I am normally a pretty laid-back guy. I can only think of one time I raised my voice during the 41 years of marriage, and that was a long time ago. (I don’t count my increased decibel level while watching the Hawkeyes and the Red Sox.) But I do get frustrated, and that frustration is almost always technology-related. That’s because technology knows when it’s me and decides to mess with my mind. Recently, I had a variety of frustrating moments with my email carrier. It wouldn’t let me open emails. It wouldn’t let me send emails. Finally, it told me why. Due to “unusual activity” with my emails, they decided to put a lock on my emails. This resulted in my having to come up with a new password, which I did. Now it doesn’t allow me to do any of those things again. With the new password. Which they approved.
So earlier this week I spent hours fighting the good fight and growing more and more frustrated. I ate a handful of TUMS as if they were M & M’s. I finally got through thanks to help from my long-suffering wife. I stomped away from the computer and decided to run some errands. One of my errands was to get cash from the automatic teller at our bank. I did get the cash, but some of the bills were upside-down. I am not a control looney, but this was annoying. How difficult can it be for a freaking BANK! to simply have all the bills facing the same way and right side up? On top of that, their serial numbers were not consecutive. I drove away, jaw set, teeth grinding.
Then I took a huge risk. After Mapquesting Blockbuster to see where their nearest site was (two we’ve used in the past are now a pet shop and an auto parts store, I got the address and drove to the location. Empty. Nothing there. So I went ahead and headed for a nearby Red Box. Previous experiences with Red Box had been frustrating, to say the least, especially for someone like me hated by technology. I decided to try once again. And it worked! I was ecstatic, euphoric, and pleased! I selected the second movie in the Hunger Games series and went home with my prize. My long-suffering wife was impressed and, even though the movie was about an hour too long and frequently defied logic, we enjoyed it.
When I took it back, it was rejected. The Red Box told me I put it in the slot wrong.
