The Mental Block

It was 10:30pm and Jaye and I just finished a grueling day at the office. We stopped by the ATM to withdraw money and we needed to take out 15 thousand bucks. I inserted my card, entered the amount but the machine gave me an error message. It says I can only withdraw 10 thousand per transaction. Oh ok, so I withdrew 10 thousand bucks then inserted the card again for a second transaction.

“Enter PIN.”

I stood there with a blank stare and my mouth open. Jaye looked at me and asked what was wrong.

I forgot my PIN.

“But you just entered it a minute ago!”

I know. But I forgot. I looked at Jaye with a “No, really…” look.

Let’s see, I was assigned onshore for almost a year and I never used my card that time. The moment I landed in Manila, I took out some money from the ATM and I remembered the PIN without trying.

How can I suddenly forget in a span of 5 minutes?

It was the same PIN I used for years and years and years and I never forgot it. Take note that I was sent onshore twice and I was able to remember the PIN when I returned twice. I tried to insert the card and maybe the number key pad can remind me.

Nothing.

We left the booth since someone else was in line. I stood up and gave it a good long thought. 2 numbers appeared in my mind. I don’t know what those are but I went back to the ATM and tried it.

"Incorrect PIN."

I tried the other number.

"Incorreect PIN."

Jaye told me that I just a long day, was just tired but I’ll surely remember it tomorrow. I tried not to think about it that night and went to sleep. The moment I woke up in the morning, I tried to think about the PIN. No dice.

Here’s the funny part: I went through my old archives and found my old journal with my PIN written somewhere in the middle. I saw the PIN. It was labeled. I looked at the PIN. I stared at the PIN.

The PIN didn’t make sense.

It was like I’ve never seen this combination before. I wrote it down and went to the mall still wondering why I wasn’t “OH THAT! YEAH! NOW I REMEMBER” and all. I ran to the ATM machine and inserted my card. I entered the PIN combination from my notes.

It worked.

And it still didn’t make sense.

Am I getting that old?