An Exit Mantra

Things are going badly.
The screen looks very weird.
Clicking on things doesn't seem to have any effect.
I think maybe I've broken something.
I'm very confused.
I must escape from this.

I will not panic.
It is very, very difficult to break Windows permanently.
It is almost impossible to physically damage the computer by pressing the keys.

I just need to exit as gracefully as possible.
I will press the ESC key.
I will click on CANCEL if I see it.
Maybe the bad thing will go away, and I can get back to work or fun.

If not
I will pause and think.
If that doesn't work...

I will close down the application program I am using.
Usually I will do this by clicking on File and then Exit.
If asked to do so, I will save my work.
(If I fear I may have damaged my work somehow, I will save it under a different filename.)

I can probably press Alt-F4 to close down the application.
(It doesn't much matter if I forget that one.
But it might help.)

Maybe everything is OK now, and I can restart my program and get back to work.
If not
I will pause and think.
If that doesn't work...

I will hold down the CTRL key
and hold down the ALT key
and touch the DELETE key
and then let go of them all.
I will pause to admire my dexterity.
Especially if I did it all with one hand!

I will see something called "Task Manager",
Listing all the programs and processes that are going on inside my computer
If I see a thing marked "(not responding)" I will select it.
If not, then I will select whatever program seems to be going badly the worst.
Then I will click "End Task".
I will wait and see if the problem program goes away.
If asked, I will click "YES" to confirm my desire to close the program.

Then maybe everything will be all right again,
I can start any program I like,
and continue doing whatever it was I was trying to do.

If not...
I will close down other programs, one by one.
Maybe I will suddenly discover that one of them was the culprit all along,
Maybe it was just hung up waiting for me to respond to a dialog box or something.
Bad program, I will say, and shut it down.
Then everything will be okay again and I will get back to work or play.

If not,
I will pause and think
And then...

I will gracefully exit from Windows, thus:

I will click on the Start button and choose "Shut Down"
(Or I will press Ctrl-Esc and then touch the letter "u" on my keyboard)
I will confirm as needed, reading each warning as I shut down.

If I have to, I will do that wonderful three-finger maneuver again,
called CTRL-ALT-DEL
Then I will repeat it a second time.
That'll shut things down if anything will.

If not,
I'll have to press the "RESET" button on my computer
or turn the power off without exiting Windows.
I'd very much rather not do that.
I'd much rather exit gracefully.
If I can.

I will watch the screen that says "please wait while your computer shuts down"
and I will wait.
If the screen goes black and that screen doesn't appear,
I will wait and count to ten after all the disk activity has ended.

And then
I will turn off the power,
by pushing the big button marked with the encircled I.

And then
I will wait again, for the whirring of the fan and the disks to stop.
And I will breathe, and smile.
And then...

I will turn the power on.
It will be better this time.

Just
wait.