Opening my Big Mouth

While working for the school district in Keremeos, I got into a bit of trouble for debating with the local newspaper editor / PC dealer whether the aging Macintosh Plus lab should be replaced with newer Macs or PCs. The PC dealer's main points (without prejudice, I'm sure) were that PCs were cheaper and the computer industry standard. My main points were that the differences between the MacOS and Windows interfaces were minimal and would not impact the education of the students, and that the extra cost of Macs were offset by their higher quality components and by substantial educational discounts from Apple.

We each got one round in (though certain salient facts were edited out of my submission) and to my major annoyance he got the last (not entirely accurate) word when I was silenced by the school board, which apparently had already had its collective mind set on a PC lab before it invited public input. The school principal gave me permission to engage in the debate, but it seems neither of us grasped the nuances of petty school board politics.

When the decision to switch to PCs was announced I asked if I could take one of the Mac Pluses home. I built most of my collection from the aged and broken equipment discarded by the various companies I've worked for, a gesture of good will from the companies. The school board (which effectively ran the administration) had no good will for me, though; they wouldn't let me take one.

The Mac Pluses were sold "as-is" to the public for $20 each. I would have bought one but we were on vacation when this was announced so I missed the whole thing. But I was shocked to find out later that the administration had actually taken the working Pluses from the lab and sold them with the broken ones from my office without identifying which was which. Yes, they were sold "as-is" but usually that's done when the state of items is unknown. The administration knowingly sold junk to maybe a dozen people, ripping them off for $20 each, while selling working Mac Pluses for less than they were worth.

I was disappointed that I'd missed two opportunities to own a Mac Plus, but a third chance came along maybe a year later at a local pastor's garage sale. One of the Mac Pluses the school had sold a year earlier sat on a table outside his church, on sale for the same $20. I felt sure it wasn't one of the broken ones: would a religious leader, ripped off when a school board sold him a broken Mac, turn around and rip off some other unsuspecting soul the same way?

Yes, absolutely he would. On bringing it home I found it was one of the broken Macs. I realize churches don't run the same profit margins as they once did and have to recover costs where they can, but this was rather shady business.

That Mac Plus sat in our basement for 12 years (one year for each disciple) until I recently spent a bit more money to fix it up. In hindsight the whole episode was worth $20. It offered me a project to work on with my kids, and it taught me that school board trustees often grow up to be politicians, that Christian leaders are as moral as anyone else, and newspaper editors are always right. That kind of education is priceless.