Keeping up with all those
technology-related passwords
these days is stressful
for those of us who grew up
when passwords were easy
to remember and not used
very often.
The only times we had to
use a password growing up
was to get into the rickety
old tool shed in Mr. Cain’s
back yard that he let us boys
use as a fort.
I’m not sure why we needed
a password to enter that
shed with the dirt floor and
a few shelves and cabinets.
We could have gone in the
spaces where windows were
missing or through the back
door that was off its hinges
and permanently propped
open.
But to get in the front
door when other boys were
there, we had to say Bullet,
the password to the fort and
the name of Mr. Cain’s foultempered
German Shepherd.
It was easy to recall the
password, because Bullet
was usually nipping at our
ankles when we used it.
The bit of fright I felt
when Bullet was snarling
and snapping at me was
minor compared to the panic
that overtakes me now when
that harrowing phrase
“Enter Password” pops up
on the television screen or
my phone, I-pad, laptop or
the computer at my desk.
Fortunately, there is a
Help Desk at work, and I
have that number on speed
dial. If I forget the password
for some device or an internet
site where a code is
needed to gain access, I call
the Help Desk and they figure
it all out for me.
Regina is my Help Desk at
home. If those dreaded
words “Enter Password”
appear on a phone, computer
or the television screen, I
just turn the situation over
to her until she puts in
whatever code is needed to
get me where I need to be.
But Regina will be out of
town for a few days later this
summer, and I am already
concerned about whether I
will be able to see anything
on television or check news
sites, Facebook, emails and
things like that on the computer.
It seems to me that there
should be just be one password
like Bullet to fit every
situation. But I have a lot of
different passwords to do
various stuff, and I read
recently that the average
person in today’s society has
19 passwords.
That’s because technology
experts started requiring
specific passwords for things
that included capital letters
or numerals or punctuation
marks or other characters
that set those passcodes
apart from other passwords.
So I have all these different
passwords and can’t
remember any of them. If I
want to order some tennis
shoes from Amazon, Regina
has to put in my password. I
think it all has to do with
security concerns that somebody
might steal the password
and use your credit
card number to order things.
When I was growing up
and needed a baseball glove
or a BB gun, we ordered it
from Sears. We didn’t worry
about credit card fraud,
because we didn’t have credit
cards. Sears sent stuff
COD, and we paid the postman
for it when it showed
up in the mail.
My dad’s widower uncle
told him once that he needed
some toilet paper but didn’t
know how to order it. My
dad asked if he had a Sears
catalog. His uncle said if he
had a Sears catalog, he
wouldn’t need the toilet
paper.
Only people who are old
enough to remember outhouses
will understand what
my dad’s uncle meant. I was
in just a few of those facilities
as a kid, and they all
had Sears catalogs and old
newspapers handy.
Regina and I like to watch
movies at night on Netflix,
Amazon, Hulu and sites like
that. She puts in the passwords
and all the other data,
and I just sit back and enjoy
the shows.
There’s no way I will be
able to see anything on television
when she goes out of
town. Television technology
passed me by even before
passwords, hundreds of
channels, DVR’s, Blue Ray,
Video on Demand and all
that.
I grew up with a black and
white television set with a
rabbit ears antennae. We
later progressed to a big
antennae outside that I had
to go turn manually even in
rain or snow when my dad
wanted to watch the Friday
night fights.
Somebody said I could
probably get a TV set with
rabbit ears on eBay where
people sell things they don’t
want anymore. I decided to
order one to use while
Regina’s gone.
The eBay folks asked for
my password. I put in Bullet
and got one of those scary
messages in red type that
the code was incorrect.
When Regina leaves, I’ll just
get some books.