Thursday, August 18, 2005

Do you know the magic number?

Please do not post your actual number, but a show of hands - do you know your social security number (or your country's equivalent) without looking at the card? I know mine because it was drilled into my head during university. Because of the propensity for identity theft in America, schools are changing to other numbering systems than SSN's. I'm just curious what people's answers are, because I was watching a sitcom in which the female lead supposedly doesn't know her SSN without looking it up. She's 41 in the show. I'm 10+ years out of university and I can rattle off my number as quickly as I can rattle off my name.

Update: Last night while I was under sedation (don't bother asking) I realized I am not yet 10 years out of university, I am 10+ years out of high school, only 8+ years out of university... Well, ya know, when you get to be my age you forget the little details. ;)

20 comments:

Helen said...

I take credit apps and you'd be surprised how many people ask me to hold on while they go get their card. Admitedly, it's mostly seniors. I think the majority of us know them.
Peace................

Renee said...

I know mine and my husbands...

Anonymous said...

Yes, and my DL#. I'm working on my credit card number, but I haven't memorized the whole thing yet. People who don't know it seem suspicious to me, but I think that's just because my mom drilled it in my head to always know these numbers.

c said...

Mine and my husband's. Mine due to college, husband's because of insurance and retirement accounts and whatnot.

kris said...

Oh yeah. I'm with you. I can't imagine anyone not knowing it. Even the cable guy seems to need it now.
This is another one of TV's lies for purposes of plots; you know, like you can get DNA test results back in three minutes on CSI . . .

Mel said...

I'm two years out of college and know mine.

But then again, I learned it by heart when I turned 16... and had to use it to clock in to the TIMECLOCK at my first job.

Poppy said...

And we wonder why identity theft is so prevalent...

Lisa said...

I know mine from college because it was used as my ID. But I also have had to use it so many times in the years since---for credit card applications, the electric company, job applications, etc.

jules said...

I know mine by heart. I do not know my husbands off the top of my head.

c said...

Oh, but the answer to your title is "Three, is the magic number, yes it is."

Anonymous said...

i know mine, my husbands and ,my first child's. I don't know the other 3 kids' though.

Poppy said...

Misfit - It's the magic number / Somewhere in this hip-hop soul community / Was born 3 Mase, Dove and me / And that’s the magic number

Yeeeha. Eternal thanks to Rob the hot, sexy roommate who introduced me to de la soul. :)

acw said...

I know mine and I'm working on learning my fiance's.

Mindi said...

I know all my numbers my heart, but then again I am slightly neurotic!

Anonymous said...

Poppy! I learn something new about you every day. :) Love De La Soul...

Joanne said...

SSN thanks to college. That's probably one of the few things that stuck.

And I had the same realization recently. I was having a mini panic attack that I graduated college 10 years ago and it dawned on me that it was 2005 and I was still okay.

c said...

No, no, no!

The School House Rock version!

Three is a magic number,
Yes it is, it's a magic number.
Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity
You get three as a magic number.

The past and the present and the future.
Faith and Hope and Charity,
The heart and the brain and the body
Give you three as a magic number.

It takes three legs to make a tri-pod
Or to make a table stand.
It takes three wheels to make a ve-hicle
Called a tricycle.

Every triangle has three corners,
Every triangle has three sides,
No more, no less.
You don't have to guess.
When it's three you can see
It's a magic number.

A man and a woman had a little baby,
Yes, they did.
They had three in the family,
And that's a magic number.

(then a bunch of counting by threes and multiplication and stuff)

A man and a woman had a little baby.
Yes, they did.
They had three in the family.
That's a magic number.

Poppy said...

Oh, Misfit, of course. School House Rock is of course the original, and DLS ripped it off. :)

JN, I am chock full of surprises.

Elizabeth said...

I haven't had to consult my SSN card for the number for years because I memorized it so long ago. I'm 16 years out of college. Oh, and I still know my ex-husband's SSN and his AMEX number after having to repeat them so many times (groan), and I'm 10 years out of THAT "relationship."

Elizabeth said...

Oh, and I know my passport number and my DL#.