A Letter to "Santa"

Dear Mr Bill Gates,

I would like to thank you for allowing me so many opportunities to better myself during this economic downturn. Yes, times are tough for so many people--the banks, the housing market, the automobile industry--and I'm so happy for this chance I have to ignore my position as a member of a single-income household and contribute to the pockets of those around me.

Now, you, Mr Gates, are probably sitting there thinking, "But, Ms Johnson, I don't know who you are. How have I given you a chance to serve others?" I will tell you, my friend.

Two weeks ago my brand new laptop crashed. I discovered it was a software issue. For some reason, Vista, the program automatically loaded onto my new laptop, discovers problems that don't really exist and then shuts down unable to work again without doing things to the hard drive that I don't understand completely. I was very upset because there were some important documents on there that I needed that weekend. And here's where my service began: I got to pay a very nice, but very stereotypical, computer guy to take care of things for me. Thus, there went $84.

Now, mere weeks after repairing my brand new laptop, I have the same issues yet again. Software problems that have nothing to do with my laptop itself, except for the fact that it came with the Microsoft program. But, I'm looking for the bright side of this, Mr Gates, because my mother always taught me to look for the good in things. Now, I have a few choices. I can pay the same guy in the strip mall down the street from my house. OR, I can pay Uncle Sam and the United States Postal Service to mail the laptop (actually, it's laptops, because my husband's crashed a few weeks ago as well) to my computer-savvy brother-in-law to fix them for us. OR, I can just leave them broken and unused. But you, Mr Gates, may think, "Why, Ms Johnson, would you consider leaving the laptop(s) broken when you can be so generous and share the wealth?" And I have to consider your point. My husband very unselfishly spent several hundreds of dollars to purchase that laptop for me. It shouldn't go to waste. So what if my four children need food in their mouths? So what if they must bypass extra-curricular activities because our charitable contributions to the economy are more important? Oh, this reminds me, there's a chain-letter requiring me to send five dollars to ten different people or I'll have bad luck for the next fifty years. I better get on top of that soon.

Now, Mr Gates, I understand that you have stepped down as the acting CEO of Microsoft, but you do understand that you are the face of the corporation still, right? I mean, you and Jerry Seinfeld had those really clever commercials a few months back and everyone knows who you are. I find it refreshing that you would allow the corporation that has funded your lifestyle and charitable organization to keep my family and me "in the mix" with the current economic times. I appreciate it. And, Mr Gates, please, keep up the good work.

Sincerely,

Shelly L. Johnson