The Numbers Game

I haven't posted to my blog in a long time, but one aspect of my life is driving me crazy: numbers. A bit of perspective here: some years back I asked my elderly mother what her social security number was. She said, I have no need to memorize it, as I use it so seldom. She memorized a couple of phone numbers of friends and family, and that was about it.

Life is far different today. For example, just today I had to yet again redo my user name/password for accessing my computer at the college where I teach. I am required to do this pretty much every semester. That's just the beginning of the password maze. I have different user names/passwords for bank accounts, web access, and on and on.

These days, I have to memorize not only my social security number, but that of my husband's. Often when I go into a bank for an important transaction, the bored, gum-chewing teller asks, "The last four digits of your sowsh?"

And phone numbers? Not only do I need to remember my own land line numbers, but that of my cell phone (and of course, password to get into my voice mail).

I use my driver's license number so often for transactions that I have memorized it. I maintain a number of websites, and there are different passwords for each.

The numbers lists go on and on. And we wonder why we live in a stressful environment? C'est la vie in the twenty-first century.