Is it just me or do you ever feel like the Mother Ship landed
and little squiggly guys scrambled your brains while you were
sleeping?
Is it just me or do you ever feel like the Mother Ship landed and little squiggly guys scrambled your brains while you were sleeping?
For whatever reason, I’m feeling like my brain has taken a vacation. Rather than own up to my absentmindedness, I’ll place my money on the “alien” theory.
Why else would I drive through a fast-food drive-through without first taking my food, walk around all day with a size 8 sticker plastered to my khakis, then forget that I left bags of groceries in my car’s trunk until they’re well past their prime?
When I relayed this particular anecdote to friends, I found out that I’m not the only one who has been suffering from brain freeze.
At least that’s what I call the state of mental overload when you’re juggling five trillion things at once. At some point, your brain goes kaput.
I can’t think of a more likely time for that to happen than when faced with travel. You’re bound to make some boo-boos along the way with the rush and stress of packing for a trip, tying up loose ends at home and work, and navigating your way through an airport.
Take my husband, Chris, for instance. He’s an expert traveler, having been on more international and national flights than anyone else I know, except maybe my Dad. But even the most seasoned travelers stumble now and again.
On a recent trip, Chris, got all the way through the security check at SFO and nearly boarded an airplane bound for Japan when he realized he left his computer at the checkpoint. Then on his way home from the airport during the same trip, he stopped to fuel his car. He left the gas station only to see a stranger running after his car. He’s got something in his hand. That thing turns out to be the gas tank cap for Chris’ car. Oops!
But that doesn’t even come close to the whopper Chris’ aunt and uncle committed last week. They drive to the airport ready to board an airplane for the red-eye flight home, when they’re told that there is no reservation for them in the system. It turns out that they showed up at the airport a full 24 hours before their flight was scheduled to leave. Luckily, they have a good sense of humor, and they spent that evening laughing about their blunder over a bottle of wine.
Needless to say, Chris and I had a good laugh, too, but not too loudly. After all, it could have happened to us just as easily.
I’ve noticed the remote control has a tendency to trip us up as well. I think it’s a little too accessible. We start thinking it has powers other than channel surfing.
Take for instance, my friend, Elena. She tried to unlock her car with it recently. Then two weeks ago, my Mom told me she picked up her clicker and started dialing it to phone me. Whew, now I don’t feel so bad.
I shouldn’t anyway though. Keeping up with our lives while juggling work, family and everything in between, it’s no wonder that we’re showing up a day early for a trip with our clickers in one hand and an empty computer bag in the other.
Maybe it is just me and my wacky friends and family. But I suspect we’re not alone. That’s OK – if you find yourself tossing your toothbrush in the refrigerator and driving to work with your slippers on you can always blame those little squiggly guys. They’re known to scramble a brain or two.
Which reminds me, if the Mother Ship touches down in your back yard, too, please be sure to say hi for me.
