I have a memory that is quite stellar when it comes to remembering the past, or at least I have been told by friends and family. I can actually recall events which happened as young as two. I never gave it much thought, but my sister Michelle has pointed out, not everyone is like this. She doesn’t remember a lot of our childhood and teenage years.
Michelle isn’t amnesiac or anything, but I often remember things and times she really doesn’t–even the details, as often as not.
Many of my close friends have told me I remember way more than they do.
It is excellent to be able to remember as much as I do when it comes to events and happenings, but when it comes to where I put my wallet and keys; I am a horror story. It is like I go blank.
I can’t say exactly when I noticed I had this issue, but definitely by the time I was out of college. I noticed forgetting where I put those two items ,was becoming a problem.
I was late more often than I care to admit because I would be on a 30 minute hunt for one of those creatures. Every once in a while it would be both of them missing.
I drove people crazy as I would discover we couldn’t leave because I didn’t have one of those important items at my disposal when I needed them.
I know there was an easy solution, but call it laziness or whatever, but I never had one special place that I would put them for either. My wallet could be left on a table in the living room, in my pants that went into the laundry basket, or possibly on a nightstand by the bed, in a jacket… all sorts of places. Of course I couldn’t leave for any destination until I found it.
Keys were even worse as far as me putting them some place and totally being clueless later when I needed them. I would get so frustrated when I could not find them.
Way too many times, I had to be somewhere and people were waiting for me. It wasn’t like today, where you could make a quick cell phone call to let people know the situation.
I certainly was embarrassed enough when this occurred, but for some reason, I never seemed to learn. Enter my ex-wife Tina. During our dating years, she was fairly tolerant of me misplacing keys and wallet. Whether it was because we were married, or maybe because we were late to one function too many, she more or less laid down the law about putting them in one place time after time.
It wasn’t rocket science and it made sense.
To this day, I put my wallet in one place as I do my keys.
Until recently, my phone was tending to hide from me and I would have to call the cell number to locate it. At least that is possible. I realized the logic I used with my wallet and keys had to be applied to this beast.
Now when I walk in the house, one of the first things I do is put the phone on its charger, then keys on a hook and wallet in a plate on my dresser. I am glad to have learned this lesson because I have lost my phone twice and it played havoc with my life.
I am not exactly sure how many times a wallet or keys have gone missing, but losing either causes major inconveniences too.
Recently another item has come to my attention that I have to be vigilant not to lose–my recorder. It is not hard for people to understand the trauma that can occur in one’s life if a phone, wallet or set of keys goes missing in action (MIA).
A recorder to a reporter can be as important as all three combined.
When keys disappear, it is a pain in the butt and maybe even a little expensive, but keys can be made. If a wallet goes missing, depending what was in it, most items inside can be replaced. Credit cards have to be canceled, but the bank is fairly quick about getting them back to you. Hopefully there is not a lot of cash when it disappears.
A wallet going MIA again is not the end of the world unless you are overseas. I wish I could say I have no knowledge of this.
However, when one of my recorders goes MIA, it is truly stressful. Interviews can be lost, sometimes forever. Getting people to do another interview after doing one already is nothing to look forward to either.
When my recorder went missing for two hours the other day, I realized it was another item I was going to have to place in the same spot every day.
I guess I should mention I lost a recorder my first year reporting. You would think I would have learned my lesson then because it was a nightmare.
Anyway, now the recorder has a place and I came to grips with the fact it is probably the worst thing I could lose. I have to keep track of it daily. So it has a high priority of going to its little place now.
I have to conclude, I find it interesting how many things I have to place in the same spot so I can easily access them when I need them later.
I guess I should be grateful for remembering things well that happened in the past. My memory of Tina yelling at me to put my wallet and keys in the same place is fairly vivid. She didn’t yell much in our time together, I should confess. The occasion that made her so mad was going to her family’s place for Christmas and I couldn’t find the keys to the car that had all the presents locked in the trunk.
I remember her words very well. Glad I do, but they don’t need to be repeated. Due to my good memory of that particular time; who knows how many wallets, keys, phones and recorders would have been lost in my lifetime, if it was not so easy to recall.
Does the word countless work? I think so.
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