The Big Question » Blog Archive » Dealing with the numb in numbers

Dealing with the numb in numbers

November 21st, 2008 – 1:06 PM by Jim Kern

From the Ramsey County recount site, this tidbit from staff writer Curt Brown:

Ramsey County election judge Diane Follmer said counting stacks of ballots to 25 for three straight days can get mind-numbing.
Sometimes, she’ll count in French to stay alert.

“When someone at my table sneezed yesterday, instead of saying: ‘Gesundheit,’ I said: ‘Seventeen.”

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One response to "Dealing with the numb in numbers"

John E Iacono says:

November 22nd, 2008 at 10:53 am

In accounting, we often have to deal with “mind-numbing” piles of checks, or boxes of bolts. I can attest to the truth of this election judge’s experience.

If experience is any guide, s/he probably — at least subconsciously — said her current count number so as not to lose track of where s/he was in the pile.

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