Number's Game

My friend, Rachel, at Testosterhome, posted this last week. I found it absolutely hilarious and, what's more, the comments were even funnier.

For those of you who don't care to look further, Rachel's post was about a rare and divine gift she has of remembering the smallest details - for years, and years, and more years. She slipped up and used this gift on an unsuspecting person who, thankfully, has a similar gift and understood that she was not stalking him. She's just gifted. What can she say?

Part of the reason I found this so funny is that I have a similar gift (curse?). I never forget a face, which I expounded on in Comments on Rachel's post. This face thing is a huge challenge for me, not simply because of the gift, but because I can't ever seem to just let it go. If I see someone who looks familiar, I can't help sneaking peaks at them in the hopes that where I know them from will pop into my head. People get a little nervous when they see you not only blatantly staring, but sneaking, as well. When I get caught, I'll quickly look away. Then, when I think they won't notice, I peak again, inevitably to get caught again.

Last week, Deanna and I saw a woman that really looked familiar. What made it even more challenging was that Deanna thought she looked familiar, too. I was looking at her when she glanced up. I flashed a friendly smile, hoping she would think I was just being nice. Then I looked away. Within seconds, I was looking at her again, and I'm quite sure my brow was scrunched up in a quizzical look. Once again, she turned and caught me. I looked surprised, shrugged, and got busy with something else. But I just couldn't help myself. I had to look again and what do you think happened? When I began to become concerned that she might call the police, I decided the only sensible solution was to LEAVE . . . QUICKLY!! But, it's been driving me crazy ever since. Who was this woman? Where do I know her from? If I had told her my name, would she have known me?

As if this "gift" doesn't get me into enough trouble, I have yet another "special skill". I remember numbers quite easily - particularly, phone numbers. Don will come home from work and be furiously looking for something.

"What do you need, honey?" I ask, hoping I can help before he destroys the house.

"I'm trying to find ________'s phone number," he'll say.

"Oh, I know that. It's XXX - XXXX."

Don will stop and glance at me. One can only wonder what thoughts are going through his mind. Why did his wife know this married man's phone number by heart? How come his wife has this single person's phone number on the tip of her tongue? Is there some reason why his wife has the phone number for the (fill in the blank) memorized?

It's scary. Not for me but, apparently, everybody else. I find it immensely convenient. I love not having to look up phone numbers. Don will say he needs someone's number or I'll think, "Gee, I ought to call so-and-so," and the numbers just miraculously pop into my head. Some of these are people whose children grew up and went to High School with me. Back then, I called their homes often and having the numbers memorized might have been expected. But I graduated from High School over 25 years ago. Why are those numbers still rolling around up there?

I still remember my family's phone number that we had for 3 years when we lived in Belgium. We moved to Belgium when I was in the Third Grade, left when I was in the Sixth. But the number's still there - clear as day - rolling around in the old brain.

What's really scary to me is how much of my brain space is wasted with unimportant details. I know there's important things that I should remember, if I just had the extra brain space, but I can't seem to remember what they are long enough to get them in there good. But give me a number - I'm sure to remember it forever.