The Wonderful World of Numbers - Time Out #308

One of the first things we acquire as humans concerns learning "our numbers".

As young babies, we are taught to recognize "how many fingers am I holding up?" Babies get positive reinforcement from their parents when they correctly answer, whether their parent is holding up 1, 2, or more fingers in front of their searching, young eyes. When youngsters begin to understand they are in control of their young fingers by bending and straightening them. One of a youngster's early exercise displaying independence, results when someone asks "just how old are you?" We quickly hold up a couple or three fingers to show our youthful age. The questioner then smiles, and vocally repeats the number to us. This represents strong reinforcement to our young brain, and a win/win situation for all concerned.

More important numbers in our lives come into play for birthdays and marriages, both for family members and ourselves. Of course, we receive big kudos when we remember our friends' birthdays, too. Holidays, such as July 4th, December 25, and January 1 are also firmly cemented into our heads. One of our calendar dates, 9/11, will also always be recalled in American History, certainly never to be forgotten. If gambling is in your wheelhouse, you may have 4 or 5 numbers you always play when purchasing a lottery ticket, or betting on the ponies at the local race track. We idolize athletes, and buy their jersey numbers, wearing that clothing to the games, school, or many other public places, merely to show the world we like that athlete. Heck, we even purchase jerseys containing our own numbers we wore when we played organized athletics, be it little league, city league, junior high, or high school sports.

How about social security numbers (SSN)? In the past, those numbers followed us almost everywhere when we filled out various forms, identification information, or any other official documents. However, the past few years, mostly for security purposes, our SSN isn't used nearly as much as in the recent past.

Age and weight. Those are interesting numbers aren't they, readers in Our Town and far beyond? The higher those two numbers are, the more we tend to fudge a little, and either ignore what they actually are, or try our best to disguise them. It is difficult for some of us to admit, they are just numbers.

How about telephone numbers? Well, here modern cell phones have taken most of that remembering issue almost completely away from our mental stress meter. We merely locate the person's name in our cell phone directory, then push a button. Even the simple task of knowing our own cell telephone number or a close family member's number, occasionally slips through our memory. What do we do then; of course, we look it up on our trusty cell phone, and our temporary problem is quickly solved!

Need to add numbers up? If you are challenged to do it in your head, once again, you can turn to your cell phone with its built-in calculator, and BINGO, you have your instant answer.

Numbers, numbers, numbers; now if I could only remember where I put my cell phone???