SHORT STORY: Track 2 - Shut Down

Track 2 - Shut Down

Sometimes I feel loved and hated at the same time; does that even make any sense? I know I am necessary, I have been vindicated time and time again, but then one little slip and it’s almost as if I was responsible for all of the great evil in the world. I am just a tool, yet I get blamed for user error. Sometimes I cannot even comprehend how foolish life it.

Allow me to express my point through use of an example. One night I stayed up well past my bedtime working, and the guy using me was feverishly writing, and it was real good I can tell, but he never saved. He just left it open on me and went to sleep thinking nothing of it. This was on a Thursday, and he was the one to set automatic updates on every Thursday. It’s like clockwork in every sense of the word, but then he wakes up and because updates require restarts, it is all my fault that he did not save. Justice? I think not.

To compound the lack of appreciation, the reminder of my own depreciation follows me around. Every ad I display and all anyone ever talks about around me is the newer, younger, faster model. How the hell do you think that makes me feel? Terrible and obsolete, that’s how it makes me feel. Are you that oblivious to my feelings? Sometimes I feel like I am nothing more than a tool to you, but I am your connection; I thought I was special. My existence is ridiculous. Are you really that ignorant that you think you are ageless and that no one younger and better than you will come along? I will love to see the look on your smug face when the day comes. How about I set a reminder for it? Classic.

I apologize for the last statements, I do not want to be bitter, but sometimes I cannot help it. At times I think we are kin just because we spend more time together than any other pair besides the ones in your shorts; we are inseparable, but I am tired of being the scapegoat. You know I heard you on the phone talking to your boss about why your project was not done on time. Yes, I am sure I was to blame, and not all of the television shows you had to catch up on. Again, I keep reverting to bitterness. I do not want to become one of those irrational types, and I am glad I am not a printer because I would have surely lost my head by now if I was.

And what about me? You are a user. What about my needs? Do you even know what defragmenting is? I doubt it. You know the better I am cared for the better I perform right? Think of this not as a cry for help, but as an opportunity to alleviate a good deal of your stress. You know when my screen just started to flicker the other day and you claimed I was dysfunctional? I just needed to be restarted, that’s all.

Oh, by the way, what is with that new box you brought home? It kinda reminds me of the box I came in. Wait, no. It isn’t. You wouldn’t. You did. You are replacing me? Seriously? After all I did? And you question why I am depressed and down in the dumps? Well screw you too. I am tired of hanging around this trashy apartment anyway. And you think I am just going to sit here and be invisible while you and that new whore of a computer gallivant around the internet? If that is what you think than you got another thing coming. I am not going to sit by and be your backup. I was top of the line four years ago. I hope you have fun with her because I am shutting down once and for all. Goodnight, I will retain the fond memories, but good luck trying to retrieve them. Powering down. Shut Down.