New Recording 24 (2) (1)

The speaker shares the story of the best gift they ever received, which was a gaming computer. They had wanted their own computer since they were 13 but faced obstacles like financial constraints and a negative experience with an online predator. Eventually, their parents surprised them with a high-tech gaming computer as a Christmas gift, which made it the best gift they ever received. The timing seemed right, and it may have been a way for their parents to make up for not being able to visit during Christmas. The speaker believes they earned it due to their academic achievements and personal growth. what's the best gift you've ever received so I feel like the best gift I've ever received could be kind of seen as superficial but to me it meant a lot it kind of started when I was about 11 12 living in the UK with my parents it's just me I'm an only child we're in the UK Brighton technically the whole area kind of a long story that but basically I'm an only child didn't have any siblings so I guess you could say I was spoiled a normal amount that would be for an only child but I wouldn't say I'm like a spoiled kid yeah you know my parents have a lot of limits and this was definitely a hard limit for a very long time but I loved like playing games on the computer specifically the Sims franchise I was obsessed with like the Sims 1, the Sims 2, even the Sims 3. And you played this on whose computer? The family computer. So it was like a universally used computer. My dad introduced me to the Sims 1 and he loved me ever since I played that game but basically a lot of people I knew who was in my little community you know they had really nice computers and what allowed them to like do really cool stuff and I was like I want that but I didn't have that inspiration until I was about 13 and I was going to school and my cousin had just entered the sixth form which is like kind of like your equivalent to your last few years of high school in terms of age and she got her own laptop and I was like whoa like laptops exist like I didn't think that was a thing and it inspired me to like want my own computer instead of just having the family computer yeah so what I would do with every birthday every Christmas anything that you know had a list I would like write down I want a computer. And this started at 13? About 13 I would say. Because 13, about 12 to like 13 is like kind of beginning of high school and she has already left at that point because we went to the same high school for like a year. Because she was in her last year and I was coming in so we have about 4 year age gap so I was like okay I want my own computer. So I would write it down, write it down and my parents would not listen to me. My parents had this thing where they would like take a couple of things off my list and give that to me for my birthday which obviously I was grateful for. But my dream. You still wanted that computer. I wanted that computer. It was really bad. And for years I would ask, for years they would say no. And eventually. Why were they saying no? I think money was definitely a part. My parents weren't doing, my parents were fine but you know they weren't doing amazing. My mom is a self-employed dance teacher and my dad is a self-employed cleaner so you know self-employed you know still doing good money but at the time they weren't doing amazing. At the time it wasn't that great. I think at some point my dad had to go. My parents met through casinos so sometimes my dad would fall back on going back to the casino and working as like a dealer, like a car dealer. So anytime money was bad my dad would start working nights at casinos. So sometimes that would happen. I don't know if that happened around that time but all I do know is that I just wanted a computer and every time I would ask my parents would subtly like say no by not getting it for me that year. So I'm just going to put a warning now unfortunately for some grooming. When I was about 16 years old I unfortunately within the community I was in there was a creep online who basically started talking to me. And you know at 16 you think oh my god an awful man is talking to me that's so cool. But obviously you know later I was like wow that was awful. And basically I was doing it like you know I was talking to this guy on a laptop trying to be secret from my parents basically hiding which is not good. And basically my parents found out by accident and they were furious of course and they were obviously scared and upset and it was a lot of whirlwind of emotions. Obviously at the end of the day they were just trying to protect me. But I think around that time they were probably planning on giving me a computer. It held them back a little bit. Yeah like I like ruined my chances at that point which is understandable like it was a horrible ordeal. I wish I never had to go through that. That was through the age of 16? When I was only 16. Only 16? Maybe I turned 17. Around there. Yeah. A year and a half here. Yeah it was pretty bad. So I got out of that situation. Unfortunately that man never faced justice as he should have. Yeah. So cut off that dream for a while. I think I sort of, I would still put it on my list and there was one time I tried to tell my dad I wanted a computer and he kind of like snapped at me. Yeah. I thought it was a money issue. I don't think it was a money issue at that point. So I sort of let it go for a while but you know I'd still always ask. And there was one time, it was like 2016, my grandmother wasn't doing well and my friend really sympathized with me, my best friend. And she was like, hey, I will give you my old computer and I was so grateful. I would eventually end up moving in with this friend and she didn't give me her old computer, she gave me her husband's old computer. So she would actually end up giving me her husband's old computer and when I moved in with them I got that one. And it wasn't like it wasn't good, it was just kind of outdated. It just wasn't the one for gaming. Right, like at this point we had Windows 10 out and it was like Windows 7. So it was kind of old but I was very, very grateful, you know, I still did the stuff that I wanted to do, but it wasn't one I wanted, you know, it wasn't my own push. It wasn't what you get, you didn't get the one yet. So I would start, so the year of COVID hit and unfortunately this is going to be the one year my parents wouldn't fly out to see me for Christmas because usually they would, right? When did you move to the US? So in 2019 they visited for Christmas and then in 2020, originally I was supposed to visit them in 2020, that didn't end up happening, so I had to, you know, we'd done before, oh they'll come for 2020 for Christmas, that didn't happen either. So I noticed, this is kind of weird, but me, my friend and her family, we were very, very close, still are, and we had each other all in like 360 and I happened to notice that my friend was at Best Buy around Christmas. I'm thinking, hmm, like I got suspicious, you know, you just get like an instinct, like an inkling. It was an inkling and I was like, hmm. And so then later we get to Christmas Day, unfortunately my parents can't be there, and my friend's family likes to start opening presents from 6 in the morning. And there was one, I had one last present left and they're like, okay, close your eyes, so I did. They brought it in from the garage and it was big and I was like, I just had this feeling, you know, like, you know, you don't believe it. But you didn't believe it because it's something you've wanted since you were like 13, 12, you know, in that area. And I like unwrapped the first thing and I realized and I immediately basically burst into tears. I was like, no way, I was like, are you kidding me? And it was from my parents. Oh wow. So my parents had worked together with my friend and her husband, and her husband's a computer guy, so he's pretty smart, to find me my own gaming computer. Yeah, a legit gaming computer. A legit one that they ordered online. Because when they went to Best Buy, my dad wanted like an office computer and they're like, no, she wants a gaming computer. You need something that's licensed. Exactly, like high tech, you know, stuff. So they, you know, high tech stuff, priorities. But, you know, that's what I wanted. And they went on this website and they found this like really high tech gaming computer. I think it was called like Nest Egg or something, but I might be wrong. And yeah, they got me that computer. I still have it. And it's one of the, it's the best gift I ever got. So your parents obviously couldn't come during Christmas, right? Do you think that was sort of the, were they thinking about this before, or since they couldn't make it to Christmas, that was the way? They've always known I wanted one, and maybe this partly was to make up for not being there. But I think they just wanted to make my dream come true, especially because I was doing so well at school. So maybe they thought I finally earned it as well. I think there was a multitude of factors as to why I got it. It just seemed like the right timing. Yeah, I think it was just the right time. Probably maturing too as you got older. Exactly. Best gift you ever got. Definitely. Awesome.