Gmail Spreads Joy
Just over halfway into a jampacked evening Julie and I realized that we just weren't going to make it to the theater in time for opening night of The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy. We had already taken in the Tiger unveiling at the Apple store, eaten dinner, and met some friends for a birthday happy hour.
It was time to hail a taxi.
As usual the first few passed by our waving hands. We began to fear that we would have to walk across the Key Bridge and would be desperately late for the movie.
Just as we started to walk a cab stopped and we beckoned him to roll down his window.
"How much to the Georgetown movie theater?" Julie asked remembering many bad cab experiences in the district. Crossing from the Virginia metered area to the D.C. zones present a whole new level of complexity to the price. "Seven dollars," said the cabby, adding "what did you think I would say, ninety?" as we arranged ourselves in the back seat.
Speeding across the bridge and quickly on to the Clara Barton offramp, I told Julie about the free flickr pro account I had left to give away and about how glad I was to have found a home for the first one.
"Can I have the other one," asked the driver. A little shocked but happy that he was taking an interest, I asked if he took digital photography. He didn't have a digital camera so I began explaining how flickr worked.
Fascinated, he asked if I knew about other things on the Internet.
"Do you have Google mail? I have signed up many times but can't get one." I have had a gmail account since very early in the beta thanks to some connections deep in the googleplex. Perfectly happy with my service from fastmail.fm I don't use it much but have shared many an invitation. Last I checked, I had about fifty left.
"Would you like an account," I asked. "Give me your e-mail address and I will send it tonight." As we pulled up to the theater I finished writing his address and went to pay the fare. Yet he insisted that I keep my money. "You cannot buy friends," he said and sent us on our way.
True to my word, I sent him a gmail invitation that night. A few days ago when I checked my account to see if he got it I was greeted with a kind note of thanks.
Well Sam for lack of better words the only thing I can think of is just to say THANKS A MILLION OR A BUNCH.
One of the beauties of life is just being yourself genuinely will earn you out of life what deserve out of life.
Once again Sam I genuinely appreciate your gmail gift\present.
Your new cabi Ethiopian friend
I love the Internet and the joy it brings!
Oh yes, and the movie was a barrel of fun.
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Who is this guy?
I liked HHGG, quite a bit myself. Missy fell asleep.
But I will confess, I don't understand the allure of GMail. I mean, it's a nice status symbol and an interesting experiment in e-mail user interface... but other than that it's just another place to hang your "@". Also, haven't they opened it to the masses anyway?