Thursday, March 13, 2008

Decisions, Decisions

Choosing a site key for a new bank account I just opened turned out to be quite taxing.

In case you’re not familiar with it, a site key is a picture of something – anything – that must appear on the screen before you type in your final numeric code to gain access to your account online. It’s just another layer of security, but choosing from the hundreds of pictures they offer begs multiple questions that I was not prepared to answer in the short time span before my online session automatically timed out.

Questions like, “If I choose a cat, will people think I’m lonely and pathetic?” or “If I choose that Italian villa, will people assume I’m some self-important, jet-setting wind bag?”

And who are these “people” anyway? It’s not like I’m logging into my bank account amidst throngs of observers just waiting to cast judgment my taste in site key images. But I still can’t shake the notion that somehow by selecting this stupid little picture I am solidifying The Image by Which I Wish to be Represented For All Time.

So I chose the box of Froot Loops.

The Froot Loops were in one of those white Chinese food boxes, but they were unmistakably Froot Loops. And somehow they are also unmistakably, frootfully me. The only trouble is now that I've posted it on my blog, I should probably go choose another image. But which one...?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Too funny ... I am an "older mom" ... our only son is now 5 ... I'm thinking of choosing the olive martini ... I enjoyed reading your blog!

Wendy Mihm said...

Aahhh, another member of the 'older mom' club! Nice to e-meet you! Be careful about the olive martini choice -- those throngs of onlookers might think you're a Sex-in-the-City-urban-bombshell. Hey, maybe I should switch to the olive martini... Thanks for the read!