Monday, November 5, 2007

Is it Heredity, Choice or Environment?

I lose things.

Pretty much anything and everything, from reading glasses to sunglasses, keys, wallets, rings, watches, clothes, books, pillows, you name it, I have lost it. I lost my car for a day. I even left my wife at a rest stop on the freeway (more on that later).


This is not something for which to be proud, if there were a 12 step program for "losers" I would humbly attend. Unlike other congenital diseases I can blame no one but myself. I have been smart enough to support myself, wife and four kids so it's not like I'm that intellectually challenged.

Part of it may be that we have much stuff to remember. Just to get out of the house every morning one has keys, wallets, money, phone, folders, books, and PDA's . . . plus doors to lock, alarms to set, heat or a/c adjustments; then there are the things in the wallet one must never forget, insurance and license renewals; not to mention the two renewals on the car itself, registration and inspection, which I never remember. Add that to multiple birthdays, anniversarys, holidays, meetings, practices, recitals, IRS forms, and there is no wonder I forget things. It's just too damned much.

I could take the academics excuse, that the contemplatation of the important things like existence itself and its meaning, are the true things to remember. But, I am not an academic. I just don't remember where I put the keys or parked the car, where I lay my glasses down last, or put the book I was reading.

And leaving my wife at the reststop?


Long before we had children, my wife and I had a full size van, with the two back seats taken out so that on long trips one of us could sleep. We were on such a trip and she was sleeping and I stopped at a freeway reststop to use the men's room. When I was in said mens room, she awoke and went into the ladies room, I returned, and like a bad I Love Lucy episode, took off without her. Before cellphones or pagers. But we did have CB radio. And yes, I was alerted via CB radio that I had forgotten something --- with some very funny comments by the truck drivers who relayed the message my "left-behind" wife had given them.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I too am a "loser". Our genes must be maternal as our father has never lost an item in his life. Is it left brain vs. right brain?

Here's my solution in the times of utmost frustration. 1) St. Anthony, St. Anthony come around; somethings lost and must be found. If St. Anthony doesn't come through (he usually does) then I take step 2) Get the spare set; walk away and usually within a week the lost object will show up in some unexpected location.

Francis Shivone said...

Thanks . . .Meg. The St Anthony ryhme must come from the days at Padua. I'll try it. Ciao.