Post by paulette on Feb 8, 2012 11:59:38 GMT -6
I have always thought that my memory was pretty good. As I have gotten old, I notice that I forget things. I have (somewhat) accepted that - I imagine that my brain/mind is full of old songs, commericials, "tapes" of significant events in my life...Some stuff must get mislaid or covered over. I can handle that.
But recently I have experienced a different kind of memory problem and it is more problematic than merely forgetting something. It is remembering something, clearly and WRONGLY.
A couple days ago I walked out a mall with an artichoke and a box of ice cream bars. I went to where my car was. It wasn't. I walked all over the parking lot pushing on the button that should activate my car to honk back. It didn't.
I was aware that the ice cream was melting and I really couldn't find my car. I was going to call my husband. My deduction was - someone had locked their car and noticed that mine honked (we used to have a car that had a very generic locking system - it often was unlocked when we came back to it because someone nearby had unlocked theirs). They had then used their key to drive it away. It seemed unlikely but then again - I had no car.
I was staring at one of the mall entrances saying to myself, "I went in THERE." when the penny dropped. I did not go in there. I came in through the back door. Sure enough, my car was parked in the back.
Second version of this - two days ago I had an overnight Pro D event to attend. I charged my phone and very smugly (because I had remembered to do so) dropped it into my purse. I remembered not putting it in the side compartment but just dropping it in there. When I later went to call my husband and say Goodnight - it wasn't there. I imagined it off on any adventure, calling Columbia and Africa before I could cancell it. I searched my car, the house, etc. Eventually (because my husband suggested it) I went to the charger - and there it was.
The thing about these two events. I would have passed a lie detector test (I think anyway) that I absolutely knew what had happened. I had a mental image of where I parked. I had a clear memory of putting the phone in my purse.
The only thing that makes me think that some part of my mind was in on these little jokes is that I really "felt" that my phone was not "lost". So even though I should have cancelled it - I didn't. Ditto my car - something keep me looking. I can only imagine the embarassment of reporting to the police that my car was stolen and then finding it parked in the back. These are new experiences for me or....I have been making up plausible things all along. It has shaken my faith in my memories about everything!
But recently I have experienced a different kind of memory problem and it is more problematic than merely forgetting something. It is remembering something, clearly and WRONGLY.
A couple days ago I walked out a mall with an artichoke and a box of ice cream bars. I went to where my car was. It wasn't. I walked all over the parking lot pushing on the button that should activate my car to honk back. It didn't.
I was aware that the ice cream was melting and I really couldn't find my car. I was going to call my husband. My deduction was - someone had locked their car and noticed that mine honked (we used to have a car that had a very generic locking system - it often was unlocked when we came back to it because someone nearby had unlocked theirs). They had then used their key to drive it away. It seemed unlikely but then again - I had no car.
I was staring at one of the mall entrances saying to myself, "I went in THERE." when the penny dropped. I did not go in there. I came in through the back door. Sure enough, my car was parked in the back.
Second version of this - two days ago I had an overnight Pro D event to attend. I charged my phone and very smugly (because I had remembered to do so) dropped it into my purse. I remembered not putting it in the side compartment but just dropping it in there. When I later went to call my husband and say Goodnight - it wasn't there. I imagined it off on any adventure, calling Columbia and Africa before I could cancell it. I searched my car, the house, etc. Eventually (because my husband suggested it) I went to the charger - and there it was.
The thing about these two events. I would have passed a lie detector test (I think anyway) that I absolutely knew what had happened. I had a mental image of where I parked. I had a clear memory of putting the phone in my purse.
The only thing that makes me think that some part of my mind was in on these little jokes is that I really "felt" that my phone was not "lost". So even though I should have cancelled it - I didn't. Ditto my car - something keep me looking. I can only imagine the embarassment of reporting to the police that my car was stolen and then finding it parked in the back. These are new experiences for me or....I have been making up plausible things all along. It has shaken my faith in my memories about everything!