Hooked
Kristy sent an email, said click this link
filling my screen with a YouTube video
of a fish in a fishbowl for nine seconds
before flashing to view kites crashing.
Watching, fascinated, fixated, besieged
by nine second clips of obvious amateur
movies, consumed, intrigued, afflicted,
addicted, conflicted on what I’ll see next.
Possessed, obsessed, watch water boil,
paint dry, grass grow, more fishbowls,
unable to stop or wanting to stop since
opening her email almost six hours ago.
Just this one last nine second segment,
then I’ll stop. Finger lingers over pause,
check clock for time to view one more
after this one, only nine seconds, right?
I didn’t read why Kristy sent the email,
only opened and clicked like she said.
I’ll check what she said about it in a bit,
but first I need to watch one more video.
For My Protection
When I try to open my email a big black
bordered banner
with a flashing red X appears on my
screen with the message:
A problem
has occurred during sign in.
Please
check your user name, password
and
try again.
After another try, a larger yellow
flashing banner warns:
For
your protection -
after
three failed attempts to sign in,
you
will be permanently blocked from this email website.
You
have already tried twice.
If you have forgotten your password
and require a hint,
click on the security question tab:
For
your protection -
Please
enter the answers to these three secret questions
from
when you initially registered for this account.
1-
year your first pet died
2-
Your father's maiden name
3- Your ATM PIN number
Congratulations! 2 of your 3 answers
match.
You are not blocked, however
you must create a new password.
Please follow these important
directions
on how to create a strong password:
For
your protection -
It
must be 8 to 32 characters long
different
from your previous six passwords
containing
three numbers, two special characters
no
repeated numbers, letters or symbols
no
dates and no times
no
common names, surnames or nicknames
cannot
rhyme with your user name
no
spaces, case sensitive, English only
no
slang or song titles
After thirty minutes and with the
help of my 8 year old grandson:
Success! Your password
is accepted.
For
your protection -
a verification
letter has been sent
to
your new email inbox.
Finally! I go to the email website,
carefully type in my name and password,
Click to enter:
A big black bordered banner with a flashing
red X appears on my screen…
