Saturday, June 19, 2010
3:15 AM
My First Calculator
This is as close as I have gotten so far to finding a pictorial representation of my very first calculator. Mine was white, with NO silver background, and, the top angled upward. Also, mine was made by Texas Instruments. I know they sell them for a buck in almost every store today but in jr. high, when I received mine from my dad, they were a brand new thing as far as we regular people knew. My dad had gotten a calculator for himself the year before and I remember having to ask for special permission to use it for my math homework. It was as unique as the first home computer to me at that time so I loved playing with it. I thought it was quite the innovative marvel. Precious few kids my age had their own calculator and actually, very few of their parents had yet to invest in one for their home so I didn't even bother asking for one when my dad got his. They sold them at his place of business so after hearing that I was struggling a little bit with 7th grade math, (which really wasn't an I-need-a-calculator problem as much as it was an I-can-hit-three-pointers-all-day-without-ever-using-net-so-why-should-I-care-about-math problem but hey, it yielded a cool and uncharacteristically thoughtful guilt gift from my dad so who was I to argue?
I've had countless other calculators representing most every normal price range since that time but I still think about my little white calculator that was so special to me because it was new technology AND because it was a rare gift from my dad and I wish I had possessed enough foresight as a teen to hang onto it, even after it stopped working properly, just for sentimental purposes.And about guilt gifts: They're nice but never as good as that which you have to give up to get them. I would have rather had a sober, involved dad than a calculator any day.