<p>My nomination for the best absent-minded story, from Latetoschool
on Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 12:48 pm:</p>
<p>LOL, sadly, I fall into the very high IQ category, and it seems that whatever gifts one has are counterbalanced with others.</p>
<p>It’s not entirely what you asked, but I go through life getting lost on the way to my neighborhood grocery store, or, if I do arrive, I cannot remember why I needed to go.</p>
<p>When I bought my last new car, I drove it to a store the next morning, and, upon exiting the store 30 minutes later with my purchases, could not find my car anywhere, and so I reported it stolen. The police found it immediately - right where I parked it. (I’d been looking for my old car - the one I traded in the day before - somehow I forgot I bought a new car.)</p>
<p>I could fill this thread with stories, but the absent-minded thing does often get in the way of life. Over time you just develop a sense of humor about the whole thing. And - very important - you learn to make adjustments in life because you know you’re going to have these episodes.</p>
<p>Recently, while on business in Kansas City, Missouri, I drove my rental car to my hotel, and checked in. Room service was closed, so I asked for, and received, directions to the McDonald’s around the corner. It was pretty basic - go to the light and turn right - McDonald’s is right there.</p>
<p>I couldn’t follow that simple instruction of course. Somehow I ended up on the interstate to Kansas. Fighting back panic, I decided to simply exit the interstate and re-enter it, and go back. This might have worked, but the interstate wasn’t logical, and so I got lost. I pulled into a Walgreens, and decided to ask for directions back to my hotel. Except that, I forgot where I was staying, couldn’t remember the name of the hotel (Ramada? Hilton?? Marriott???) and all of my paperwork was in my briefcase, back at my hotel.</p>
<p>Happily, I could use my cell phone to call my child to ask “remember the email I sent to you? What is the name of my hotel, and did I happen to type the city?” (my child has lived with me for 18 years and so knows to expect these types of calls).</p>
<p>Name of hotel in hand, I called the toll free number for reservations, but of course there were all sorts of problems getting them to tell me where I was supposed to be. Finally got the information out of them, went into the Walgreens, and three of their staff spread out a map to help me reason out directions back to the hotel.</p>
<p>Directions in hand, I left the Walgreens, but of course once in the parking lot, I could not find my rental car, because I had no idea what I was driving. I’d been valet parked at the hotel so I didn’t really pay any attention to what car showed up. Figured it out pretty quickly though - it was just a matter of locating the car with the keys hanging in the ignition with the doors locked.</p>
<p>It was many hours before I finally got back to my hotel, exhausted and still very hungry, but, my meeting with senior Monsanto execs on the global glyphosate issue went wonderfully, and I won the business.</p>
<p>Sometimes I think that I would happily trade places with a more normal person, but mostly I just try to make allowances for what I now know will be “issues” ie more time factored in for travel because if there is any opportunity at all to mess things up, I’ll find it.</p>
<p>I think that if one has a child like this, probably the best thing to do is accept it, and guide that child to operate from their strengths.</p>
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