I would not have believed it if anyone had told me this
story. ‘Fibber’ I would have said if I had been a small boy and another boy had
told me this. As a young adult, I would have said ‘Are you trying to be funny?’
As a mature adult (meaning old man) I would have probably ignored to story
teller as a foolish person, and not said anything, because there is no point
telling a fool that he is a fool. But it happened to me, and I am telling the
story. So I cannot take any of these stands.
I am still using a desktop computer and the conventional
hardware that goes with it. I have a mouse that has served me OK for quite some
time. Then it started acting up. The left mouse button would not produce a
click on clicking it, or it would click three or four times like a machine gun,
producing four windows when I wanted only one. This became especially troublesome
when I was using a graphics software. In place of a continuous line, I would
get a segmented line. I should have got a new one, but somehow it remained to
be done. One day the mouse got so bad, that the left button would not produce
any effect no matter how many times I clicked and with how much force. Work
stopped. I normally do not get angry with my hardware because it is inanimate.
But that day I had such a rage that I lifted the mouse and slammed it on the
desk surface. I half expected it to break into pieces. It did not. I
tentatively clicked it a few times and it worked like a charm. That reminded me
of radio sets which used to get OK with such treatment when I was small. Well,
this corrected mouse worked well for a few days and then started going bad
again I decided to buy a new one before it stopped totally – after all,
slamming it hard might not have worked a second time. So I bought one and kept
it in its box pack near the old mouse, planning to attach it the next day. I
have not had to attach it for a week now, because the old mouse has started
showing exemplary behavior. It does not miss a click, and does not show any
confusion between right and left.
You may say it is just coincidence. But two
coincidences in a row is a bit too much. I want to believe (even if it sounds
irrational) that the old mouse is like a child – it behaves under threat of a
beating, and behaves even better when it fears a new mouse will replace it. I
am glad I am not in Norway
or US, where they put Indian adults in jail for disciplining their own
children. I am afraid the PETA activists might read this post and start a
demonstration in front of my house tomorrow, for showing cruelty to an animal
(even if it is hardware). :-)
