The Slow Computer

The Slow Computer


Victor turned on his computer. White letters appeared near the bottom of the black screen: "Resuming Windows." Victor wondered how long it was going to take this time. Five minutes later, the light blue screen appeared: "To begin, click your user name." He clicked on his name. Then he filled a pot with water to make some fresh coffee. He returned to his computer.

The desktop icons had still not appeared. Victor went into his bedroom, took the sheet off the bed and the pillowcases off the pillows, and threw them all into the clothes basket on the floor. He vacuumed his bedroom, and then returned to his computer. A few minutes later, the desktop appeared, with about 40 icons on it. He liked how colorful they were.

He clicked on his Word icon. Then he went into the bathroom and shaved. He came back out to the dining room, made himself a cup of coffee, and sat down. Word opened, a full half hour after Victor had turned his computer on. Victor typed his first name into the document. For about ten seconds, the screen was totally blank. Then "Victor" slowly appeared, one ... letter ... after ... another.