The Apple and the Tree Part Deux

My folks are a curious lot. No, not that they're heads of the most dysfunctional family around. Hardly the case, we're a very happy family, albeit not together physically.

I said that because despite their age (past 50), they're still very much techie. Even more techie than I am, which is embarrassing. Mama had to teach me how to defrag a PC, how to choose a bundled PC that suits my workload, and what to look for in a DVD player, a digital camera, and a camcorder. Darn.

My dad bought me an Atari when I was six. Mama spent hours playing Space Invaders and Circus, and plunked down moolah for new games in SM. (All original, at that time piracy only existed among HR practitioners.) I stuck with my Barbies.

When I turned eight, Papa bought me a an Atari computer. Yep, with Wordstar, I think. Mama was ecstatic. She graduated from Space Invaders to a whole slew of war games. I stuck with my Matchboxes.

Fast forward to high school. Papa bought a PC, a 386. Literally the first ones to roll off the trucks. Microsoft Windows 3.11. It was so new, MS Word hadn't been invented yet. When they upgraded to 586, I was handed down the dinosaur. I was in geek heaven.

Fast forward to today, after my kid brother's Sega, Gameboy, PS and PS2, and IPod Photo. (They really do love him.) They tell me I've been through enough and would like to give me a gift.

An IPod.

I'm ecstatic. Wow!!! And she asks me, what kind of IPod would you like?

I tell her, an IPod!

She says, Yes, which one?

I reply, The small one, Shuffle?

She says, That's so tiny.

To which I answer, The big one, I guess.

She then asks, Which one? Ah, I know, I'll get you the Video.

I reply, Oh, cool! Like a DVD player?

This apple really fell far from the tree.