PINs, Passwords and Pandemonium

These days we are all in PIN, password, and user ID overload. It seems we need one or all of these for everything we do - banking, credit cards, air travel, shopping, etc. It is recommended you use the same ID and password for all your personal transactions, but it is almost impossible. Some require characters, uppercase, lowercase, combined with numbers, symbols, and cryptograms. It can get quite confusing and bewildering.
To me the best, however, is the “secret question” or sometimes, “my favorite things”. It used to be something as simple as your mother’s maiden name or the city where you were born. This system was set up as an added security, but I believe it is just a way to torture the consumer even further. It became evident as the questions started getting more difficult and very broad, such as your “high school mascot” and “your favorite food” (no, Jeb, you cannot use the same answer for both questions!).
My cousin was recently trying to get her credit in order, dealing with someone named “Bob” with a distinct foreign accent. From the very start she had problems because “Bob” would not let her access her credit information. She could not remember her “favorite food”, which she selected years ago when she set up the account. She named several possibilities, from various food groups, but came up empty. She said for all she knew at the time, all those years ago, she could have been eating a banana. Maybe she needs to try word association – credit report equals tandoori chicken. No offense, “Bob”!
One day at lunch a coworker shared her recent calamity with her bank. She was trying to do some banking on the phone, but was having trouble because her husband had set up the account. The customer service rep (“Bob”?) insisted she reveal her husband’s “favorite color”. After naming every color in the rainbow and being rejected, she finally called her husband on another line to ask him for assistance. Well, thank God this was not an INS interview because someone would have surely been deported!
This new system was ever so apparent to me when I had to choose my “high school mascot”. Since I went to Catholic school all my life, I do not recall having a mascot. I selected the first thing that came to my mind, not thinking I would ever be faced with that question. Well, it was a very frustrating day when I needed immediate access to my account and could not for the life of me come up with the word FERRET! Note to self: Just because it sounds funny does mean you will remember it - WRITE IT DOWN!
Uffa!

Drop, Roll and Shop

We have now entered my least favorite time of year and I only say that because it requires participation in one of my least favorite American past time, SHOPPING! I hate the whole process; driving to the indoor mall, jockeying for a parking space, hunting for the perfect gift for that imperfect someone, dodging impatient crowds, nasty, uninformed salespeople and always standing in the wrong line (save that for another rant!). It is regretful because I have always loved Christmas, but it has become quite barbaric, as we have seen this past Black Friday.
I am sure you read or heard on the news about the poor security guard that was trampled to death just inside a Wal-Mart. It seems the crowd could not wait for the doors to open during the designated hour. What were they giving away? A deed to a house? The keys to a new car? I read there was a woman in the crowd who was eight months pregnant. What was she thinking? Not about herself or her unborn child obviously, but about the five dollars savings on that DVD player.
Nothing would get me out of bed at 4am to stand in front of a store with a crowd of people who could potentially murder me for the chance to get through the doors first and get their hands on the latest Elmo doll. Is there really that much of a savings on Black Friday that you cannot get on other days during the holiday season? I do not believe it.
My friends laughed at me because I would not venture into a mall on the Sunday after Black Friday to see a movie; I called it Black Weekend. I think from now until after Christmas the sales will be just as plentiful, the malls will be just as crazy and people will be even more uncivilized. Funny how this shopping season coincides with hunting season each year. It seems to me there are many similarities.
Uffa!