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MENTAL BLOCK - INCORRECT PIN

  • 10-05-2015 05:16PM
    #1
    beks101
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,802 ✭✭✭


    I was queueing for an ATM about half an hour ago. Line of people ahead of me, line of people behind me and cursing some corporate type who was taking twenty minutes at the top trying to get his business done.

    Finally I found myself staring at the screen, hand hovering over the keypad as per usual and my brain suddenly decided, you don't know what that number is. PIN? Not a fcuking chance. Deleted it, discarded it, completely removed that piece of information from your head.

    So I stood there like an absolute moron, threw in a few variations of what I imagined it possibly could be, working off an entirely blank slate...wasn't there an 8 in there? Wasn't it, mother's age, my age ten years ago? Or was it twelve years ago? Or was it dad's age? INCORRECT PIN - INCORRECT PIN - until I had locked myself out of my card and become that dithering eejit who's holding up the whole queue and pissing off half of central London.

    So now I'm sitting at home scratching my head. I've used my card at least three times already today. I could key in the pin without looking, I could probably do it in my sleep. But that piece of casual, ever-present and frequently , repeatedly, relentlessly used information - like my surname or my date of birth - no longer exists in my brain. I have no bloody idea what my bank PIN is. Not an arse's notion.

    What the fcuking fcuk? What am I going to forget next, how to breathe? How to spell my own name? Am I going senile?

    Has anyone else ever experienced this?


«1

Comments

  • #2
    Flood
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 560 ✭✭✭Flood


    Yes


  • #3
    anncoates
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,925 ✭✭✭✭anncoates


    I just walk away and do something else and eventually the brain fart passes and I remember.

    Although remembering 0000 shouldn't really be that hard.


  • #4
    The Diabolical Monocle
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,618 ✭✭✭The Diabolical Monocle


    its ok dad, hospital can be confusing


  • #5
    LynnGrace
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,346 ✭✭✭LynnGrace


    Yes. It's as if the minute you try to think of it, it disappears, whereas when you do it on auto pilot, it is right there. Hope you aren't stuck for long without it.


  • #6
    tomwaterford
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,768 ✭✭✭✭tomwaterford


    Only when very hungover- or else insanely sleep deprived after spending weeks on end working long hours

    Fatigue??


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  • #7
    Agricola
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,547 ✭✭✭Agricola


    I forget where I leave my glasses sometimes, but not my atm pin as Ive used it since I got a bank card back in the mists of time. You must be losing it. That's my medical opinion.


  • #8
    TheBrinch
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 291 ✭✭TheBrinch


    Ill sort it out for you. Just send me your bank account details and sort code. You can trust me, I'm Nigerian.


  • #9
    sjb25
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,422 ✭✭✭sjb25


    beks101 wrote: »
    I was queueing for an ATM about half an hour ago. Line of people ahead of me, line of people behind me and cursing some corporate type who was taking twenty minutes at the top trying to get his business done.

    Finally I found myself staring at the screen, hand hovering over the keypad as per usual and my brain suddenly decided, you don't know what that number is. PIN? Not a fcuking chance. Deleted it, discarded it, completely removed that piece of information from your head.

    So I stood there like an absolute moron, threw in a few variations of what I imagined it possibly could be, working off an entirely blank slate...wasn't there an 8 in there? Wasn't it, mother's age, my age ten years ago? Or was it twelve years ago? Or was it dad's age? INCORRECT PIN - INCORRECT PIN - until I had locked myself out of my card and become that dithering eejit who's holding up the whole queue and pissing off half of central London.

    So now I'm sitting at home scratching my head. I've used my card at least three times already today. I could key in the pin without looking, I could probably do it in my sleep. But that piece of casual, ever-present and frequently , repeatedly, relentlessly used information - like my surname or my date of birth - no longer exists in my brain. I have no bloody idea what my bank PIN is. Not an arse's notion.

    What the fcuking fcuk? What am I going to forget next, how to breathe? How to spell my own name? Am I going senile?

    Has anyone else ever experienced this?

    Yes but it's way better than the insufficient funds walk of shame :(


  • #10
    beks101
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,802 ✭✭✭beks101


    tomwaterford wrote: »
    Only when very hungover- or else insanely sleep deprived after spending weeks on end working long hours

    Fatigue??

    I think that must be it. I've come off a week of night shifts and haven't slept properly in about 48 hours.

    Some craic at the bank tomorrow. "My card is blocked. I forgot my PIN. Three times. Enlighten me? And what's my date of birth while you're at it? And any idea where I live? Cheers"


  • #11
    whatismyname
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,707 ✭✭✭whatismyname


    Yes


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  • #12
    beks101
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,802 ✭✭✭beks101


    whatismyname wrote: »
    Yes

    :D


  • #13
    ElleEm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,981 ✭✭✭ElleEm


    This happened to me a couple of months ago as I was trying to pay for shopping. I was sure it would come back to me but it never has. You have my condolences!


  • #14
    kfallon
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,775 ✭✭✭✭kfallon


    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=94540206&postcount=7803

    You are not alone OP


  • #15
    pq0n1ct4ve8zf5
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,070 ✭✭✭✭pq0n1ct4ve8zf5


    Yeah the harder you try to remember, the further away it gets! It's like a piece of information that you can only access without your conscious mind, so you have to get the thought out of there.

    Not exactly the same, but another brain fart. I was on my way home one time in my waitressing uniform (black pants and shirt) and I stopped in Penneys. A woman came up as I was looking through the rails and asked "Excuse me, do you work here", and because I'd just come from work where I'd been all yes sir, no sir three bags full sir with customers I went "Yes, are you OK?". Immediately thought why in the fúck did I say that, but she'd started asking me a question and I didn't want to interrupt. But she went into some long thing about something she wanted to buy and she wanted to sure of the returns policy or something. Whole big spiel and then I had to go "Sorry, I actually don't work here", and then I was so embarrassed I just left.

    tl;dr, I think I've forgotten my pin now


  • #16
    beks101
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,802 ✭✭✭beks101


    ElleEm wrote: »
    This happened to me a couple of months ago as I was trying to pay for shopping. I was sure it would come back to me but it never has. You have my condolences!

    WHERE DOES THAT INFORMATION GO THOUGH?
    I DON'T GET IT!


  • #17
    ElleEm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,981 ✭✭✭ElleEm


    beks101 wrote: »
    WHERE DOES THAT INFORMATION GO THOUGH?
    I DON'T GET IT!

    I think some random piece of information I learnt from The Chase or Tipping Point squeezed it out.


  • #18
    beks101
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,802 ✭✭✭beks101


    Zane Yellow Sportswoman wrote: »

    tl;dr, I think I've forgotten my pin now

    Do you think it might be contagious? Like someone could read this thread and force themselves to think too hard about their own PIN, thereby completely forgetting it?


  • #19
    pq0n1ct4ve8zf5
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,070 ✭✭✭✭pq0n1ct4ve8zf5


    beks101 wrote: »
    Do you think it might be contagious? Like someone could read this thread and force themselves to think too hard about their own PIN, thereby completely forgetting it?

    I think this thread may ultimately topple capitalism if enough people read it :D


  • #20
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    Always change your PIN to the last four digits of the card +10

    That way you'll never forget it.

    Unless you forget if it was +10 or +20


  • #21
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 53,068 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I did that a couple of months ago. Used an entirely different pin and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work.

    Few weeks later I actually shouted it out in work one day. Wasn't even thinking about it.

    I finally got around to unblocking it today :rolleyes:


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  • #22
    ColeTrain
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,681 ✭✭✭ColeTrain


    Zane Yellow Sportswoman wrote: »
    Yeah the harder you try to remember, the further away it gets! It's like a piece of information that you can only access without your conscious mind, so you have to get the thought out of there.

    Not exactly the same, but another brain fart. I was on my way home one time in my waitressing uniform (black pants and shirt) and I stopped in Penneys. A woman came up as I was looking through the rails and asked "Excuse me, do you work here", and because I'd just come from work where I'd been all yes sir, no sir three bags full sir with customers I went "Yes, are you OK?". Immediately thought why in the fúck did I say that, but she'd started asking me a question and I didn't want to interrupt. But she went into some long thing about something she wanted to buy and she wanted to sure of the returns policy or something. Whole big spiel and then I had to go "Sorry, I actually don't work here", and then I was so embarrassed I just left.

    tl;dr, I think I've forgotten my pin now


    You should have told her that you'd be back in two minutes and that you'd have everything sorted out for her when you return, including a €20 voucher for her troubles, then of course leave the shop and forever wondered how the situation panned out!!


  • #23
    Dr. Zaius Dr. Zaius!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 270 ✭✭Dr. Zaius Dr. Zaius!


    Happened to me the other day, except I gave my card to my sister to get money from my account for me. I text her my pin, boom, done.
    Get a call from her later to say my pin is wrong. Checked the text I sent and it was.

    Funny how I was so quick to send what I thought was my pin when it was completely wrong!


  • #24
    beks101
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,802 ✭✭✭beks101


    I remember my PIN!
    I literally just bolted upright in bed 5 minutes ago with these four stupid numbers screaming at me. At 4am on a Sunday night.
    Not that it's of any use now anyway, I'll have to get a new one tomorrow.
    OH thinks I am certifiable. Proper shipped off by the men in white jackets mental.
    God how bloody weird is the human brain.


  • #25
    gandalf
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,457 ✭✭✭✭gandalf


    Happened to me once years ago. Like you I got to the ATM and my mind went blank. Ended up having to get a new card. I find myself reciting my number in my head when I queue for an ATM these days out of paranoia remember that incident :)


  • #26
    Dangerous Man
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,674 ✭✭✭Dangerous Man


    This happened to me two days ago. I left the house and realized I forgot something, literally seconds after leaving. So I turned around and went to input the entry on the keypad for the front door and couldn't remember a single digit. You have to understand - this isn't an ATM - this is the front door to my house. I use the keypad every single day - often times more than once.

    Sometimes our brains just say 'no, sorry, can't be bothered with this.'


  • #27
    Grayson
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,442 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    beks101 wrote: »
    I remember my PIN!
    I literally just bolted upright in bed 5 minutes ago with these four stupid numbers screaming at me. At 4am on a Sunday night.
    Not that it's of any use now anyway, I'll have to get a new one tomorrow.
    OH thinks I am certifiable. Proper shipped off by the men in white jackets mental.
    God how bloody weird is the human brain.

    The weird thing about pins is that we tend not to remember them but rather use muscle memory. There have been times when I have been using a card and I forget my number. I just put my hand on the pad and let my mind go blank. My hand automatically taps it out because it's so used to it.

    If you want to avoid stuff like that in future use a pin you can spell. The keys are normally alpha numeric so you can use a 4 letter word or any 4 letters that make sense.

    I tend to use mathematical sequences that I can remember. For example on my last phone my pin number was the number Pi. i.e. 3141. Even if they're more irregular numbers like e or a Fibonacci ratio I could google them if I forgot.


  • #28
    Roar
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,427 ✭✭✭Roar


    I couldn't get in to work one day as I was putting my ATM code into keypad instead of the actual code. I had to phone reception to let me in. I was then laughed at boisterously.

    Also, on several occasions I've tried to open my front door with my car key's unlock button.

    And once I spent several minutes looking for my car keys. They were in my hand all along.


  • #29
    Plates
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 925 ✭✭✭Plates


    Thinly veiled "I was in central London" thread. Not just London "Central" London 😊


  • #30
    noway12345
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,152 ✭✭✭noway12345


    :D Are you people a bit thick? Why anyone would choose any pin apart from 1234 I don't know.


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  • #31
    Ghost Train
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 31,581 ✭✭✭✭Ghost Train


    Sometimes I put in the wrong card to the machine, credit card instead of bank and then find pin doesn't work because it's the wrong card. But do mix up passwords and numbers sometimes just because I'm running on automatic and not thinking about it


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