Monday, December 3, 2007

Oh, the pressure!

Alright, so I have a confession to make about a very strange thing. In the blogging world, as in the real world, I'm afraid, I'm a commentor. I find it very difficult to sit in a group and not put my two-cents-worth in, even if it's not worth two cents. If I come to visit your blog and don't comment, I feel like I've walked into your house and not said "hello" to you. It's an extension of the Southern manners my mother passed down to me I guess.

Or maybe I just have a big mouth.

Anyway. That's not my confession; you probably already know that.
Here's what's stressing me out: You know how when you go to comment on a blog, you have to copy out the wavy, squiggly letters and numbers in the word verification box? This somehow proves that we are legitimate and sincere blogging commentors, I expect. Well, it is by this exercise that I have learned that I must be dselexic. dyslecicx. dyslexic.

I can't get the letters right. I just can't do it. It's embarassing.

Like, is it some kind of test? Are they looking for intelligence here? Manual dexterity? Are they trying to confuse us? "Ha!" the Word-Verification-Wizards say, "Just let 'em try and copy this one!" And then they give you:

1liljlijl1

... in a drunken nightmare script, light blue type on aquamarine.

"OK," I say to myself, "I can do this."

I nervously crack my knuckles and squint.
Then,
finger
by
finger,
tap in
what I think
I see,
close my eyes
and push the "publish" button,
waiting, anxiously,
hoping against hope...
I peek through one eye
to see
if I've passed
or failed...

Dang!
I usually miss it the first time.

And, you know they punish you if you don't get it right the first time, by making the second test longer and more difficult. Yep. The next one'll be:

xykzhaxh7x.

And you'd better get that one right. Or they'll start getting really suspicious. They might send the word verification police. Or ban you from the comboxes. Oh, sorrow of sorrows!

It's nerve wracking! I don't know if I can stand the pressure!

Isn't life hard enough?

7 comments:

Memarie Lane said...

OMG those things are sadistic. I hate them! I always fail the first one, and sometimes the second and third too. I haven't got a spammer yet, but if I ever do I would rather deal with deleting spam messages than subject my readers to word verification.

A Bit of the Blarney said...

WOW!! I'm not treading water alone...Thanks be to God!! I also experience the oft give phrase..."Incorrect username and/or password." If I could only used one of each it would be great, but everywhere I go I'm asked to sign in again and I'm never sure exactly which of these two has been changed or what it was the last time I visited that site. Or if my "dancing fingers" misspell either then I have to do it till I get it RIGHT. Oh how funny! GOOD DAY!

Maria (also Bia) said...

Lisa, I kid you not, I actually have a post in my drafts folder dealing with this same issue!! Since I do most of my computer work at night and am therefore tired, when I have to do the word verification . . . I am literally crossed eyed! I mean, two "r"'s so close together look like an "m" to me! God bless!

T with Honey said...

I try to visit blogs with word verification after I've had my first cup of coffee for the day. That's when I have the best chance of guessing and typing those characters correctly.

Lisa said...

Marie ~ I can judge just how tired (or distracted) I am by how many times I fail. They are so annoying!

GrandmaK ~ I get that, too, all the time! The "incorrect username/password" message. I think a lot of the time I'm just in too much of a hurry and type too fast...

Bia ~ Being up too late is a lot of my problem, too. &:o) I look forward to reading your post on it!

AnchorMama said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
AnchorMama said...

I shouldn't type anything before I've finished my coffee. Sheesh! What I meant to type was..

I'm thinking of getting rid of that awful verification line just so you'll visit me more often! :)