Known by Number

   Last week the Table Topics master brought a "Chat Pack" with her. This is a set of cards with different questions on them that can be used for Table Topics at a Toastmasters meeting. There were a lot of good questions with a lot of good answers. One of them struck me as very interesting. The question was, "If you had to be known by a number, rather than a name, what number would you choose."
   I think this is interesting because we are actually known by numbers as well as names. The one that comes to mind first is a phone number. It used to be that a phone number would be tied to a place, but now with cell phones so prevalent, more often a phone number is tied to a person.
  There are some people who are known just by number. In Green Bay number 4 is Brett Favre and number 12 is Aaron Rodgers. There are  characters in movies or TV shows who are known only or mostly by number. 007 is always James Bond. Seven of Nine is a character in a Star Trek series. 99 is a character in the comedy series 'Get Smart'.
  We actually have all kinds of numbers that identify us. We have insurance ID numbers, drivers license numbers, and work ID numbers. Some jobs have their own ID numbers. A police officer has a badge number. I have three different license numbers one for each state that I am licensed in.
  When I am at work I can sometimes have a conversation consisting on the exchange of numbers. When I call to resolve to insurance billing issue, I have to give a NPI number and a phone number. The help desk rep gives me their ID number. Then I give them the ID number of the patient I'm calling about along with their birthdate, which is another number. I have to give the prescription number and sometimes the number tied to the rejection I'm getting from the claim. To resolve the claim I'm sometimes told to put numbers in certain fields. If that doesn't work then I may have to get an authorization number.
  In sports a numbers are used to identify players. I'm not sure about other sports, but in football the number a player has indicates what position he plays. Some football players are attached to their numbers and will sometimes take the same number they had in college for their number on a professional team. C is fond of the number 85 which was his number when he was a star receiver in high school. He pays close attention to professional players who have that number and gets upset with them when they don't play well.
  In science fiction movies and futuristic films it seems like people are known only by numbers. I don't like those films because they are scary. Those films usually feature humans in societies where they've been stripped of emotions and independent thought.
   I hope we never get to a point where we are known only by numbers. I'm sure a mathematics major would disagree to me, but a name is a much better identifier. A name is more than just a bunch of random letters strung together. It's someone that you are or someone that you hope to become.