Forget Your Password! By Rhonda Hansome

Remember the cost effective move to mechanical banking? That ubiquitous ATM machine offering access to your money on every corner and points in between. 

    How convenient. (said in my Church Lady voice) 

Yes, very convenient, as long as the ATM has not been tricked out by a scam artist to acquire your PIN number and life savings. Yeah for the banks!  They revel, yet again, in record breaking profits, higher fees for transactions and numerous jobs performed by humans -  now eliminated.

Remember the efficient and cost effective move to the MTA Metrocard? 

The card, purchased from machines standing silent sentry in subway halls eliminated many of the jobs human clerks performed at 24 hour train stations. Now, if the machine is actually operating, you are charged for the formerly free card when buying rides. And now there’s no MTA human on site to monitor platform activity. No one to hear a passenger’s cries protesting sexual assault or the incessant live accordion version of Blurred Lines.

Isn’t it great and oh so time efficient having technology at our beck and call? Addictive moment to moment pleasure sensations, triggered by scores of daily exchanges with multiple devices, rendering real human interaction superfluous. A truly advanced existence.

But what about those pesky passwords and PIN numbers needed for every mechanical interface? And don’t forget the oft repeated caveat, to change our secret codes daily to avoid virus dispensing hackers and stolen credit card cartels.  What’s the solution?  

Listen to your heart!?!!!?

To be continued…

Rhonda Hansome is an actress, writer, director and stand-up comic. See her:

Sat. Sept. 21st - Pat's Place with Randi Lupo, or Wed. Sept. 25^th StoryTalks Semi-Finals - Gotham Comedy Club. Support her cultural legacy project, view the Drama Mamas The Film trailer honoring #BlackWomenTheaterDirectors and contribute to @DramaMamas2 finishing funds, here