I’m sharing this story with you so you don’t have to go through the horror I experienced.  Please, people, learn from my mistakes and have a fruitful life before it’s too late!

I was blogging when The Boyfriend brought his puppy, Blue, over.  Spuff was not amused. 

In all the cat-dog chaos, I set my laptop on top of a burning candle.  Not on purpose. 

The Boyfriend, a firefighter, asked what was burning.  I said, “I’m not cooking anything tonight that smells like toxic plastic.”  Then I noticed my laptop, rapidly melting around the flame of the candle.  

What now?  I’m sitting two feet away from a fireman and nothing’s sinking in by osmosis.  Do I stop, drop and roll?  Implement my escape plan?  Begin crawling on the ground to avoid the heat and smoke?  Do I get some baking soda? 

It’s sad that all these options had to run through my mind before I actually removed the computer from the flame. 

But hey, I’m not blaming myself.  I’m blaming the school system, my parents and our government for not having the foresight to drill laptop fire relevant phrases like, “Stop, drop and roll” into my memory bank.  I mean, what catchy phrase comes to mind as a course of action when you think of laptop blazes?  See!   The empty set!  Oh sure, Texas gives every child a laptop in the classroom.  But do they teach them what to do in case they burst out in flames?  No.  They don’t.    

It’s one thing for a kid’s laptop to combust in flames, but what if it were you?  You’d be forced to talk on the phone or actually meet with someone face-to-face!  OMG!

So, that’s why in addition to opening a discussion forum here on what we can do as a community, city, nation and world to end the senseless burning of computers, I’ve started a for-profit organization called, “My Laptop Is On Fire, So Now What Do I Do?”  Or MLIOFSNWDID? for short. 

Here’s how it works.  With my new internet upgrades since the fire, you can leave your suggestions for how to handle a laptop fire, including catchy phrases that can be taught in our schools, under comments.  As soon as your comment is posted, your bank account will be hit for the cause.

Do it.  It’s for the children.