by Grace Rittenberg
"...In the auditorium, Mr. Jobs stood onstage in that powerful stance of his..."
"Damn it."
I hit and cursed my work computer. Violence toward technology didn't help, of course, but it made me feel a lot better.
"What's wrong?" Nick asked.
"It's still not really working."
"Did you call the tech person?"
"Yeah, I don't know where he is." Secretly I believed that the tech person was late so he could pretend he was busy.
"Well," Nick said, "he is pretty busy."
Nick is one of those Steve-Jobs-worshipping Apple employees. I took this job because there wasn't anything else I could do -- and it pays well. You can make more money at Apple than anywhere else since Bill Gates died.
"You called?" said a male voice. Oh, great.
"Yeah, I'm having some problems with -- "
"Move!" he cut me off. The tech guy was thin and he instantly annoyed me. "Now, what are you having problems with?"
"Well, I don't know what printer to send this to, and I keep having to restart it because it freezes when I open Safari."
He let out an exasperated breath. "You're not supposed to use Safari."
"Then why is it there?"
"The printer on this floor is Z52720-Second-Floor. I don't know why your colleagues -- " he glared at Nick " -- didn't tell you. Please, only call me for important things."
This job has taught me one thing -- I hate tech people.
"Auditorium now, auditorium now," said a voice over the speaker system. "Director Jobs has an announcement. Auditorium now."
"If it's another new iPod, I'm going to be gutted, because I just got the new one," Nick said.
***
In the auditorium, Mr. Jobs stood onstage in that powerful stance of his.
When everybody sat down, he held something up and said, "This, everyone, is the first ever iPod!"
It was something we'd all seen before. It was pretty ancient -- only about 2 gigs, no touch screen, and it was huge.
"And these," he continued, "are all the iPods ever!"
He clicked his fingers and a curtain came down, uncovering a wall of iPods.
"I have called you all here today to tell you the news. Drum roll, please!"
He clicked his fingers again, and a drum roll started.
"Apple is the most powerful, influential, expensive and profitable company in the world!"
Everyone applauded. I joined in, because I'm pretty sure it was mandatory. But it made me wonder -- what would people ever do without technology? It could all crash in a second.
"And that is why!" Jobs said, "We are now entering... phase two."
The lights dimmed. A spotlight under his face turned on and lengthened his features. And then things started getting very evil...
I hit and cursed my work computer. Violence toward technology didn't help, of course, but it made me feel a lot better.
"What's wrong?" Nick asked.
"It's still not really working."
"Did you call the tech person?"
"Yeah, I don't know where he is." Secretly I believed that the tech person was late so he could pretend he was busy.
"Well," Nick said, "he is pretty busy."
***
Nick is one of those Steve-Jobs-worshipping Apple employees. I took this job because there wasn't anything else I could do -- and it pays well. You can make more money at Apple than anywhere else since Bill Gates died.
"You called?" said a male voice. Oh, great.
"Yeah, I'm having some problems with -- "
"Move!" he cut me off. The tech guy was thin and he instantly annoyed me. "Now, what are you having problems with?"
"Well, I don't know what printer to send this to, and I keep having to restart it because it freezes when I open Safari."
He let out an exasperated breath. "You're not supposed to use Safari."
"Then why is it there?"
"The printer on this floor is Z52720-Second-Floor. I don't know why your colleagues -- " he glared at Nick " -- didn't tell you. Please, only call me for important things."
This job has taught me one thing -- I hate tech people.
"Auditorium now, auditorium now," said a voice over the speaker system. "Director Jobs has an announcement. Auditorium now."
"If it's another new iPod, I'm going to be gutted, because I just got the new one," Nick said.
When everybody sat down, he held something up and said, "This, everyone, is the first ever iPod!"
It was something we'd all seen before. It was pretty ancient -- only about 2 gigs, no touch screen, and it was huge.
"And these," he continued, "are all the iPods ever!"
He clicked his fingers and a curtain came down, uncovering a wall of iPods.
"I have called you all here today to tell you the news. Drum roll, please!"
He clicked his fingers again, and a drum roll started.
"Apple is the most powerful, influential, expensive and profitable company in the world!"
Everyone applauded. I joined in, because I'm pretty sure it was mandatory. But it made me wonder -- what would people ever do without technology? It could all crash in a second.
"And that is why!" Jobs said, "We are now entering... phase two."
The lights dimmed. A spotlight under his face turned on and lengthened his features. And then things started getting very evil...
