Back in September 2018, I wrote a column about having a mind like a steel sieve. https://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/2018/09/a-mind-like-steel-sieve-by-nancy-eady.html It is also known as good old-fashioned absent-mindedness. I have it in spades.
Today, Mark stopped at Buc-ee’s, a unique gas station chain, so I could run in and get each of us a drink. The square footage of a Buc-ee’s store is between 50,000 and 75,000 square feet, and its shelves are packed with everything from clothing to home décor to snacks to fresh baked goods, candy, and barbecue. The chances of me walking in a straight line through a Buc-ee’s to the drink machine and back are close to zero. But I tried my best, until on my way towards the registers at the front of the store I came across a row of cute T-shirts flanked by a counter with fresh brisket. I dithered there until I remembered Mark was circling the parking lot waiting for me. So I resolutely turned my back on the T-shirts and brisket and walked briskly through the door to head to the car. Until I realized I hadn’t yet paid for my drinks and had to turn around and go back in to pay. I’m just lucky no one thought I was trying to pull a fast one.
Reading during lunch can be a hazard also. Once at Cracker Barrel, I read my way from the table to my car and then drove back to the office before I realized I hadn’t paid for my lunch. I called the restaurant to let them know what I’d done, and they let me come back that afternoon after work to pay my bill. Which would be bad enough, but I had done the same thing about a year before at the Pizza Hut lunch buffet. There, I went back the next day, had the buffet again and then explained why I was paying twice. The waitress shrugged and told me that she saw me walk out the day before, but just figured I must have been extremely busy!
Paying for my food at a drive-thru and driving off before I receive the food has happened enough that it's not an entirely unusual predicament to find myself in.
And about a week ago, I left the office to go home and found my car still running. Apparently, I had forgotten to turn it off when I returned to the office for lunch. And yes, I have an alarm for when that happens but apparently it was too subtle to get my attention. I was lucky; no one stole the car and the engine temperature stayed steady, so I didn’t blow the engine.
Tonight, I’m going
to bed extra early in hopes to add a little more steel and lot less sieve to my
mind. What absent-minded stories do you have to share?
Frequently, I turn right out of the neighborhood (library, bank, grocery store) instead of left (gas station and rec center). Or leave by the back entrance (vet, local donation drop).
ReplyDeleteHave you ever gone through the car wash twice?
I discovered I was much more focused after my children left home.
ReplyDeleteYikes, Nancy, glad you didn't run out of gas!
ReplyDeleteI once signed up for a class at work on improving memory and forgot to go. In our busy lives, we are trying to do too much at one time.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I agree with Grace—it's about brain overload. I know I'm not alone when I say I often go into another room and forget why I'm there. Meditation practice has definitely helped, but I still have trouble staying in the present. My mind always wants to jump to the infinite variations of the future!
ReplyDelete