Get Your "Freak" On!!

It's three o'clock in the afternoon at the orthopedic surgeon's office in Syracuse, NY. With great anticipation, we co-workers reach for the radios on our desks and carefully turn the "volume" knobs a click to the right. Judie, our office manager and expert phone dialer, picks up her receiver and punches in all but the last digit of the radio station's number, finger poised over the remaining button. Finally, the car dealership commercial ends and the D.J.'s voice is heard. "Ok, everybody. It's three o'clock, time for our 'Movie Madness Trivia' contest. Here's how it works: we're about to play a short, five second clip from a movie. The first caller who can accurately name that movie will be our winner!" We girls all make the rolling "get on with it" gesture with our hands, we know the rules. We play this game every day. My coworkers turn to me, I lean into my radio as the clip begins. I identify the voice immediately as that of Sam Shepard. "Do all men make your nervous, or is it just me?"

"BABY BOOM!!" I shout to Judie, even before the clip has finished. She presses the final button on her phone and, as always, immediately gets through to the station. "Baby Boom!" she tells the D.J. I don't wait to hear his response, I already know I'm right. We won this contest many, many times, thanks to Judie's dialing and my freakish talent for identifying movies after hearing only a short clip played. In fact, we won so often, we had to start passing the phone to other girls once we got through, so the station wouldn't realize it was the same office that was collecting all of the "bling." Honestly, I have no recollection of the prizes we won, only of the supreme pleasure I gained from realizing there was something at which I was really good, without even trying! I never subscribed to People magazine nor watched Entertainment Tonight, I just have this weird ability to identify the actor's voice, then name the movie within seconds. My coworkers were in awe, I just shrugged.

So, it is with my bizarre talent in mind that I offer-up today's blog topic. I can't believe I didn't do this long, long ago. Are you ready? Here goes: I proclaim today officially "BONDING QUESTION DAY (Hold for gasps of disbelief followed by thunderous applause)!!" Those of you who've been with me since the beginning of this, my first blogging venture, might remember my entry entitled "Tubsy." In it, I explained how much I have LOVED to ask "bonding questions" at my places of employment through the years. These questions can be anything from "What was your BEST day, EVER?" to "Whom from history would you most love to have dinner with?" I have deeply enjoyed the responses I've received, once everyone stops groaning and eye-rolling and realizes I'm unrelenting. The answers always manage to stir-up a mixture of heartwarming and fun stories, to say the least!

So let's do this! I'm going to present you, my readers, with a bonding question and ask you to respond in the "comment section" at the end of the page. You can be anonymous if you like, but I promise if you tell me who you are, I won't hunt you down or stalk your children. Really, I promise!

OK, ready? Like my "movie identification" talent, what special, weird "Rain Man"-like gift do you posses that stuns and amazes others? Is there something silly for which you've had no training, no lessons, but you just do really well naturally? Tell us!

Need some help identifying your talent? I posed this question to my family recently. Some responded with things I never knew, others I remembered from our shared past together. Here's what we came up with:

My Husband, Alan: Alan has been nicknamed "The Human Calculator" by his co-workers. He can accurately add, multiply, and divide any number in his head, including percentages. No paper needed, his freakish noggin is the only tool he requires.

My Brother, Jack: Jack says he can hear a song once, then, upon hearing it played the second time through, can sing along, word for word, EVERY lyric. He says he doesn't try to memorize the words or anything, he just seems to "know" them the second time through. Cool, huh?

My Sister, Kathy: I've actually seen this one for myself. You can drop Kathy in the middle of the city, country, or suburbs, anyplace she's never been before, and she will immediately know her way around. We've nicknamed her "The Homing Pigeon." It's amazing. She has some kind of grid in her head that expertly guides her along. When she visits me, she navigates her way through my new hometown of York FAR better than I. It's awesome, astounding, and GROSSLY unfair!

My Mother, Sandy: Mom taught all her girls to knit, crochet, embroider and sew, all from a very young age. Although we became fairly good at all of these crafts, you can imagine the trials and errors that occurred during the learning process. I remember coming to Mom with two knitting needles and a pile of knots that was supposed to be the first row of a scarf I was making. I handed Mom the mess in a fit of frustration, then plopped down in front of a Looney Tunes episode on TV to ease my stress. In the time it took for the Roadrunner to elude the Coyote's only second murder attempt, my mother returned, perfectly stitched knitting in hand. Mom can fix ANY snarl. The Gordian knot would've trembled in her presence. No matter how tight or tangled they are, knots are no match for my mother's nimble, excruciatingly patient fingers.

My Nephew, Brett: Brett's talent may be my favorite of all. I've seen this one first hand, as well. We'll be watching the Browns game together (Brett is an INTENSE sports fan) and there will be only two minutes left, with the Browns losing by three touchdowns (surprise!). Hopeless, right? In these instances, I would turn to Brett and ask, "Can we still win this?" Brett's optimistic response was ALWAYS the same, "Absolutely! This is DEFINITELY not over!" He'd then proceed to tell me how all that had to happen was a Browns drive for a touchdown, followed by a recovered onside kick, returned for a touchdown, followed by an interception and "hail-mary" pass, caught in the end zone, then going for two instead of the extra point and BOOM, Browns win!! I really love that boy!!

My Brother-in-Law, Bryan: Bryan was the hit of his Sunday school classes growing up because he could tell you not only what hymn was on what page in the hymnal, but also the composer and the year it was written! His classmates would take turns quizzing him, yelling in delight at his (always!) accurate response!

See, wasn't that fun? OK, now it's your turn! Tell me what talent you posses that makes others gasp in amazement! Click on the comment button below and brag to the cyber world about your awesome "Rain Man" ability! I can't wait to applaud you!

Thanks for Reading!!