Way back in our college days…
You know…way back in the 1990’s?
Back in the day when girls had big hair…
Back in the day when were singing the Bryan Adam’s song: “Everything I Do…I Do it For You…”
Back in the day when we wore shoulder pads (or was that the 80’s?)…
Okay, I could keep thinking of these really cool things we used to do…
Or I could just get to the point.
Matt and I met at York College and began dating our sophmore year.
After a few months, our relationship began to get serious. So serious in fact, that I began to type his research papers for him.
(You know it’s true love when you start sharing a typewriter.)
This worked out just fine, because I was the kind of student who really couldn’t sleep well at night until her research papers were typed, placed carefully in a plastic cover, and turned in to the professor…three weeks early.
And Matt was the kind of student who, waited until the last minute…um…worked better under pressure.
So, our relationship grew…and so did the number of research papers I typed for him.
Ah, the memories.
Me (with my big hair) sitting in the dorm parlor at a table with my typewriter, Matt standing behind me with two or three books open…dictating his paper as I typed. It was a pretty good system. We got to spend (quality) time together…I was a fast typer…he liked to “talk” out his papers. It worked.
So one research paper leads to another, and we ended up getting married just after our junior year of college.
For a wedding gift, Matt’s family all pitched in and surprised us with a computer. Wow! What a nice surprise!
Thus we said goodbye to our dating days with the typewriter…and entered our new lives as husband and wife with a computer.
Now, we would sit in our little apartment…me (with my big hair) in front of the computer…Matt standing behind me with his books open…dictating his papers as I typed.
Ah, it was the picture of married bliss.
Until one day.
I’m not sure what the deal was with this particular research paper…but um, well…it was due in about five hours…and we were just sitting down to start typing it. (It must have been soccer season…which took up a lot of Matt’s time…and prevented him from getting his papers done three weeks ahead of time.)
So, we were a couple of pages into the writing of the paper. Matt started looking through one of his books to clarify the facts in his head before he started dictating some more.
And I decided to take advantage of the pause in typing to close my eyes and stretch.
Bad idea.
I straightened my back and kicked my feet forward to stretch my legs…
And I opened my eyes to a blank screen.
Yep, I had kicked the cord and unplugged the computer.
Matt looked up and saw what had happened…looked shocked and dismayed for about two seconds…then smiled and said…”Ah, man. It’s my fault. I should have been saving it more often…and I should have started earlier in the first place…”
Of course I was sitting there sobbing at the computer (like all the good wives do when they have just helped their husband get a bad grade)…
So I hiccupped and apologized and asked him what he was going to do now…
And he just calmly picked up the phone and called the professor and told him that his research paper had just accidentally been erased. Not, “My wife just chucked my paper”…just , “it got erased.” He didn’t even slander my good name.
Did I pick the right guy to marry or what? (Especially if I was going to do this kind of thing very often…)
Oh, and the professor was kind enough to give him a deadline extension…and we started over…and the paper was better than it would have been in the first place…and I think he got a B on it.
The end.
I did continue to type his research papers..so he didn’t really fire me that day. But you better believe that we clicked that save button obsessively from then on.
We still do.
Now what should I tell next…about burning the barn..or shoplifting? Or any of the others on the list?
Filed under: 
