What did you have for dinner last night?

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Billy was from Georgia.  His family was, for lack of a better term, “rich.” He had lived at KDS since he was a teenager. When I first met him he was in his 40’s (he must now be in his 60’s.)  Billy has mental retardation.  He exhibited poor gross and fine motor control evidenced by a peculiar walk.  His vision was myopic, so it was difficult to identify which eye was looking at you.  He was an excellent reader and he loved the news.  But he had one unique interest above all: WHAT YOU HAD FOR DINNER LAST NIGHT.

Billy was not over weight; as a matter of fact he was quite skinny.  He did not over eat, or even have any particular favorite meals.  He liked to KNOW about the meals, especially dinner.  He wanted to know what was going to be served, what was being served, and what was served.  He wanted to know what you had to eat the night before and what you were going to eat when you got home.  He really-really wanted to know.  So for 10 years I had a very similar conversation with him nearly every day.

BILLY: MrGeilIhadroastbeefpotatoesgreenbeansbiscuitstea&chocolatecake

&IhadpopcornatthemoviesandmilkbeforIwenttobed.

What did you have last night?

ME: WellBillyIhadfrozenpizzasalad&sodalaterihadsomeicecream.

BILLY: OKYouhadfrozenpizzasalad&sodalaterihadsomeicecream.

What kind of pizza was it?

ME: Pepperoni

BILLY: You had pepperoni pizza. What king of soda?

ME: Pepsi

BILLY: You had Pepsi. What kind of ice cream?

ME: Vanilla

BILLY: OkLastnightyouhadpepperonipizzaPepsisalad&vanilliaicegream.

ME: Yes

BILLY: What kind of dressing?

ME: Italian

BILLY: Ok, Italian. Goodbye Mr. Geil.

ME: Goodbye Billy.

Then later in the day if I would see him we would have this exchange:

            BILLY: Hello Mr. Geil. LastnightyouhadpepperonipizzaPepsisaladwithitalian

dressing&vanilliaicegream.

ME: Hello Billy. Lastnightyouhadroastbeefpotatoesgreenbeansbiscuitstea&

chocolatecake&popcornatthemoviesandmilkbeforyouwenttobed.

Sometimes I didn’t feel like I had the time to have the, “What I had for dinner last night” conversation.  That’s when Billy’s mother would start talking:

            BILLY: Mr.GeillastnightIhadporkbbqcornbreadgreens&sweettea.

            What did you have for dinner last night?

            ME: I don’t remember Billy. I have to go to this meeting.

BILLY: (In a kind of slow creepy voice) Billy, Mr. Geil doesn’t want to hear about your dinner. I’m sorry Momma. I just like to talk to Mr. Geil about his dinner. Mr. Geil will get mad at you if you keep asking him about his dinner. Ok, Momma. I won’t ask Mr. Geil about his dinner anymore. (Then he would start to cry a little.)

ME:LastnightIhadspaghettiwithmeatsaucebroccoli&cheesegarlicbreadandcookies

BILLY: Lastnightyouhadspaghettiwithmeatsaucebroccoli&cheesegarlicbread

Andcookies. What kind of cookies?

ME: Sugar cookies.

BILLY: Yeah, you had sugar cookies.

One Christmas break he went home for two weeks.

On the first day I saw him after he had come back in January we had this conversation:

            BILLY: Hi Mr. Geil.

            OnMondayIhadribscauliflowerw/buttercornmuffinswater&redvelvetcake…

            OnTuesdayIhadcatfishhushpuppiecoleslawtea&brownies…

            OnWednesdayIhad…

            OnThursadyIhad…

            (You get the picture…)

Billy went on to meticulously recount two weeks of dinners he had had over the holidays (I have to admit, it was impressive.)

            BILLY: AndthenonSundaywehadturkeydressingmashedpotatoescranberrysauce

macaroni&cheesepumnkinpie&coffee…..

What did you have Mr. Geil?

ME:…..

chris