The Video Camera

For Christmas, Erin's parents bought us an extremely expensive video camera. The idea was that we would record compelling videos of their first grandchild and make them available through this blog. I was pretty excited about this and wanted to use the camera right away. A few of us had decided to go to Go-Kart track (where all the 32 year-old men hang out with their in-laws) so I decided to bring the camera with me.

I recorded some pre-race activity, including the introductions of my opponents (my brother-in-law Marc and his cousin John-Luc) and the second-hand account of a racer who had apparently died on the very same race track (the girl at the check-in assured us that the cars were not the cause). After strapping in I recorded the other racers taking off and put the camera safely in my zipped jacket pocket.

The race started well and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the cars had good pick-up. The goal was to run the fastest lap and not necessarily to pass the other drivers. In the middle of my fourth lap I spun out momentarily to the left. As the cart accelerated back to full speed I felt it hesitate, spin its back wheels and wheeze. After a moment, the problem resolved itself and I was back in the race. Three laps later I felt for the camera and noticed that it was not in my pocket. I searched the cart as much as possible when wearing a helmet and a neck restraint and traveling 40 mph. Nothing. As I pulled over to look for the camera, the track monitor approached to ask me what was wrong.

"I can't find my video camera."

"You brought a video camera on the cart?

"Yeah, and now I can't find it."

"I don't see it anywhere . . wait . . no, you're dragging it."

I'd never seen a half a video camera before, much less one that was still smoldering. The camera had freed itself from my pocket (which evidently was not zipped), fallen to the track and wedged underneath the cart. I had dragged it for at least three laps, sheering off half of the beautiful device as I drove.

We had the camera for 26 hours before I drove over it. After agonizing about how to tell my in-laws that I had destroyed their thoughtful gift, we found out that the camera was covered by a 90 day insurance policy for the full purchase price. It would be an understatement to say that they were understanding. As they laughed it off, I got the impression that they have somewhat less confidence in the father of their future grandson. I have learned an important lesson, one that everybody else already knew. Go-Karts and expensive electronics do not mix. As for the results of the race, I lost to Marc by .04 seconds in a lap where I had been dragging 2/3 of a video camera underneath my Go-Kart.