verging into orange

"Where does the violet tint end and the orange tint begin?  Distinctly we see the difference of the colors, but where exactly does the one first blending enter into the other.  So with sanity and insanity."  Herman Melville 

 

My keys are lost weekly, if not daily. I sent my dad a big 50th birthday card from Taiwan on his 49th. I frequently wander the house, knowing I got up to do something, yet absolutely incapable of remembering what-in-the-world the something is. I forget diapers & treats (deadly sins of motherhood)…not to mention, times, places & whole conversations. 

People know this about me. They expect it.

But yesterday I surprised even myself. Quick trip to Target. A busy day all around, I hustled my pokey Littles out of the car, fought them into the store and did my deeds. All told, we were probably in store for 20 minutes. We emerged, eager for the on-our-way-Home, to discover that one of the back doors of my vehicle was wide open. Wide as in no-one-could-possibly-park-next-to-me Open. Absent-minded is one thing, but who seriously completely forgets to close the door of their vehicle? Me. I guess. I did lock all the doors, but obviously left out the final nudge on this one.

This picture (& the implications regarding my mental state) alarmed me more than I can say. Frazzled, I got the kids buckled and went to start the car. Dead. More than 20 minutes in Target, perhaps? Did I wander from the list?  I’m truly not sure, but evidently the door was open on the too-long side of safe. I try again. And again. Noooo one wants to call their husband away from work because their car died because they are insane because they left the door open because they blended into Orange while grocery shopping for 20...maybe 30...or was it 40? minutes. 

I had the jumper cables out & ready.  Jim got there (kindly suppressing both exasperation & laughter).  But, the “Of Course” & "Audible Sigh" of the story – he walked past the jumper cables, sat down, turned the key & it started.

Comments

[Megan]

I am seriously laughing out loud! And it's such a man thing to get in the car and have it magically start for them. What's up with that??? And this reminds me of a time when I was at the gas station and Talin was a newborn baby in his car seat. Tom pumped the gas and went inside to get something else. Well me as a new mother got out of the car to open up the door closest to the car seat to admire my new bundle of baby. Then I decided to be nice and drive up to the front of the convenience store to pick up Tom. Everyone was staring at me like I was crazy. Come to find out, I had forgotten to close the side door containing my newborn baby, thank goodness for seatbelts!! The door had been wide open, and Tom had seen everything from the window of the convenient store. I don't think I'll live it down. So at least you didn't drive away!

[Kelly]

Oh my goodness, Amy! What a day! The starting of the car for Jim only adds insult to injury, I'm sure. I have had both these things happen to me -- so you are not alone.

Once when we lived in Chicago (and you know we did not live in the nicest part of Chicago!) I went to Circut City to get a new phone. I had my 2 girls and was in the store for a while. Came out, and the car door was wide open. I was seriously disturbed and doubting of my mental state. It's disconcerting to leave such a large, obvious "undone".

And, then, also in Chicago, I had driven to the grocery store. Keith was an hour away by train (if there happened to be a train right then), and it was pre-cell phone days for me. I got back out to the car with my groceries, and could not get my car started. I am terrible with phone numbers, but called my neighbor. Our husbands carpooled to the train station, and so because I had a car meant that she did not. So, since I was on a pay phone, she called around for me to find someone to come pick me up. This older lady from our ward showed up, and proceeded to demonstrate that my steering wheel was not locked or some other stupid thing, and the car started right away. Totally embarrassing.

So, anyway, I feel for you, and can't ever really find where my orange ends and my purple begins either!

[Barb]

We all have those stories! I've left a car door open more than once. How often do you leave your wallet somewhere? I was at Costco yesterday, and left my wallet at the photo lab. I shopped, paid (my Costco American express was in my pocket . . . ?) and then when I went to put my plastic away realized my wallet wasn't in my purse. My first reaction, though, was that someone had stolen my wallet while my back was turned (rather than thinking I was being absent minded) so I guess I'm in denial about my own orange and purple.

[old geezer]

Try driving off after pumping gas and having someone honk you over as you drive down the road, and of course this someone is not a stranger but a distant relative you haven't seen in a long time, who kindly informs you that the gas hose is hanging from your gas tank. They make breakaway gas hoses for a reason.

[Amy]

I once left my debit card at Kyoto Bowl. I picked it up the next day. So gld I'm not the only one with *issues*!

But, have any of you ever gone to change the laundry and found a used DIAPER amid the wet washer clothes? My experience an hour ago. And, no, I don't mean cloth diapers.

[jenny c]

Yes, we have all had days like this. I often do this at my house. My friend calls me up at about 9pm and says do you realize you car doors are open as well as your garage? Nope.

Hey, at least you can say you got a Target trip from it right?

[Mandy]

I'm sorry you had such a rough day. I am very absent minded. I am not sure how I can be so disturbingly organized and absent minded at the same time. Just know you are not alone.

[Emily]

My mom once drove all the way home from the grocery store with her wallet on top of the car. She had set it there while unlocking the car doors and then found it when she got out of the car at home in the driveway, if only all our absent mindedness could be so painless.

And I just have to say that I am still smiling that you have fat and that it's okay. Seriously the cutest thing EVER!

[sista #2]

I hate that! My hubs always has that luck! Just yesterday I said 'how do I turn on this tv?' (I had tried several times & it wouldn't get off the AV2 blue screen) I told him this, so he walks over to the tv, turns it on without the remote & VOILA -of course it goes straight to the show! Sometimes I wonder if he thinks I'm nuts, cuz this kind of luck always happens to HIM! -the GOOD kind :)

Kinda funny how he left work just to turn your car key!hahaha At least it ended good & an easy 'fix'! -ciao

[Annalisa]

Are you sure you're not pregnant? :)
When I was pregnant, I ran out of gas on the freeway, coasted off the ramp an died on the shoulder at the intersection. After walking to Lowe's to get a gas can and then the gas station, I realized my keys were locked in my car and after calling my husband to come rescue me, I lost my cellphone through a hole in my pocket.
But I've also locked my keys in the car while it's running, thrown my keys away instead of the trash in my hand, and on several occasions had trouble getting my car started, only to discover the gear was not in park and none of those while I was pregnant. Absent-mindedness just comes with the territory sometimes, no matter how organized we are. We get lost in thought about one thing and don't pay attention to the mundane.

[Shawna B.]

Hi Amy! I love this story. Sorry, but I do! Not because you had to hassle with your car and feel like you were losing your mind (you are in excellent company on this one), but because you wrote it so well and the ending made me smile. That's happened to me so many times before. Car dies. I can't start it to save my life. Husband comes. Shazam! First try, it fires right up! Hey - at least you remembered to get all your shopping bags after you paid for everything. I have left behind my purchases a ridiculous number of times!

I loved your Presidents' Day post!!! I have heard so many good things about "Founding Mothers." You have inspired me to pick up a copy immediately.

[rebecca]

What a story-teller! You have quite a talent for painting a picture. Sanity and insanity - both good friends of mine. Loved this!

[lelly]

i'm glad there was an easy resolution to this dilemma! you want to breathe a sigh of relief, and yet, you are somehow left shaken by the "what-if." i love your visual. i found myself spending way too long trying to pinpoint the precise change from one color to the next.

[Kim]

That's too funny! A couple of weeks ago, my husband was at work and got called out of a meeting to be informed that a pharmaceutical rep had just accidentally flushed her rental car keys down the toilet and the rental car company didn't have a spare. I'm not sure how it got resolved, but I guess you can be grateful that yours turned out to be an easy fix!

[carlo]

That is a lot of love everyone is sharing with you by sharing their own stories. I love that! And you painted such a picture!

Love the quote...

[crystalyn]

amy i am laughing so hard! this is something i would do. in fact yesterday i was getting into my car to start it...kids buckled in car seats, everyone ready to go, oh but wait. i forgot to shut the front passenger door. it's hard to keep any of your mind with little ones! i don't know how you do it. thank you SO MUCH for giving me a good laugh today. i needed it more than you know (shrunk my only maternity jeans and "bumped" into someone's car while trying to park my car in a minispace as i was late for my little guy's dr. appt..totally scraped their door and left a ding. AAAGH!).

[Mandi]

Wow, I love reading everyone's stories. . . very entertaining. Men always do that. I remember once in Denver, Megan & I were coming or going (can't remember which) to/from the YMCA and the car died and here we were in skimpy workout clothes (yes, back in high school skinny days) and looking for someone to help us. We found this guy who just came up and started it. Crazy!

I would say that I mostly do things like that when I'm pregnant, though. When I was pg with Savy, Nate found the cereal in the fridge one morning after I'd already left for work. Yes, I definitely have those moments when I'm pregnant.

[Amy]

Thank you [seriously] for all the stories. I have a husband who NEVER does anything remotely like this, so the What? behind his eyes had me convinced I was loony... After reading all these "me too"'s, I'm simply convinced that I'm in Good Company.

[Laralee Anderson]

I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING!!! I needed that today...thank you for the entertaining image. Since every one else is sharing...
1-When I was in college I borrowed my roommate's car to drive to Salt Lake City. I stopped at a gas station and went in to use the bathroom. I came back out and the car wouldn't start. I had 7 people try to help start it and one of those even jumped the battery. No luck. I finally called my roommate and her friend drove 45 minutes to pick me up. He sat down in the driver seat and started laughing. He told me that it might help start the car if I put the car back in park. DUH!
2-I lost my camera a last month. For weeks I searched everywhere for it. I even emailed EVERYBODY that I had been in contact with within the last month during picture taking times. I cleaned my room so it was spotless, still no camera. I finally gave up and assumed it to be gone for good. A couple of weeks ago I picked up my checkbook box. But it wasn't my checkbook box, it was only the lid. And guess what was hiding under the lid...I am still getting emails from people asking me if I found it.
3-Last one! I offered to take a bunch of girls home from work one day. The five of us piled up in the truck. My ex had my car that day. I placed the key in the ignition and tried to start the car. Nothing happened. Not even a noise. I finally called my ex husband upset and he left work to come help. I kept apologizing to my friends. Long story short...I had placed the key to my car in the ignition. The truck key on my chain worked just fine. :)

Sorry for the long comment. At least you know you are not alone. I just love the way you write it though. It makes me feel like I was there. :)