Recognise this?

Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. Do you recognise the symptoms?

This is how it manifests itself:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I head towards the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I picked up from the post man earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the recycling box under the table, and notice that the recycling box is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the recycling first.

But then I think, since I’m going to be near the post box when I take out the recycling paper anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my cheque book off the table, And notice that there is only one cheque left.

My extra cheques are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the cup of coffee I’d been drinking.

I’m going to look for my cheques, but first I need to push the coffee aside so that I don’t accidentally knock it over.

The coffee is getting cold, and I decide to make another cup.

As I head toward the kitchen with the cold coffee, a vase of flowers on the worktop catches my eye – the flowers need water.

I put the coffee on the worktop and discover my reading glasses that I’ve been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to water the flowers.

I put the glasses back down on the worktop, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote control. Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realise that tonight when we go to watch TV, I’ll be looking for the remote, but I won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back where it belongs, but first I’ll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I put the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn’t washed

The bills aren’t paid

There is a cold cup of coffee sitting on the counter

The flowers don’t have enough water,

There is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book,

I can’t find the remote,

I can’t find my glasses,

And I don’t remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all day.

Where did the time go?

Unknown's avatar

Author: Sarah

No time to lose. No, time to lose. Make time to stand and stare.... Did you see that?

22 thoughts on “Recognise this?”

  2. I did indeed recognise it Nym: but apart from your car keys, you sound very organised. I was so much more organised when I was working, but now; it’s chaos!

  3. Someone sent this to me, Ara, in an email! I do sometimes find – when there’s too much on – that I rush around like a headless chicken achieving little.
    But today has been a day of ticking off jobs from a long list, which is very satisfying.

    (Tomorrow I have a day off, interrupted by a meeting with colleagues at home… a group of us doing the dreaded course. Call it a support group for the academically rusty)

  4. Oh it wasn’t you ,delete as above. I was thinking God help your patients!

  9. No! stet. It was quite worrying re your job!
    Next time, attribute, you’ll give me a heart attack!!!
    Mind you, everyone loses it a bit in due course. spousal unit has to be reminded too damned often for my liking.
    I must say I keep a minutely detailed calendar these days, especially for all the plant group organising I belong to and do.

  10. “Spousal unit has to be reminded too damned often for my liking. I must say I keep a minutely detailed calendar these days….”

    Er, Christina? Let me sit you down, dear.

    OZ

  12. OZ freely interpreted, spousal unit lost the plot!
    Me starting to lose it! Actually I am involved in too many gardening groups so have to be careful I don’t turn up on the wrong day to the wrong place!

  13. Is this the same as Mrsoldmovie saying to me as we ‘congress’, that crack in the ceiling IS getting bigger you know.

  15. I got sent that one too. also this one. On the same day. Do you think my friends are trying to tell me something?
    A group of 40 year old buddies discuss and discuss where they should meet
    for dinner. Finally it is agreed upon that they should meet at Gasthaus
    Gutenberger restaurant because the waitresses there have low cut blouses
    and nice breasts.
    10 years later, at 50 years of age, the group meets again and once again
    they discuss and discuss where they should meet. Finally it is agreed upon
    that they should meet at the Gasthaus Gutenberger because the food there
    is very good and the wine selection is good also.
    10 years later at 60 years of age, the group meets again and once again
    they discuss and discuss where they should meet. Finally it is agreed upon
    that they should meet at the Gasthaus Gutenberger because they can eat
    there in peace and quiet and the restaurant is smoke free.
    10 years later, at 70 years of age, the group meets again and once again
    they discuss and discuss where they should meet. Finally it is agreed upon
    that they should meet at the Gasthaus Gutenberger because the restaurant
    is wheel chair accessible and they even have an elevator.
    10 years later, at 80 years of age, the group meets again and once again
    they discuss and discuss where they should meet. Finally it is agreed upon
    that they should meet at the Gasthaus Gutenberger because that would be a
    great idea because they have never been there before.

  16. Christiina – Phew!!

    OMG – We were in a cheap motel once (well actually more than once, if the truth be known) where I was informed at a critical moment that there were exactly 14,400 machined holes in the polystyrene tiles of the false ceiling. I didn’t know whether to hang my head in shame or do a lap of honour for having given her the time to count. I naturally chose the latter. 😀

    OZ

  19. Very funny, Pseu and Isobel. In my case, I don’t get anything done because, apart from doing a lot of pointless fannying and arguing on MyT lately, whenever I do try to do somethig, I find layers of crap within crap…so, the dinner needs sorting. But first the dishes need washing, stuff clearing away intot he bin. But the bin needs emptying; before that,contents of bin need sorting between recycling bin and normal bin…get the picture..? Oh, I’m whinging again…!

  20. I know that feeling.
    Today a whole page of jobs ticked off….but didn’t manage the garden or house plants (beyond watering them )

  21. Hey Pseu; tell me about it! Btw; well done on flash fiction front…we could do with seperate creative writing page/tag linked in to here, like on MyT. Then there would be no reason to keep traipsing back and getting my head ripped off!

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