I just finished watching Disney’s cartoon rendition of A Christmas Carol with my kids, and one of those crazy ideas came to mind. So brace yourself and read on! Let’s jump back to old England, back to the days of Ebenezer Scrooge and transplant him into the world as we know it where we’ll find him perched over his computer as the hours wear by of his melancholy, money counting life.

So there he be, a typing away on his letter faded keyboard. Digit after digit rattled by. Scrooge was unfrizzled by the latest turns of the economy. He’d invested heartily in gold, and the price kept skyrocketing. His partner, Marley, had always been an oil man, but now Scrooge’s permanent frown almost cracked the slightest grin, thinking how penniless his partner would have been now, had he lived to see the light of today.  “Ba humbug,” he barked.

The doorbell rang. “Not a’gin,” he raged as he shuffled over to answer it. Two young men stood outside, charitable beggers, no doubt.

“I’ll not ‘ave any,” Scrooge replied before the familiar question was sounded. “Not a single cent to spare. Stocks are down an’ I’ve got to pinch.”

“Sir,” one of the men began, “just take this. That’s all we ask.”

And then they left.

Scrooge stood there, in the doorway, holding in his hand a small plastic Santa stocking trinket. Back at his desk, he pulled out the magnifying glass and peered at the object. “CFgear.com,” stated the micro print on the back. The larger print on the front glared out “Make a Difference Today.”

“Ba humbug,” Scrooge muttered. He pressed the solitary button on the stocking, and a metal USB tongue slid out.  It was a flash drive.

“Viruses, no doubt. Those sneakin’ devilish liars.” But curiosity caught the best of him, and he jammed the drive into his desktop.

Instantly, a movie of his past life sprung up on the screen. He stared at it, eyes frozen in time. So many memories. So many of them sad. The first movie ended as another one began. “Christmas Present,” the title stated as he saw his own selfishness revealed by others. By the time the last movie began, Scrooge was ready to recant.

“Can this be undone? Must this future be played out?” he screamed at the monitor.

The movie ended, Scrooge was shaking. “I’ll change! I’ll change!” he shouted.

As if a test, when he dried off his eyes and pushed away from his desk, he caught a glimpse of an article at the top of a solitary page from the newspaper that had fallen to the floor. “Students Lack Technology” the article’s headlines read. Scrooge skimmed the article and a brainstorm hit him harder than a packed snowball.

“Eureka!” he yelled. “I’ve done it! I’ll visit CFgear.com ASAP and order several hundred of their school flash drives, preload them with the software those students need, and bring Christmas cheer to all”

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