Universal Username: Innovative or Dumb?

Now like many of the tech savvy people of this generation, I belong to many social networking sites, blogs, online stores, university sites, etc. All which require a unique username and password. I can’t even count the endless times I’ve had to type in my username and password a day. How much easier would it be to have a universal username for everything you use on the Internet? You wouldn’t have to constantly click on “Forgot Username” and having emails sent to you to change it. It’s constantly annoying to try and remember all the usernames you have for everything.
I recycle through three usernames I usually use: vtaupradist, vtizzap, and strikervanda11. But there are some sites where I’ve signed up with completely different usernames that I completely forget about. I sometimes just can’t keep up with all my usernames and I think sometimes it would be such an innovative idea to have a universal username for all the various things you are on.
As I think about how easier life would be without remembering several usernames and just having that one that will define who you are on the Internet, I begin to think of the negative possibilities. People who take advantage of a universal username subject themselves to having a difficult username because everyone else could possibly take their idea. For example, Alex Henderson might want to use a.henderson, but of course that’s taken, leaving him only a.henderson389047129038479283279354923. Now that is annoying! Another concerning problem, probably the biggest problem, is the possibility of identity theft. Just think, if someone were to get hold of your universal username and password, you would be completely and utterly screwed. They’d have access to everything you are on the web. Your entire identity would be stolen from you and basically you would be nobody and going through that process to fix that problem would be time consuming and annoying.
Overall, while a universal username seems like a good idea to those are too lazy to type it in at every login box or come up with a new username for different sites, the possible consequences are simply too dire for anyone to embark on.