Take a number

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You walk into the bakery
Rich aromas fill your nose and you inhale deeply
The bell rings behind you...soft and clear

The baker looks up and directs "Take a number."

Simple enough right? You reach over and pull the ticket. 5683.
The significance? You've let yourself be assigned a number.
How dehumanizing. You're now seen as a number, not a person.

We were talking about the holocaust in history.
We were learning how inhuman humanity can be. 
How dark and clinical and detached we can become.
My teacher gestured to a unaware student
"You're now 5683. You're a number, you no longer have a name."
To my shock he laughed.

His friends laughed.

The jokes flew.

"Don't do that 5683."
"5683 what are you doing after school?"
"5683 is my best friend!"

Then "5683" numbered his friends, 4283, 4475, 0000.
They laughed and referred to each other by their numbers the rest of class.

Their ignorance made me furious and sad all at once. The two emotions were mixing and twisting inside of me, like a strong cocktail. It's side effects took action immediately, a churning stomach, clenched hands, and a loose tongue with bite marks to keep the words back.

I could not understand their complete compliance of being assigned a number and losing their name.

They easily accepted it, fell under a system that forgot who they were. 
Replacing numbers for personality.

I am sick of that system.

Who you are and what your worth is decided by a number.

School: 994769
Society: 109lbs. 
Work: 4502
Facebook: 259 friends
Instagram: 514 followers

Hello, my name is 742359. 
These are the numbers that define me

But they do not define me anymore.

Please restore my humanity, 
Please call me Shaely.






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