Agreed, was going on the dangerous assumption that Ernest is not exactly a teenager and hence typing such messages on a phone becomes increasingly difficult with advancing age. That said, a 'safe' middle ground number was indeed plumped for.
Lazy typing there ENREST, you had selected 19,000+ in your head, then when it came to the random digits your hand simply wandered across to the middle of the row where you pressed three. A safety first approach.
A psychologist's dream, or were you simply dreaming about your morning sausage?