Pop-ups~ World Wide Wrongdoer or Decent Declaration?


Pop-ups are the universal miscreant. No one likes them. They get in the way and they're harder to get rid of then the proverbial cockroach. Flashing messages of "Increase your online security!", "YOU may be a Semi-Finalist!" and "Click here for a PRIZE!!!" bombard us everytime we log on, relentless. Most people usually take but a second to gaze over it and ex it out. Pop! ex. Pop! ex. Its a vicious circle. But imagine for a moment, if you will, the people who spend their days creating those pop-ups. With the downfall of internet companies and stock recently, some computer programmers can't afford to rest on their laurels. Perhaps their only income is designing online advertisements for companies. Those poor souls. Can you imagine how embarrassing it is for them, once prominent Bill Gates hopefuls, having to tell people what they do for a living?

Henry, the down-on-his-luck former programmer: "I design pop-up advertisements for Firewall Security"
American citizen: ((screams and begins to lash Henry with his modem))

Or even worse... there could be some lonely, but very wealthy, individual, who has only a few months to live, and their last wish is to spread joy and happiness through the world. But they suffer from both agoraphobia and anthropophobia, so they cannot leave their home or be around other people. So they think, "If only I could give people ten thousand dollars over the internet, I could spread happiness around the world". So they set out to make notices for all people to recieve: "Congratulations! Click here to be given YOUR ten thousand dollars!!"
But alas. Every message they sent out was exed immediately upon receival. "Why will no one share my joy and happiness?" they will exclaim.

So the next time a pop-up appears on your screen, do not just snuff it out with a single click. Think first...that pop-up could be someone's life work or dying wish. Remember: empathize before you exterminate.


Next week's essay: Telemarketers~ Voices of Vice or Patriots of the Phonelines?

ash @ 8:46 PM