Earl B believed everybody has a number, immovable, irrefutable. Single, double, or triple digits, doesn’t matter. It’s there, same as your blood type and fingerprint.
He’d say you can wear your seatbelt, or not, smoke, smoke less, not smoke, eat well, eat poorly, exercise, or not, get little sleep or lots. Doesn’t matter, your number’s your number. When your number’s up, he’d say, that’s it, you’re done. Game over. He would say he lived that way, not worrying about what he couldn’t control, nor about what he could. It wouldn’t matter, anyway, he’d say. My day’s my day, my number’s my number. It’ll come and I’ll go. ‘See ya!’
There’s a certain simple wisdom in Earl’s worldview.