Scarlett Woman

In 1937 Scarlett O’Hara blazed her way to glory in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind. The book was an outstanding best seller and the 1939 film became an instant classic. On the threshold of the new millennium, perhaps Scarlett might react to today’s computer and internet world this way.

“Fiddlee dee. War, war, war. All yo two evah talk about is war. Macintosh, Windahs, Windahs and Macintosh, it’s always the same. Ashley darlin’, don’t yo all thank that Ah’m more interestin’ than that pokey Windahs?” Scarlett puffed up her crinoline and the pale green muslin dress billowed like a typhoon in the South China Sea.

“Scarlett, yo know Ah adore yor sweet smile. It positively melts my heart, but Ah am also devoted to Windahs. Ah can’t work without it and Ah need to have access to my email. Ah’d be lost ifen Ah stopped usin’ it.”

“Now that is a wishy-washy southern gentlemen for you.” Rhett’s Buttler’s cold, black eyes sparked with intensity while his upper lip curled in a mischievous grin. “What would you do, Scarlett, if you met a real man? Someone you couldn’t wrap around that ring finger of yours?”

“Yo all hush up, Rhett. Ah suppose yo thank just because yo use that funny Macintosh that yo could be that man?” She threw her head back and laughed out loud. It sounded not like a laugh but more like the tinkling of fine china. He was flirting with her as she was with him, but in her heart of hearts there was only one man for her, Ashley Wilkes. But Ashley was betrothed to that mealy-mouthed Melanie. All she did all day was scan recipes from the Mangia CD that Ashley gave her on their engagement. She shook her head as if to knock the thought of Melanie out of it.

“Ashley, darlin’, please pass me a fresh glass of iced tea. It’s so warm heah under the portico.” She flapped her fan vigorously, but it was to no avail.

“Would yo care to go indoors? Ah could show you a nifty new shoot-em-up game on ma computa. It’s called Cotton Ginny and it’s all about how thisen young sharecropper dupes a few dozen Yankees into investin’ their money…”

“Oh Ashley, Ah don’t wish to heah about yo computah games. Next to the war talk that is the most boring subject to me.” She turned her head to show her displeasure.

Suddenly, from the dirt road that led up to Tara, came two galloping riders in a flurry of hoof beats and a cloud of red dust. Rhett stood up as he recognized the Tarleton twins.

“It’s war! War!” they shouted over and over as the dust drifted by the Portico.

“Microsoft has finally declared war. They will no longer support any system other than Windahs. No Macintosh, no OS 2, and certainly not Solaris or Be. They also have declared that they will fight to the death against Unix and particularly Linux,” panted Terry Tarleton.

“Microsoft declared that to give away free software is ungentlemanly and contrary our southern ways,” added Jerry Tarleton.

“That can’t be true,” Rhett interjected. “They gave out millions of free copies of Internet Explorer hoping to bury Netscape, and then tied it into their non-monopolistic Windahs.” His sarcasm went unnoticed.

The news of war travelled quickly through the plantations and, inevitably, sides were chosen and decisions made. Because events were moving so quickly and the outcome of the war was clouded, Ashley and Melanie decided to marry and the wedding was held at his beloved Twelve Oaks. At their reception, Scarlett impulsively announced her own marriage to the elderly but wealthy lumber mill owner, Frank Kennedy. Frank was not dashing and he was not young, but he did have a good business in the mill and, of primary importance to Scarlet, a healthy bank account. She had already formulated a plan on how to bring the mill into the new century. In place of lumber, she would get Frank to invest his money in software development. He might balk at first, but Scarlett knew she had the means to get her own way.

Unfortunately, only two weeks after their marriage, old Frank Kennedy was gone.
People whispered, behind closed doors, that he died of a heart attack in bed. The residents of the area blamed Scarlett’s willful manner and her determination to change the business from lumber to software.

In desperation, the widow Kennedy, a description Scarlett despised almost as much as dressing in black, asked Ashley to manage the new company she named Mill Software. The company motto was “Software construction the way it should be”, a thinly veiled allusion to the bloated software from Microsoft.

“Ashley, if yo say yes, Ah promise to give you 50% of the company stock. Yo and Melanie will be secure forevah. Aftah the war,” she added her eyes wide with excitment, “Windahs application development ought to go sky high.”

The war, however, dragged on. Neither side would give in. To gain additional revenue for its war effort, Microsoft introduced a surcharge on all its products. It also issued a Windahs upgrade each month that, curiously, would not allow the user’s system to function unless each upgrade was installed and paid for.

Ashley accepted the managing position. All of Frank Kennedy’s funds had gone into converting the mill and hiring the engineers. Now Scarlet needed to secure more money to operate the company, but she was strapped for cash. There was only one possibility, Rhett Buttler. The program engineers were hard at work on the code for Mill’s first application, a program for drapery design called Curtains. The program gave Scarlett an outrageous idea. She would transform the parlor drapes into an ensemble that would mesmerize Rhett so he would give her the money she needed.

Rhett had moved on to Charleston, where he felt that honour of his beloved Macintosh needed to be protected, and gave all his effort to the destruction of Microsoft and Windahs. He started his own Mac company called Ex. When Scarlett waltzed into his small office in her new green velvet dress, compliments of her first Windahs program, he was mildly dismayed. When he learned of her real purpose, he became angry.

“Scarlett, will you never grow up? Don’t you realize that, as a Mac user, I could never lend you support, morally or financially?” He turned her down flat. After she left, he decided to return to Atlanta where the World Wide Computer Conference would convene to try to settle the dispute. His first stop, however, was to visit his old flame, Belle Watling, in her sweets shoppe on Decatur Street. Belle was warm and sympathetic and, after several days and nights, Rhett left reinforced in his determination to fight the evil empire.

Microsoft, its own worst enemy, shot itself in the foot with its nefarious software surcharge. The software industry collapsed under the surcharge assault. Many companies, including Mill Software, were forced into bankruptcy. Windahs users migrated in droves to Apple, Solaris, Be, OS2, Unix and Linux. Slowly but surely, the Microsoft stranglehold on the industry disintegrated.

Back at Tara, Scarlett stood in the ominous shadow of the gnarled two hundred-year old oak tree. The glow of the orange sunset cast a surrealistic look on the fields of Tara. She raised her arm and clenched fist to the sky. “As God is my witness, if Ah have to beg, steal or pirate software, if Ah have to wear my fingers to the bone keyboarding, as God is my witness, Ah’ll never use Windahs again.”

Intermission

Life in the bright new world after the War of the Operating Systems was not all goodness and light. Heated discussions still erupted frequently in the Internet bars and cafes on Peachtree Street in Atlanta. What was different, however, was the general camaraderie and team spirit that hovered over the reborn industry. A large and important mover had emerged after the cannon fire had ceased. The Atlanta Declaration was issued and supported overwhelmingly. Part of the Declaration had been the forming of the Operating Systems Manufacturers’ Association – OSMA for short. Its primary purpose was to integrate the most valuable and user friendly parts of the individual systems into one. There would be no proprietary code. The system would be open-sourced and would have input from the six signers, including the remnant of the former Windahs.

Scarlett had salvaged more than most from her former company. From the ashes of Mill Software was born Phoenix Technologies and their first OSMA application was a reworking of their original Curtains. It was the very first program to market and was snapped up like the proverbial hotcakes.

It was inevitable that Scarlett and Rhett would meet and rekindle their close friendship. Atlanta, although a thriving city, was still more like a small town. Although their differences during the war were diametrically opposite, with the Declaration and OSMA in operation, all that former baggage had disappeared. They met on Peachtree Street just outside of Software Heaven, the new mega software chain that bought out Best Buy and introduced a novelty that many thought they would never see‹a knowledgeable, helpful, non-teenaged staff.

“Is that you, Scarlett?” Rhett spoke in mock surprise, “I hardly recognized you. You must have found the fountain of youth.”

“Rhett, darlin’, how sweet. Yo shor know how to please a lady. I’m shor that Belle Watlin could tell me stories about yo. Isn’t that true?” She could not resist the jibe.

Within a month of their meeting, they had courted and announced their engagement. After less than three days, they eloped and were married on the Mississippi Maid making their way to New Orleans for their honeymoon. It was on their honeymoon, during one of their most intimate moments, that she inadvertently uttered Ashley’s name. The frostiness that settled over them was like the primary colour of the new iBook.

What should have been their most romantic time together ended with sharp volleys of anger and resentment. Their return to Atlanta a month later was made in studied silence. The silence was finally broken when Scarlett to her dismay found that she was pregnant. She had mixed feelings and did not know how to approach Rhett. When she finally summoned her courage and blurted out the news, she was pleasantly surprised at his reaction. Rhett was overjoyed and contemplated the great times he would have with his son. He was suddenly the perfect expectant father.

The months passed quickly. Ashley continued to manage Phoenix Technologies, and Rhett’s company, Ex, was also thriving. The software market was growing in leaps and bounds with no in fighting between software developers and OSMA. Finally there was commitment and rapport between the hardware and software factions of the computer industry.

When the baby was born, the expected boy suddenly emerged as a girl. Rhett promptly named her Bondi Blue and fell totally under her spell. He doted on his daughter with the excess befitting a man of wealth and success. There was nothing that he would deny her.

Scarlett was glad that Rhett had become such a loving father and it amused her to recall how different he had been when they first met. But that did not sway her from her determination not to have any more children. She disliked her “condition” during pregnancy almost as much as the time she was confined to widow’s black. Her decision drew still another wedge between them

For Bondi Blue’s 4th birthday, Rhett bought her a Shetland pony. It was the best and worst decision he could have made. The child showed amazing promise, even at that young age, of becoming an accomplished horsewoman. She reveled in her birthday present and began daily rides and jumping contests. Shortly after, on a day like many before, with her family and the household help watching, she trotted the tiny pony about the yard, and started for the jump. This time it ended in disaster. She fell from the animals back and hit her head. Two days later she was dead.

The desolation that enveloped Scarlett and Rhett with the death of their daughter also drove them more apart. They each blamed the other. They spoke less and less and no longer shared the same bed. The marriage was disintegrating before their very eyes and neither one made any effort to stop it.

She went to Ashley for consolation, but he was more concerned with Melanie who was feeling very sickly. In his confused and distraught state, he could not give Scarlett what she felt she needed from him. It was then that she realized that she did love Rhett. She had loved him all along and it was her misinterpretation of Ashley’s love for her that had kept her hopes alive.

She returned to her large comfortable home. She would tell Rhett and beg his forgiveness. All the success of her company, all the software sales in the world were not enough if she could not have personal happiness. She called out to him. The house sounded hollow and empty.

“Rhett,” she called again and at the same time heard the scuff of his shoes on the stair tread as he descended. “Rhett, where are you going?” she asked, noticing the suitcase in his hand.

“I’m leaving you, Scarlett, as I should have long ago.”

“But you can’t desert me. Ah love you.”

“That, my dear, is your misfortune”

“But Ah need you. Ashley is desolate about Melanie and can’t care for the business. Ah need you now more than ever. We can make it work. We did once, we can do it again. Ah tell you, Ah need you desperately. What will Ah do without you?”

Rhett reached for the door knob, pulled open the oak door and half turned to her, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” And he was gone.

Scarlett was reeling from disbelief. He did still love her. She knew it. But she couldn’t think about it now. She would think about it tomorrow. Tomorrow she would devise some plan to lure him back. Perhaps a new internet program or 3D strategy game. Something.

“Ah’ll think about it,” she said teary-eyed, as her lip quivered, “tomorrow.””

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Ralph J. Luciani
ralph@mymac.com