Wednesday 4/21

Absent Minded

There is a big difference between doing something stupid and something absent-minded.  What is it?  Well, I guess doing something stupid would be done without considering consequences or doing the counter-intuitive on purpose.  For example, hitting a wasp nest with a stick for fun is stupid.  Trying to bunny hop a bicycle down bleachers is stupid.  Absent-minded, on the other hand, is when you do something silly because you might have been thinking about something else at the time.  And it’s usually an accident, like putting your shoes on before your socks.  (It’s usually a good spot for a “duh,” too.)  Absent-minded instances can often be embarrassing (and funny) so we don’t always tell people.  I’ve been catching myself a lot lately, so I thought I might share a few.

I’ve caught myself several times recently trying to use the wrong key on a door.  (Everyone does this, right?)  I’ve tried the house key on the car and my house key on my parents’ house.  It’s both funny and sad, though, when I pull out my house key for the door at work. . . .

I often eat peanut butter and an apple for lunch when I go home.  The best peanut butter for apples, specifically, is the natural stuff which has to be refrigerated.  It’s impossible to spread while cold, so I heat it up in the microwave (without the metal lid, of course.  That would be stupid).  When I finished this one day, instead of putting the peanut butter in the fridge, I put it back in the microwave.  Someone was scratching their head later when they found it, wondering why it was there.

I’ve used the keyless remote for my car to try and open the front door to the house.  (Duh…)  (It didn’t work.)

I put the car into ‘Drive’ to back out of a parking space.  (That doesn’t work either.)  Good thing I didn’t slam on the gas, there was someone parked in the space in front of me.

I washed my hair twice in the shower the other day.  And that’s not the first time, either.  I guess I have a lot of important things to think about first thing in the morning and counting hair-washings is not one of them. 

Like I said, things like this happen all the time.  Don’t be embarrassed, tell people.  They’ll usually get a kick out of it. 

By: S. Cole Garrett