shift-delete

i remember this very well.  the wife was trying to organize her files in her laptop hard drive. she had just completed finalizing several big office reports which she had painstakingly documented over many days and nights even to the unholy hours.

now there was this stubborn big file that she was trying to delete. she saw that this was a duplicate of another file that she had just updated so she's trying to remove it to free some space. yet, however much she try to select it and use the delete key on the keyboard or the delete command on the file management menu the file does not erase or delete itself. it mockingly stayed on hoarding those precious bytes of hard drive space she wants to free.

she got impatient and sought our daughter's help.

" i want to erase this duplicate file and i can't seem to do it with the delete key.  can you help? "

" mother, there's another way of removing files even big ones.  you can use the the short-cut key combination, shift-delete. " our daughter volunteered.

" show me."

our daughter worked the laptop mouse and browsed over the file directory.  " is this the file? " i heard her ask the wife.

" yes."

i saw her place her thumb and small finger over two separate keys on the keyboard.  "there, it's done." she declared and went back to what she was doing.

the wife took over the mouse and went over her files. a few seconds later i heard her agonizing scream.  she dropped to the floor crying, thrashing her arms and legs like one possessed.  "YOU REMOVED BOTH FILES!  HU-HU-HU!  I TOLD YOU TO DELETE JUST THE DUPLICATE. O, MY GOD, A MONTH'S PAINSTAKING WORK, ALL GONE!"  she sobbed uncontrollably.

my daughter and i were both stunned.  the daughter hurried over the laptop and went over the files. nothing.  the updated file and the duplicate both gone. i stared angrily at my daughter and there was this anguished look on her face.  she was trying to grope for words to explain what had happened but her mom's tearful rantings was all we can hear.  i remembered looking into the recycle bin where all deleted files normally go.  turned out the shift-delete maneuver removes files totally and never stores them to the recycle bin so they can be restored later if need be.

" how can you be so careless! " i berated my daughter, " your mom worked so hard on that file." 

" i only tried to help.  i asked her to confirm the files before i deleted. " she defended herself.  she was also teary-eyed.  " i'm so sorry, mother! " 

daughter sat there by the laptop and i saw she was googling something over the net.  file recovery tools.   she was searching.  i admired how she managed to stay calm through all these.  i know she knows it was her fault.  she made a major mistake.  the three of us were quiet for some time. no one was talking.  the wife's sobs had ebbed now and she had started to compose herself..

" sito, we need to bring the laptop to the computer shop.  i'll just pay them to recover that file." she declared,  " i need it very badly. " 

at the computer shop we were told that we have to leave the laptop with them and it will take at least a week to recover the file but they said they cannot guarantee they'll be able to retrieve it in full.  further, they were asking so much for this recovery service.  i saw the sadness in my wife's eyes and the acceptance of what had happened. " let's just go home, " she declared, " i guess nothing can be done on this.  i learned my lesson.  i just have to build this file again. "

at home, the wife sat slumped on a seat. 

" mother, i was able to search for a file recovery tool.  if you will permit me, i'd like to try retrieving your lost file.  i'd like to correct my mistake. "  the daughter pleaded. 

" do what you want to do, " my wife answered coldly, " anyway, i'll be working on that again. i will spend many days and nights again building that report.  i just hope that you yourself learned a lesson on this.  carelessness will not do you any good. "

the daughter feverishly worked on the laptop.

 after a while, she declared triumphantly, " mother, father,  look! " 

we stared at the file directory.  there it was.  the lost file.  the wife opened it to confirm if the retrieval was successful. the look of desperation on her face faded.  the exhausted countenance gone.  she smiled sweetly at the daughter.  i was able to heave a sigh of relief.  this was a good ending for this episode.

in life, we will always find occasions to be careless. to be on the shift-delete mode.  to act swiftly without much thought or careful consideration. often, it is only later that we find we made a mistake.  most times, our ego will dictate on us, assuring us that it is okay not to undo these mistakes even if we have hurt or have inconvenienced others of these acts.  and so with indifference we go on, unrepentant.  yet,  the masters and the sages had taught that the Infinite has ways to get things evened out. for scores to be settled. for mistakes to be corrected. 

the law of karma.  we reap what we sow.  cause and effect.  debit and credit.  even if we manage to follow the ego's dictates to ignore things,  Life itself will keep on giving us opportunities to square things out.  even if it means living life again and again...