It’s the little things

I suspect E has one of the oldest running laptops in the world. After twelve years it was finally time to replace E’s Apple PowerBook G3. He loved that laptop. He would have kept on using it if the network card hadn’t crapped out on it. Never mind that it would only run OS 9. Or that the hardware was not compatible for an OS X installation. Or that the older Internet Explorer and AOL browsers that he used were often crash with today’s websites. It did just about everything he needed it to do.

Nevertheless, it was time for a new one. I can get a discount at the university bookstore. We picked out a new 15-inch PowerBook G4. I whip out my employee card and the clerk writes up the order. E wants to charge it on his business credit card. The clerk says that their policy is that only the employee buying the computer can pay for it. I am ready to argue with them that this is a stupid policy and demand to see the manager. E, however, chimes in with the comment “We are domestic partners.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Of course you can pay”, the clerk told E. She was very apologetic through the rest of the transaction. I felt silly that I was about to go off the deep end. But I was also very amazed and pleased that our domestic partnership was good for something. It was totally unexpected and wonderful at the same time.