The Gift of the Nagi

Baby Mark, Mom, Sister Rhea

Mark has given me his instructions as to what he wants for his birthday/Christmas. I have already failed. He wanted a new smart phone, so I got him one. His request was for a Samsung, which I got him. Unfortunately I did not get him the model he wanted, I got him the next one below. Mark threw a tantrum, squawking and squealing about how he couldn't use this cheaper model and how he specifically told me he wanted the better model. So I explained how the less expensive model operated exactly the same as the more costly one. All Mark does is text and talk on the phone. He doesn't need all the bells and whistles.

"But it has less memory..."

"It has more memory than you will ever use."

"But, but....waaaaaa "

I realized early on, like when I was around nine years old, that I will never get exactly what I wanted unless I got it for myself. Back then I saw the Deluxe Playmobile Dashboard on television. I lusted after that toy. It was a reproduction of a real automobile dashboard with working lights, windshield wipers, turn signals, and a shifter that shifted. I dropped every kind of hint I could that I wanted one. On Christmas morning I jumped out of bed with anticipation. That Christmas my big toy present was a microscope with glass slides that had tiny bugs on them. No Deluxe Playmoble Dashboard, only a stupid educational toy. Down the street my friend, Arthur Bernhardt, gleefully played with his brand new Deluxe Playmobile Dashboard along with a few other deluxe toys. I was very jealous until Arthur allowed me to play with his new toy. Within three minutes I was bored. It was not a real car, and just how long can a nine year old kid pretend that he's driving a chunk of plastic. But it all turned out just fine. The next year I got a slot car set. Well, I kind of got a slot car set. It wasn't all mine, I had to share it with my brother.