for the state, but still, c'mon...
And it's not like it would be that much work for her to get one: walk 0.55 miles to the CompUSA on Broadway: [actually, if she's headed to the Columbus Circle subway stop, she's most of the way there already]
If she wants to be as pathologically cheap as I figure she is, she could spend 98 cents to buy the cheapest-ass CompUSA 16 MB USB drive. Yes, I know 16 MB sounds like a joke to all of us, but it would be 11 times more storage than what she's bringing home on a floppy.
Anybody have a useless conference swag USB key they want to mail to her for me?
Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that my sister, despite being born four years before me, is not of our generation. She is actually a 65 year old spinster with an extremely youthful appearance. It really explains some of her prissy behavior and antiquated mores to a T. ("...and those women were discussing birth control! Right there in the lunchroom! It was just... so... so... improper!")
posted by Bats @ 6:58 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Ninety-eight cents?
Wow.
Google gave me a 256 MB drive as a thank you when I gave a talk there. I was not especially impressed.
So how did you manage to get all the good genes in your family before she was even born? Did your egg beat up her egg while you were in the ovary, or what? Were you little pre-zygotic mugger?
After hearing about it on eit, I bought the 1GB flash card that folds in half to reveal a USB connector for my camera. I felt so guilty when it arrive in a container+box that was at least 10 thousand times the volume of the actual product.
Heh. The bit I can't let slide is that she needs the USB drive so she can work when she goes home to your parents' place on the weekend! And, the heck with the USB drive, why does she not have a laptop? So odd. I'm thankful my sister isn't a space alien.
She actually does have a laptop; she just doesn't want to bring it home from the City to Long Island on the train. This sounds completely alien to most of us, who have larger files, a library of necessary stored files, and customized user interfaces/software, but considering that she brings her files home on a floppy, I figure her computational demands are pretty low.
It's pretty amazing that your sister managed to pick up that War Survivor, rubber-band saving mentality without actually going through WWII. What exactly is she doing with her presumably well-feathered nest egg? If you're lucky, she's saving it for when your folks get old & need taking care off (hey, you'd be off the hook!)
Color me puzzled.
Strangely enough, I was in a Staples yesterday and saw some of those little floppies in brightly colored cases and thought "Wow, they still sell those? Who buys them?!" Now I know.
I believe that my sister probably got her stingy meme from my mother; she is old enough to remember post-World War II Japan and the extreme privation of that era. My mom's behavior can get a bit exasperating: "Mom, we got rid of those curtains when we moved into the house in 1976, because they were too bloody ugly. Why are we keeping them in the basement and letting them grow mold? In case they suddenly come back into style? In case we have a sudden emergency need for curtains?"
Also, I think my family was a noticeably less well off during my sister's early childhood, in comparison with mine. There might have been some positive reinforcement of thrifty behavior that got totally out of hand during her childhood.
I am a bit scared and curious about what kind of nest egg she is amassing--it would be very nice if she steps up for a big chunk of my parents' care.
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