Second Thoughts ~ My Dead Pixel

Greetings Dear Reader,

On my one-year-old laptop, I have a dead pixel.  It is at the bottom center of the screen and really bothers me.  It sits right above the Windows Toolbar so every time I click something on that space, I see it.  There is nothing wrong with the laptop.  It runs great and has all the power I need. As I write this, I am running a movie on one screen, have the computer hooked to my external storage array and the video card is supporting three external monitors effortlessly.  Oh, and there is a dead pixel on the laptop screen. 

I contacted the manufacturer about the dead pixel.  The computer is still under warranty.  They let me know that the dead pixel is outside of the single dead pixel replacement zone.  I never knew there was a zone.  I do not want there to be a zone but someone decided there is a zone.  The dead pixel taunts me from outside the zone.

I asked the person on the phone if I could purchase just a replacement LCD for the laptop.  She giggled and asked if the dead pixel really bothered me that much.  I asked her if she had ever been taunted by a pixel.  She giggled again and said no.  After explaining that this particular pixel is both rude and intrusive, she full-on laughed at me.  She said I could get a replacement LCD for $100.   I reassured her that I could replace the LCD with ease as I have done so often.  She expressed that I would void the remaining two years of my warranty if I did.  There is a dead pixel on my laptop that laughed at me.

She was very polite and thanked me for being kind and for being funny.  I was trying to be kind and did not mean to be funny.  She verified my contact information and asked if I wanted to buy the LCD screen.  My wiser brain politely said no.  In case you forgot, Dear Reader, there is a dead pixel on my laptop who snickered as he realized that he would live.

I thank the service agent for her time and concluded the call.  I researched ways to hide the pixel and found a few that seemed foolish.  Resigning myself to the daily mockery of a slack, freeloading pixel, I went on to other things.  A few days later a friendly Fed-Ex driver delivered a large box to me.  In it was a laptop identical to mine with the following note:

"Dear Mr. Thorn, if everyone treated me with lighthearted kindness as you did, my job would be very easy.  I was near the end of my shift when you called and had had a very rough day.  People assume that their computer problems are your fault.  I could not solve your problem and you were still nice to me.  You even made me laugh.  Here is a replacement “LCD” for you.  Thank you for being a (NAME REDACTED) customer."

I set up my new laptop and wrote a thank you note on it.  I retired my older backup laptop, thanked the Father for His provision, and now there is not a dead pixel on my primary laptop.  The other one serves as the entertainment center and backup processor for my data.  Oh, and it has a dead pixel.  I have named it Mort.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
 

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

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Haunted by dead pixels is the kind of horror that follows your every effort to be content trying to thwart it.