Batteries Included
When I was 10 years old I asked my parents for a pair of walkie-talkies for Christmas. My friend Randy and I were planning on protecting the neighborhood by going out on reconnaissance missions, not really knowing what “reconnaissance” meant, but in every war movie we watched whoever went on one had a walkie-talkie.
Come Christmas morning I tore open a rectangular box and found two Radio Shack ‘walkies’ along with two 9 volt batteries. Batteries included! Only in a separate package that my mom had bought. I quickly inserted a battery into one of the devices and began broadcasting. Even at ten years old I realized that getting a response, especially on Christmas morning, was futile. Suddenly a voice responded, “Good morning young man. Merry Christmas.” I, along with my parents, stared at the handheld box, all wondering, “Huh?”
After a quick conversation, and wishing the unknown voice a Merry Christmas, I learned he was part of a road crew that was repairing a water main break which had occurred just outside of our development.
It was a pleasant surprise for a 10 year old boy not only to get a response and wish a stranger Merry Christmas, but also realizing that my present actually worked.