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The Goddess Speaks By Carol T. Chun |
‘Mental pause’ wreaks
havoc with memoryDid you hear the one about the chicken crossing the road? He can't remember why and quite frankly, neither can I.
I love a good joke, but after the second or third telling, I can't remember the punch line or why I bothered to tell the joke. These days, if I want to retell a joke, I have to write it down, so what's the sense? I can't run in to Longs to pick up a few things unless I have a list with me. If I go in there without a list, I end up wandering up and down the aisles hoping to spot what I need. Invariably I end up with a cartload of stuff.
To avoid this, I don't push a cart or carry a basket. Once my arms are full, I get out of there. By the time I finally remember what I needed from the store, I'm in the car heading home, but by then it's too late -- I can't write my list and drive at the same time.
If I'm at home and think of something I need to do at work, I call and leave a message for myself on my voice mail. This works when I'm at work, too. I leave messages for myself on my home answering machine. I'd leave myself a message on my cell phone, but then I'd have to remember how the retrieve-message function works. One of my kids in school was so frustrated by my attempts to retrieve cell phone messages that she wrote down the steps for me. Now, if I could only find that piece of paper.
I HAVE A DAILY planner on my desk at work in which I write my appointments. But, you guessed it. It's a challenge to remember to check what I've written. I rely on Post-its a lot. Mine tend to have a little more permanence than they were meant to, so I tape them to my computer screen and my cabinet. Today I threw out the one about an appointment at the hairdresser's because my appointment should have happened last week. I had to run my fingers through my hair to check if I kept that appointment.
I think I only had two children for a reason -- I can count one on each hand. I don't know how other women manage more than two kids. One day, I couldn't find my daughter anywhere in the house. My son gently reminded me that I dropped her off at a Kamehameha School basketball game and that I was supposed to pick her up afterward. Fortunately, the game had a late start, and I actually made it to the gym on time so that she wouldn't suspect I had briefly forgotten.
I blame my memory lapses on menopause, which I refer to as "mental pause." I remember the basic stuff: getting up in the morning, brushing my teeth, going to work, finding my office, getting back home. I figure as long as I can still drive a stick shift and I can find my way to Kapolei when I have to, then I'm doing OK.
I remember that trash pickup is on Tuesdays and Fridays and that the dog likes to eat at 6 p.m. I don't wear my underwear as outerwear, and quite frankly, I could not care less why anyone would want to remember a joke about chickens crossing roads.
Carol T. Chun is the mother of two and works at Punahou School. This much she remembers.
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