Last night I was wrapping a gift and for some reason I had some synapse misfire or something and FORGOT how to tie a bow. I’m 40 years old, so I grew up without the “benefit” of velcro shoes and have been tying bows for a long time. A few years ago I had some minor surgery- female stuff- and I literally forgot how to pee for several hours. They wouldn’t let me go home until I was capable of peeing. For a couple of days after that, I had to really think about it before I could pee (is this TMI material?).
What goofy things have you temporarily forgotten how to do?
I often forget how to walk down stairs. Up isn’t a problem, but upon descending a staircase, I will often have to stop in mid-step and wonder which foot to put down next.
And yes, I can walk and chew gum at the same time, thanks. 
I forgot how to walk once. No, I’m not kidding. There’s actually a mildly amusing story behind it, or so I’ve heard. I didn’t really think it was that great.
I can remember how to tie a slip-knot. It used to be my default knot for tieing just about anything, but a couple months ago helping my sister move I was tieing down a load in my truck I just couldn’t remember. Too many hits to the head with Rum and Coke I guess.
I can’t believe someone else has my problem, Rasa. Yes, I often have to pause and try to remember which foot to put down where. This further confirms to me the complete uselessness of IQ tests. A supposedly genius IQ, yet I cannot walk up and down stairs. Very sad, when you think about it.
I went briefly without a microwave, and forgot how to heat up food without it. I swear it took me at least an hour to remember that back in the old days, we’d heat things up in the oven. Of course, I don’t cook much, so that’s my explanation.
My biggest problem these days is forgetting words - whether the name of an item or a concept. It is SOOOOO maddening!! Heaven help me if I’m in an emergency situation and wind up saying: “Watch out for that… er, uh, ummmm… TREE!”
<sigh>
Unless I’m really concentrating I can’t tie a tie.
I know HOW to tie one, but if I lose focus I’ll keep tying and tying till I run out of tie. Then I’ll stand there with a big ball of fabric around my neck wondering what the hell is wrong with me.
It’s really quite sad.
This is kinda related, but not quite, but close enough…I can never remember peoples’ phone numbers, instead I remember by the pattern they make on the number pad. So, when someone asks, “Hey what’s Bob’s number?” I have to pantomime in the air like I’m dialing his number…I know, I’m wierd… :rolleyes:
I have problems sometimes remembering which hand is my left hand and which is my right. If I didn’t wear a watch I would be really lost. 
Keith
This one is pretty bad. On those applications, or whatever, where they ask for your phone number? A lot of times, I can’t remember, and really have to think hard about it. “Duh, what’s my number? 837…uh…83…no, wait…”
There are also times in the car when I want a turn signal, and wind up starting the wipers instead. I’m going senile, I tell ya.
Heh - when I start thinking about it, I sometimes shift up instead of down (or vice versa) on my motorcycle. It’s not as if it’s hard - lever down for downshifting, up for upshifting - and if I leave it to routine, it just happens. But if I consciously think “Hmmm, perhaps I just ought to take it one notch down”, I might start getting my toes under the lever before I remember that that’s not how it’s supposed to go. Shameful.
For the past few years I’ve been forgetting how to write. My handwriting’s never been good, but over the last 11 years or so, since I’ve been using a computer almost exclusively, it’s gotten postively unreadable, and now sometimes I have to try two or three times before I can get the letters in a word the shape that they’re supposed to be.
idiotboy, ME TOO! And I feel so stupid every single time.
Odieman, last time I went on a trip with my dad we were coming into a construction zone. I’m all “Dad, merge left… Dad! Right lane’s closed, merge left… Dad!! You have to merge left!!!” To which he replies, “Sarah, I’m already in the left lane.” D’oh! :rolleyes:
Dire Wolf, I still don’t know my own (old) home phone number. And the only reason I know the number to where I live now is because it’s my mom and dad’s and I already knew the number.
frogstein, probably two weeks ago or so, the mailman came to my door with a certified letter that someone needed to sign for. Being home alone, that someone was me. I signed my name just fine. But then I got to the line where you have to print your name. I froze. I couldn’t remember how to print my own name. So the printed version wound up looking exactly like my signature. Oh well.
Eggs, I don’t know how many times I’ve seen my hubby do that. I wouldn’t worry about it.
Like FairyChatMom, I forget nouns. It happens after I’ve had a migraine. (I’m sure I’ve mentioned that on these boards before, haven’t I?) I end up saying a lot of “…the, uh, the, uh, ya know, the thing…”
I also memorize phone numbers only after I have dialed them like idiotboy. It was a trip when phones started switching from rotary to touch tone. I’d be standing at a touch tone pay phone and I’d have to imagine a rotary dial so that I could remember the number that I needed to dial.
And Keith, do not feel alone. I point in one direction and always say the other. My husband has learned to follow my finger not my mouth. He has also asked me NOT to teach our children their left and right. 
I practiced for hours before our wedding at putting my correct hand forward to get the ring. I have been told on several occasions though that I give the BEST driving directions over the phone. You see, they can’t see me standing there puzzling over which way is right and which way is left. They think I’m just speaking very slowly and clearly for them. But this and the phone numbers don’t really apply to the OP do they? I mean, it’s not a temporary condition.
Sometimes I forget how to get where I want to go while I’m trying to go there. Sometimes I even forget where it was that I wanted to go, but that’s pretty rare.
Whew! I thought I was the only grown (groan?) person that sometimes had problems. Occasionally you’ll see me do quick little routine where I pretend that I’m writing just so I know which side is my right.
(Thinking about it, it’s not as bad as it could be. It’s never a problem while driving. Usually just when someone says something like “put it in the upper right corner” type of deal.)
I don’t know my phone number either, and I forget how to speak english sometimes.
Sometimes, forgetting the “normal” way of doing something results in learning a whole new method.
One time i was riding my bike, and somehow i completely forgot how to get off the thing! For some reason, my brain just couldn’t register the normal “lift your right leg up and over while hopping off on the left foot” method. I ended up riding around in a circle a couple of times, then just dropped off the back, landing with both feet simultaneously. Pretty cool, actually, but there was the problem of having the bike fall over in front of me. I tried it again a few times later, but always ended up getting whacked in the shin by the rear wheel. Doh!
Ok, here’s my list:
At work, a couple of times, I’ve forgotten how to put someone on hold. All the butons on the phone are beige, except the HOLD button, which is red with white lettering and stands out rather nicely against the black phone. I sat there, wondering how to put the person on hold, finally giving up and just hitting the MUTE button and setting down the receiver. I always discover the HOLD button again after the call has ended.
I also continually forget numbers. Ask me where I live, I can tell you the name of the street, the apartment complex, the letter on the door. The building number? Um . . . damn, I knew it when I left home this morning. I actually keep a slip of paper in my wallet with my address and phone number on it, so if I have to write it on some paperwork, I don’t sit there for hours trying to remember. I also remember phone numbers much better if I pantomime dialing.
I forgot where my parent’s house was, while in the car driving there. It’s only the same house I grew up in since I was five. I only live 10 minutes away, but I got to the subdivision and sat at the stopsign, wondering if I should go straight or turn right. Never once had a problem finding my cousin’s house in Kentucky though, 3 and 1/2 hours away.
I once went to work one morning and suddenly realized I was on I-270 heading south to a job I no longer worked at. I had forgotten that I’d been working for AT&T for 7 months and should’ve gotten off the highway about 3 exits back.
I’m sure there’s more stupid things I’ve done, but I probbly have forgotten them.
I once forgot how to divide numbers into halfs…
I am doing one of those big fat two or three pages long math things and somewhere in the middle have to divide 56 into halfs… what do I say? 14.
I saied it. I meant it.
It took me half an hour to remember how to devide numbers.
My math is crappy in general…
but that was… well… sigh
Do you live in Columbus? My father works at AT&T (Now Lucent) on Broad St. just off I-270 here in CowTown. Been working there for 20+ years now…maybe it’s just a coinky-dink…
On that note, is there more than one “I-270” in USA??