Earlier this summer my dad came up to me and asked, "Isn't it about time you get a laptop?" I was completely surprised. Usually my dad is all about being "fair", but my older sister only got her laptop this year for Christmas. He must have been in a really good mood, because I thought I'd have to wait until freshman year to get a laptop like my sister. Of coarse I replied "Yes!". There is only one problem: my dad is a PC person. I am a mac person. But since he's the one who volunteered to buy the laptop, and I wasn't about to let this once-in-a-lifetime chance pass me by, I figured I would just go with a PC. Key word: figured. Meaning I figured I should probably just go with it, but I'm not the type who will settle for something when I know there's a better option.
So, later that day, I said "Hey, dad, what are the chances my laptop could be the macbook air?" He said, "None. Unless you present me with research explaining why macs are $600 better than PCs. If you can do that, than I'll buy you and your sister macbook airs." To fully understand why he said this, you should probably know that my dad is a lawyer. He does research for a living, and loves his job, so he loves research. What he didn't know, is that I happen to be very persuasive in my research. So I set to work. I ended up with a 27 page thesis complete with charts, graphs, bullet points, customer reviews, and even an unbiased review just to make him happy. I even listed my sources.
He was very surprised that I went through all that trouble, so he dropped what he was doing, and read through my paperwork. I was sitting on the edge of my seat watching him read it, hoping for at least a smile or an approving nod, but his expression was completely blase.
After an agonizing 10 minutes, he set the packet down. He said "You definitely gave me some things to think about." and then turned on the TV. Hey at least I got him to think about it, right? Wrong. As I mentioned earlier, my dad is a big fan of research, and he decided to do some research of his own. I don't think that was very fair. He then presented me with paperwork concerning why PCs are better than MACs. Defeated, I agreed to a PC. At least I'm getting a nice laptop, right? Wrong. Again. When I told him that I surrendered, he kept going. "Hey, look at this!" He said one morning, pointing to an ad in the newspaper. "Look here, this Acer laptop has a nice hard drive and lots of memory space, and it's even half the price of a Dell! This Acer is just perfect for you! Isn't that great?" I could not believe him. "Seriously?" I asked. "Well," he said "how about you present me with research showing why a Dell or HP computer is double the price of an Acer." Wow dad.
So, later that day, I said "Hey, dad, what are the chances my laptop could be the macbook air?" He said, "None. Unless you present me with research explaining why macs are $600 better than PCs. If you can do that, than I'll buy you and your sister macbook airs." To fully understand why he said this, you should probably know that my dad is a lawyer. He does research for a living, and loves his job, so he loves research. What he didn't know, is that I happen to be very persuasive in my research. So I set to work. I ended up with a 27 page thesis complete with charts, graphs, bullet points, customer reviews, and even an unbiased review just to make him happy. I even listed my sources.
He was very surprised that I went through all that trouble, so he dropped what he was doing, and read through my paperwork. I was sitting on the edge of my seat watching him read it, hoping for at least a smile or an approving nod, but his expression was completely blase.
After an agonizing 10 minutes, he set the packet down. He said "You definitely gave me some things to think about." and then turned on the TV. Hey at least I got him to think about it, right? Wrong. As I mentioned earlier, my dad is a big fan of research, and he decided to do some research of his own. I don't think that was very fair. He then presented me with paperwork concerning why PCs are better than MACs. Defeated, I agreed to a PC. At least I'm getting a nice laptop, right? Wrong. Again. When I told him that I surrendered, he kept going. "Hey, look at this!" He said one morning, pointing to an ad in the newspaper. "Look here, this Acer laptop has a nice hard drive and lots of memory space, and it's even half the price of a Dell! This Acer is just perfect for you! Isn't that great?" I could not believe him. "Seriously?" I asked. "Well," he said "how about you present me with research showing why a Dell or HP computer is double the price of an Acer." Wow dad.