LIFE IN A BOX

I was driving down a side street yesterday and passed a house with some boxes of garbage at the curb. As I drove by, I noticed the shape and color of one of the pieces of trash resembled an old iMac. Being a huge Apple Computer buff and collector of old Apple Computers, I quickly turned back to see that, yes, someone had thrown out a seemingly intact Bondi Blue iMac. They had also tossed a crummy old scanner and a lousy old printer. I snatched the iMac and put it in my trunk. I brought it back to work to see if it would...well...work! I booted it up and it worked! It had some software on it and a whole bunch of Microsoft Word documents.

I started to feel a little weird about this. Maybe the people didn't mean to throw this out. I mean, a working computer jammed with files? I kept telling myself that it was left on the curb and therefore was free! Another part of my brain was imagining some kid getting ready to move out of the house, coming out of the front door with another pile of stuff for the moving van, going, "Where the hell's my iMac??" After work, I drove back down the street and saw all the boxes were gone. I don't even remember exactly which house it was.

I decided the iMac was mine and voyeuristically started rummaging through the files. Not to find any information to steal or credit card numbers or anything, but just as a peek into someone else's life. In doing so, I discoverd that the previous owner was an 80-ish year old woman who co-owns a business with her children. She used to be a Rockette and was Vice-President of a Rockette alumni association. She also gave dance classes to older folks. There were other files pertaining to business affairs and personal ones as well. Family problems, medical problems and email jokes abound in this thing. I also found a couple of files regarding wills and inheritences and funeral plans. I'm guessing the woman was getting old and none too healthy and was planning for her demise and is now dead. I suspect her children threw out this old (6 years old!) computer rather than try to sell it on Ebay or whatever.

I had every intention of wiping this computer's hard drive clean and letting my son use it. I am now finding it hard to imagine erasing this woman's life from the iMac. It's as if her soul is trapped inside this blue box. (I mean that metaphorically; I don't belive in souls as literal things.)

I found this woman's name, email address and phone number and I'm planning to call, just to make sure it's cool to erase the stuff. Even if it is and I end up keeping the computer, I think I'm going to back up all the files to a CD and keep it in storage. It's weird, but I just don't feel comfortable having all this woman's stuff completely wiped off the face of history.

Please keep this story in mind when you are getting rid of your computer. I am a nice guy, but imagine all this info in the hands of someone who wanted to be nasty or wanted to take advantage. I know this woman's name, family and friends, medical history, and everything else. Erase your hard drive or smash the computer when you throw it out, unless you don't mind people reading your stuff.