The
Old Coot’s head is full!
By
Merlin Lessler
This
is an article that ran in February 2020. I’m using it as an excuse for the
reason I forgot to write a new article this week. It was Old Coot Article #860;
I edited it a bit, I can now claim it as Article # 907.
It
finally happened; my head is full. I can’t put another thing in it. I thought
it would be names that would put me over the top, but it was numbers that did
it. I discovered the issue when I went to the college swimming pool after a 7-month
absence. I had to renew my membership to get in. “What’s your old entry code,”
I was asked? “Uh… I think it’s Sink 21.” But no, that wasn’t it. I had to start
from scratch: full name, driver’s ID. Then my code popped up – Sunk 76. I paid up
and made it over that hurdle. It was similar to what happens when you check into
a motel and they ask for your license plate number. I never know mine. We have two
cars and I can’t remember which plate goes with which car. THAT’S A LIE! I
don’t know either plate number. As I started this out, my head is full.
Anyhow,
I got registered at the pool, headed down the hall to the locker room door and
punched 756 into the keypad; nothing happened; the door wouldn’t open. Wrong
number? Back to the main desk, to ask if I remembered the code correctly. “Oh,
we changed it; it’s now 648.” Off I went
chanting 648, 648, 648. I didn’t want to have to go back to the desk and remove
all doubt of how much of an idiot I am. I made it in, got into my suit, and
using a combination lock, secured my clothes, wallet and cell phone in a locker.
My combination is 7-25-7 That didn’t come out of my head; it came from the back
of the lock. I never removed the sticker that it came with. I knew, at some
point, I’d forget it, and wanted to avoid going to the front desk, dripping
like a drowned rat, to ask if the janitor might have a set of bolt cutters to cut
open my lock.
That’s
the issue; all those numbers in my head. Three sets to go for a swim. Four
digits to get cash from an ATM. Go to the doctor and be asked, “What year were
you born?” Knowing your name isn’t enough to get you into the exam room. It’s not
a problem for me. I may not know how old I am but for some reason, I never
forget my birth year. I guess it’s
because I use it all the time to figure out how old I am and then gasp in shock.
When
cell phones went mainstream, society got a reprieve. The phones took over the
task of keeping track of phone numbers. But, it only lasted a few years. Eventually,
a new bunch of numbers to remember came our way. Now, I barely remember my own
phone number. I can retrieve my childhood, five-digit number along with several
others from that era. They are deep inside my brain, and apparently insulated
from memory lapses.
We’re
inundated with numbers and codes: ATM pins, Social Security ID’s, passwords,
library card ID’s, license plate numbers. It’s a long list and a challenge to
keep track of them. I hope I’m not involved in an emergency; even 911 is
getting difficult to extract from that swamp between my ears. Think it’s not a
problem for you? Have you dated a check or a document this year and found you
wrote 2019 instead of 2020? No? Then your head’s not full yet. But it will be.
Comments?
Complaints? – Send to mlessler7@gmail.com (I think that’s
it)
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