Tale of a digital wonder
January 4, 2011 (Tuesday)
I have two MP3 players. One of them is a very expensive and sophisticated piece of equipment that was lovingly and generously given to me by my children on my birthday. I love it. I also have a very tiny MP3 player that cost only $9.95. It came with earphones and contains a rechargeable battery (recharges by simply plugging it into a usb socket on the computer). At first glance you might think it’s a flash drive — you know, one of those little sticks about the size of a small finger that is useful for storage or transfer of data from one computer to another, a function once performed by the floppy disk. Closer inspection reveals an on-off switch and a volume control that also selects music stored on the device. If I am not mistaken, it can store up to 1 gigabyte. It came with earphones and battery. (It was suddenly taken off the market after I had bought one. I don’t know why). When I walk for exercise, I drop it into my shirt pocket and enjoy the music.
When I returned from my walk last week, I forgot to take it out of my shirt pocket. When I did my laundry, I neglected to check the pockets of my shirts as I usually do, and my little digital wonder went through the complete washing cycle, totally immersed in soapy water with other additives. I did not know it was there until I put the clothes in the dryer and heard a strange noise. After checking on the noise a few times, I finally discovered it was being made by my MP3 player slapping the sides of the big dryer drum. When I retrieved it, I assumed it was ruined.
After giving it a day to dry out before turning it on, I was ecstatic when I tried it out. It works perfectly. The earphones were damaged, but my music is intact, and when I walked yesterday afternoon, it sounded just fine. For $9.95, that’s a bargain.
I can’t help thinking that if I had been bounced around by an agitator in hot soapy water and fabric softener for 30 or 40 minutes, and then for good measure banged around in a red hot twirling drum for a few minutes before being rescued, would I still have my songs? And then I ask myself, when life has treated me badly, do I still sing?
I remember seeing a headline in 1940, before America entered World War II: “BLITZKRIEG!” London was being bombed every night and death and destruction were everywhere. The words coming from London were these: “London can take it!” As the British people patiently faced suffering and danger, they set an example of courage and bravery for the world to follow.
Whenever I think my life is hard, may I call to mind the words of Job, “When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” “No pain,no gain.”