Everyone, it seems, is interested in my numbers. I go to the grocery store to buy some groceries. After the checkout woman rings up my bill, I pull out my checkbook and write out the check. She takes it from me. She looks at the information. Numbers tell her where I live. Numbers tell her how to reach me on the telephone. "Is this information correct?" she asks.

"Yes, it is," I reply.

"May I see your driver’s license?" she asks. She looks at my driver’s license and writes some more numbers on my check. Finally, I am approved. The numbers are all there. I can eat for another week.

Each year we file our income taxes. That is the numbers game to end all numbers games. Pages and pages of numbers. When it is finally prepared, off it goes to the Internal Revenue Service. It would be nice to thi…