Memory Test: How Good are you?

Let me say that reading this post is not a true memory test- well not a scientific one anyway. My aim is to jog your memory a bit.

Today for some reason I was thinking about clothes that I wore as a child. Guess what? I couldn’t remember even one item of clothing that I had! Am I not supposed to remember such things? Do you remember what you wore as a child? I know some kids these days have their favourite top or trousers that they always seem to want to put on! Well, wait! Didn’t I have any favourite clothes? I know it may seem insignificant to you, but I am really baffled by the fact that I can’t even remember one item of clothing I had! I know it wasn’t trousers (pants to my readers in Jamaica and the US) and it wasn’t a pair of shorts either. I know this as a fact as us girls in my home didn’t wear trousers or shorts ( don’t ask me why, as I don’t know). I remember clearly purchasing and wearing publicly my first pair of shorts when I became an adult and was in my fourth job! It was knee-length and I remember clearly as I remember my friend Dahlia laughing so hard when she saw me, I was embarrassed! When I asked her what she was laughing about, she confessed that I did look funny in shorts as she’d never see me in shorts before! I’ve never worn shorts publicly since then!

 

But back to the important issue of this memory thing! I seem to be able to remember being a baby, less than three years old. White frilly dress, fat, rosy, innocent face and little white shoes with little jingle bells on. And I do seem to remember my hair in soft twists, parted to one side, beautiful! Oh, please tell me that it was really from my memory and not from a photo I’ve seen somewhere!

 

Have you ever seen one of these tv programs where there’s an audience and then the producers arrange for someone to rush in, pretend to carry out some crime like snatching a purse, and then running off? Well, I have, but don’t ask me to describe the person or what they had on, or anything like that! I’d send the wrong person to jail! So even though I’d have seen the person and the act, I wouldn’t be able to remember a thing! Other than perhaps to say if I thought the person was male or female, I’d get everything else wrong!

 

You know those who witness a crime and can give a good description sometime later to a sketch artist so that they can create an image of the suspect? Well in my book, they’re genius! Nothing short. The sketch artist? Well, that’s another matter.

 

OK here’s another one: if you ring up the doctors to get an appointment, do you still remember the date of the appointment even after you’ve hung up? Well I can’t, not unless I write it down immediately as I’m told! Is that bad? Did you read about what happens sometimes when I send a child out of the classroom! I think my memory was definitely affected by the stress I was under! So I had to resign.

No wonder grocery shopping takes me so long! I can never remember everything I need. Well, why not write a list? Can’t be bothered either, so what I end up doing is walking aisle by aisle starting at one end until I make my way back to the other end! I’m a creature of habit, so I usually get the same things every time!

 

Don’t pretend you remember everything right off the bat! Ok, here’s a little memory test for you. To make it semi-scientific, I’ll give you two seconds only to answer each of the following questions. If you answer eight or more in two seconds (for each one), then your memory is good. Under five means you’re no better than me. Five and above means you’re ok. So here goes:

 

1. What’s the name of your first-grade teacher?
2. What was your favourite top when you were a teenager?
3. Who was the last person you sent a text message to and what was it about? (Don’t cheat)
4. When was the last time you cried and what was that all about?
5. What was your favourite hairstyle as a child?
6. Who was your first high school best friend?
7. During your last few months of high school were you excited or filled with dread? May be a bit of both?
8. What did you have for breakfast yesterday?
9. Who is the kindest, most caring teacher you’ve ever had?
10. What was the best present you got last year?

I don’t have to ask, I’m sure I’ve achieved my aim which was to jog your memory a bit. Don’t worry if your score is low. We can be best friends and sit beside each other in our own rocking chair by a sunny window talking about things in our past (or other people’s past if we can’t remember ours).

Let me know if you enjoyed going back down memory lane, and what memories you stirred up.

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