Monday, November 27, 2006

Selective Memory

Sometimes I can have a real head for details; remembering them, that is. I have oft amazed friends with my ability to remember some minute details of something that happened years ago. (Although, this seems to have slowed down the last few years.) This only seems to apply to unimportant facts. Remembering things for school can still be quite a task.

There are a plethora of examples for me to choose from, but you get the point. I remember things, and people have sometimes been amazed at my memory.


One time just before I left Sault Ste. Marie for a semester, a pop machine at Algoma University ate my money. It was late Friday afternoon. Everything was closed at the time, and the next time anything would be opened would be Monday. But by Monday I would be in a different city for four months. I was never going to reclaim my money. Oh well. It was only $1.75.

Then, four months later when I returned to the Sault I went to a pop machine at Algoma, put my money in, hit the water button and got two bottles of water. This happened quite often with one of the machines. I would always return one bottle to the cafeteria. But this time I kept it.

I recounted the story to a friend later. I said "I only paid for one and the machine game me two. But just before I left last semester that other machine ate my money. I figure we're even now. Over the last four months I paid for two drinks, and I got two drinks. They owe me this second drink."

My friend made some comment implying I was cheap and/or petty for remembering such a small thing.

What I want to know is when I remember the birthday of some guy I just met once five years ago I have a great memory. But when I remember that a pop machine ate my money four months ago, I'm a cheap-skate?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You are not cheapskate but expect value for expenditure. You are much more likely to retire early or more comfortably than your friend...