Second Thoughts ~ My Dead Pixel
Haunted by dead pixels is the kind of horror that follows your every effort to be content trying to thwart it.
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.”
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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.