By John Toth
The Bulletin
She left her new smart watch at the house and wanted me to turn back to get it. I wouldn’t do it. We were already running late.
“But I want to see how many steps I take,” Sharon protested.
“Just give yourself 3,000 extra steps today,” I said.
I can’t believe she forgot because she takes that watch everywhere. But the older we get, these things are bound to happen. These memory cells don’t work as well as in our ‘20s or ‘30s
Back then, we didn’t have the age excuse. We still used to forget stuff, like where we parked the car.
Now we’re more careful, taking mental notes of landmarks in parking lots that don’t have numbered lanes, but at times, we rush into the store.
“Do you remember where we parked,” we wind up asking each other. We both say “no” and start searching for the car. I keep pushing the lock button on the key fob and listen carefully for the short burst of the horn.
When getting ready to drive to the hideaway, I used to have a list of things to do. Now, I just do it from memory because going over the list takes too long.
“If we don’t have it, we’ll buy it,” I usually say. But some things cannot be bought, like checkbooks.
Yes, we still use checkbooks, and I even balance them monthly. I know it’s old school, but in some cases - like knowing how much money you have - the old school way works better.
When I forget to balance them, I have to do two months the next time, so I try to keep up.
Sometimes I’m bad about remembering names of people I’ve met recently. After they introduce themselves, I try to pay extra attention, or the name may fly right out of my head. Sharon to the rescue. She is great with names and bad at balancing the checkbooks.
I’ve done several of the classical forgetful bits, like looking for my reading glasses that I stuffed a short time earlier into my shirt pocket.
I’ve also had to ask Sharon to call my cell phone because I couldn’t find it anywhere. It would usually ring in the bathroom.
We once rushed off to Galveston’s Dickens on The Strand years ago, only to realize when we got there that the tickets remained at home on the dining room table.
On this last escape to the hideaway, I forgot the vitamin bag - a first. That could have been replaced after we arrived, but what the heck. Our bodies probably needed a rest from all those gummy vitamins for a while, anyway.
There is one more anecdote I need to share, but I didn’t do this one.
We agreed to meet up with my daughter and her family for a late lunch in Gruene, Texas. She called to say that she was going to be late because she was sitting in the car in a Target parking lot, waiting for her husband. He was buying a new pair of shoes for my grandson.
“Do they have a big sale,” I asked. They were in a hurry and came off without putting socks or shoes on my grandson.
So, it’s not just me. That made me feel better, although I wish it didn’t happen on the weekend before Christmas. Buying the shoes took a while.
So, it’s not always age-related, and it probably happens more around busy times of the year, such as the holiday season.
Do you have any unusual anecdotes you have experienced regarding forgetfulness? Send them to me at john.bulletin@gmail.com. I look forward to sharing them with our readers.
Comentários