January 19, 2006

Life By Numbers (Jim Lauderdale)

In Sweden, you have a personal number. If you are born in Sweden you are given a number. If you move to Sweden, then you are assigned one when you register. It always begins with your date of birth and is followed by 4 addition numbers. For example 611226 is the start of mine because I was born December 26, 1961. Kind of like a social security number in the states.
If you are not registered in Sweden, you really can't do much. You can't get a telephone hooked up without putting down a HUGE deposit, you can't get a job, open a bank account, etc. Your existence here depends on that number.

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