Knowing it Z to A

摘要

Everyone should have some useless trick or trivia in their repertoire that will win them a drink now and again. Regardless of financial security (or lack thereof), nothing tastes so dry as a martini won at the expense of a guileless pal. My claim to fame is saying the alphabet backwards. It surprises me that anyone will take this wager as it is not the kind of boast one would make emptily. There is no inherent value in the act; it is nothing more than a stupid human trick. The alphabet forward or backward has little intrinsic usefulness either, except perhaps for the future file clerks of America. Oh, I can hear the letters (of the epistolary variety) coming already: how dare I impugn the foundation of the written word? Well, that's my point. While rote memorization of the alphabet song or its antithesis may bring smiles from grandparents and teachers, it doesn't compare with the bulb-lighting moment when letters organize themselves into a sum greater than their parts—words imbued with meaning. It is the difference between seeing your reflection and realizing that face represents you.