Here’s one for ya’. I sometimes find myself reading an actual hard copy newspaper, and instinctively look for readers’ comments at the bottom of the article. :smack:
Completely obvious. Yup.
Personally I think it’s human nature to think in terms of doing things the way we’re use to doing them. Brain farts aside it’s logical to think inside the box because it’s mentally reflexive to do so. The older we get the worse this gets because of life experiences.
I hate the brain-fart side of it. More than once I’ve found myself working through a problem only to realize that I’d figured it out years ago and just forgot. It’s gotten to the point I make myself notes on how I figured something out if I think I’ll have to do it again.
I have a long list, I have torn out 3 gasoline hoses by just driving away. Walked out or attempted to walk out of mini marts without paying for coffee, walked into wrong apartments, very often will drive 20 miles or so past destination, on and on. I think pre-occupation is my problem along with sleep deprivation.
It seems there isn’t a day goes by that I don’t find myself muttering “dumbass…” to myself at some point. For example, any given week, I may work out of any of four different offices scattered around Houston, and at least a couple of times I’ve pulled into the parking lot of one and realized I actually had intended to go to another.
One of my more spectacular brain farts involved buying a train ticket from a machine at Gare du Nord in Paris. At the end of the transaction, I waited for my credit card to come back, but it didn’t. I panicked a bit, eventually finding one of the station staff, who said there was nothing he could do about it. I continued on my trip, wondering how I was ever going to get my credit card back…until I pulled out my wallet and found the card was right where it should be. The machine had returned it immediately after scanning it, and I apparently was on autopilot when I put it back in my wallet.
Hah! Almost every time I leave the grocery store, I’m convinced that I’ve left my debit card behind. I’ve learned to check my wallet before freaking out, where it will invariably turn out to have somehow materialized. I often don’t even have a memory of paying for my groceries at all, but so far the money has somehow always been removed from my account, and no store clerks have chased me down and accused me of stealing, so I guess I’m OK.
Another gas station story…
I drove in, parked, paid at the pump, pumped my gas, got back in the car and couldn’t find my keys! Ok, I just parked here. I have walked nowhere. They HAVE to be here. It is physically impossible (barring wormholes or extra dimensions suddenly materializing) that they are anywhere else.
It took me 20 minutes to find them. I dumped out my purse and briefcase, looked under the seats, under the car…eventually I found them in the pile of stuff from my purse. I must have looked at them a dozen times without registering “Hey! My keys!”
This thread makes me feel less bad about my own memory problems. Mine seem minor in comparison.
As far as you can recall.
Thank you - I thought I was the only one
When someone hands me a debit or credit card instead of their library card, I always ask how much of a head start they’re going to give me.
I’m bad with names anyways and this makes it worse - I have 2 neighbor ladies, one named Emily, one named Eileen. Yes both start with the letter E so I’m always getting them mixed up.
Driving is a bad one for me lately. I get talking to someone or thinking about something and I’ll miss an exit.
But, when driving long trips I’ve never messed up following a map.
Let this thread be a reminder when we hear about those poor unfortunate parents who left a toddler in the car in the sweltering sun. And there will be cases this year, as there always are.
People are fallible, and we all have moments of complete stupidity.
I’m not a very frequent flyer (and maybe this is why), but whenever I’ve come home from a multi-sector air journey overseas, I’ve gone to reach for [heavy European accent]MY PAPERS[/heavy European accent] for everybody from the greengrocer to the guy at the petrol station - and just stopped myself in time. Also stuff like reaching for my commuter rail ticket to show it to my front door, instead of reaching for my keys. The other night I filled an ice cube tray from the tap, and at the last moment realised I was about to put it into the microwave instead of the freezer. I always stop myself in time with these things, but I can see an embarrassing situation catching up with me eventually.
Hmm… never thought of it that way. I guess I’ve always assumed the worse of the parent when it may in fact just be a moment of stupidity like forgetting ones keys.
Actually kind of scary when you put it that way. One mistake I’m glad I never made.
Another Julie here. And, yes, my hand thinks exactly the same thing. 
Ha, I was at Walmart this afternoon and there is a sign just inside the entrance that says something to the effect of, “Please don’t leave your child in the car, even for a few minutes.” (It’s 84F today.)
I work with and in charge of hundreds of people in my current job but I have context dependent face blindness. I have gotten really good at learning people’s names and what they do at work. I know their strengths and weaknesses and sometimes their life story because they told me in my office. Somehow that strategy works for the most part.
However, I can get blindsided if I run into someone in a context that I don’t expect. It could be the grocery store or somewhere half-way across the world - it doesn’t matter. It takes me a while to figure out who I am talking to and I often do it more through verbal deduction rather than visual recognition. Those are stressful moments while the wheels spin trying not to offend somebody.
It doesn’t apply to everyone. I can recognize hundreds of people on sight but I have worked with literally thousands over the years, sometimes quite closely and I still could not tell you the first thing about what they look like other than something you would get in a police blotter.
I have also forgotten my phone number when asked for no apparent reason at all. I wanted to say, what is this a pop-quiz? I can tell you the phone number I had growing up but that may not do much good. The last 10 or so I have had aren’t as mentally accessible as the early ones and sometimes the system that accesses the current one goes down. Sorry for the inconvenience but it will be back shortly.