Asakiyume mita

On the news, talking about fires in California, they said 1400 people were evacuated. (Or maybe it was 1200--it was either twelve or fourteen. Hundred.) I always assume, when I hear a number like that, that it's rounded off. The chances that it's a perfect fourteen hundred--not 1,396, not 1,407 or 1,421--seem low to me, though I suppose it's possible.

But if it's rounded off, that means the actual number is either higher or lower. If it's higher, that means there are displaced people who aren't counted--how would you like to be among the unnumbered? You are an untidy extra, a scrap cut off the piecrust.

And if it's lower, that means there are phantom people swelling the ranks. Imagine sitting at the shelter, maybe having a package of Funyuns that have been handed out, and next to you are these barely visible disturbances in your visual field, like heat ripples--the ghostly extras who have been added to round out the number.

I'm not really distressed. I understand the necessity and practicality of rounded numbers: truly! But still--it's thought provoking.