Useless Trivia

I remember going to a Casa Bonita in Denver in early June of 1984, a place that had a cliff diver and lots of fountains and, more importantly for our story, a television that was showing a Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals game. I remember watching part of that game in the bar area while we were waiting for a table. And as sad as it is to me, I'm beginning to think that catching a part of that game on the TV as a 10-year old is my totem--something that allows me to tie back and recognize my reality, why I remember that musty smell and walking around the upper level and looking for that cliffdiver.


I thought of this while in Disney World last week. My family went to Disney World a few years after that, and I realized that upon my return for the first time in about 25 years, I really didn't remember a whole lot about my experience there. My sister, I'm quite certain, remembers every bit of it. I vaguely remember the light parade that we stayed up to watch, and I remember the futuristic family from Epcot, but that's about it.  Heck, I don't even remember whether it was 1985 or 1986 or 1987.

[As a random aside, The bits I do remember about that trip are pretty random. We drove there by going through Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains, and I still remember driving around Knoxville and my parents asking someone where Fort Knox was. Hey, we didn't have Google maps back then, people! Cut them some slack.]

And it actually makes me sad that I don't remember more about that trip, and its probably because there were no televisions showing the All-Star game as I walked down Main Street USA.

I wish I could kick out some of the random trivia in my head. Knowing that West Germany beat Hungary in the 1954 World Cup Finals or that Arnie Ferrin was the Most Outstanding Player in the 1944 NCAA Tournament or that the Carolina Panthers were 7-9 in 2001. I didn't have a computer as a kid, so I guess I learned to be my own computer. But I could find that stuff out in a few seconds using an internet search. I don't need it storing up space in my long term memory anymore. I just don't know how to reprogram it. And I'm a little afraid of what other memories it might take with it.