RAIN MAN

"I'm an excellent driver..."

It’s my second favorite movie of all-time behind The Graduate. I don’t know why I relate so closely to Rain Man. I think it’s because of his memory. People have often called me Rain Man. True, I do a pretty good Rain Man impression, but it’s really because of my memory. I tend to remember worthless trivia and minutiae like my phone number in Houston Texas some 37 years ago. {Rain Man accent…713.497.5148} Please don’t drunk dial this number or anything.

Anyway, I had a Rain Man moment at lunch today. I was talking with a guy I work with and the subject of age came up. I got around to asking him his birthday. He told me it was 10/13/58. I smiled. I asked him, “How much do you want to bet that I can tell you what song was number one when you were born?” He looked at me like I was out of my mind. I then gave him a little Rain Man, “’Course, the square root of 2,130 is four six *point * one-five-one-nine-two-three-oh-four….two-three-oh-four…UH_OH, 10 minutes to Wapner.”

He laughed and bet me five bucks. I told him the song, I believed, was “It’s All in the Game” by Tommy Edwards. I told him even if I missed it, I’d be pretty damn close. We got back from lunch and I looked it up. Bingo! Mystifying, isn’t it? Another guy I work with overheard the conversation and asked me what was his song on 5/28/65. Hmm, I thought it over. Three songs came to mind. Help Me Rhonda (Beach Boys), Back in My Arms Again (Supremes), and Help (Beatles). I went with Help. Missed it. Help was number one in September of 1965. Amazingly, Help Me Rhonda was #1 on 5/29/65 followed by Back In My Arms Again. Ticket To Ride (Beatles) was actually #1 on 5/28/65. All-in-all, still a fairly good effort. I have no clue as to why I remember stuff like this. It does seem to come in handy when I’m short on cash, however…