Secret Power

Took the kids snowboarding last weekend, and forgot my wallet at home. I'm really not at all a cash person, and rely heavily on electronic forms of payment. I got lucky, though: the cash I had on me, plus the cash that JP had contributed to paying for the lift tickets, plus the change from the ashtray in the car was just enough to cover the lift tickets and rental fees. So after a little frantic running around all was well in hand until I realized with a sinking feeling that they wouldn't rent equipment to me without any ID.

"You won't rent equipment to me without any ID, will you?" I ask at the rental counter. "I've forgotten my wallet at home."

Now this is a really monumentally big problem, as we've driven two hours to get to the ski hill, and the whole day is now officially a disaster. There is not enough time left in the day to recover from this.

"No, I'm sorry, we really can't," affirms the girl behind the counter, who looks genuinely sympathetic. "Not unless you knew your driver's license number or something," she adds, although she clearly knows this to be an impossible option.

She doesn't know who she's dealing with, though. This, at long last, is a chance to use my Secret Power. Some people can do useful or entertaining things like juggle, or slackline, or climb well. I can remember numbers. I know my credit card numbers, my library card number, my bank transit number, the phone number of a friend in Austria that I never call (because, sadly, calling isn't my Secret Power), and, most importantly here, I know my driver's license number.

Despite all logic, sometimes things just work out, and even if your Secret Power is that you can pick your nose with your toes, some day it may save you. You never know.