When I bought a computer recently, I had choose the amount of RAM I wanted. Those letters stand for random-access memory. I only wish there was an option to buy memory for myself.  Consider a few of the reasons.

Local phone numbers in the 1940’s were 4-digits. By the 1950’s there were more phones and an 3-digit exchange was added. Direct long distance, more people, more phones and now an area code added another 3-digits. The memory was stretched from remembering 4 numbers to 10 numbers.

I have to remember a code to get into my phone, an ATM and of course my social security number.

Mailing addresses that required only a street address, city and state would add a 5-digit zip code for sorting purposes. Eventually an additional 4 -digits were also added, so again a stretch of memory would be handy.

All of those changes pale in light of the memory storage needed to get into my online accounts. The blank fields marked “username” and “password” can be intimitating. Different accounts and websites require different logins. Not only are the requirements not uniform (who knew an exclamation mark was considered “special”), but we are encouraged to use different passwords for different online accounts and to change them periodically. I was confident that my nonsensical and personally specific passwords would suffice. Nope.

Two additional layers to remember were soon added. First I had to choose an image that would be associated with my login. Then a secret question should be answered in case the username, password, and image fail to match. While I can easily remember my first car, best childhood friend and know what city I met my spouse in, it is still recommended that I choose not just 1, but 3 secret questions. 

 I am definitely going to need more RAM.