Annoying games

The worst one is when someone* makes you guess their age. But only slightly less annoying is the fun game of If You Had To Lose One of Your Senses. I know part of my annoyance stems from being asked the question in third grade. I said my sight (not knowing I'd be wearing glasses in two years), and my teacher told me I was wrong (later, you can ask me about being the only person in my social studies class who voted for Mondale in our mock election. He had a female running mate and was for halting nukes. I stand by my 7th-grade self, even in the face of deeply-thought-out and penetrating arguments like 'my parents love Reagan').

This memory of unfairness past was brought up by an NYT article today, When an Ear Witness Decides the Case. I still say sight, and I was really surprised to hear most people say hearing. When I think about losing my hearing, I get the same feeling I get in bed at night when I can't remember if the door's locked. Panicky (anyone know why panicky has a K?). The overwhelming choice in my third grade class was sense of smell, and maybe it was because I knew someone who didn't have a sense of smell, but I knew that meant no taste as well.

I might feel differently if I was born blind. But that this point, I've seen a lot of amazing things and feel like, and of course this is as stupid as the question itself, at this point anything else could be described to me. But the two most important things culturally, I think, are food and music, and no way, even for the purposes of an annoying game can I deprive myself of those. And sight is probably the only one you could lose and have sex remain pretty much the same. Or sometimes, better.

*Usually someone old.