Yesterday I was in the drive-through at McDonald’s trying to pay for my food with my debit card. The manager had to take my card to the other side of the store (the drive through machine wasn’t working) and needed to know my PIN number to complete the transaction. I told him “I don’t know what the number is, but it spells out ****,” and told him the four-letter word that I chose when I created my PIN.
The manager looked at me like I had four heads. How could someone possibly not know the digits to a PIN number? His face seemed to ask. When he came back, he handed me my card and receipt, and said “just so you know, your PIN number is ****,” and gave me the four numbers of my PIN code.
Odd. He must know only the numbers of his PIN, and not spell a word like I do. That got me thinking. How do people remember strings of numbers?
I put a lot of thought into it (admittedly, mostly in the shower and the toilet. I do my best thinking in those two places) and I realize that I remember numbers in three ways. Tell me if you do the same (please!?!) or if I’m the odd one in the group.
1.Acronyms – I spell my PIN number. I know what Dimitri’s cell phone number spells, I don’t know the numbers (CYNIC-17). When I was a kid, I only knew what my parent’s work numbers spelled, which made it incredibly embarrassing when I needed to have the school nurse call my parents to come pick me up from school. “What’s your dad’s number” (me) RYE WAVE “Not the name honey, the number.” (me) RYE WAVE “Poor dear, someone ought to recommend her for special ed.”
2.Spatial Relationships – When I dial my home number, I don’t think about the numbers I am pushing. Rather, I know the shape they make on the keypad, and I enter the shape of the number sequence rather than consciously pressing individual numbers. Similarly, when I check the voicemail on my cell phone, my pass code is a shape, rather than the numbers themselves.
3.As a unit– I’m sure there’s a better term for this. What I mean is: I see the numbers as a unit rather than as a series of digits. I don’t know what the term is for numbers, but when one is talking about words, we use the term sight reading. The vast majority of adults sees the word “scooter” and sees the word as a whole, and does not need to sound each individual letter out to figure out what the word is. With my Social Security number, I see them as a unit. When people ask me for the last four digits of my SSN, I have to repeat the whole number to myself before I can respond. Similarly, if you asked me how many 6’s I have in my Social Security number, I couldn’t tell you without repeating the sequence to myself first and counting them as I go.
Think about it: how do you use the numbers in your life?