Hmmm

I don’t have a great brain for remembering words, but time was I had a fairly decent brain for remembering numbers.

Until about 15 years ago, I remembered any date I saw in writing (which made history exams much easier), phone numbers without trying, useless statistics of any kind (I loved reading the Baseball Encyclopedia at night), and could memorize just about any number I put half a mind to.

I never realized how incredibly useful this was.

About 15 years ago I battled lung disease. And a neurologist told me that those top echelons of our brain are the most susceptible to oxygen deprivation, and I do believe that that battle shaved some of my capacity for numbers away (aka caused some brain damage 🙂 ). And although I am still above average for remembering numbers, it’s by no means fail-proof and have to work at it a lot harder to remember them.

For example, today I was asked by NWLMS for my six-digit ID number, a number I was assigned yesterday. It went like this:

CALL AGENT: “May I have your ID number?”

ME: “Uh.”

CALL AGENT: “It’s the six digit number we assigned you.”

ME: “Yes, I know. I need to find it in my email.”

Sigh.

That’s embarrassing and a pain in the butt.

Conversely, I remember this situation from 2005:

ME (on headset while driving): Do you have that phone number I need to call?

COLLEAGUE: Yes, but aren’t you driving?

ME: Yes, but you can just tell me. I’ll remember.

COLLEAGUE (skeptically): Okay, here it is. 513 blah blah blah blah blah blah (last digits removed to protect the innocent).

ME: Okay, thank you. (The number was filed away in my memory at that point. Later, my colleague commented how remarkable it was that I could remember a phone number like that on the first listen while driving. But it was just how my brain worked, and it probably came at a sacrifice to other parts of my brain like how to change a light bulb).

I never realized what a pain it is to have to try to memorize numbers. Everything is just a little bit harder now. And I have to have some kind of filing system that I never had to have before 10 years ago, although thank goodness the search feature on our devices makes it so much easier.

It’s such a gift to remember numbers. And to remember numbers without trying. I wish I’d appreciated it more when I had it. But I’m grateful it was taken from me only after the world’s search mechanisms had become so powerful. And I’m grateful to be at least average — it could have been far worse 🙂