Recite Pi

My dad has always been better than me at everything but I've always made him prove it. Just assuming that he would beat me at something was unacceptable because one day I would beat him at something. He always told me that day would come but I was always skeptical.

Take basketball for example, when I was a kid we played a game called Around the World on the basketball court in the driving way. The game involves taking turns shooting baskets from previously determined spots around the court that end up looking like a semi circle. You shoot from each spot, only moving on if you have made the previous shot. You complete the semi circle and then you take the same path back to the beginning. If you miss, it's your opponent's turn, unless of course you choose to "chance it". If you make it, then you continue. If you miss, then not only is it your opponent's turn but your next turn starts back at the beginning. The first person to make all 14 shots wins! Sounds pretty simple, right?

Well, there's more! We added a few more rules to make the playing field a little more even. I had to make the shots and I could "chance it" twice. My dad had to "swish" all of his shots, meaning the ball couldn't touch the rim, and if he "chanced it" and missed then he's automatically lose the whole game.

But wait...there's more! 

At the very end of the game, we had to recite Pi. That's right, you heard me, to win the game you had to make 14 shots and recite Pi. Okay, not all of it because it's an infinite number and we had to go inside when it was time for dinner. We just had to recite one more digit than the other person could do. My dad's a high school math teacher so guess who won this part of the game every single time? That's right, ME!! Turns out the one thing that I can do better than my dad is memorizing and reciting digits of Pi.  I know, I know...please hold your applause until all the digits have been recited.

Yes, of course I'm embarrassed. Why do you even have to ask? But I was better than him at something! Have I made it clear how very unusual that has always been?!? Also, I was little when this particular contest started and I'm pretty sure for the first few years, he was faking losing because he was so excited that he had convinced me to play along.

He and I have always played mind games like that to make the other person feel like it was probably his/her own idea to do something and not the other person's ability to use reverse psychology (or in our case reverse, reverse, reverse psychology) to make the other person participate in an activity. So if he said memorizing digits of Pi was too hard for a 6 year old then he may have meant exactly that OR he may have just issued a challenge that he'd hope I'd accept. I may have said I don't want to memorize a number that never ends but then again maybe I could win this contest. I don't usually like to be competitive but I love an evenly matched contest of almost any kind. My dad is an expert at setting such contests up.

I, of course, reached the age of being more embarrassed than proud of this random skill. So when my dad would start reciting digits of Pi, I would do my best to discourage it by acting like I couldn't hear him. But when he'd get a digit wrong, my knee jerk reaction was to shake my head to let him know that he had just "chanced it" and lost. My reaction would bring him such joy because his real goal was to prove to that I hadn't forgotten.

3.1415926535897932384626433897950

I just typed that from memory, I promise I didn't look it up. I think it might be right.

Oh, I just looked it up and I got it wrong. It's actually 3.14159265358979323846268327950.

Anyway, one summer I came home from college and my dad says to me "288, that's the next 3 digits. I know more than you now". To which I said, "No, now we're even because you just told them to me!" "Ahh, no!", he exclaimed (pretending to be exasperated when in fact he was just really glad I was home and was still willing to play his silly math games.)

Why am I telling you all of this, you ask? It's because today is March 14 or 3/14, aka Pi Day! It's the one day of the year when my dad wants to celebrate something because of what the calendar says. He's not a big fan of Christmas, Valentine's Day, Father's Day, or even his birthday because he thinks we should show love to each other every day, not just because of a date on the calendar. But all that calendar attitude disappears when the date changes to 3.14! He lets his students bring pie to school and takes time during class to pause and celebrate by eating a sweet treat. Of course he's teaching them about math during the pie cutting and eating because he just can't help but be a teacher.

Today, 3/14/14, is his last Pi Day as a teacher because he plans to retire at the end of the school year. I hope it was the best one he's ever had!

Happy Pi Day to all you nerds who actually read all the way to the end of this post! ;) Be proud of what you know, even if it just means you can do one thing better than someone way smarter than you!