Toshiba's First

I was standing in the Toshiba science museum in Tokyo when I suddenly burst out laughing.  We were touring the section of the museum that was called "World's First."  Toshiba made many of the world's first technological products.  We saw the first refrigerator, the first washer/dryer, the first laptop, etc.  When we got toward the end of the timeline, our English-speaking guide said, "And this is Toshiba's first ever fax machine, manufactured in 1994."  I started cracking up.  Some of the teachers in my group asked me what was so funny, and I said, "We have that SAME FAX MACHINE at my school.  The only difference is that the buttons are in English."  My school is lots of wonderful things, but "technologically advanced" is not one of them.  We really have that fax machine from 1994.

Last week, I finally had to use it.  I found myself staring blankly at the ancient piece of technology and thinking, This thing was invented when I was in kindergarten.  I have to be able to figure this out.

It was another hurdle is a series of problems I'd faced that day.  I got an e-mail during my plan period from one of our consultants saying, "You remembered to fax those forms to Grand Rapids last week, right?"

Umm...no, I hadn't.  

I dropped everything to get the forms and figure out how to fax them.  Usually I would pass them off to the secretary, but she wasn't working that day.  Of course.  The only fax machine in the building is located in the principal's office, where I'm not allowed to go.  Desperate times called for desperate measures.  I had to get this faxed out before anyone else at school noticed my mistake.  Luckily, my boss left his office unlocked. I looked both ways in the hall before sneaking in.  If I could get everything done before the bell rang, I most likely would not run into anyone and would be in the clear on covering my error.

I stood in the semi-darkness, staring at the blank machine.  Step 1: figure out how to turn it on.  I figured that out pretty easily, as most pieces of technology from the early '90s have giant "ON" buttons (unlike today's cell phones, which I swear hide their power buttons in completely obscure places just to make our lives more difficult).  The luminescent green of the tiny screen reflected on my face, and I put my papers in the feeder.  I wasn't sure if I should put the papers in facing me or facing away from me.  I figured I'd fax it both ways just to be safe.  The place would probably get a stack of blank pages from me, but oh well.  As long as they got the important papers too, I would be happy.

I typed in the fax number, but the machine didn't respond.  I tried typing in the number with the area code, and it still just stared at me.  Didn't this machine realize that I was under a time crunch?!  There was a little over a minute until the bell was supposed to ring.  I started hitting random buttons hoping that one of them meant "send."  The buttons might as well have been in Japanese like the ones at the Toshiba museum.  Finally the machine whirred to life and started eating my papers.  I put them through both ways.  The digital looking letters on the green screen said, "SENDING...SENDING...SENDING..."

I watched it eagerly, also looking at the clock.  The bell was supposed to ring in thirty seconds.  I had to get out of the office.

"SENDING...SENDING...SENDING..."

"SENDING...SENDING...SENDING..."

"Come on.." I whispered to the machine, as if my urging would make it go faster.  I started bouncing on my toes, desperate for this paperwork to get sent.  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the screen changed to say, "COMPLETE."  I grabbed the papers, hit the button to shut down the fax machine, and get out of the office.  I shut the door behind me right as the bell rang.  Success!

I conquered the ancient technology, and the paperwork got to its destination before the parents ever figured out I forgot it.  Good day.