Why do men always know the population of everyplace?  Or, if they don’t know, they want to know?

I have never cared about the population of anywhere, and even when I look up a population, I immediately forget it.

I care if there are too many people living in too small of a space.

That’s why I don’t like San Francisco.  It’s a fucking ant hill, okay?  It makes my skin crawl to see those hills crowded with houses and people living cheek to jowl.  I know some people love San Francisco.  Good on ’em.  They can have my share.

On the other hand, I like Los Angeles a lot.  The people are spread out.  Each area becomes a sort of urban village, and you can find absolutely anything you want in LA.  And not just the disgusting stuff either.  LA is a shopper’s dream.

It’s not the population – San Francisco is smaller than San Jose for God’s sake; it’s how the population lives.

I was just wondering what the population of my home town is – it is currently 34,900+ (you see I’ve already started to forget the exact number, and soon that information will be gone completely, and not missed at all).  I don’t know if that’s big or small.  I don’t know if it’s more or less from when I was a kid.  Don’t care.

I just don’t understand what that particular number is supposed to tell you about a place.  Anyone care to explain?