 For example, I could say to my youngest child:"We're going to
have pancakes at IHOP tomorrow."
He heard some of that but missed a key point.
"But we already had breakfast."
"Tomorrow."
"But when are we going to IHOP?"
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is Monday."
"No, tomorrow is Sunday."
"But when are we going to IHOP?"
It is conversations like these that test my own mental agility.
Every available brain cell is occupied just trying to stay on the
same page as an 8-year-old. I don't have time to deal with trivia.
Trying to think like an 8-year-old while having a conversation
with an adult causes its own set of challenges. My husband suffers
from this malady as well.
On a recent trip he started warbling an old song and I joined in,
hoping to make him sound better.
"...old worn-out
pool, no pets.
Ain't
got no 50 cents.
Ah,
but two hours of pushin' broom
Buys
an 8-by-12 four-bit room.
I'm a
man of means by no means
King of the Road!"
My husband said, "That guy just died."
"He did?" I was surprised.
"Yeah, he was old."
"Roy Rogers?"
"No, Jimmy Dean or whatever his name was. He was a singer-actor."
"You mean the blond guy that played opposite Burt Reynolds?"
"No, but he was kind of like him."
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 |
 "What was his name?"
"It's on the tip of my tongue..."
"Was he the guy who sang 'When You're Hot, You're Hot'?"
Then we broke into song again, "Na--nana-na--na-na, when you're
hot, you're hot!"
There must be some kind of unnamed neurological impairment that
allows people like us to remember the words to a song we haven't
heard in 30 years but not the name of the singer. If there isn't a
name for it yet, I've got dibs on Snyder Syndrome!
Several weeks ago we had watched an episode of "American Idol"
that featured Katharine McPhee, a past finalist. This was our inane
conversation with regard to that talented songstress.
My husband said, "She used to have long hair; now it's short and
bleached. I don't like it."
I responded, "Didn't she used to have long, brown hair?"
"I said that."
"No, you didn't."
Exasperated, he asked the world at large, "Is it me?"
I answered for the world, "Of course, it's you."
"OK, 'cuz sometimes it really feeeeels like it's you."
"Nope. It's never me."
This is called whatever the opposite of déjà vu is. Déjà vu is
like a TiVo that replays a movie. What we have here is more like an
LP with a skip in it.
I just gave away my age, didn't I? Well, just to be clear, none
of this has anything to do with my age.
[By LAURA SNYDER]
Laura Snyder is a nationally syndicated columnist,
author and speaker. You can reach her at
lsnyder@lauraonlife.com
or visit www.lauraonlife.com
for more info. |
