As Silly As It Can Get

This was about the time when I bought my first and only camera. A digital one was way beyond my budget so I finally settled for the non digital Olympus Super Zoom. Still it had cost me bucks, but I was pretty excited. I was concerned that after college I had not been in the frame that often. The golden period of my life was going without many captures and I was worried that even I wouldn't remember how I looked during this period.

So gathering courage and money, I brought the piece home. Getting the instructions was easy, but still I wanted take utmost care for the first album. Actually, first album is as dear as the first crush/love, or the first semester/year at the college. The other concern aroused from the fact that I didn't buy the camera from any authorized dealer. If it turned out to be a faulty specimen, more than the money, I will lose the cherished first album.

Then began the process of photo shooting. We took them at virtually every possible place, for every possible situation. By the side of the window, on the sofa, at the roof and hill top, inside the car - everywhere. It was really silly when I come to think of it now, but then, so is the first crush.

After the roll was complete, our next destination was the nearest Foto-Fast shop. The pretty lady over there handled the situation. When I confirmed whether she took the roll out, she got a bit miffed showed me the roll. I got another roll inserted in my camera and left. Now the excitement doubled but so was the anxiety. Whether the camera settings were Ok while taking snaps or did we jerk while pressing the buttons .

But as they say - Think of the devil and here comes the devil. When we went for taking the developed snaps, we were told that not a single snap could be developed. The whole roll was a blank. At first, I thought it was a joke. But then she showed me the roll. The lady didn't seem pretty any more. So the camera indeed was faulty. My worst fear came to be true.

I went to the camera shop explained him the situation. He was not ready for the replacement but agreed to check it . I promised to return after the second roll would finish. Again the same procedure of photo shooting followed, albeit with less excitement. We hoped that we had done something horrible first time. When the role was processed, it was found that almost 70 percent photographs had been washed out this time. Only 3-4 of them could be developed.

I was ready vent my ire on the shop owner, when I looked the developed roll a bit closely. This time it was not a blank, rather it was overlapping. To my shock , there were some snaps which we had taken for the first roll. Then the whole picture became clear to me. The pretty lady at Foto-Fast, first took out the roll from the camera. Then she took a new roll, which she should have put inside the camera. Instead she again put the old exposed roll inside the camera and sent the new roll for the development.

This way, not only I lost my first album, but my second album also got ruined. This is as silly as it can get.