and while we're on the topic of how broken SSN's are...
why is it that the most important piece of identification you receive in your life, that you also need to keep forever, is printed on a crappy piece of paper???
I was really astonished by this when I moved to the US from Canada. Canada gives you a plastic card while after 7 years, my SSN card has pretty much turned into a disintegrating pile of paper dust.