When did the world become ruled by passwords?

We know passwords have been around almost forever. In Biblical times, as told in the Book of Judges, a password was required to cross the Jordan River at certain points. That word was “shibboleth,” and it had to be pronounced correctly. (Don’t stutter!)

But, more prosaically, I remember when I was about 10 years old and my friends and I used an old shed as a clubhouse. You couldn’t enter without knowing the password. I think using the password was meant to keep out the neighborhood boys.

Now we live in the age of computers. The first computer passwords were used in the early 1960s when an MIT professor assigned his students passwords so they could use the same time-sharing computer. By the 1980s, personal computers and passwords were common. They are so common now that we have a website called 1Password which will store and manage your passwords.

Maybe poor Pete Hegseth should check out this website. He’s in big trouble for using the same password to communicate with family, friends, business associates and foreign dignitaries.

I have my passwords on a bright yellow clipboard that I keep near my easy chair — a chair that I refer to as my “command center” since I have nearby my laptop, telephone and a box of files.

Two pages of passwords — some typed, some scribbled — are on the clipboard. My grandson, 17, asks why I don’t use the same password for everything. Why? Because some passwords require only letters and numbers, while others require the addition of a symbol such as an ampersand or question mark. Some can be short, some long. Occasionally I type in what I think is a new password only to be alerted that I’ve already used that password for another account.

A lot of passwords come with a “hook.” You must log on — with your user ID — then enter a code number. This is the case when I try to contact my doctor’s office. I recently called the pharmacy to get a prescription refilled. You guessed it; I needed a password.

I have a fear of thinking I’m dying, calling 911 and the operator asking me for my password.

Jill Holmes is a San Rafael resident. IJ readers are invited to share their stories of love, dating, parenting, marriage, friendship and other experiences for our How It Is column, which runs Tuesdays in the Lifestyles section. All stories must not have been published in part or in its entirety previously. Send your stories of no more than 600 words to lifestyles@marinij.com. Please write How It Is in the subject line. The IJ reserves the right to edit them for publication. Please include your full name, address and a daytime phone number.