Knowledge I never asked for

When Shawn was young, I found myself memorizing many of the books I read to him - not that I tried to, but after reading the same book night after night, it was just THERE. It came in handy when I wanted to read in the dark - I didn't need to look at the words! All these years later, I can still recite many of the Dr. Suess books line for line -

• "Big A, little a, what begins with A? Aunt Annie's Alligator, A, A, A."
• "I would not, could not, in a box. I could not, would not, with a fox. I will not eat them with a mouse, I will not eat them in a house. I will not eat them here or there. I will not eat them anywhere. I do not eat green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am."
• "And here's a new trick, Mr. Fox. Socks on chicks and chicks on fox. Fox on clocks on bricks and blocks. Bricks and blocks on Knox on box!"
• and my favorite from Fox on Sox: "Through three cheese trees, three free fleas flew. While these fleas flew, freezy breeze blew. Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze. Freezy trees made these trees' cheese freeze. And that's what made these three free fleas sneeze" (Oh, I so loved to read that out loud. Shawn used to be giggling by the end.)

So anyway, the point is that it wasn't something I tried to memorize, it just became part of my common knowledge base with no work whatsoever on my part.

Likewise, now I know both the brand and generic names of way too many medicines, not to mention I know how to spell and pronounce them too.

• phenoxybenzamine = dibenzaline
• neurontin = gabepentin
• furosemide = lasix
• hytrin = tarazosin
• cyproheptadine = periactin
• metoporolol = lopressor

I could go on and on (and on) but I think you get the point. This isn't really knowledge I wanted in any way but it's there anyway.

I hope I can rid my brain of this knowledge someday. I hate to think of myself 30 or 40 years from now still knowing how to spell or say phenoxybenzamine or know what it's used for. (Unless I am playing "drug word" scrabble, that is - then this knowledge might be kinda handy.)

On the other hand, I hope I still remember "Camels on the ceiling, C, C, C" and "Be sure when you step - step with care and great tact. And remember that life's a great balancing act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft, and never mix up your right foot with your left."