A.A.A.D.D.
Recently I was diagnosed
with A.A.A.D.D.
(Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder)
This is how it manifests itself:
I decide to wash my car. As I start toward the garage, I notice
that there is mail on the hall table.
I decide to go through the mail
before I wash the car. I lay my car keys down on the table, put the
junk mail in the trash can under the table, and notice that the trash
can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take
out the trash first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the
mailbox when I take out the trash anyway, I may as well pay the bills
first.
I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only
one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I
go to my desk where I find the can of ginger ale that I had been
drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to put the soda somewhere
so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I decide I should put it in
the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the
ginger ale, a houseplant on the counter catches my eye--it needs to
be watered. I set the can down on the counter, and I 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
plant. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container
with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the
kitchen table.
I realize that tonight if we want to watch TV, we will
be looking for the remote, but nobody will remember that it's on the
kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
but first I'll water the plant.
I splash some water on it, but most of it spills on the floor. So, I set the
remote back down 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 warm can of ginger ale sitting on the counter, the plant
isn't watered, there is still only one check in my check 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 long, and I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.
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