Bandwhaaaaaat?

Ok so at the risk of exposing myself as a total technological dimwit, I pose the question: what is the deal with bandwidth?

What IS it and how do I rationalize it?

I recently moved into a new building on the U of T campus, where internet was included in the monthly rent. Of course, this became a much less alluring selling point once I learned that between my move-in date of May 2nd and Sunday May 4th, I exceeded my weekly alloted bandwidth.
What followed was a correspondence between myself and a faceless IT guy, where he firmly outlined the repercussions for exceeding ones bandwidth. Apparently the first offense is met with a written warning, a get-out-of-jail-card which I have now redeemed, and the second is followed by a 24 hour network cut-off. Kind of like a 24 hour preliminary restraining order, before they issue the real thing.
The IT dude also politely attempted to explain the nature of bits and bytes, and I responded each time with an increasingly sob and guilt-conjuring story describing the various reasons why I cannot live without the internet.

*All of my work is done over the internet, including preparing for upcoming interviews.
* My family lives in Vancouver and I have no landline, so this is the only way I have of keeping in touch with them.
*I have an artificial aorta which is powered purely by bandwidth.

Those types of perfectly normal, perfectly relevant, perfectly rational excuses. Err, reasons. Excusions, basically. Anyway, it turns out the limit in my building, if we're using the miraculously "free" internet that comes included in rent, is 4GB a week. I've been informed that this is equivalent to streaming or downloading ONE movie. Reality check! I watch The Office (US). Religiously. I keep up to date with House. I've recently gotten into Dexter and although there may only be 2 seasons released thus far, it takes a bit of time, and bandwidth so it seems, to watch 2 seasons in 4 days, alright? Take it from me. And don't even get me STARTED on my movie-watching habits.
So, the end result is that I have had put an end to my TV and movie streaming. When my friends send me YouTube links to "the funniest video you will ever see in your entire life", or "the secret to happiness and prosperity" (ok, that one is a virus and I know it, but I'd still like to feel as though I had the OPTION of clicking, if I was dumb enough to do so), I can't view them. My life has become TV-less, and movie-less, and barren. Thank you U of T.
Let me leave you with this striking visual. I have decided that the only way that I can visualize this intangible, arbitrary thing called 'bandwidth' and the fact that I've run out of it, is if I picture a cookie jar. It seems as though what Mr. IT genius is trying to tell me, is that I have eaten MY share of the cookies then reached for my sister's share, and what does he do? He smacks my wrist. And I'm about to lose my cookie privileges altogether! So, I decided to take action. I put on a stern face, and emailed him back immediately. I typed with gusto: "my sister doesn't even LIKE cookies. Plus, my neighbour is away for the summer. May I have her cookies?"
Clever, right? Knowing that I've gotten a handle on this bandwidth business really is a great feeling.
I'll be sure to you know how it all pans out ;)